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Flounder Florentine by Chef John Zakarian

john-zakarian

Flounder Florentine

By Chef John Zakarian

Where does spring start?
From the song of the mocking bird? From the smell of the blossoms? From the fresh grass losing the snow blanket? Or is it from your heart beating fast? For me Spring starts with the air perfumed with lilacs, tulips, crocus’s and that first glimmer of the blossoms on the trees. Winter is gone, it’s a revival. I am from the Northeast and I love all seasons; Summer’s heat, Autumn’s sadness, Winter’s freeze, but I always wait with passion for Spring’s arrival. I feel happier, and unusually lighter. Now I live in Paradise where seasons don’t change hands and where everything is always green. Still I can breathe the air and feel the arrival of it. Oh the revival…So darling, open the windows, sliding doors, and let the spring air caress your beautiful face. Let the aroma of magnolias feel your heart. Put Barbieri’s “Europa” on, crank it up, and pour me a drink. I am coming home. Ah feverish…

Where was I? Oh, we were speaking of Spring. Up north, that means a run for snow shoe flounders. Those are bottom feeders, just like Dover sole, fluke, sundial, or halibut. Velvety textured, white, delicate meat. In the south we refer to just flounder, which is a version of the northeast fluke. Many years ago people would catch them and throw them back because of their looks; flat and eyes on top of their head, didn’t inspire the fishermen. Today one of the most delicate filet come from all the fish mentioned above.

In the Mediterranean sea sole is the most popular fish to use for today’s recipe: FLOUNDER FLORENTINE

So let’s start:
Preparation for 4 persons:
Ingredients:

8 4-oz. flounder filet (gray sole, fluke)
1 lb. fresh baby spinach
1/2 lb. feta cheese
1 medium Spanish or yellow onion
1 cup of Jasmine rice
1 small carrot
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 stick of butter
8 oz. white wine
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp. Hungarian paprika

Preparation:
The Rice:
Finely dice the onions and carrots in a casserole. Use half of the onions and all of the carrots with half stick of butter sauté for 2 min on high heat. Add the raisins and the rice and continue cooking for another half min. Add 1.5 cups of water to the mixture. Bring to boil. Cover with lid and lower the temp to minimum. Cook until water evaporates. The secret for rice not to stick is washing it under cold water several times before cooking.

The Fish:
Sauté 1 lb of spinach with other half of diced onions until it is tender. Remove from heat and leave aside to cool. (5-7 min.) Crumble fete cheese and fold into the spinach. In a medium size pan place 4 filets face up. Divide the spinach and feta mixture into 4 equal parts and cover the filets lightly pressing down with your palm. Cover with remaining 4 filets using the same procedure lightly pressing it down, just like a stuffing. Slice the remaining butter into 8 fine pieces. Place 2 slices on top of each filet. Pour white wine and lemon evenly over the fish. Sprinkle equal amounts of paprika and send it to the preheated 420 degree oven for 10 min!

The Plating:

Place the golden raisin Jasmine rice to one side of the plate and the fish to the other. Pour the remaining juices from the pan over the fish and serve.
Enjoy, see you next month…

Chef John Zakarian
In great performances, the performer is the center of attention. Cooking is like a symphony, like a painting or sculpture, like a novel or poetry. The greater the performance, the greater the attention. I never hesitated to compare the chefs of this world to the kind of Chopin, Rubens, Caruso, even Led Zeppelin or Dali (the latter is the short lived nouvelle cuisine). The chef in his atelier (kitchen) is the MASTER PERFORMER- fingers gliding over piano notes, throwing colors on the canvas, writing a romance, mixing fresh and exotic ingredients on his way to a grand chef d’oeuvre. Yes you can compare the great chefs of all time to great masters of all time.  www.zaksprimesteakhouse.com

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