Quickly and Easily, a Touch of Elegance By MARK BITTMAN Published: April 9, 2008 MOSTLY I play down elegance — it’s too complicated and fussy for most home cooks to bother with — but occasionally I’m surprised at how easily it can be achieved. That was the case a couple of weeks ago when I decided to try to mimic a restaurant-style dish that resembles stuffed cabbage but contains far fewer ingredients and can be put together in less than half an hour.
That dish is fish wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves (or Bibb lettuce or cabbage), then poached in buttery white wine. Other than salt and pepper, all the ingredients are mentioned in the previous sentence, which is a good start. A good finish is how the flavors mingle just perfectly; the butter’s sweetness offsets the bitterness of the lettuce and the acidity of the wine. The mild fish holds it all together. I used halibut one time, cod another, but you can use whatever mild white fish you like. You must make sure the lettuce leaves are pliable enough to wrap around the fish. Discard the most ragged leaves. Start with the large outer leaves and, if they have a thick vein at their base — say, wider than 3/8 inch — make a V-shaped cut up the middle of the leaf, to the point where the rib narrows and becomes more flexible. Discard the vein. This will not be a problem if you use a butterleaf lettuce like Bibb, or possibly the inner leaves of romaine or cabbage (it depends on the particular head). Poach (that is to say, boil) the leaves in salted water until soft, usually less than 30 seconds. Dry on paper towels and you’re ready to wrap. Any method will do here: put the fish in the middle and fold the leaves over, or put it on one end and roll ’em up. I would just recommend smaller rather than larger fish chunks, to make sure the leaves fit over them. The elegance of the dish is somehow lost if the fish isn’t completely enveloped by the leaves — and we wouldn’t want that to happen. from:http://lifehealth.blog21.fc2.com/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Django users" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/django-users?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
