I think we can all agree we don’t eat enough seafood besides the old joke, all food you eat is “See-Food” lol. For this recipe you can change out the type of fish for one you personally love. I used Steel Head Trout with Crab. Here’s what you need to do.
You could prep this meal the night before, but please do not do it two days in advance since we are talking about fish and we want the freshest fish possible. If you’re going to be using frozen fish. Just place the fish into the refrigerator the day before you plan to prep for the next day meal. The fish takes one day to naturally thaw in the refrigerator or you could place the fish into a bowl of room temperature water. NEVER place fish into hot water to thaw. Even you are in a hurry. It changes the texture of the fish and is frowned upon in professional kitchens. In room temperature water the fish will thaw in about 20 minutes.
Preparing the Fish for Baking
Layout a piece of aluminum foil. You could add either a large pat of butter or olive oil to the bottom. This helps flavor the fish plus reduces the chance of sticking. While holding the filet of fish sprinkle sea salt all over the fish and place in the middle of the aluminum foil. Using a knife, I like to make a cut down the middle, not cutting all the way through the fish. This is where we’ll be adding the crab. We are creating a channel to place the crab. If you don’t the crab just falls all over the place and will give you a messy presentation.
Next, melt some butter, use high quality butter always. Here a link to Kerry Gold Butter, Chefs choice and $3. Place the crab on the fish, pack as much as each filet will allow. Everyone loves seeing a bunch of crab on any plate. Oh a little secret, I tested using canned lump crab meat. I know, not chef like lol. It was a test. I’ll report the crab was lacking in the full flavor profile. The water it sits in was the problem. It stole, sucked the flavor out of the crab. I will never repeat this mistake lol. I like buying snow crab and cleaning it myself. So much cheaper then buying pre-cleaned crab.
Here’s a video I did on cleaning crab fine dining style
Ok we have clean crab ✅
Stuff the crab 🦀 into the cut we made down the length of the Steel Head Trout. Then pour the melted butter over the top going down the seam / crab.
Here’s where you can get a little experimentation going on. I like using something like Old Bay or Tony’s as a way to up the flavor profile. You use anything to up the flavor. Just think of not over powering the fish flavor.
NOTE: Cajun seasoning has a large amount of Salt. Taste Taste Taste before using
Now, looking at the aluminum foil lengthwise, bring the aluminium foil edges together like a book and crimp the top edge and roll it down bringing the aluminium foil down to the fish. Try to not over roll or tighten the aluminium foil too much. This give the pouch a bit of room to steam.
Bake at 425 until done. About 10 to 12 minutes if your making two. Best to shoot for a lower amount of cook time. You can always check and place the fish back into the oven for a few more minutes to get the doneness your are looking for.
Enjoy,
👨🍳 Chef Pennington
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