GINGER, ALMOND AND SESAME CRUSTED PICKEREL WITH CANDIED BEETS AND KALE
This crunchy little paste has the ability to turn boring white fish into something crispy (without all gluten and fat from breading and frying), and delectable.
Fresh fish is a long. distant memory from the summer this time of year and if it weren’t for our local Farmer’s Market (I’ll never stop singing the praises of buying local and seasonal as much as possible!) we probably wouldn’t eat much fish. We especially avoid fish coming in from China as much as possible which means eating a lot of white fish, mainly pickerel from Georgian Bay.
I’d imagine that this crust would taste just as yummy on tilapia or haddock. Wild tout and salmon too! So whatever you’ve got on hand, hook it up!
I chose to pair it with flash sautéed kale in a bit of coconut oil and Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar on a bed of simple, steamed basmati rice and a side of candied heirloom beets. I’ll include the easy instructions and measurements for the sides down below too!
For The Fish:- 4 (4-6 ounce) pickerel fillets
- ¾ cup of sliced almonds
- ¼ cup of sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon maple sugar
- 1 tablespoon Chinese 5 spice
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil + 3 more for frying
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning as needed
- ⅛ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
For The Beets:- 6-8 heirloom beets
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon Herbamare
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For The Kale:- 1 pound of kale
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon Bragg's apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For The Beets:- Since these beauties take the longest, we'll start with them. Preheat oven to 425 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- Wash, peel and cube the beets into ½ inch chunks.
- Coat in the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Spread out evenly on the lined cookie sheet and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, turning them every so often to assure all sides get a little crispy. You want some caramelizing action going on here. SO YUM.
For The Fish:- While those beets are cooking, start up a pot of rice! We like basmati, begin whatever kind you dig.
- Then, In a (quality), coffee grinder, whizz the almonds, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic, maple sugar, Chinese 5 spice, lemon juice, melted coconut oil, salt and pepper together until a thick paste has formed. Just pump the buzzer 6-10 times and you should be good! Set aside.
- Using a flat spatula, smear both sides of the fish with the paste.
- Next, over medium heat, melt the 3 reserved tablespoons of coconut oil in a cast iron frying pan until it pops (water droplets should dance in a ready pan), and carefully place your filets down, gingerly flipping halfway through cooking until both sides are crispy and golden.
For The Kale:- Usually in the last few minutes of the fish cooking I'll quickly wash and give a rough chop to the kale and flash sautée it with the coconut oil, ACV, salt and pepper until just a wee bit wilted. Approximately 3-4 minutes if that, it should be bright green still! If it's starting to go really dark and muted in colour, you've cooked all those lovely nutrients out and it just doesn't taste as good. Mush.
- That's it! Plate it up as you so wish, I really like greens on top of rice and the ACV combined with the coconut oil makes for a nice dribble of saucy flavouring to pass on down into the rice. I drizzled some chili oil all over, because well, why wouldn't I?
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