Compound butter & different sauces for fish/seafood dishes

[kingie chaser]

Hi Raiders, well we are all talking about our favourite eating fish at the moment so though it would be good to start adding some things that I like to add to dishes to compliment & flavour an end dish.

 

I will add to this thread as I go with more detail on cold butters, hot sauces, emulsified sauces & also different cold mayonnaise based sauces that I think are worth trying with different seafood offerings.

First up is the compound butters.

These are a simple way of adding a hint of flavour & richness to a fish dish.

Whether its a grilled or pan fried piece of fish or added at the end to a seafood risotto or paella flavoured butters can just bring that extra zing & richness to a dish.

 

Again I will add as I go but this is a a quick reference to some basic compound butters that I found on the net but I will add some others shortly.

 

 https://www.thebetterfish.com/thecurrent/5-simple-compound-butter-recipes-that-are-perfect-for-fish/

[Little_Flatty]

Thanks @kingie chaser. This was timely and I’m trying it out tonight. Got some dill compound butter hardening in the fridge…

[kingie chaser]

1 hour ago, Little_Flatty said:

Thanks @kingie chaser. This was timely and I’m trying it out tonight. Got some dill compound butter hardening in the fridge…

No problem, Im confident you will enjoy it!

The good thing is it can be as simple or complex in different ingredients as you like but for fish I think just keep it simple is better.

Dill, lemon zest, sea salt, ground black pepper is magic & not over powering & will compliment most seafood.

Even simpler is the same as the above except fresh chopped parsley or coriander instead of the dill.

 

If I was doing the coriander version I might also add some finely chopped inner part of the lemongrass stem where it is usually pretty tender & less fibrous, and if you like a little zing the add a small amount of finely chopped red chilli as well.

 

Its all about playing around & giving it a go  

Edited November 15, 2021 by kingie chaser

[kingie chaser]

One butter I enjoy but admittedly mostly for red meat is a butter called Cafe de Paris.

Its a bit of an open book on this one with lots of variation & has a lot of ingredients in it which is why I tend to have it with BBQ'd meat more so that fish but hey I think there would be a few people on here that throw some beef or lamb on the BBQ along side their fish.

I worked for a chef once who had a recipe for the above butter that had 35 ingredients in it, he thought it was amazing but I thought it was way to much, I just made it as his recipe & said YES CHEF anyway you like it chef, your the boss chef 😂

 

Anyway here are a few versions which you can use or omit whatever you dont like

https://wholesome-cook.com/2011/08/20/rockpool-cafe-de-paris-butter-sauce-for-steaks/

 

https://www.recipetineats.com/cafe-de-paris-butter-sauce-for-steak/

 

https://www.classic.com.au/wizard/CParis.htm

 

I have a bit of a unique one to add tomorrow which I made recently that goes well with both seafood & meat as well

 

 

 

[Little_Flatty]

11 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

I worked for a chef once who had a recipe for the above butter that had 35 ingredients in it, he thought it was amazing but I thought it was way to much, I just made it as his recipe & said YES CHEF anyway you like it chef, your the boss chef 😂

One thing I learned from a four year stint as a banquets waiter at a large hotel and then a function centre was not to cross the senior chefs! 🤣 When I first started out, I used to wonder what was up with them. Now I’m older and having experienced a number of other jobs, I realise how stressful a professional kitchen can be, with so many mini-deadlines in a shift. Once you earned their trust (or they got me in line), they were fine, but it was a bit of a shock to begin with.

But 35 ingredients! What on earth could make up the 35 ingredients?

Family approved of the butter, by the way, even got asked for extras to top their veggies.

[kingie chaser]

On 11/15/2021 at 7:57 PM, Little_Flatty said:

One thing I learned from a four year stint as a banquets waiter at a large hotel and then a function centre was not to cross the senior chefs! 🤣 When I first started out, I used to wonder what was up with them. Now I’m older and having experienced a number of other jobs, I realise how stressful a professional kitchen can be, with so many mini-deadlines in a shift. Once you earned their trust (or they got me in line), they were fine, but it was a bit of a shock to begin with.

Yes LF its absolutely a high pressure & time critical industry with high expectations which I guess is based on how much your spending as well.

Some people dont get it or are not skilled or adept to working under different conditions, but its the same really in every industry I'd say, training staff is an everyday occurrence but how each person is receptive to the training is another story!