Poaching Fish

I've realized that M* and I eat very little meat (besides a weekly chicken) or fish at home—and we don't eat out very often. This is a result of frugality, but lately my body is in revolt. I had M* pick-up some sea bass from the local fishmonger last weekend, and I was ready to prepare it on Monday. I decided that the organic asparagus and potatoes from our weekly delivery needed to be eaten and so they were selected as the sides (I am contemplating cancelling our weekly vegetable delivery as we never eat all the potatoes).

The potatoes and asparagus were easy: peel the potatoes, toss them with some olive oil, salt, pepper, seasonings and bake at 350 for an hour (then toss with garlic sauteed in olive oil if you have the time) and toss the asparagus with olive, a little bit of sea salt and bake at 400° for 8-15 minutes depending on size and personal taste.

I was going to bake the fish with olive oil, tomatoes, basil and onion in sealed aluminum foil, but I had no aluminum foil. After looking online I decided on poaching: cooking in a pan on the stove in a little bit of liquid. I got some ideas from "Shallow Poached Sea Bass" although the only ingredients that I had were the sea bass and stock—but it was vegetable not chicken. Instead of Old Bay, coriander, etc., I used 1 tbsp of butter, garlic, mushrooms, onion and tarragon.

Poached sea bass, potatoes and asparagus

As for the methodology—that was a rough copy as well. I used a non-stick frying pan with no lid. I took the lid from a smaller pan and had to stick a wooden spoon under the lid to keep it from smushing the fish. I also didn't have the correct thermometer for reading fish, so I guessed the timing (about eight minutes per side). Regardless of the changes, M* and I were thrilled with the result: moist, flavorful fish. I think it's now our preferred method of preparing fish.

Gluten-free Pancakes

I've been making gluten-free pancakes for two years now, and, each time the recipe varies slightly. The recipe I always modify is from an old Betty Crocker cookbook; the alterations are replacing wheat flour with a gluten-free flour mix and adding xantham gum.

The variation in each batch is in the amount of xanthm gum—I used to use 1/4 tsp but now I always use 1/2 tsp—or the blend of gluten-free flours. I have used almond meal, brown rice flour, white rice flour, gram (chickpea) flour and glutinous, though gluten-free, rice flour. M* and I have enjoyed each batch, except the ones where I mistakenly used a tbsp of salt instead of sugar or three tbsps of baking powder instead of three tsps or 3/4 pint of milk instead of 3/4 cup of milk, but certain ones have more closely resembled wheat flour pancakes. Unfortunately, I never bothered to note the amounts of each flour in those standout batches.

This past Sunday, I made two batches: one horrible (the 1 tbsp salt batch) and one fantastic. The key to the wheat flour mimicing pancakes was the use of some glutenous rice flour; I had never used it before, but picked some up recently in a Korean grocer. Gluten has binding properties that one approximates by adding xantham gum, but this rice increases the sticky factor.

The recipe—with my best estimate of the flour amounts—is below. What I discovered a few days later is that increasing the glutenous rice flour to 1/2 cup or more is not recommended. Thursday, I only had a few tablespoons of brown rice flour left, so I switched the amounts of brown rice and glutenous rice flour. The pancakes were fine, but not as light as the ones resulting from the recipe below.

Gluten-free Pancakes
1/2 cup plus two tbsps brown rice flour (finely ground)
1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
2 tbsps almond meal
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Whisk dry ingredients, except baking powder, in medium size bowl until well blended. Add baking powder. Blend milk, egg and oil in small bowl, and then add to dry ingredients. Gently stir ingredients with spoon or spatula just until ingredients are blended.

Let batter sit for 5-10 minutes. If you have an electric stove-top, like we do unfortunatly, this is a good time to heat the burner to medium. Make sure the pan or griddle is hot before adding batter. We use a non-stick pan, but I still lightly coat it with cooking spray before the first batch. Pancakes should cook quickly—a few minutes per side—so stay close. Enjoy with your favorite syrup.