Jerk Fried Flounder w/ Green Pepper Sauce

It's Friday!  And it's also another Friday that I have to work until 10:30 tonight.  Bummer, I know.  But I have the whole weekend off and I've got a pretty busy one planned.  Thanks to everyone who voted for me in Challenge #2 of Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog!  I'm crossing my fingers that I get to make it to Challenge #3, which is to throw a luxury dinner party.  Win or lose, I'm having a dinner party on Saturday with a few friends.  So we can either discuss my victory or drink a bunch of wine over good food to drown my sorrows!  Either way, it'll be a good time, with good friends.  And that's all we need right?  Right.

I made this flounder a few weeks ago and it was just beaming with great flavors and color.  It was simple, yet sophisticated.  And above all, it was absolutely delicious!


Ingredients:


2 6 oz. Flounder fillets
2 tablespoons Caribbean Jerk Seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
juice from 1 lime
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 roasted green pepper, minced
small handful cilantro, chopped
Homemade Hot Sauce (optional)

Season the flounder fillets w/ the jerk seasoning, and a little bit of salt and pepper, if desired.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet under medium high heat.  Pan fry the fish for about 3-5 minutes today, flipping once.  Transfer fillets to 2 serving plates and tent with aluminum foil.

Add chicken stock and lime juice to same skillet used for fish.  Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half.  Whisk in the butter, hot sauce, and green bell pepper.  Heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour the mixture over the fillets and garnish with cilantro.

I served this over a Corn & Sweet Pepper Hash (which I will post in the near future, of course) and it was absolutely perfect.  Fresh vegetables, perfectly flaky fish, and quick turnaround.  This should definitely be put on your to-make list very soon!  Enjoy the weekend guys!  And hopefully I'll be posting a luxury dinner post on Sunday, thanks to you guys! 

Seafood Sandwich

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a great holiday with whatever holiday you are celebrating this season! I know it was a great time for me. Everything I got this year is something I've wanted and will use. Even my parents got me things that I actually liked this year! You'll notice a lot more color and flare with the food pictures to come also! Thanks to Andy, I got many new fabrics and dishes to accentuate my food! Hopefully it'll make it all more appealing! Cheers!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Stellar Recipes' blog

5-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Small handful of parsley leaves, chopped
Juice from 1 lime
3/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
2 flounder fillets
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 slices rustic italian bread
mixed greens
1/2 lb. frozen cooked shrimp

In a small bowl, combine the basil, parsley, lime juice, and sour cream. Mix everything together well and salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Combine the flour with some salt and pepper and dredge each flounder fillet with flour.

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat and melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Place flounder in skillet and cook both fillets until browned on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.

In another skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp is heated through and nice and juicy.

Assemble sandwiches by placing handful of mixed greens on slice of italian bread. Then place flounder fillet on top of greens. Then top flounder with a few pieces of shrimp (I did 6 per sandwich). Then on top slice of bread, spread some of the basil/sour cream mixture on top and cover sandwich with bread.

This is not your normal, everyday fish sandwich. This is something special. Definitely is well deserving of a "seafood sandwich" title. Enjoy!

Curried Flounder & Rice

I'm not gonna lie, this was just okay. Kind of looks like a bunch of mush. Haven't really had anything good come about lately. Kind of depressing, but I guess I'll get back in the game soon... hopefully.


Ingredients:
Adapted from The Taste of Oregon's blog

1 cup spinach, washed and drained
1 egg
1 15 oz can coconut milk
2 flounder fillets, cut up into 1 inch cubes/slices
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 teaspoon fish sauce
3 dried red chiles
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, and egg. Beat the mixture until the curry paste is dissolved and well incorporated.

Add flounder pieces and let marinate in fridge for about an hour.

In a large skillet, heat up oil under medium to high heat. Add the dried chiles and cook until browned, about 1-2 minutes. Add the bell pepper and saute until soft, about 4-5 minutes.

Add fish/coconut milk mixture to pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes, when fish is white and mixture is heated through. Add in spinach and stir until wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with rice.

I don't really know how to describe this dish. It had flavors of a thai style curry, yes, but it just didn't have enough punch. The original dish was meant to be a custard-type deal steamed in a banana leaf boat, but I didn't feel like buying any banana leaves so I just heated the mixture up. I should have probably removed the egg since I wasn't planning on doing a custard. That was mistake number one. The curry may have been less chunky and more smooth that way. The rice I made was a little mushy too. Kind of made it runny. It was just sort of a plain jane dish and didn't get much depth of flavor. Oh well, try and try again I suppose.