Multi-Tasking Mayo's & Marinades

The other night I was looking at a very nice piece of fish a friend had given me, perfectly filleted, and extremely fresh and bright, normally with something this brilliant I would simply pan sear and serve, but I was feeling a bit experimentive (is that a word?), so I started routing around the pantry and fridge looking for items to add to it with out necessarily over powering this fillet. I mean I could easily drowned this fish in a sauce or veggies never knowing there was actually a piece of fish on my plate, "we" tend to do that, I am talking everyone, "we" tend to over think, sauce, cook, and decorate our food, thinking we always need to add so much to make it taste good. What we really need to do is sit back, think of the flavor of the food (in this case a fillet of Tilapia) and how can I enhance it, not so much change it.

Still I ponder, then the decision, a simple mayo/sauce to have on the side, the one I decide to make is one that is great with fish or chicken. I use store bought mayo all the time, and to do the recipes below you can use store bought and add the ingredients to them, but I really like to make my own when I have the time and especially when I am cooking something wonderful like these fillets. Now remember I said I am serving this on the side of my fish, I am not putting it on it while I cook it or after, it will be on the side. . .did I say that I put the mayo on the side??

Ok, so I am going to tell you how I did the fish and served it, then at the end of the all my ramblings you will find several recipes for different types of "Mayo's" and their uses, of course as always I tell everyone to experiment, find other uses for them!!

First the fish, I pat it dry and season with fresh ground pepper, I use a mixed variety for the fish, some white, green, black and pink (you can buy it this way) It is a good all around variety that is not to spicy, but adds wonderful flavor. Then I take two preserved lemons and slice them very thinly (you can find these at a specialty store, but I will put a quick recipe here for you). Note I did not salt the fish, the preserved lemons have a lot of salt in them and it will come out with the wonderful lemon flavor so hold back on salt, you can always add a bit if needed, but I have found you do not need it, especially since we are serving the great mayo on the side of this very fresh fish. I take 2 tablespoons of EVOO and add to my cast iron skillet, and heat up not to smoking and place my fillets in with half the preserved lemons on top and let sear, about 3 minutes (this of course depends on your fish thickness), then when lightly browned I flip over and add the rest of the sliced preserved lemons and saute until just cooked through. . I hate dry fish, and the preserved lemons will keep the fish moist but still keep and eye on them, maybe another 3 minutes on this side. Remove fish from heat, plate and serve with the mayo on the side. . . For a side dish I some couscous with fresh tomatoes, lemon, and fresh thyme, and a simple salad of Boston lettuce, with a pom and mustard vinaigrette. And if you are wondering about the couscous, I did boil it in a Pheasant stock a great friend of mine gave me, but chicken or veggie stock with work just as good!

Ok here is my recipe:

1 1/2 cups mayo (homemade see below or store bought)
2 Tbls chopped fresh parsley (make sure you dry with paper towels well)
4 Sweet gherkins, again dried with paper towels really well, and chopped really well
(now if you want to go a snappier route, use 4 cornichons, they are very tart and will add a zing)
1 Tbls capers, I prefer salted ones that have been rinsed and dried well, chopped up, but you can use ones in brine, just rinse and dry them well
1 scallion, use white part only, and chopped finely, if you don't have a scallion handy a teaspoon bit of chopped yellow onion will do (but will be stronger)
1 tsp Dijon mustard, I like to use the whole grain one, I like the texture, but anyone will do.
1 tsp anchovy paste, if you don't have the paste take 3 fillets in oil pat dry and mash with mortar and pestle.
Whiskey the parsley, gherkins, capers, scallions, mustard and anchovy paste into the mayo, and check for seasoning you may want to add sea salt or fresh ground pepper, but make before you cook fish and let sit and check the flavors before you add, you may not want to after the flavors meld together a bit, any extra can be kept for up to 2 weeks covered in fridge.

