Memorial Day Weekend just passed, and while DC was bombarded with tourists and a national motorcycle rally, the lady and I skipped town to Pittsburgh to hang out with a good friend, Paulina. Pittsburgh is a cute little town with a strong neighborhood vibe. We ate and drank very merrily while discussing every topic under the stars.
In exchange for the hospitality, I offered to cook dinner for us Sunday night. We went down to the public market, which was booming, and very similar to the Florida Ave Market here in DC. We checked out various local produce stands and fish and meat shops. I originally wanted to braise rabbit leg to serve with a liquid gold sauce (mustard demi glace), but I couldn’t find cuts of rabbit the way I wanted them. Paulina suggested fish, so we went to the fish shop and waited while they cleaned and cut three black bass. The next place we stopped in had veal sweetbreads, and it was on after that!
Black bass is considered a royal fish, and its firm, mild profile makes among of the best food fishes out there. The simple pan roasting of the bass let its natural flavor stand out, while the mildness and sweetness imparted from the caramelization of the sweetbreads was a fantastic accompaniment to the fish. I rounded out the meal with sautéed asparagus and mushrooms in tarragon-infused fish veloute sauce.
Paulina remarked that she was going to recreate this meal, so here is the recipe. I didn’t use any exact measurements or really pay much attention to the cooking time, but I will do my best to include these measurements.
Note: I bought frozen sweetbreads, so there was a lot of prep involved to get the sweetbreads ready to be cooked. Buy them a day in advance if you plan to use them.
Ingredients and Directions:
3 black bass filets, halved for 6 total filets
1lb veal sweetbreads
Mix of wild mushrooms (enough for 3 people)
1/2 a bundle of asparagus, ends chopped off, then cut into inch long pieces
1 shallot, diced
Fish fumet package (or fish demi glace)
1 garlic clove, diced
Lemon juice
Dried tarragon
Dried basil
Olive oil
Butter
Sugar
Salt and pepper
If you’re sweetbreads are frozen as mine were, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator and thaw at room temperature the next day if you must because there are still several hours of prep left before you can cook them.
Once thawed or if bought fresh, soak sweetbreads in bowl of cold water for 3 hours. This will help remove blood and any impurities. Drain from water and place in a pot of water on stove. Bring to a mild boil over medium heat with salt and lemon in the water – this continues to remove impurities and firms the texture to make cutting them easier. Submerge in ice bath once brought to a boil and let cool completely. Add more ice and/or cold water if you must. Once cooled, remove any gristle and thin layer of membrane on the sweetbreads. Lay them out on a cookie sheet in between two towels. Place another cookie or baking sheet on top of this, and now add a heavy pot filled with water over the top cookie sheet – this will help flatten them out and further firm them up. Refrigerate like this for 3 hours.
You should have found time to prep your fish filets with salt and pepper and sliced your veggies at this point. Remove sweetbreads and slice them however you would like for dinner. I cut medallions out of them. Now you’re ready to cook. This will get a little crazy because you will have four pans going at once, and each pan will require some attention. I will separate out each component and let you decide how to time it all. Adjust heat as necessary on each component, so nothing is overcooked if timing is off a little.
Sweetbreads: In a skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil and butter. Melt butter and let it brown for 1-2 minutes. Now add the shallots and sweetbreads, stir often. After about 10 minutes, lightly cover sweetbreads in sugar, stir and reduce heat to medium. Continue to stir sweetbreads as sugar breaks down. Dust in sugar once more after flipping the fish, raise heat to medium high, and stir often.
Veggies: Warm olive oil over medium heat, and sauté asparagus in garlic for about five minutes. Now add mushrooms, but be careful not to overcook because you don’t want mushy mushrooms. Add a couple pinches of herbs to veggies as they cook.
Fish: Heat a dry skillet on high heat for 5 minutes. Add olive oil and butter. Brown the butter for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium high, add filets, douse with lemon juice, and cook for 5-6 minutes on one side. Flip over for final 2-3 minutes, reducing heat to medium low. Filets should be nicely browned on the one side.
Sauce: Combine half the package of fish fumet, basically incredibly reduced fish stock, with 1.5 cups water. Add a generous amount of herbs to this pot. Bring to gentle boil, reduce heat to low and keep warm. After you flip fish, combine sauce with veggies and keep warm.
Arrange your plate as you wish and enjoy!!
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