the review: pan roasted fish with Brussels sprouts and beets

Ok, so I am gushing over this new cookbook, right? Collards and Carbonara. Yum. And I decide to make Flounder with Beets, Brussels Sprouts & Brown Butter. Only, I can’t find flounder. Or baby beets. And I don’t have a pressure cooker to cook the beets. And I have absolutely no clue what sea beans are.

Carry on. Yep, that’s what I did. Just like that overused, over-edited, over updated sign. I bought groceries and carried on. The only white fish at my market was sole. I picked the smallest beets that I could find. The recipe called for 12 baby beets for four people. I had non-baby beets and eight people. I went with eight beets. I bought some Brussels sprouts. Was it two pounds? I doubt it. But I knew how to roast garlic and I finally found Sherry vinegar. I was ready to go.

I roasted my beets with olive oil and salt and pepper instead of using the pressure cooker that I didn’t have. Fortunately, the accompanying photo for this recipe in the cookbook was of the fish in the pan, so I had the flexibility to make it up when it came to the vegetables. Now would be a good time to point out that, in case you haven’t noticed, I really have not been cooking for the last, I don’t know, six weeks? It isn’t just that I fell off the face of the internet, people. It’s that I fell off the face of the kitchen. I mean, I didn’t have one. So it is kind of like we are starting from scratch here if you know what I mean.

Which brings me to the Brussels sprouts. One pound of them, “leaves separated.” Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how many leaves are on each Brussels sprout? And I was doubling the recipe so that meant two pounds (which I am SURE was more than was even available at the grocery store so I most certainly did not have in my kitchen). I would have been there for a week. Again, no photo. I improvised. With my Cuisinart.

Once the ingredients are ready (i.e., you’ve spent a week separating your Brussels sprouts leaves and your entire paycheck on your pressure cooker), the rest of the recipe comes together quite easily. Oh, right. I forgot. You also have to make a quick vinaigrette. For which you have to roast garlic. Don’t worry, the instructions are in the back of the cookbook. Ok, so once you have all that done (because you started dinner at 4 pm only to get it on the table close to 7 – you are seriously out of practice), this is pretty easy to put together.

Except you have the wrong fish. And you have so much fish, and so many vegetables, that you have two pans going. Like this.

And it is remarkable how the fish shrinks so that when you actually plate dinner, you have enough to serve five but not the other three, one of whom has to eat an egg sandwich for dinner when she gets home from dance. Too bad too, because this dish is tasty. And it was vegetarian and gluten free and the one kid who didn't get any happened to be the one kid who doesn't eat meat or gluten.

This was super tasty. A little of that dressing goes a long way. You should make it. Don't worry about the pressure cooker. Let me know if you find flounder though. And just renting The Little Mermaid doesn't count.