Favorite recipes for basic store bought fish...

Josh

Josh

Dead in the water
Staff member
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Yes, yes. We all love fresh caught salmon or trout. Some of us are even crazy enough to make long runs to the coast to fill the freezer with halibut, tuna, lingcod, etc (looking in your direction, @Evan B).

But what about when you want to put some fish on the table but are limited to whatever the local fishmonger or decent grocery has in stock (fresh or frozen)? Who has some interesting recipes for stuff like Cod, Sole, Sablefish (Black Cod), Swordfish or even Tilliapa. And sure, while a good fish market might also have wild salmon, halibut, tuna, etc, I was trying to focus on the less fancy stuff in this convo, but the floor is open to all ideas.
 
Petrale sole if you can find it. Fillets are thin and cook quickly. Super simple pan saute for a minute or each side. Easy-peasy and delicious after work dinner entree. Black cod also a fav but takes longer to pan sear then bake til just done. Also can't go wrong with cod cooked just about anyway there is.
 
Sockeye salmon is fresh at stores in July, a very good option. Just ask the person behind the counter to let you sniff test it before buying!

Sea salt, olive oil, garlic, herbs, maybe a balsamic vinegar finish.
 
I do it the same way as freshly caught fish. BBQ or slow baked with some seasoning and then finish off with compound butter.
 
I've made a yummy cod dish a few times. Get a nice thick piece of cod (I think they are sold as cod loins), not thin fillets. Cut into 3 or 4 pieces. Wrap each piece in prosciutto. Fry the prosciutto-wrapped pieces in butter until the prosciutto is crispy and the cod is just done. Plate and drizzle any sauce you like over the fish. I like a fresh herb sauce without much salt, because the prosciutto is quite salty.
 
DimeBrite said:
Sockeye salmon is fresh at stores in July, a very good option.
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Oh, for sure. The point of the exercise was more intended to be about the rando fish species at the store. Not the ones we know and love when they are in season.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not above grabbing some fresh sockeye from a good local retailer.
 
Josh said:
Oh, for sure. The point of the exercise was more intended to be about the rando fish species at the store. Not the ones we know and love when they are in season.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not above grabbing some fresh sockeye from a good local retailer.
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I tend to treat most fish as being in one of 4 categories and cook them according to the category. Whitefishes, salmonids, ocean fish-full cook (billfishes, mackerel, branzino) and ocean fish-rare/raw (tuna mostly).

Most of what you listed falls into my whitefish category, which is probably getting paired with a bright, fruity sauce, chutney, salsa or the like. Swordfish has a bit more flavor, so I generally run more towards supporting that with herbs. My market fish tonight is swordfish with garlic chive emulsion with saffron risotto. It slaps.
 
My wife often brings home (previously frozen) cod fillets from the Safeway meat counter. I like to just coat the pieces in Old Bay, (a heavy coating for mine and a lighter dusting for hers), followed by olive oil all over and then grilled quickly on a preheated hot grill.

I would like to someday figure out a simple fruity sauce or reduction to drizzle over them to take it up a notch, but as is they work for us.
 
Merle said:
My wife often brings home (previously frozen) cod fillets from the Safeway meat counter. I like to just coat the pieces in Old Bay, (a heavy coating for mine and a lighter dusting for hers), followed by olive oil all over and then grilled quickly on a preheated hot grill.

I would like to someday figure out a simple fruity sauce or reduction to drizzle over them to take it up a notch, but as is they work for us.
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Old Bay is good stuff...
 
I’m not much of a cook and don’t know enough to improvise or wing it…I gotta follow a recipe of some sort.

So I go with Google and save the recipe if we like it.

Here’s an example of our fish section…easy peasy

IMG_0178.jpeg
 
These aromatics and the sauce can make almost any fish amazing. If you don't want to steam it, just a simple pan fry and you're good to go.

With this dish I prefer the texture and flavor of lingcod and striped bass to salmon or halibut but I've made this using many types of fish and it's always worthy. I generally double or triple the aromatics and sauce.

thewoksoflife.com

Cantonese Steamed Fish: A 20 Minute Recipe

Cantonese steamed fish is often served at Chinese banquets, but it's also an easy recipe to make on any weeknight with just a few ingredients.
thewoksoflife.com thewoksoflife.com
 
Might I suggest. Buy some frozen halibut (or tuna) in those vacuum sealed packages at the grocery store. Marinate them in "Bernstiens Italian Dressing and Marinade"(this is key!) You can marinate the fish for 30 min or even overnight. Cook the fish over a smokey grill.
Now you have delicious fish meat. You can serve it with mashed potatoes, or make fish tacos, or pasta dishes etc..
 
Wadin' Boot said:
Old pasta and a can of sardines + can oil dumped on top, sprinkle of feta, some black pepper, 1:45 in microwave and eat on the stoop with the last of the morning coffee to wash it down.
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I ate a bunch of Fish Spaghetti when younger
Onion and lots of garlic cooked low in olive oil for 30 minutes or so, can of tuna, tin of anchovies, can of hunts tomato sauce and half a can of water.
Cook till the water is gone serve over egg noodles with parm

Much better than you'd think.
 
Mossback said:
I ate a bunch of Fish Spaghetti when younger
Onion and lots of garlic cooked low in olive oil for 30 minutes or so, can of tuna, tin of anchovies, can of hunts tomato sauce and half a can of water.
Cook till the water is gone serve over egg noodles with parm

Much better than you'd think.
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It’s essentially tuna puttanesca without the Kalamata olives. I bet that’s good.

I like to do a blond puttanesca with fish—no tomato sauce, maybe use some capers and castelvetrano olives and extra olive oil.
 
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