Cooking Orange Roughy last night - yum!

[piratesmate]

Last night we had Orange Roughy for dinner for the first time in years – like maybe 25 years! I couldn’t decide how to make it so I went looking for recipes. Our local Chinese restaurant often uses it for the weekend specials, but I couldn’t find anything comparable. I wanted to try something different, although I was worried that I’d “ruin” the taste of the roughy with a complicated recipe. I mean for what it cost, I want to know I’m eating roughy!

Anyway, I had a couple recipes that were similar, yet with definitely differences. I couldn’t decide & ended up combining them. I know, I know…I never seem to follow recipes as written.

Recipe #1: For this one I didn’t have any tarragon, which is the main reason I didn’t make it as written.

Orange Roughy with Roast Garlic Potato Crust
Serves 4

2 orange roughy fillet, cut in half
1 lb russet potato, peeled
½ c garlic clove, whole, peeled
¼ tsp olive oil
¼ c low-fat milk
½ tsp lemon zest, grated
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
½ tsp salt
1 tsp tarragon leaf, minced
2 small lemon, 1 juiced and 1 cut in wedges for garnish
Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2 Toss garlic cloves in olive oil; place in glass baking dish and roast for 30 minutes until garlic is golden and soft (shake pan several times while roasting).
3 Steam potatoes until soft, then mash.
4 Puree garlic with milk add to potatoes.
5 Add salt, pepper, tarragon, lemon rind, and 2 tsp lemon juice.
6 Place fillets in baking dish and cover evenly with potato mixture.
7 Squeeze lemon jusice liberally over each fillet.
8 Broil fish for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown, (make sure fish is cooked).
9 Serve with lemon wedges.

<Source> RecipeZaar

= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
I decided against using this one “as is” because I wanted something to “jazz up” the other recipe since I had no tarragon & opted to combine recipes.

Baked Parmesan Fish

4 fish fillets (orange roughy or catfish – 4 oz each)
1/3 c parmesan cheese
2 Tbl flour
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg
2 Tbl milk

Combine parmesan, flour, paprika, salt & pepper. In another bowl, beat together egg & milk. Dredge fish in egg then coat with parmesan mixture. Arrange in a greased 13x9 pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 25 – 30 min or until fish flakes with a fork.

<Source> RecipeZaar

= = = = = = = = = = = = =
OK, here’s what I actually did. We all agreed that it was outstanding! We absolutely loved it! It ended up with a variety of flavors hitting the tongue at different times. Yum!

We’d had mashed potatoes on Friday night with our pork & sauerkraut & I had some leftover. (I use the Ore-Ida frozen ones.) There was at least half the batch left – maybe more. I didn’t have any garlic bulbs, just a jar of minced garlic. I sprayed some EVOO in a pan, added some minced garlic – spread out & then sprayed over the top again. I baked it for about 15 minutes on 325. I was surprised that it semi-worked. It definitely changed the taste & while not quite as good as actually roasting the garlic bulbs, it was acceptable. I didn’t use it all in this recipe & I did drain some excess oil off what I used. The rest is in a container in the frig for tonight or tomorrow.

Oddly enough I don’t have a broiler pan. So the potatoes didn’t end up as a “crust” since I used a ceramic pan & had to bake, not broil.

3½ c already mashed potatoes
2 Tbl semi-roasted garlic
1 tsp lemon zest, dry
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
½ tsp paprika
splash milk
2 Tbl lemon juice

To the leftover mashed potatoes I added the garlic, lemon zest, pepper, Parmesan, paprika & a splash of milk so that I could stir it all together. Once evenly mixed, I sprayed a large Corning ware dish with EVOO & laid out the roughy. (I had 3 large pieces – total weight was 1.72 lbs.) Then I covered the fish with the mashed potato mixture. I keep Minute Maid frozen lemon juice in the frig all the time. I never seem to use up lemons fast enough. According to the package, 2 Tbl is the equivalent of one medium lemon. I poured the 2 Tbl over the potatoes & realized there was less than a teaspoon left, so I added that as well.

I baked it at 350 for about 35 minutes before the thickest parts of the fish was cook enough. I tried turning the broiler on low for a couple minutes to brown the potatoes, but chickened out before it actually did anything. I was worried it would ruin the pan. I’ve had it 33 yrs & wouldn’t mind replacing it, but didn’t want ceramic splinters in our food.

Since the potatoes were part of the main dish, we just had salads with it. I’ll definitely make this again!