Fish

Yet another post on leftover ingredients...

I bought romaine lettuce and I had a pack of tofu. I also had a piece of trout in the fridge that may go bad if I left it there for few more days...(by all means, I am for fresh ingredients, but I don't want to waste too). On my pantry, I also have a can of cornmeal flour. I thought I may use it one day to do something special with it, other than just regular flour.

With these at hand, I started with the tofu. Cut into cubes, I battered them with a mixture of cornmeal flour and salt. I did not use any egg wash because the tofu itself has plenty of moisture; enough to hold the batter together. Then deep fried lightly.

Then to the trout was scored on the skin lightly, seasoned with salt and pepper and straight to the pan. Skin side down first to about 60% cooked, then I cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat down to medium. Like an oven, this is to keep the heat in the pan from escaping; allowing the fish to cook slowly without drying up by the high heat. At about 90% cooked, the fish is turned over to cook on the flesh side for about 10 seconds or so to finish cooking it. Then take off the heat, leaving the fish in the pan skin side down to rest.

Lastly, the romaine lettuce is chopped up. In a pan, with a little oil; wilt the lettuce until soften and take off the heat. A dressing was made with 3 parts olive oil, 1 part light red wine vinegar, 1 part lemon juice and salt and pepper.

A simple assembly is made by lightly dressing the lettuce, season to taste. Place the fish over the lettuce and then the fried tofu over the fish. Drizzle the dressing a little over the tofu... done.