florida corn | Capers in Cooking

First things first – please excuse the horrible quality of the photos in this post. The urge to make something new struck me at the same exact time I realized my camera battery needs a charge. Thank goodness for high-quality cell phone cameras.

If you’re from up north, you probably know what Haddock Supreme is. It’s something I always order in every restaurant that serves it when I’m there. Fresh fish baked with a delicious cheesy sauce and buttered breadcrumbs. Fish and cheese? I know, it sounds weird, but trust me. So many of us eat fish because it’s a healthy alternative and we always grill or sauté it. Covering it with cheese and buttered breadcrumbs sounds like a crime, but why should chicken have all the fun? The only catch is that I’m a Florida girl and Haddock just isn’t my favorite, so I made this with Grouper and have renamed it Grouper au Gratin. We had fresh Snowy Grouper in the store, so I took that home for this. Snowy Grouper is delicious and they have really pretty white spots all over them, which is how they got their name.

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Grouper au Gratin – Serves 4

2 pounds Grouper fillet
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
zest of one lemon
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup grated cheese (Cheddar, Gruyére, or anything you love)
1 cup crushed crackers
1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Start by spraying four small oven-safe ramekins, au gratin dishes, or small loaf pans with a nonstick cooking spray (I use coconut oil spray). If you don’t have any of those things, you can make this in one large baking dish. Cut the fish into 4 portions that will fit in the dishes and nestle the fish down into the dishes. The way this fillet and the dishes were shaped, I ended up with 2 pieces in each dish… which is perfectly okay. Gather up the rest of the ingredients you need because, once you start making the sauce, you won’t want to get too far from the stove.

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Next, you’ll make the sauce to go over the fish. This is so easy. Just melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Cook this (whisk the entire time) for about two minutes or until it turns a light golden brown. It will look bubbly. Add in the milk, whisking the entire time. Continue to whisk over medium heat until it begins to thicken. Whisk in the Parmesan, Dijon, and Thyme. (I like the Dijon because it’s made with Chardonnay and it just goes so nicely with seafood!) Remove from heat. I did not add any salt to this because the Parmesan, Cheddar, and cracker crumbs all had salt already.

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Ladle the sauce over the fish. You want enough to cover the fish, but not so much that you’re going to overflow the dishes and have a disaster in your oven.

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Top with the shredded cheese. Toss the cracker crumbs with the Olive Oil and a little more of the fresh Thyme and sprinkle this over the top of the cheese. Place the small dishes on a large baking sheet to protect your oven from spills (it also makes it easier to get them in and out of the oven).

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Once they are browned and bubbling around the edges, they’re finished. Mine took just shy of 30 minutes. I was able to see the fish in a few places where it poked through the topping and could tell that it was opaque and fully cooked.

I put some fresh local corn in the oven to cook with the fish and we had some fresh pasta with pesto alongside it. It made for a pretty easy meal. (We cut our corn off the cob and bake it with a little bit of milk and butter – it’s the best!)

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We finished this off with a Southern-Style Peach Cobbler because, if you’re covering your fish in a creamy sauce and cheese… why not? It was a giant hit with the whole family (and how could it not be?!)

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If you’re from South Florida, you know that Summer is the BEST time for local corn. It’s absolutely unbeatable. I’ve been known to buy a crate at a time and freeze it to have year-round, because it is just THAT much better this time of year. Something else that is great in Summer? Halibut!! Since it comes from Alaska, it is not readily available year-round. Spring and Summer are the perfect time to enjoy our Alaskan favorites such as Halibut and Wild Salmon.

Sweet Corn Risotto

4 ears of Corn
1/3 cup White Wine
1-1/2 cup Arborio Rice
1 Shallot – minced
2 cloves Garlic – minced
6 cups Low-Sodium Chicken or Vegetable Stock
1 tablespoon of Butter
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Thyme or Basil
2 tablespoons of Milk or Chicken/Vegetable Stock
1/2 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

Start by removing the corn from the cob and gathering the rest of your ingredients. Warm the stock over low heat – keep it on the back burner during this entire process. When making risotto, you ONLY add hot stock to the pot… never room temperature or cold. Make sure all your ingredients are on-hand and ready to go!

Heat the butter and olive oil in a very heavy-bottom pot over medium heat (my preferred vessel for risotto is ALWAYS the Dutch Oven). Add the shallot and cook until clear, but not browned.

Add the rice and continue to cook (stirring the entire time) for around 2 minutes. Add the wine (stand back because this will produce a lot of steam). Stir until the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Add the garlic and stir before adding your first cup of stock to the mix.

You will be able to tell that the liquid has been absorbed when you can’t see any in the bottom of the pan.

From here, you will add one cup of hot stock to the rice at a time, stirring after each addition and allowing it to cook until the liquid has been absorbed before you add more. In the meantime, divide the corn in half. Put half of it in the blender or food processor with a few tablespoons of liquid and some thyme or basil (whichever you are using). I used milk, but you could use some of the stock if you were keeping this recipe dairy-free. Blend or process the corn until fairly smooth and put it aside.

It takes about 30 minutes to complete the risotto. During this time, I prepared my Halibut. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I portioned it and dipped the top side into an egg wash (one egg and a tablespoon of milk or water) and then dipped it into the breadcrumbs. I used a seasoned whole wheat breadcrumb that I had on-hand. I like the crust created by the breadcrumb, but I really don’t like my entire piece of fish breaded unless I’m deep frying it. Heat some butter or olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat and get ready to sear your fish.

Carefully place the fish, crumbs down, into the hot pan and DO NOT MOVE it. Allow it to cook for a minute or two before gently lifting the edge to check for desired ‘brownness’. Carefully remove the fish and place it onto a prepared baking sheet crumb side up. Transfer it to the oven to allow it to finish cooking all the way through. How long this takes will depend on the thickness of the fish you have. Mine took about five minutes.

While the fish is finishing up, go back to the risotto. When almost all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is almost cooked through, add the corn. Allow it to cook for a few minutes. Add the blended corn and allow it to cook for a few more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and any additional herbs you’re using. Cover until you’re ready to serve it.

This is the point where I found myself with a few extra minutes and wanting something more out of this meal. I decided to make a very quick Truffle Cream Sauce. I am a chronic anti-measurer in the kitchen, so this is more of a ‘method’ than an exact recipe; you might find yourself needing a little more liquid than I suggested. The addition of the sauce is COMPLETELY optional. It was not necessary at all, but truffles and corn are delicious together and it really did help to tie it all together.

Truffle Cream Sauce (Optional)