# haven't found a way to make this fish tolerable



## powerdog

I have a large bag of frozen flounder filets from the big warehouse store, and whether I thaw it first or sauté it frozen, I can't make it appealing. It has a limp, wet consistency and not much flavor.

Any ideas on a quick, tasty way to prepare this?


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## scubadoo97

Fishcakes


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## durangojo

did you really say saute it frozen?  oh my....

joey


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## Iceman

I'm gonna back up _*Scubadoo97'*_s suggestion of _"fishcakes"_. You can season them any way you like, never know they're fish. I would like to have said it first.


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## butzy

yeah fish cakes, but also fish curry, fish soup.... Maybe even fish mousse?


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## koukouvagia

Well, don't cook it while frozen, that's for sure.  Thaw it properly, in the refrigerator over night.  Once it's thawed it needs to spend some time between paper towels, to try to remove as much moisture as possible.  I find that frozen fish does ok in the oven.  Season it as you like and broil it.


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## durangojo

IceMan said:


> I'm gonna back up _*Scubadoo97'*_s suggestion of _"fishcakes"_. You can season them any way you like, never know they're fish. I would like to have said it first.


not that i am arguing the fishcakes idea, i think its great.....my question is if you season them so that you'll never know you're eating fish, then what's the point of eating them?...you know me, just curious.....were it i {ahem} 'holding the bag', i would most probably make soup, or fish tacos or cerviche or a vera cruz style baked dish(tomatoes, peppers, onions, chipotles etc.)

joey


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## Iceman

Well ... I was kinda going with a little latitude on the title. I thought of looking at the biggest total picture, sorta.


> [h1]haven't found a way to _*make this fish tolerable*_[/h1]


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## deltadude

Powerdog said:


> I have a large bag of frozen flounder filets from the big warehouse store, and whether I thaw it first or sauté it frozen, I can't make it appealing. It has a limp, wet consistency and not much flavor.
> 
> Any ideas on a quick, tasty way to prepare this?


I haven't cooked frozen flounder, but I am familiar with the light very tender filets. I use this method for Tilapia depending on condition can be very similar.
Steam them. 1st marinade the fish filets about 15-20 minutes depending on thickness, you can find lots of varieties of fish marinades on the internet, or a simple lemon & olive oil or lime & olive oil with garlic and seasoning, or even some italian salad dressing. Be sure and lightly season the filets with salt and pepper both before cooking and after cooking. Next add the filets to the steamer basket, and cook until al dente (it should only take a one to three minutes depending on thickness). The residual heat will finish them after you remove them from the steamer to a warmed plate.

You can serve the steamed filets a variety of ways, over seasoned rice, on top of salads, with different sauces, etc.

Enjoy


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## zojison

I leave the fish in the refrigerator in a strainer overnight, with some paper towels to catch all the excess water.Then I roll the filets first in beaten egg whites; and then in some corn flower to make a crust.I then grill them until the crust gets a golden color, that's when the fish is perfectly cooked and not yet mushy.


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## siduri

fishcakes are good, but also fish pie - add a more flavorful fish with them (some like smoked fish, i don't, but it would work) or a few shrimp or something, and since i presume you live in the US you can probably find canned clam juice to poach it in first.  add heavy cream, maybe some baby spinach or good amount of parsley, sauteed onion, and a nice mashed potato layer on top. 

Breading and frying practically ANYTHING is good.  As they say in Italy, you can even fry air.  ("Fried air" is used like we'd use "hot air", or "b.s." - because when you fry it anything is good)


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## phatch

Use it as the base in a seafood sausage. This is a pretty flexible recipe

3/4 pound sea scallops, diced
1/2 pound halibut or other mild white fish, diced THIS IS WHERE YOU USE YOUR FLOUNDER
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
4 large shrimp, diced
1/4 pound crab meat
1 teaspoon finely chopped chives
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into small dice
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Flour, for dredging
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

To prepare the seafood mousse: Place the bowl and blade of a food processor in the freezer to chill. In the chilled bowl of the food processor, combine the scallops, halibut, shallots, and garlic, and process until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the cream through the feed tube and process until smooth. Transfer the mousse to a mixing bowl. Fold in the shrimp, crab, chives, red pepper, and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

To form the sausages: Transfer the mousse to a large pastry bag without a tip. Spread a 50-inch-long piece of plastic wrap out on the counter. Pipe the mousse into about a 48-inch-long strip down the middle of the plastic wrap, stopping at least 1 inch from each end. Fold one side of the plastic wrap over the mousse. Tightly roll up the mousse in the excess plastic wrap. With a piece of butcher's twine, securely tie one end of the roll. About every 5 inches, tie a knot with a piece of twine to form sausages, securing the end of the roll with a knot.

