"Eating clean" and improvising: baked fish with sesame and ginger

Ragazzi, you may find Annalena to be totally inconsistent. She talks about the "temple days" of abstinence, and offers a lovely cauliflower recipe, which is then followed by a macaroni and cheese which is a rich as Croeseus as they say (look it up: educate yourselves).

Ah, but are we not all a series of contradictions? Annalena realizes fully that for most of us, the possibilities of a saintly life food wise, are goals and not facts. And that being the case, she shall continue to alternate the temple food with that which can hardly be called such. Hence, following this recipe, you will be seeing one of Annalena's classic holiday cookie recipes.

And we go on. When we cook, we get our recipes from many sources. Some (like Annalena...:)) we trust immediately. Others, we are skeptical of. Annalena feels you should never trust any recipe source completely. A good source will tell you: use this recipe as a GUIDE. It may not work quite this way for you. Indeed, in the kitchen, you must learn to be flexible, and to not assume you were a failure. If the recipe is written correctly (and many are not, sad to say), and you have some kitchen savvy, you can correct or change a recipe, make it your own, and then pass it on.

Such is the case with this recipe, one from one of Annalena's culinary idols, David Tanis. Chef Tanis' food is marked by simplicity and fidelity to what's local and seasonal. And when he posts a recipe which is also "clean" (more on this below), Annalena pays attention. When it happens to include ingredients that are in Annalena's pantry, she pays more attention. And when she doesn't have what he prescribes, she makes do. When the recipe isn't working, she solves the issues. As you will see.

"Eating clean." Annalena first learned this term from her personal trainer friends, most notably Ms. Emily. For Annalena, this meant eating preservative free: the old rule of "if your grandmother wouldn't recognize what's in it, don't eat it." Of course, as Annalena is now old enough to be the grandparent of some of her friends, this rule will have to change. But Ms. Emily uses the phrase differently. She used it in the sense of trying to eliminate as much that is "bad" for you as possible. No red meat. No sugars. No refined carbs.

And, in Annalena's view, if taken to its limits, no fun. Still... This recipe qualifies as clean. It is a fish recipe, and it is made with one TEASPOON - yes, you read that correctly - one TEASPOON of fat. And it works, and it's good.


Here's how you make it. You start with a pound of a firm, white fleshed fish. Annalena had hake in the house, but if like Ms. Emily you are on the West Coast, try some halibut or rockfish, or use bass, or cod, or anything along those lines. Salt and pepper it and put it aside for a few minutes, while you preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and get a glass or ceramic baking dish handly, together with a piece of foil.

Grate a teaspoon (you can be more generous here) of fresh ginger, and mix it with a teaspoon of dark sesame oil. Now, rub this all over your fish (cut it into two serving size pieces, or if you're not that hungry, smaller ones), and put the fish in the baking dish. Let it sit for fifteen minutes.

The recipe Annalena used also called for making a quick pickle of ginger slices. I did not have that much ginger handy, so I substituted. I had a Persian cucumber, which I cubed, and mixed with a bit of salt and some rice wine vinegar. I let that sit, while I was preparing the fish.

After the fifteen minute "sit", cover the baking dish with foil, and put it in the oven.

According to Chef Tanis, you wait for ten minutes, and if the fish is not quite cooked, give it another two. After ten minutes, I had warm sushi. Two minutes was not going to do it.

Was the recipe wrong? Maybe. Maybe Chef Tanis worked with thinner slices of fish than I did. Maybe his fish has a different composition than the hake. In any event, I put it back in the oven for another six minutes, and then the center of my slices was just barely flaking, which is the way I like it.

Chef Tanis also calls for black sesame seeds, which I call "nigella," and which people tell me is incorrect. Oh well. It is a rare house that has black sesame seeds. They ARE good, and if you happen to pass a spice store on the way home, get some. But if you don't have them, and can't get them, improvise. Regular sesame would be fine, and you could also leave them out. You could also use some fresh herbs, or add an onion element from a scallion, or even, as I was thinking, some shaved cooked beets.

Whatever you do, plate up your fish, and put the cucumbers and sesame on top of it. Don't leave this out, as it really wakens the fish.

And what have you here? A wonderful supper dish for two or more people, where the total added fat was a teaspoon: about 40 lousy calories. Ragazzi, you probably get more than 40 calories SMELLING cookies. So for heaven's sake, make this once in a while. Chef Tanis served it forth with steamed spinach, and rice, and I thought this was just the perfect idea, especially since there were two bags of spinach in the fridge, "giving me the stink eye," as Ms. Nora would say. Since you've been so "clean" with your protein, decorate your veggies and rice if you like, or have a small dessert, or do both. Keep it clean, but no one expects an immaculate dinner.

Carry on, my lovelies. We're gonna make potato chip pecan sandies next.