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nycmermaidToday was the first in a series of three seafood cooking classes I'm taking at the Institute of Culinary Education (this is where I took the pie class as well). I forgot my camera so camera phone pics have to suffice. It was unlike the pie class as in that class we all paired up and each pair made 2 pies. This time we split into 3 groups and each group made 2 things, but I ended up only making one: red snapper baked en papillot with lime beurre blanc. I enjoyed it though and hope I remember some of what I learned, particularly the stuff about filleting and cutting whole fish.
Our instructor (same guy who taught my pie class, Loren) showed us how to cut a whole salmon into steaks. I loved seeing the whole fresh fish (even if it was the Atlantic farm-raised kind). It made me want to go fishing so I could be a part of the whole process.
I spent a lot of time julienning veggies. I find that sort of task very satisfying. The kind of thing where I have a project to complete myself, as part of a larger project. I used a mandolin for the carrots and was afraid of cutting myself, but figured out how not to.
The idea of preparing a whole fish has always freaked me out. But filleting the red snapper really wasn't that hard. Snapper is delicious but unfortunately it is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium bad fish list.
Part of the reason I chose this seafood cooking class though was that many of the fish we will preparing are of the good, healthy, sustainably caught kind. Like this mahimahi, which we are being taught how to skin here.
Here are some of our lovely finished plates! In the foreground are the curried lobster salad (I had fun playing with these lobsters in their pre-salad life, heh) and mango salsa for the mahimahi. You can see my snapper en papillot in the upper left corner. In the white ramekins is the lime beurre blanc, which I made. :) It came out fantastic, if I do say so myself!
Our instructor (same guy who taught my pie class, Loren) showed us how to cut a whole salmon into steaks. I loved seeing the whole fresh fish (even if it was the Atlantic farm-raised kind). It made me want to go fishing so I could be a part of the whole process.
I spent a lot of time julienning veggies. I find that sort of task very satisfying. The kind of thing where I have a project to complete myself, as part of a larger project. I used a mandolin for the carrots and was afraid of cutting myself, but figured out how not to.
The idea of preparing a whole fish has always freaked me out. But filleting the red snapper really wasn't that hard. Snapper is delicious but unfortunately it is on the Monterey Bay Aquarium bad fish list.
Part of the reason I chose this seafood cooking class though was that many of the fish we will preparing are of the good, healthy, sustainably caught kind. Like this mahimahi, which we are being taught how to skin here.
Here are some of our lovely finished plates! In the foreground are the curried lobster salad (I had fun playing with these lobsters in their pre-salad life, heh) and mango salsa for the mahimahi. You can see my snapper en papillot in the upper left corner. In the white ramekins is the lime beurre blanc, which I made. :) It came out fantastic, if I do say so myself!
