It is no secret that I have to use frozen fish from time to time. But a real chef won’t blame his tools or his ingredients.
Starting with a couple of frozen yellowfin sole fillets, I defrosted them by running them under water for a minute or so. I buttered a parchment-lined tray and put the fish on. I seasoned with salt and pepper, and added a crunchy/fatty sprinkling of crushed walnuts on top. I splashed both with some homemade vanilla extract and set them in the oven to cook.
I blended some dill, the leftover walnuts, brown malt vinegar, a touch of oil, and some yellow habanero sauce together to make a vinaigrette.
I finished plating with some of my new pickled yellow mustard seed. The bad part that it provided exactly zero visual contrast with the walnuts. The good news is that it was the perfect counterpoint the creaminess of the walnuts. Nuts are fun in that the provide a crunchy texture, but once you start chewing them, they get creamy. Pine nuts and almonds would have done well also. And the mustard seeds almost felt like I was eating caviar, which was cool. I definitely think they’re growing on me.
Critically, I should have toasted the walnuts do intensify their flavor, and some dill fronds would have set off the colors on the dish nicely.