Your (ok My) basic Homemade Mayo:

3/4 cup of EVOO something mild (French, Spanish or Northern Italian)
3/4 Grape seed oil
1 Large egg
1 Tbl freshly squeezed lemon juice or Champagne Vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt (preferably grey and in velvet form, dissolves better)
1/2 tsp freshly ground white pepper
I like to mix my two oils together so I can drizzle in all at once.
Get out our food processor, place the egg in and run for 30 or 40 seconds, then slowly drizzle in the oil, I mean slowly you want it to emulsify, could take up to 5 minutes. Blend in the lemon juice or vinegar for about 30 seconds, add sea salt and pepper and blend for another 30 seconds to make sure mixed through, place in fridge for an hour before using. Will keep up to 2 weeks covered in fridge.


Salsa del Diavolo

1/2 cup champagne vinegar, you can also use a nice white wine, but champagne is nicer
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper (black)
2 whole dried red chilies, crushed with flat side of knife
1 Tbls tomato paste
1 cup beef broth, low sodium is great here
1 Tbls flour
1 Tbl butter, salted
1 tsp Dijon mustard, I prefer the texture of whole grain but you can use whatever you prefer

In a small sauce pan place the vinegar, black pepper and chili peppers, bring to a boil and reduce in half, could take 4 minutes.
Meanwhile dissolve the tomato past into the beef broth and add to the vinegar mixture, reduce the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes at just below a boil.
While that is cooking mix the butter and flour together in a bowl with a fork and stir into the vinegar mixture on stove, mix thoroughly. Remove from heat and stir in the mustard. Remove the chili peppers and discard. It is ready to serve, will keep up to 4 weeks in fridge covered.

My Warmed up Olive Oil and Fresh Oregano Sauce

1/2 cup EVOO
Juice and zest from 1 lemon, remember when you zest, you don't want the white pith, so be careful
2 Tbls hot water
Sea salt and Fresh ground black pepper, (I like to use Tellicherry peppercorns) to taste
2 Tbls finely chopped oregano, make sure before you chop it, you dry with cloth or paper towels very well
6 Tbls finely chopped fresh parsley, flat leaf, again dry well
2 garlic cloves, minced

place all ingredients into small pot and whisk together well, place on stove and turn heat to simmer, you just want to warm the oil through, once you are then turn off the heat, remove pot from stove and let come to room temperature. You can bring to room temp to marinate or use to baste with or if you want to use to spoon over your finished dish warm up and serve with your dish, this is great with fresh fish like, swordfish, shark, or grouper when grilled.

Oregano and Orange Marinade - Hey we are in Florida, I am sure you or your neighbor has an orange tree
This is great with swordfish, pork tenderloin, sirloin tips, or even some lamb

1/4 cup EVOO
Juice and zest from 1 orange
1 Tbls fresh oregano finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Sea salt and Fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and marinate meat/fish in fridge covered for at least 2 hours. Remove food from fridge 15 minutes for fish and up to 1 hour for meat, before grilling. This is enough to marinate 1-11/2 pounds of meat or fish. . . .

Grilled Fish Sauce

4 large eggs, 3 hard boiled
6 anchovy fillets, if salted rinse and pat dry, if in oil, drain well
1 1/2 cups EVOO, Spanish or northern Italian
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Sea Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Using a mortar and pestle, combine the yolks from hard boiled eggs and anchovies, discard whites from eggs or save and use for something else.

Get out the food processor, and place the remaining uncooked egg in and run to whip up for 30 seconds, add the egg yolks and anchovy mixture and blend for a few short pulses. Then while the processor is running drizzle EVOO in, in a continuous stream so it emulsifies, could take 6 minutes. Add lemon juice and blend for another 3 seconds, then salt and pepper to taste and blend a bit more to meld flavors.

So with these marinades and mayo's I find I can make lots of different dishes and since they do come in handy I find I make a bit extra of the simple ones to just have on hand, but they really don't take very long so I can make them on the fly so to say and occasionally I add a few shots of hot sauce to give 'em an extra punch. . .. hmmmmm not what to do for dinner tonight. . .what is fresh and in season around here. . . .stay tuned!!!