And the Rick Bayless fascination continues…
Now I’m not an expert on Mexican food at all but I’ve never seen a dish like this on the menu at any Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been … but I’ll take Rick’s word for it as an authentic dish.
The main reason that this dish caught my eye were the words “Toasty Garlic Mojo”. Doesn’t that just sound delicious? And really, any recipe with the word “Toasty” in the name is good enough for me!
I made this with snapper and halved the recipe since I was cooking for two. It turned out OK but some of the flavours were off… I’m thinking because I halved it. My garlic mojo wasn’t garlicky enough for me… but I only used 4 cloves, I should have used more. In generally I found that I need more sauce. I think I cooked the zucchini with the sauce for too long because I wanted it to thicken up. The zucchini was fine but it sucked up too much of my sauce!
My last issue with this was the fish itself. Salt and pepper alone did not work for the fish. It could have used a touch more flavour. Next time I’d probably season the fish with salt, pepper, cumin and/or coriander for an extra kick.
Overall I didn’t fall in love with the recipe right away but I see the potential. Bayless recommends using chicken breast in place of the fish, substituting different vegetables for the zucchini (asparagus, artichokes, leeks, fiddleheads) or even adding some canned chopped chipotle peppers in with the zucchini.
Snapper with Zucchini and Toasty Garlic Mojo
1/3 cup olive oil
8 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
2/3 cup chicken broth
Salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Four 4- to 5-ounce fish fillets (snapper, halibut, mahimahi, catfish, bass etc)
2 large zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 large lime, cut into wedges, for serving
Turn on the oven on its lowest setting. In a very large skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft, lightly browned and very aromatic, about 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, scoop the garlic into a food processor or blender jar, leaving as much oil as possible in the skillet. Set the skillet aside.
Add the broth to the processor or blender, along with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Blend until smooth.
Return the skillet to medium-heat. Generously season the fish with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, lay in the fish. When Richly browned underneath, about 2 to 3 minutes, flip and cook until the fish gives slightly under firm pressure from your finger, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer each piece of fish to an oven-proof dinner plate. Keep warm in the oven.
With the skillet still over medium-high heat, add the zucchini and cook, stirring regularly, until lightly browned but still a little crunchy inside, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic mixture and cilantro. Stir until the sauce comes to a boil and becomes homogeneous. Taste and season with more salt if it needs it.
Spoon the zucchini and sauce over and around the fish and serve right away, with lime wedges for each person to squeeze on.
(From Everyday Mexican by Rick Bayless)
