I’m not stuck on doing food posts lately. It’s merely that many of us get into routines and sometimes forget to go back to recipes we enjoy and set aside for long periods. This is such a recipe and if I recall correctly, it’s a variation on one of Emeril’s, although don’t hold me to it. It’s Ham Wrapped Fish (If you don’t do pork, you can substitute 2-4 turkey bacon slices). This is a three-step cooking process of 4 minutes stovetop, then 4-5 minutes in a 400 degree oven, then another 1-2 minutes stovetop for the sauce. You need an oven-proof skillet.

Ingredients: 2 firm white fish fillets (halibut, mahi, or haddock are especially nice); 2-4 slices ham – enough to completely wrap the fillets; stone ground or some other similar mustard; 1/3 cup white wine (or 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 tbsp. butter).

Preheat oven to 400. Lay ham slice on cutting board, place fillet in the center; season with pepper, spread thin coat of mustard to cover the fish. Flip fillet, pepper and use mustard on other side, then wrap ham and secure with toothpicks. If the ham slice isn’t large enough to completely cover the fish, add an extra slice and tuck the edges so it makes a “packet”. If using turkey bacon slices, overlap them a little so there aren’t exposed parts of the fish.  I’ve found that I can usually angle the toothpicks in on the side to secure the wrap and that allows me to set the fillets in the skillet and turn them without everything falling apart. Heat the skillet to medium, coat the bottom with olive oil (1-2 tbsp) and bring to temperature (approximately one minute). Cook the fillets for two minutes on each side. Transfer the skillet to the oven for approximately four minutes. Place the fish on a plate and make a quick pan sauce over medium heat using the 1/3 cup white wine or the orange juice and butter. Be certain to scrape and stir the bits of ham or bacon into the sauce. This step takes 1-2 minutes. Pour over the fillets and serve. The mustard and ham are both likely to be a bit salty which is why I don’t salt the fillets before wrapping them.

Okay, I have taken the first step with silken tofu and successfully made a fairly low-carb smoothie and used it as a thickening agent for a sausage & turkey soup. I realize if the point of tofu is to go in a vegetarian direction, then I’m off the mark. For me, however, the idea is what are supposed to be health benefits as I continue to try and lower my carb intake. I still want to try that pine nut creamy sauce and haven’t done that yet. The smoothie piece did require me to cut way back on the fruit since that’s packed with carbs. By substituting the very low calorie cranberry juice for regular juice and using a small amount of frozen berries, it doesn’t provide a full serving of fruit, but is refreshing.

The turkey and sausage soup is one I put together several weeks ago with a nice flavor, but not much body. The issue with soups is all the good stuff – potatoes, rice, corn, etc., is high in carbs. Using four ounces of silken tofu, seasonings, and one-third cup of chicken broth was just about right to add to the soup which is meat heavy with some onions, celery, and sweet peppers. I suppose it’s really more like a chili than a “soup”. If you don’t want to use pork, there is a bulk turkey sausage to substitute. I do enjoy cooking with sauces and there will be more experimenting.

It is sort of experimenting with food this weekend. We don’t usually mess with ribs – not when there are places around that do them well. I’m not even certain what caused me to say, “Hey, want to give it a try?”. I did, however, ask the question and at the moment, the slab is in the fridge with a dry rub mix and I need to check some cooking time information for our particular set-up. Obviously, we aren’t going for the 12+ hours of smoking. Anyway, when I was at the store yesterday to look for fish, I was startled to see rock fish from Canada. We haven’t had rock fish in ages. That’s a favorite in the Maryland area and you just don’t see it often here. I pulled out my Legal Seafoods cookbook (Yes, the restaurant chain) and proceeded to sauté with a combination of lemon-infused olive oil and peanut oil to allow for a higher cooking point. A quick lemon butter sauce made for a nice topping and there were only a few small bones to deal with. I had warned Hubby so he was on the lookout. Oh, since I am trying to cut back on carbs, I found almond flour several weeks ago, thinking when we do want to bread something, that could be a good solution. In reality, the package talks about it as an excellent substitute for baking or for making something like a sauce. It worked okay for sauté in this case because fish cooks very quickly. Otherwise the coating would have probably burned. (What I don’t  know is if it will work with a quick crisping, then finishing in the over like you do with chicken parm. Hmm, might try that.)

Okay, back to my other unexpected find of sirloin tri-tip. This is a cut more common to the West Coast. We first heard of it while watching one of the California-based chef/restaurant owners on a show about Napa cooking and wine pairing. Then tri-tip began to show up occasionally on the TV series “Pit Masters” as a special challenge to mostly East Coast BBQ guys who weren’t familiar with how to handle it. One of my tasks today is find the proper cooking technique for the grill, although we’re not planning that until tomorrow. I’ll keep everyone posted as to how it goes.