Roasted Garlic Hake over Heirloom Tomato Parsley Salad

For those who read my blog on a regular basis, you know that every once in a while I will try to make a dish completely based on my creation without any recipes.  This time I took several elements to create what is, at least for me, a fairly complex dish.  And, while I still have to work on presentation, I think that I am on the right path.

This dish starts with large portobello mushroom caps, which serve as the "dish" for the Heirloom Parsley Salad.  The hake, which is a flaky fish similar to cod, is then laid over the top of the salad.  The dish is finished with some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.  For a dish that I thought up as I walked through the produce and seafood sections of a Whole Foods, it turned out very good.

ROASTED GARLIC HAKE OVER TOMATO HEIRLOOM PARSLEY SALAD

A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 large portobello mushroom caps

1 package of small heirloom tomatoes, deseeded and diced.

1 head of garlic

1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley

1 scallion, diced

2/3 to 3/4 pounds of hake

Ground pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons of flat parsley leaves

Salt, to taste

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:

1.  Prep the mushrooms and garlic.  Clean the portobello caps and remove the stem and remove the gills.  Cut the garlic head in half horizontally.  Place one half on each cap.  Wrap in foil and add to an oven preheated to 400 degrees.  Let cook for ten minutes and remove.  Remove the garlic and cover the caps.  Return the garlic to the oven, wrapped in in foil for at least another ten or fifteen minutes.

2.  Prepare the salad.  While the caps and garlic are in the stove, prepare the heirloom salad.  Add the diced heirloom tomatoes and diced scallions in a bowl and mix well.

3.  Prep the roasted garlic. Take the roasted garlic and remove about four or five cloves.  Dice and then mash the cloves.

4.  Cook the fish.  Heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the roasted garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.  Then add the hake.  Saute for about five minutes and flip. Saute for about three to four minutes more until the fish is opaque and begins to flake.

5.  Prepare the dish.  Start with the mushroom cap.  Place the flat parsley leaves on the mushroom cap.  Spoon the heirloom salad on top of the parsley.  Place a piece of the hake at a diagonal with the cap.  Then top the exposed heirloom salad with some Parmigiano Reggiano.

For something that I created on the spot in a store, this recipe turned out well.  Like I said above, I still have to work on the presentation, but both Clare and I enjoyed this dish.  Maybe my "Iron Chef" skills are improving.  Until next time ...

ENJOY!