I woke up with a sudden urge for skate. To follow up on it, I promptly went to Citarella* and bought one small skate and had the fishmonger bone it and cut into two pieces.
Menu
Skate
Rice
Tomato Salad
Wine: Hogue: Fumé Blanc, Columbia Valley 2007
Dessert: Häagendasz Chocolate Ice Cream
Recipe Skate
Following an old recipe in my file, I soaked the skate in milk. When ready to serve, I dried the skate and dusted it lightly with flour. Next, I sautéed the fillets in hot oil in a pan for three minutes on each side and carefully transferred the delicate-looking wings onto a platter. As instructed, I wiped the pan clean, melted butter and added one finely chopped shallot and about two tablespoons of capers. I cooked these briefly and deglazed the pan with some white wine. Then I poured the sauce over the skate and garnished the dish with chopped parsley.
The skate was perfectly cooked. But I don’t know if the milk had anything to do with it. Also, without the milk, I wouldn’t have bothered to dredge the fillets in flour. The skate wings are as light as air and cook within minutes. The less done with them, the better.
George and I tasted our first skate, called ray, on a trip to Normandy. It instantly became one of my favorite fish. I recall it was served with beurre noir (black butter). That’s how I’ll cook it, the next time.
The tomatoes for the salad came from pour obliging two tomato plants. I simply cut them into thick slices, sprinkle them with sea salt and some olive oil.
*Citarella (212) 874-0383
www.citarella.com
2 comments:
Simple, but the dish and the menu sounds delicious, although I'll try with a kosher fish (skate is not).
By the way, I'm curious about beurre noir (black butter). What it's made of and what other dishes you can use it in?
Thank you for sharing your cooking ideas,
Lana
Interesting about it being not kosher. I imagine you could use any flat fish, such as fillet of sole.
Beurre Noir refers to butter cooked over low heat until dark brown (not black). It's usually flavored with vinegar or lemon juice and served over eggs, fish or, undoubtedly your favorite--brain!!
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