rechelle's lifelyrics

For years, my go-to white fish was tilapia, because it was inexpensive and always available at Costco in Southern California. At some point, after we moved up to Oregon in 2011, I discovered a white fish that is apparently plentiful in the Pacific Northwest: the awkwardly shaped Rockfish. I find it to be a bit firmer than tilapia, and it has a very mild, agreeable flavor.

When I open a new package from Costco, I always use my boning knife to create attractive filets that can be used for many different types of cuisine. You see the shape of the fish is a bit odd, having a wide section from the head and then narrowing to a long “tail” section. Usually, I season and smoke the narrow sections to be used in salads, tacos, or sandwiches where the shape isn’t presented as the main dish. The wider sections are better for presentation as the protein for a nice dinner.

You can see in this picture, I have the 4.22 pound package of fish divided and prepared for smoking, freezing, and a few filets ready for the dinner prep that night.

Here is a quick kitchen hack for you: If you place meat on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place it in the freezer, it’s sort of like DIY “flash freezing.” Make sure none of the pieces are touching each other and you will be able to store them in a baggy once they are frozen as individual pieces that won’t stick together! Then when you are ready to use a few of them, you simply pull what you need from the baggy without having to defrost the whole bundle.

The night I prepared this batch, I sautéed 4 pieces in browned butter with garlic and sage, then added a bit of marsala wine to deglaze the pan and make a wonderfully rich sauce. I served the fish over mashed butternut squash with a lovely spinach salad.