Pacific Dog Snapper.
While we were holed up in Isla San Francisco during the Norther that would never end, our fishing adventures were not terribly fruitful. Fortunately we were visited by James on SV Pyxis who had gone diving with his (homemade!) speargun and was able to spear not one, not two, not three…but FOUR large fish. Three of the fish were big, bright, Pacific dog snappers, the other was a yellowtail, with more muted coloring, but still stunning.
We were in day three of the six day blow and most of the charter boats left after day one or two to head south to La Paz, leaving just a few boats at Isla San Francisco. Asking nothing in return, James gave each of his neighbors an entire snapper and then later in the evening he returned with his girlfriend Eva to give us a huge yellowtail steak. We reciprocated with fresh-made banana bread. James and Eva spend the winters in Baja and then head back home during the winter to do various projects. James was most recently commissioned to design a climbing gym in downtown Portland. Small world.
Between the snapper and the yellowtail we easily had four fresh, delicious meals to look forward to:
- On the first night I made ceviche for the first time ever using the yellowtail. For those who aren’t familiar with ceviche, you essentially “cook” the fish with the acid from lemons or limes. It was the perfect meal because it didn’t require me to stand outside in the wind. It was light, refreshing, simple, healthy.
- The next morning we fried up the remaining yellowtail with potatoes, onions and peppers and topped it with a fried egg for brunch.
- On the second night Jeff grilled half of the snapper with lime and pepper and we made fish tacos.
- On the third night I tried my hand at panko-breaded snapper with mashed cauliflower and green beans. It was delicious, but it was also kind of a disaster.
Jeff captured the magic on video. What the video doesn’t show you is that most of the panko breading flew off of the fish as I was transferring it from the plate to the frying pan, effectively becoming fish food. I was also lazy and didn’t remove the skin before frying it…so in fact only one side of the panko breaded fish was actually breaded and it was partially breaded at that. Suffice it to say, I’m not gonna submit this for any culinary awards.
That being said, I did discover during this cooking adventure that mayonnaise + Parmesan + panko breading + butter = one delicious fish. The mayonnaise keeps it moist (sorry friends who hate that word) and the parmesan, panko and butter make it tasty. Just don’t overcook it. Cook the fish so that the meat is still a tiny bit translucent, take it off the heat and cover it with a lid to let it finish.
When I took the fish inside I feared that it might not be cooked all the way through, but in actuality it was perfect. This was good news for me, since I didn’t want to go back out into the wind. There are some days when cooking outside is grand…and there are other days when it is not so grand.