Our third cooking class in ‘Sustainable Seafood’ looked at mercury in fish. Larger, older, predatory fish have the most mercury because they have had more time to accumulate it; watch out for swordfish, shark, king mackerel and the larger tunas. Mercury is a really nasty heavy metal, and it is advisable to avoid it wherever possible, as it accumulates in the fish’s body and then in yours. (Our next class looked at tuna more closely, so you’ll have to wait until I write it up!)

The Menu:

to start, Chilled Cucumber and Bell Pepper Soup with Crab

Chilled Cucumber and Red Bell Pepper Soup with Crab

pouring out the cucumber soup

• tinned crab (that tasted just like fresh crab) was added to the cold cucumber soup. This soup was cool and refreshing even though I normally hate cucumbers!

followed by a Shaved Fennel, Radish and Orange Salad 

• this was a must make… an unusual and delicious salad!
  

  Shaved Fennel, Radish and Orange Salad with Dill Dressing

cutting up the fennel for the salad

the fennel and radishes for the salad

• the appetizer was Roasted Fish Filet with Lemon Rock Salt Crust – even though this was pre-wrapped in seaweed to reduce the salt, most of the class found it a little too salty for their tastes. However, I was thinking it would have been fantastic as a topper for anything that would be tasty with extra salt such as rice, potatoes or hard-boiled eggs…
  

  Roasted Fish Filet with Lemon Rock Salt Crust

pre-wrapping the fish in seaweed before covering with rock salt…

removing the salt from the seaweed-wrapped fish

• the main course was Orange and Yogurt Tilapia Curry served over Basmati Rice with Mustard Seeds and Banana. The fragrant rice was wonderful on its own, but somewhat overwhelmed by the curry.

Ingredients for the Curried Tilapia

• for dessert we had  Chocolate Mousse on Orange Crème with Orange Confit. This was my thing – up to my elbows in chocolate mousse – could there be anything better?
  

  Chocolate Mousse on Orange Crème with Orange Confit and Fresh Mint

the fancy bottle of Grand Marnier that was an essential ingredient in the chocolate mousse on orange creme.

orange rind and sugar for the Orange Confit

folding the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture for the chocolate mousse

Chef Eric posts many of his recipes on his website: http://www.911cheferic.com/

‘Sustainable Seafood’ Cooking Class 1
‘Sustainable Seafood’ Cooking Class 2
‘Sustainable Seafood’ Cooking Class 4