tilapia for two revisited

Decades ago we first encountered tilapia in the innocent days before fish farming got ugly. Or at least before we knew. This ugly truth has kept us hesitating at regular supermarkets when we think about purchasing this agribusiness product, but 3.99 a pound is hard to resist when you are looking to save a bit on the food bill. So we picked up a pound.

The safer alternative, Whole Paycheck some people joke, claims its product is safe, raised to strict standards. We had their little pamphlet with fish recipes that said so. The tilapia one was a bit busy, mayonnaise and yogurt, spices, maybe we should try it one day. Instead we went the living simply route. After washing and drying, a little freshly ground pepper and salt, well, not ordinary salt, bob slipped in some Trocamare herb seasoning salt. And let it sit a bit. Then ani took over. She sprinkled Old Bay on it lightly before slapping it into a pan with olive oil and butter. Brown on one side, then the other, then out of the pan for the saucing: a bit more butter, lemon juiced and capers. Served with Armenian rice. Spectacularly tasty. Yet so simple. We already said that didn't we.

ingredients

the fish
1 lb tilapia
the pre-seasoning
freshly ground pepper
salt or Trocomare herbed seasoning salt
Old Bay seasoning
the pan fry
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
the sauce
1 T butter again
1 T lemon juice
1 T capers

instructions

  1. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels.
  2. Salt and pepper the fish on both sides. Let sit if you like. This is called marinating or something. A dry marinade? Okay, we are not quite sure. Go right to the next step if you like.
  3. Heat up the butter and oil in a nonstick pan. Brown one side and then the other.
  4. Remove to a plate.
  5. Add the second hit of butter to the pan with the lemon juice and capers. Warm it up a bit and return the fish to the pan. Turn off the heat and cover until ready to serve. Don't wait very long.

notes

  1. Tilapia for two the first time.
  2. Whole Foods "Our Farm-Raised Seafood: Here's the Story." Recipe: Broiled Tilapia with Parmesan and Herbs.
  3. A. Vogel Trocomare herb seasoned salt at Amazon.
  4. Illustrations available.
tilapia2.htm: 3-dec-2009 [what, ME cook? © 1984 dr bob enterprises]