Fish Recipes – Basil Infused Tuna, Black Sea Bass, Steamed Salmon in Ginger Broth, Baked Snapper with Tomatoes and Olives

I love fish in all its glorious forms — raw, pan-seared, grilled, baked, smoked.

I used to cook a lot of fish and shellfish, but I haven’t been shopping at Whole Foods since I broke my foot. Central Market may be a teensy bit farther, but it’s been easier to negotiate, since it’s much smaller than the WF Flagship that used to be my only supermarket. At WF, I can buy great frozen wild fish and store it until I need it. At Central Market, it’s all fresh, all the time, so I am a bit more leery of shopping there.

(Whether it is true or not, I believe frozen fish is fresher than fresh fish. I live in Central Texas, where any fresh fish is flown or trucked in. Flash frozen just seems a better choice.)

My typical fish dishes involve a combination of pan-searing and steaming — to limit the overall aroma of fish in the house — but I am always looking for new techniques and new recipes. I really want to try a salmon sous vide, since I already have the vacuum sealer and an excellent thermometer. As I look at the list of recipes I have saved, I see a few of them also use steam. Here, I always thought I was cheating.

Serious Eats has an intriguing recipe for Basil-Infused Tuna With Soy Vinaigrette. It looks beautiful and sounds very, very easy. I like the idea of steaming the fish, so I think I will be trying this one.

French Laundry at Home has a Black Sea Bass recipe that looks complex, of course, but amazing. The fish portion is definitely do-able.

Bon Appetit has a great reminder that most supermarket fish is thawed from frozen, so in order to get a great sear, it has to be very, very dry. The recommend wrapping them in paper towels in the fridge for a few hours.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten has his recipe for Steamed Salmon in Ginger Broth from his new cookbook.

Chow has a recipe for Baked Snapper with Tomatoes and Olives (Pesce al Forno con Pomodori e Olive Neri), which includes some good tips for cooking it ahead and serving it for guests.

I found the best article about sous vide fish on eGullet, which you can find here.