Recipe Review 7/26/10

We've been eating a fair amount of fish this summer, trying to have it at least once a week.  It helps that the Husband went on a Lake Superior charter fishing trip back in May that was quite successful, and we have some great sources for local fish in town.  The downside is, there just isn't much to say in the way of grilling fish and having a side salad or grilled zucchini (garden has been quite prolific - I may have to start turning the zucchini into baked goods).

Some of my favorite fish include: halibut, whitefish, trout, salmon, and coho's (a type of salmon).  My least favorite fish?  Walleye and Lake Trout.  I know, I know, very un-Minnesotan of me. 

This past week, partially inspired by the movie Julie and Julia, and partly inspired by listening to Splendid Table on MPR,  I pulled out my underused Mastering the Art of French Cooking (J. Childs) and made...(drumroll please...)... Hollandaise Sauce!  Yes!  That decadent golden sauce that adorns a perfectly poached egg on an english muffin.  

But, this wasn't destined for eggs benedict.  Indeed not! This creamy rich sauce was headed for grilled Lake Trout.  As I noted above, I don't much care for Lake Trout, finding it to be a rather strong oily fish, but when drizzled in a lemony, buttery velvety sauce...very palatable.  

Grilled Lake Trout with zucchini and Hollindaise Sauce (sorry, not the best pic)

I won't type up the Hollandaise sauce here, instead I'll refer you to a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking or to Michael Rhulman's Classic Hollandaise Sauce blog post. 


The other notable recipe this week was Creamy Polenta with Kielbasa as provided by Culinary in the Country

The Husband actually made this dish, so I cannot comment on how it all came together.  When I walked in the door, he did note that it does take a good 45-50 minutes for the polenta to simmer into a smooth, creamy dish.  It turned out just like Joe's pictures!   I can comment though that one can change the cheese added to the polenta at the end - it calls for parmesan - to make it tangier if desired.  Some asiago, a splash of blue cheese, and others would be a good counterpoint to sausage or kielbasa.

Joe recipe called for sausage, but we used venison kielbasa as we had a lot made up last time we were deer hunting.  I'm not wild about traditional sausage and kielbasa is my compromise.   A crisp garden side salad rounded out the meal.