Time To Cook With “Crazy Water!”
Yes, it’s week #31 in my “52 In 22” cooking challenge – so let’s head to the Mediterranean and cook with some “crazy water!”
The recipe is from this terrific memoir, written by Chef David Shalleck with Erol Munuz. The book is Shalleck’s account of being a private Chef on a luxury yacht for a summer!
Here are the next ten cookbooks in my year long “52 In 22” cooking challenge – I will explain why one comes in the form of a bottle of wine later!
Now, let’s head to the Mediterranean for a delicious summer dish!
The Simple Yet Delicious “Fish In Crazy Water” Recipe!
This is an easy dish to prepare, but it presents beautifully and tastes even better!
A bit of fun trivia: according to the New York Times, some think “crazy” refers to the broth’s spiciness, while others think the name comes from the fact that Provencal fishermen made the dish with seawater!
Here are you ingredients:
Skinless Halibut or Sea Bass fillets
Sea salt
Black Pepper
5 large Garlic cloves
2 tbl olive oil
1-3/4 pound ripe Tomatoes, seeded and diced
White wine – to splash in the pan and drink while cooking!
Italian Parsley
Smash your garlic with a flat knife and cook in the olive oil…as they release their flavor, salt and pepper your halibut on both sides and add the fish to the pan, making sure there is olive oil under it…
I used Halibut, which is nice and meaty, and takes a few minutes longer to cook, which allows your crazy water to form, because after 5 minutes you add your chopped tomatoes to the pan:
The fish will continue to cook as the tomatoes begin to melt – I turned it over and also tossed some chopped parsley in as well, and I also added a cup of wine – because I wanted a bit more sauce for my dish…
As the fish poaches in the wine and tomatoes, those tomatoes continues to melt down, and I moved the fish around to ensure it didn’t stick, and did a soft stir of the tomatoes as well…after 15 minutes the fish is done!
Lay some sauce and tomatoes on the bottom of your plate and lay the fish on top, with some fresh parsley as well…that’s it!
It’s an easy, delicious dish with a terrific name!
I also made some roasted baby potatoes and broccoli rabe – which gave the final dish this look:
I love this dish: the flavor of the fish is fresh and vibrant, the water as “crazy” as you decide – if you want the sauce thicker, don’t add the wine, or a lesser amount – or put the tomatoes in earlier to let them melt down even more!
I shared this recipe before, when I wrote this review for my “Wednesday Bookmobile” series:
This book is a fascinating “below deck” look at life as a Gourmet Chef – on a mega-yacht!
You can see my entire review here:
Of course, this is just the latest in my series of “52 In 22” cooking challenges, where I have cooked around the world, back in time, and taken on my dreaded foe Eggplant as well:
My wife Alex had the incredible Chef Priyanka Naik on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and it inspired me to make a dish using Eggplant!
This “Tiffin” recipe was delicious! It’s the art of making dishes to enjoy later – outside, at work, wherever!
Click here to see how I did:
I also tackled Dumplings and asian Siu Mai at home for the first time this year:
They are one of my favorite foods, and if you click here you can see how to make them at home yourself:
Cooking a traditional Memorial Day feast, it was also time for me to tackle a “Surf ‘n Turf” Burger!
Do you know what all of this is?
Click here to see what I stacked and how high I stacked it!
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Thanks!
Categories: cookbooks, Food, food blog, Food Review, Recipes, Travel, Travel Memoir, Wacky Food, wine
Woo what a gorgeous dish! I’m drooling from the other side of screen🤤
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it looks delicious and the name is an added bonus for sure!
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Yum! When Hubby was in the Navy and stationed at Key West, a group of the guys went deep sea fishing and caught a mahi-mahi. The captain of the boat told them to take it to the cook. After he filleted the fish, he brought out thick slices of Bermuda onion. The onion went onto the grill, and the fish went on top. Fishermen know how to cook fish! That has been our go-to way to cook fish ever since. Highly recommended!
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That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!
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You’re welcome!
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They all look amazing, but the eggplant really caught my eye. I should really start watching Kelly’s show 🙂
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She has a lot of great Chefs on and it’s always fun to see…if you go to their YouTube channel they feature a lot of fun compilations from the show!
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Thanks!
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Looks delicious!
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Thank you! It’s light and fresh and full of flavor – perfect for summer!
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What a wonderful fish dish.
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Light and refreshing for hot summer days!
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I would happily eat your ‘crazy water’ fish, John. It looks delicious!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks Pete – perfect for hot summer days!
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