Seafood Extravaganza - Lobster Bisque, Salt Baked Tilapia, Fried Potato Slices, Mushroom Spinach Puff Pastry with Snow Peas

Tonight's theme on seafood was inspired by an Iron Chef episode where one of the iron chef made a salted dome fish. The response from one of the judge was it was the best thing she had eaten because the flavor of the fish was so intense.  That's my main motto when it comes to cooking: freshness, natural, and flavorful. I always believe the flavor of the main ingredient should never be overwhelmed by other spices or poor cooking technique. 

I decided to make a healthy version of lobster bisque. That sound like an oxoymoron since it's not really that possible! I started with a leek, couple of shallots, 4 garlic gloves, 2 tomatoes, and half an onion chopped up and cooked with olive oil and butter. I added chopped lobster shells that I had from a previous dinner party. I cooked everything together for about 15 minutes and then added about 3 tbs of flour. I had some chicken stock that I made awhile back and added about 6 cups to the base. I cooked it down for another 45 minutes until the broth had thickened. I then added about 1/2 cup of cream and simmer for another 10 minutes. The worse thing I hate about lobster bisque at a restaurant is the absence of lobster in the bisque!  I took at 8oz lobster tail and split it in half. I sous vide it with 4 tbs of butter in a vacuum bag at 140 degrees for 20 minutesn

It is absolutely the most tender and flavorful way to cook lobster. It is very similar to the butter poached method used by Thomas Keller also known as a beurre monte'. I have used this technique in the past but decided to sous vide it this time around. They were both very similar in taste and I would probably not be able to tell the difference. The result of the bisque was refreshing and yet it didn't taste too rich. I also added a dab of creme fraiche. I wish I had chopped chives and caviar to add for plating presentation.

The salt dome fish was fun to make!  I wanted a fresh fish so I went to local Asian market not too far from the house. I didn't see anything I liked on display and I also checked most of the gills. The fish weren't too fresh at all. There were a few fish that had the gills remove - a very bad sign!  Fresh fish should smell like the sea and the gills need to be bright red in color. They had swimming tilapia in the tank so I pointed to the guy behind the counter that I wanted the largest one. It can't get fresher than that!  It ended up being a 3.5 lb tilapia for $4.99/lb. Not bad since nothing else was in season. I had it cleaned and scaled but kept the head and tail intact for presentation. I also bought 6lbs of sea salt to encase the fish. I mixed 2 egg whites and about 1/4 cup of water to the sea salt to give it a nice pasty mixture. I lined a pan first with parchment paper, added about 1/2" inch of my sea salt mixture and place the fish on top. I stuffed the fish with a few sprigs of dill and 6 slices of lemon. I then covered the fish with the rest of the salt until it was completely covered.

It was then baked at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes. After removing it from the oven, I let it cool for about 10 minutes. I then took a spoon to remove the top of the salt casing and gently removed the skin from this fish

The meat on the fish was very tender, moist, and cooked to perfection!  I wanted a nice sauce to complement the fish so I made an orange miso butter sauce. I took 1 cup of orange juice and reduced it down until it was syrupy -- about an hour. I added a tablespoon of white miso, couple teaspoon of soy sauce and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. I cut in about 4 tbs of cold butter and whisked it in the sauce. The sauce is unbelievable and perfect for the tilipia. It doesn't masked the flavor of the fish but enhances it with a citrus buttery sauce.

I made 3 other side dishes. Sliced potatoes cooked in duck fat from my duck confit I made a week ago, oyster mushroom spinach puff pastry, and pan fried snow peas. The potatoes I topped with a dab of creme fraiche with a few chopped scallions. I would have preferred to use chopped chives but I didn't have any in my fridge. Here is the final dish:

I know, one of these days I need to get professional lighting for my camera :) 

Enjoy!!