Friday, April 19, 2013

FFwD: Cod (Perch) and Spinach Roulades

Fish: pureed, stuffed, and steamed. Sounds deliiiiicious, right?

I was fascinated by the idea of Cod and Spinach Roulades, this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, but really REALLY had no idea what to expect. Fish mousse? Huh? How can something sound simultaneously vile and promising? This recipe also excited me because I made preserved lemons when lemon season started here, but haven't had a use for them yet.

I used perch, because we had some in the freezer.

This recipe came together easily, which surprised me. Puree fish, heavy cream, and light spices (sorry, don't have the book in front of me. Was it just salt?) Sautee spinach, onions, and garlic, then add the preserved lemon, salt, pepper. Smear a rectangle of fish paste on plastic wrap. Make a strip of filling in the center. Use the plastic wrap to help roll it so it looks like a weiswurst. Steam rolled mystery food for 10 minutes.
That looks obscene. And hilarious.
I was a bit worried that the plastic wrap would melt, but it didn't. Worked perfectly. 

I topped with pesto a friend brought me from Genoa (birthplace of pesto), because I was too lazy to make the tomato sauce Dorie suggests.
It was good. It was shockingly good.

I'm surprised to say this, but this is one of my favorite recipes in the book. Definitely in the top 5. It was just as good as a salad topper the next day.

I've been a delinquent Dorista lately. I have several recipes to catch up on. I did make the Lemon Steamed Spinach --on time, no less-- but never posted about it. It was fine. I'd make it again. Not much more to say about it. I mean, it was lemon steamed spinach. No curveballs. Here's proof of its existence:

15 comments:

  1. I know - this was shockingly good. Even Fussy Eater went back for seconds (and then ate half of mine...)
    I like the phrase "smear a rectangle of fish paste" :-)

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  2. Your roulade looks so firm!! Mine is a bit watery. ;(
    But yes, I'm loving this recipe!

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  3. You have to make the tomato sauce, it was delicious

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  4. I freaked out when I finally read the recipe. Fish mousse just sounded way weird to me. Very happy that I made it since it was so different from anything that I have ever made before, but not one I have to repeat. Love that you had basil from the birthplace and home-preserved lemons. Aren't you giving Martha Stewart a run for her money:-)

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  5. Wow, nice work! This just didn't turn out right for me, the flavors just didn't work. Maybe it would have been better with a good pesto!

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  6. I, too, loved this - and I don't even like fish! I loved learning the technique too!

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  7. I was glad that I tried this, and glad to learn a new technique! I actually was pleasantly surprised by how good this was…but my husband wouldn’t try it, so I probably won’t be making it again!
    So glad you loved it…yours looks delicious! I used pesto on mine, too! Have a great weekend, Ei!

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  8. This sure was different...glad you loved it ... I liked it, but not a repeat for me. The Lemon Steamed Spinach has become a favorite at my house!

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  9. I think you had the best attitude of all of us going into this dish... glad it was such a success for you.

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  10. Glad you enjoyed this one Ei. It was OK, even tasty with the filling, but not a huge hit with me.

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  11. Rolled mystery food! LOL! This was interesting. I liked it better on top of salad than plain on the plate. Maybe just needed more acid from the salad dressing. It was good though.

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  12. You are the Wonder Woman of the Week, in my opinion. What I didn't say in my Post was that the roulade was very, very good and tasty. All my rolled plastic wrap thinggies burst out of the plastic and fell apart. I put one back together again but it wasn't pretty. Yours is. So glad you liked it. I am anxious to read your Posts on the two Jerusalem recipes you tried. I gifted a friend here with it and she made Chicken Sofrito (pp. 190-191) last week. It was amazing. I've yet to make something but have loved reading through it.

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  13. Haha. You're right, these definitely look obscene. I'm glad you enjoyed this one so much! I really liked it too, although I'm not sure that anything that isn't a dessert would be in my top 5 :-)

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  14. Yours look great. Nice that you could use some of the pesto your friend brought you, too.

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