Hake Fillet With Peach Salad

Last week I took on the challenge of cooking hake fillets. The challenge was cooking fish that I have never heard of. So Google to the rescue - Hake is a white fish that is the same as cod and haddock. In some parts of the East Coast it used to be called "trash fish" because few people wanted to eat it. TRASH FISH??? I don't like the sound of that!!!! 

Anyway, I wanted a unique recipe instead of the usual olive oil, lemon, bake combo. I found a recipe that I tweaked to accommodate what I had on hand - Hake with Hazelnuts and Capers.

I followed the recipe exactly but change a few things here and there. Scroll to the bottom for the peach salad recipe.

 Hake Fillets 

• Pulse hazelnuts in food processor until finely chopped. (Used cashew nuts, almonds, and walnuts)

• Pat fish dry and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 

• Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. (Used grape seed oil) 
• Sauté fish, turning once, until golden and just cooked through, about 8 minutes total. Transfer to a platter.
• Melt butter in skillet (Drained left over grape seed oil and melted one cilantro cube in olive oil. See how I made cilantro cubes in Preserving Herbs), then sauté hazelnuts with garlic until nuts are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.  

• Add vinegar and water, scraping up any brown bits, then remove from heat and stir in capers and parsley (Did not add parsley. Already had cilantro from cube). 

• Season with salt and pepper, (Did not add salt and pepper) then spoon over fish.(Added fish back to pan to keep warm and spooned mixture over fish)

Peach Salad
2 peaches
1/2 bag of arugula mix (or any other greens)
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil 
Salad seasoning to taste (or salt and pepper)

Place the arugula mix in a bowl. Chop up the peaches into cubes and add to the bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix gently. Serve and enjoy!!!

Conclusion
This dish was delicious!!! The nut-caper topping compliments the white flaky fish very well. The red wine vinegar and peaches adds sweetness to the dish, the arugula is peppery, and the capers are tangy which creates a balanced harmony in the mouth. 

Try it and tell me what you think