Creative Cooking

Generally speaking, I'm a pretty adventurous eater.  I've had my share of truly nasty looking, smelling, and tasting food.   But I figure when you are out on the road, you've got to try the local fare.  For the most part, it's worked out well and introduced me to some really great grub.

However, when it comes to cooking different dishes, I'm easily intimidated.   Don't get me wrong, I love to cook and have taken a lot of classes over the years.  But I still tend to stick to many of the dishes/cuisines that I already I know.

And the most intimidating food group for me?  Fish!  Every time that I pass the fish monger at the local market I see a huge variety of aquatic critters which I have never eaten, let alone cooked.  Some look really tasty, others not so appetizing.  But, I'm tired of just wondering what they are and have decided to pick out a new fish every month and give it a shot.

And what better place to start than with the ugliest, meanest fish that the oceans can deliver - The Sea Devil - also known as angler fish, monk fish and a bunch of other names which make you wonder if anyone knows what to call this thing.

This gnarly beast was on sale at market this week, so I picked up 500 grams and took it home to see what I could do with it.  A bit of internet surfing revealed a few recipes and I decided to stick with a simple one so that I could taste the fish itself.   Fry 2 minutes per side in a pan, then 6 minutes in an 450 degree oven with some simple herbs and olive oil.  The results?  Delicious!   It was kind of like a dense fish steak with an incredibly "buttery" flavor even though I didn't add any butter at all.

So far the little experiment is off to a good start - one for one.   I'll just always be sure to keep the phone number for our pizza delivery boy close by when I hit that first loser.

Eet Smaakelijk!