25 November 2008

adventures in cooking

We have a huge amount of fish in our freezer (all caught in Alaska this August).
Seeing as my last attempt at broiling some of it up was rather successful, I decided to try that again last night.

I defrost the fish - it's a thick piece - but get it defrosted (or so I think). And heat up the broiler. 550 degrees fahrenheit, baby!

So, I sprinkle said fish generously with lemon pepper (tasty) and pop it in. Last time I cooked this fish, 5 minutes was not enough. However - I was also cooking three times as much fish. Did that cross my mind? No.

So - I set the timer for 10 minutes.

About 6 minutes later, I hear the oven fan make a funny noise. I walk into the kitchen to see smoke pouring out of the vent in the back. BAD. NEWS.

I turn off the oven, run open the back door for air, and grab the little fan I have in my bedroom and set it up on the stovetop (safety first temporarily thrown to the wind). I'm praying that the smoke does not set off my sprinklers (and thus the sprinklers for the entire floor of my apartment building), and flapping my front door open and shut as my neighbors wander by to collect their mail.

I finally get all the smoke cleared out (mmm...smells like burnt lemon pepper) and look at the fish. Other than having a hard lemony-pepper crust on it now, the fish itself, due to its thickness, seems to be okay. Not that overdone. But then, when I get to the middle part - the thickest part - the fish is not done - it had still been a little frozen there. Of course.

I ate around that part, and will just...deal with the leftovers as I come to them.

Julia Child, eat your heart out!

Anyone have any good halibut recipes? (Ones which will not endanger my house?)

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