3475. POLLOCK with BACON and SEAWEED CONSOMME

serves four 


For bacon & seaweed consommé
2 3"x5" pieces konbu seaweed
6 cups spring water
1/2 lb. applewood smoked slab bacon

For pickled wild mushrooms
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup wild mushrooms

For turnip purée
1 large turnip
Salt (to taste)
Water (enough to cover turnip in pot)
Butter (to taste)

For pollock
4 5-oz. pollock filets
Salt and pepper
2 cups wondra flour
2 tablespoons olive oil

Prepare bacon & seaweed consommé: Rinse the konbu seaweed in water, then rip it into strips and place it in a pot over medium heat, with enough water to cover it thoroughly. Cut the bacon into approximately 2" squares and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook. After 5 minutes, remove konbu from the pot. Let the bacon continue to cook for 30-45 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pot, then put the liquid in the refrigerator for a few hours, or until the fat has solidified. Remove and discard the layer of fat. The remaining liquid is the consommé.

Prepare pickled wild mushrooms: Combine vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a pot and stir until combined. Bring to a boil. Pour into bowl of mushrooms and let sit for 45 minutes.

Prepare turnip purée: Peel and chop the turnip and place in a pot with salt. Cover with water and bring to a boil, then reduce to a high simmer and cook until the turnips offer little resistance, if any. Drain and mash the turnip (put into a blender for smoother texture) and season with more salt and butter. Serve warm.

Prepare pollock: Sprinkle salt and pepper on pollock filets. Coat skin side of filets with Wondra flour. Add a thin layer of olive oil to hot pan, then place the pollock filet in, flour-side down. Do not touch it; let it sit and cook. Sear the fish for 4-5 minutes in a hot pan, or until it is roughly 80% cooked through.

To Serve: Place a small mound of turnip purée in bowl (or plate with rounded edges that will not let the consommé spill over). Place the cooked fish on top and garnish with the pickled mushrooms. Pour a few tablespoons of warm consommé onto the plate over the fish.





bacon recipe source: Chef Rich Garcia, for Neighborhood Kitchens, WGBH, 1 Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135; Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel, 606 Congress Street, Boston, MA

3296. SEARED POLLOCK with BACON and ONIONS

makes four servings


6 slices applewood bacon
1 large sweet onion, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
1 large apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 5-oz. pollock fillets
4 tablespoons cornstarch

In a large skillet cook bacon over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Crumble and set aside.

Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings from skillet. Place skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add apple; cook 5 minutes. Add garlic and (if desired) red pepper flakes; cook 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.

Place cornstarch in a shallow dish; set aside. Place same skillet over medium-high heat; add butter and oil. Season fillets with salt and pepper to taste. Dip fillets in cornstarch, coating both sides. Place fillets in skillet; cook 3 to 4 minutes per side or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Place 1 fillet on each of 4 plates. Top with onion mixture, sprinkle with crumbled bacon, and serve.


bacon recipe source: Glen's Fresh Market

3094. SEAFOOD CHOWDER with BACON, DILLISK and CARRAGEEN (SEAWEED)

serves 6-8


1 lb. pollock, cod, or other white fish fillets
8 oz. shellfish (mussels, cockles, prawns)
4 oz. salmon, cubed
1/4 stick butter
2 oz. streaky bacon, cut into matchstick strips
2 lb. mixed vegetables (onions, leeks, carrots, celery, waxy potatoes), diced
2 1/4 cups water
1/4 oz. dillisk (purple-reddish seaweed)
1/4 oz. Carrageen, a.k.a. Irish moss
2 1/4 cups milk
Garnish: fresh parsley and chives

Cook the bacon strips in butter until crisp. Add all the vegetables except the potatoes. Season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add water, dilisk and Carrageen and cook for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and milk and cook until potatoes are soft. Add fish and shellfish and cook for 3-5 minutes. Check seasoning and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley and chives.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Best of Irish Potato Recipes by Biddy White Lennon, pp. 62-63. Dublin: The O'Brien Press, 12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland, 2002

3062. POLLACK with PARSLEY SAUCE and CRISP BACON

serves two 


1 tablespoon plain flour
2 x 200g/8oz thick pollack fillets, skin on
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
4 rindless rashers good streaky bacon

For the parsley sauce
200ml whole milk
½ medium onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
nutmeg, for grating
small bunch curly parsley, chopped

To make the sauce, pour the milk into a medium pan and add the onion and bay leaf. Bring to a gentle simmer on the hob and cook for 5 mins. Turn off the heat, then leave to stand for 30 mins. When cool, remove the onion and bay leaf.

To prepare the fish, toss the flour, a pinch of salt and a couple of twists of black pepper in a large bowl. Add the fish, skin-side down, to coat the skin lightly in the flour. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the fish, skin-side down, and the bacon. Cook the fish for 5-6 mins or until the skin is crisp and it is almost completely opaque – there should be a couple of fingers’ width of uncooked fish running down the centre. Cook the bacon until it is really crisp, turning once, then remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Meanwhile, finish making the parsley sauce. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the flour. Cook for 30 secs. Slowly add the milk to the pan, stirring. Simmer gently for 5 mins, stirring continuously. Season with a good grating of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Keep warm over a low heat, stirring occasionally.

Flip the pollack over, reduce the heat slightly and cook on the other side for a further min or so until just cooked. Increase the heat under the sauce until it begins to bubble. Stir in the parsley and add a little extra milk if the sauce seems too thick. Season a little more if you like. 

Place the fish on two warmed plates. Spoon over the sauce and place the bacon on top. Serve.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Valentine Warner, Good Food Magazine, March 2010
 

2130. BAKED ALASKAN POLLOCK with BACON on an ASPARAGUS RAGOUT

serves four


320 grams Alaskan pollock fillets
4 slices Serrano ham
400 grams green and white asparagus
0.2 liters cream
butter
salt and pepper
Sichuan pepper
cornflour

Asparagus ragout: Trim the asparagus, cover the trimmed tough ends with water and boil for about 10 to 15 minutes to make the stock. Decant the liquid into a pan, mix in the cream and reduce to about half the quantity over a low heat. Thicken with cornflour.

Cut the asparagus stalks into bite-size pieces and simmer in the asparagus sauce for about 12 to 15 minutes. The asparagus gives off quite a lot of liquid, so the sauce needs to be thick to start with.

Pollock: Season the pollock with salt and pepper and fry in olive oil and butter for 2 to 3 minutes each side.

Lay the thin slices of ham on the hot fish (they give the dish a rich flavour) and serve on a bed of asparagus ragout.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Marine Stewardship Council, MSC Head Office (Worldwide), 3rd floor, Mountbarrow House, 6-20 Elizabeth Street, London SW1W 9RB UK