Breaded Snapper

Fresh Snapper from the Butcher's Block this time.  It's more expensive than the grocery store but it also seems to be fresher fish. When I press on it, it bounces back where the grocery store fish will hold a depression. The bones also came out much easier, I don't know if that's because it's fresh. I had such great success with the breaded chicken I decided to use the same technique on the fish.  I whisked up an egg with salt and spice rub. 

Snapper Rub

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp cayenne

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp cumin

Bread Crumbs

I use my stale Ciabatta bread in the blender to make crumbs. The bread you start with has a big impact on the flavour you arrive at. Choose a bread that tastes good by itself and won't conflict with other ingredients.

Once again I forgot to flour the meat before coating it in egg and rolling it in bread crumbs but it didn't seem to matter. One of these times that's going to bite me. I had Plenty of oil in the pan and it was very hot when the fish went in so it didn't stick at all. The vegetables were steamed, run under cold water then reheated with olive oil. It sounds like a lot of work but it really does a great job on vegetables. Mashed potatoes with milk, butter and salt completed the plate. 

Tartar Sauce

1 tbsp mayonnaise 

a dot of hot dog mustard

1 tsp sweet pickle relish

1-2 drops Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 - 1 tsp lemon juice (or lime) 

For the salad I diced up a head of iceberg lettuce and half an English cucumber and filled my salad bin. That left only dicing up a tomato and dressing the salad. Fern said last night that this is now his favourite salad dressing and it's my own recipe! Rice wine vinegar is cleaner and brighter tasting than regular vinegar so it's worth picking up a bottle.

Tomato Vinaigrette

1 tbsp oil (I use 1/2 olive, 1/2 vegetable)

1-2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp tomato sauce (I used Hunt's right out of the can)

salt

black pepper

Whisk it up and taste. I had too much vinegar and there are a few ways to fix that. I have tried adding salt and/or sugar but it changes the taste so this time I tried adding a little more oil. That worked perfectly. I tossed the salad in the vinaigrette and called Fern for dinner.  

The snapper was excellent, the breading was crunchy and the egg mixture had plenty of flavour. I'm really pleased with the way salads are working out.  If I have to make a salad from scratch it just doesn't get done.  If I don't serve a salad with the meal, it doesn't get eaten. If I have a bag of pre cut salad or a bin I made myself, all I have to do is whip up a vinaigrette and maybe dice a tomato. That gets done and eaten.