Caribbean Cookbook: Crispy Skin Black Cod From Chef Ron Duprat

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - July 6, 2014

THE LATEST Caribbean Cookbook comes to you from Haiti’s most famous chef, Ron Duprat, who sent in his recipe for crispy skin black cod. Duprat sent in the recipe on the occasion of the recent Taste of the Caribbean competition in Miami, where he was representing the US Virgin Islands thanks to his relationship with the Sugar Bay resort in St Thomas, where he serves as consulting executive chef.

Crispy Skin Black Cod

Ingredients:

Serves 4
2 medium tomatoes

¼ cup capers

2 whole limes

P¾ cup dry white wine

8 fresh Black Cod fillets, 3-4 ounces each

1 cup flour, for dredging

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 tablespoons safflower oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into thirds, softened

· 12 ripe lychees, Peeled

· ½ Cup Heavy Cream

· ½ cup Beurre Margarette

· 1 Tbsp. lime juice

· 1/4 tsp. ground White pepper

· 1 ea Idaho Potato

Method For the Foam

Peel the Lychee, Cook The Potato until Soft, Warm the Cream and Butter to make a Basic Mashed, Start with one tbsp of the with salt and pepper to taste. Place Mix in a Canister and Put Two Cream Chargers and Shake well Before Using

Method for the Crispy Skin Black Cod with Lime, Capers, Tomatoes

Bring 6 cups of salted water to a boil. Drop the tomatoes into the water for 15 seconds, then plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking and shrivel the skins. When the tomatoes have cooled their skins will slide off easily. Cut the peeled tomatoes in half, crosswise, and squeeze out the seeds. Chop them coarsely into ¼” pieces, discarding the stems. Place the chopped tomatoes in a bowl with the capers

This recipe calls for lime zest, the colored outer rind of the fruit. The easiest way of preparing it is to use a zesting tool, a small peeler made expressly for scraping the skin off citrus fruit. A good kitchen supply house will be able to provide you with one. Failing that, you can use a peeler. Try to cut wide swatches of skin, taking care to leave the white, pithy part of the rind attached to the fruit. Scrape all the pith off the zest or the sauce will taste bitter. Strip both limes of their zest. Use a paring knife to slice it into narrow julienne strips ^1/16” wide, approximately l” long.

Place the zest in a glass with a ½ cup of white wine to keep it from drying out while you complete the recipe. Before adding the zest to the sauce, drain it and discard the white wine.
Remove the pith from the limes to expose the sections. Use a paring knife to cut between the membranes and remove each section whole. Place the lime sections in the bowl with the tomatoes and capers.

Dredge the Black Cod in the flour, shaking off any excess. Season the floured trout with salt and pepper.
In each of 2 large heavy bottomed sauté pans, heat 2 tablespoons of safflower oil over medium-high heat. Place the trout carefully in the pan and sauté for 3 minutes on each side, or until they’re golden. They should present a small amount of resistance to your touch.

Remove the pans from the heat. Put the fillets on a serving platter and cover so they stay warm.

Use only one of the pans to make the sauce. Return it to medium-high heat. Add the chopped tomatoes, capers, lime sections and lime zest (remember, throw away the marinating wine). Cook for 15 seconds, stirring carefully so you don’t break the lime sections.
Add the remaining ½ cup of white wine and cook for 1 more minute.

Remove the pan from the heat. Swirl the butter into the sauce, 1 tablespoon at a time, always waiting until the previous tablespoon has melted before adding the next one. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and pour it over the fish Place the lychee Foam on the Bottom of the Plate.