Rockfish with white wine and prawn sauce

Lately I've been examining my spending habits, as most people do when they're currently not earning any money. I spend a lot on food. This has to change, not only because of the expense, but also because it's completely unnecessary to spend a lot of money to eat well. We all know the endless 'frugal' tips and rules, such as; research and try cheaper cuts of meat, use leftovers to stretch into more meals, try going vegetarian one night a week...but I wonder how many of us actually do this regularly?

I can honestly say that I still get seduced at the supermarket or those cute ethnic shops, buying jars and bottles of things I may need some day, I have a cupboard so full of exotic and unusual ingredients I can't find the ones I need.

 

When I couldn't locate a jar of oyster sauce I needed the other night, I decided enough was enough. Neil and I went to the supermarket with renewed intentions, check out the cheaper meat and fish and learn how to cook them. I found rockfish, not only cheap at $3.88 but buy one get one free. It also came with cooking instructions on the label. I felt thrifty, resourceful and adventurous.

Also known as Pacific Ocean Perch, this fish is spiky and red when whole, quite formidable looking, but the flesh is meaty, sweet and flaky. We baked it as per instructions, which stated it was fine to cook from frozen, something which surprised me, and it was good.

If you should happen to see this in your local shops either labelled as Rockfish or Pacific Ocean Perch, I highly recommend you try it. We paired it with a white wine and prawn sauce, the prawns themselves really cheap from Steveston, the fishing village I mention often. A good start on my frugal protein purchases.

Recipe : Rockfish with white wine and prawn sauce

2 pieces of Rockfish  

salt, pepper

2 tsp butter

Sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock 

1/4 cup Vermouth or white wine

2 tbsp sour cream or whipping cream

pinch of saffron

juices from the baked fish

1/2 cup small raw prawns

Preheat the oven to 400oF. Season the fish with salt, pepper and place 1 tsp butter on top of each. 

bake the fish for about 25 - 30 minutes, checking it is totally opaque and cooked through. Keep warm

Heat the chicken stock and alcohol in a pan over medium heat until reduced by 1/2.

Add the saffron and cream and the juices from the baked fish and continue to reduce for another 5 minutes or so. 

Add the prawns and simmer until pink and cooked through. Taste the sauce. It should be faintly fishy, sweet and slightly tangy from the alcohol. Serve poured over the rockfish.

We ate broccolette, mushrooms and asparagus with this. They were fried until the greens were wilted and the mushrooms shrunken and more intense, with a dash of port and some salt and pepper.