Rockfish season has been phenomenal this year. Fish being caught in Maryland and Virginia have been arriving fresh every week. Here is a great recipe to showcase our home waters' bounty and kick start the warming up of the spring season.
Ingredients:
Chimichurri
- 2 cup Flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
- 1-2 tbsp Oregano finely chopped
- 1 small Shallot minced
- 3 Garlic cloves minced
- ½ – ¾ cup Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- ½ Lemon juiced
- 1 tsp Fine sea salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper
- ½ tsp Red chili flakes (optional)
Rice
- 2 cups Long-grain rice
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 small Shallots minced
- 2 cups Fish / chicken stock
- 2 cups Water
- 1 tsp Fine sea salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper
Fish
- 1 ½ – 2 lb Wild Rockfish fillet
- 10 oz Cherry tomatoes
- 2 tsp Avocado oil
Directions:
Chimichurri Sauce
Finely chop parsley, oregano, shallots, garlic, and add to bowl. Add in olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt and spices, and stir. Let rest 30min. - 1hr. Allowing the flavors to meld together.
You can cut out manually chopping the herbs with a food processor, but blend everything by hand as the machine can begin to emulsify the oil.
Rice
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped shallot and 1 tsp sea salt; cook until translucent. Stir in 2 cups long-grain rice and ½ tsp black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the rice is golden, about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups each Fish or chicken stock and water; bring to a simmer, then cover and cook over low heat, 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and add chopped parsley as garnish.
Fish
Preheat oven to 425ºF. On a baking sheet drizzle some oil, add fish fillet skin side down, place tomatoes around the outside of the fish, drizzle the remainder of the oil over both, sprinkle with salt, then insert into the oven. Cook for 12 – 18mins. watching for the fish to become flaky and the tomatoes to split.
Once everything is cooked plate the rice, tomatoes, and fish. Then spoon a good helping of the chimichurri sauce over each piece of fish. You can garnish the rice with any left over parsley, and cut the other half of lemon into wedges.
