Brown Butter Balsamic Skate Wing
This dinner was a lesson in flavor-pairing on the fly. I found a recipe for Brown Butter Skate Wing from Chef Johnathan Waxman’s cookbook Italian, My Way and had been curious to try it out. I had to wait until I found skate wing at our local fishmonger, Red’s Best, which seems to run out as soon as it comes in, but I finally got my hands on some in early Fall. Luckily, it had already been cleaned and filleted, because those are skills I definitely don’t have.
So I had the protein for dinner, but what to prepare with it? I figured the breading on the fish would be relatively heavy in both flavor and texture, so I decided to keep things light with some spicy radishes and golden cauliflower that I found at the farm stand right next to the fishmonger.
Because it was a weeknight, I had to choose my cooking methods carefully. I didn’t want to be running around, tackling multiple different cooking methods after a long day at work! Since the fish needed to be seared in browned butter, I figured the radishes would soften nicely after a few seconds in the butter as it heated. Roasting is my go-to for cauliflower and is hands-off, so I could focus on the stove top preparations.
That meant I was ready to go. As always, I gathered all the ingredients and tools I’d need during cooking and put them in easy reach. Since the cauliflower would take the longest, I preheated the oven to about 400F and chopped it into bite-sized florets, tossed with some olive oil and salt, and threw it in the oven on a foil-lined tray. I really like cheese, so I grated some parmesan on top as well.
While the cauliflower happily browned, unattended, I set up the dredging station for the fish:
- a bowl with just milk
- a bowl with equal parts corn meal and flour seasoned with salt and pepper
- a bowl with milk and 2 eggs, whisked
I also started heating a few tablespoons of butter and a little splash of olive oil in a cast iron pan over medium-high-ish heat. While that heated, I used my nifty handheld mandoline to thinly slice a few small radishes into rounds (and saved the tops for a pesto later that week!) right into the sizzling butter- no extra dishes here.
I was only feeding two people, so I had plenty of time to bread the two large skate wing fillets while the radishes bubbled away. The process- dipping the fish in bowl 1, then 2, then 3, then 2 again- was very messy but made me feel like a kid playing at a sand table (remember those from kindergarten?).
I let those rest for a second on the cutting board that I’d used for the cauliflower- not creating another dish to wash- and moved back over to the stove. The radishes were fished out (“fished” out… get it?) and laid to drain on a paper towel, and in went the fish.
It only took a few minutes on each side to become deeply golden and crusty when tapped (carefully, it’s hot) with a fingernail. Flipping the fish was… not easy… but when you’re only feeding your family, no one should complain that their gourmet fish dinner is broken into bits. If they do, refer them to me for a talking-to about gratitude.
As a note, I believe any thin fish fillet would work very well with this preparation method. Skate wing is pretty rare so feel free to experiment and let me know how it goes. Your fishmonger is a good resource for figuring out what a serving size is of various fish.
The fish were laid out on the same paper-towel lined plate as the radishes. Then last step- adding a touch of balsamic vinegar to the butter after turning off the stove to pour over the fish- happened right as the cauliflower reached perfection- a little crunchy, a little shriveled, and silky interior.
I had already planned to serve a salad with this dinner as it’s fairly heavy, but when I found some arugula languishing in the fridge I changed my plans then and there. To pull the meal together, I tossed the arugula in that same balsamic and shaved more of the parmesan from the cauliflower prep right on top.
The story doesn’t end there though. Plating a dish like this can be the difference between dinner looking like cafeteria fish patties and a pricey restaurant meal. Rather than allocating each food to its own corner of the plate, take advantage of the contrasting flavors and textures and arrange each component in a way that encourages mixing bites of food. I chose to put the cauliflower in the middle of the plate, as it was the largest portion of food, and lay the fillet right on top, with the radishes arranged around the edge. The salad went right on top of the fish, so that the spicy, crisp arugula and the tangy vinegar would play off the rich, crunchy crusted fish and cauliflower.
Using this basic formula, you could choose your own vegetables and acids to pair with any pan-fried fillets of fish- think about what will provide some freshness, where will the tang come in, maybe adding a little spice/bite, or a little squish- that can offset the oil and batter that the fish contributes. Practice on a meal like this one, and then use your new flavor-pairing skills to improvise with other ingredients and cooking techniques. Have fun with it!