To cook: Bring about 8 cups of water to a boil in a large stock pot. Add the sausages and cook until firm, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the sausages from the water and let cool for 10 minutes. (The sausages can be prepared up to this point and kept refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Unwrap the sausages and dredge in the flour. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over high heat until very hot. Add the sausages and brown well, about 3 to 4 minutes. To serve, slice on the diagonal. Serve warm.


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## deckoven

A well frozen fish fillet can still be good eating ie. frozen extremely quickly and kept very cold. But a poorly frozen fish will suffer ie. frozen slowly giving large ice crystals the chance to form and tear apart the muscle structure. In your case the fish may have been frozen poorly or aloud to thaw in shipping and then refrozen. In any case your best option would be to thaw the filets while letting as much liquid as possible drain and then either making a fish cake as suggested above or breading them suckers. It will still give you the flavor of the fish with the added pleasant texture of the crispy breading. The lesson learned, try to by the freshest fish possible and if you have to buy frozen make sure it is traceable and was frozen on the boat. Good eating buddy.


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## arxz

Can you really use the term Al Dente for fish?


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## chef oliver

*SCUBADOO97* is right...you can make fishcakes out of even low quality or cheap fish...if you know how to do them, it could be tasty with little crappy fish also. Or you can make good spread out of that fish or salad with some veggie, yoghurt, mayo, dill, cornichons or fresh marjoram and serve with good bread and leaf salad...


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## petalsandcoco

IceMan said:


> I'm gonna back up _*Scubadoo97'*_s suggestion of _"fishcakes"_. You can season them any way you like, never know they're fish. I would like to have said it first.


If I was serving fishcakes , the last thing I would want someone to say to me is: " What's in this thing ?" ......"Oh there is fish, funny I can't taste it."

*There are a few things you can add to jazz up fishcakes*.

The best ones I ever ate were down east, made with dried cod.( cod sat in water overnight, drained, forked the flakes apart - minced sweated onions, egg, chunky potato mixture - seasoned ) and then fried in salt pork.

Sauces: thick tartar, sorrel sauce, caper & parsly sauce......

Petals.


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## stephen oliver

Ive never had flounder before but judging by what youve described,... just to throw another random little idea on the table. I know you can make a Cod au gratin and sub the cod for other light flaky delicate fish such as Tilapia, or maaaaybe flounder ? something to consider is all.

Stephen


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## markherm13

Buy some small flour tortillas Cut filets into three equal pieces, pat dry and season with S&P. Put saute pan on stove and turn to med high. When pan begins to smoke just a bit add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of pan. Maybe a little more olive oil if this is your first time. Wait for oil to heat up and start to almost bead up kinda when you tilt the pan. Be patient for the oil to heat up. when oil is hot tilt the pan around to make sure all of the pan is coated with oil then grab one end of the peices of fish and kinda drag into the pan making sure our fish comes in contact with the oil first. if moisture comes into contact with the olive oil it will flair up a bit.Shake pan a bit to make sure the fat is browning the bottom of the fillet and not sticking to the pan. turn down heat  some once you have a mallard sear on the fish then flip to cook the other side.

Now you have pan seared fish for three fish tacos and the condiments seem endless for tacos so be creative and enjoy.


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## chefzoneau

Hi *Powerdog*

*Try an Australian classic *

*(Beer battered fish with Tartare sauce salad and chips)*


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## flipflopgirl

Couldn't resist this one.

The hubs and I do a fair amt of wade fishing along the Texas Gulf Coast (is that ok to capitalize?)

Our quarry is trout, but will never release a smallish (but legal limit size, lol  flounder.

IMHO is best to panfry (lightly seasoned, dust of flour and in some good butter over a low flame) or stuff with a good crab dressing and bake the day we catch it (the baked is my fave as flounder has such a delicate flavor).

Sometimes will have to freeze (vacuum of course) and that's ok too.

Remove your frozen fillets and place in a glass dish covered with a bit of plastic wrap to thaw (coldest part of your fridge).

Pat dry with paper towels and prepare however you like.

Tilapia? Really?


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## powerdog

The fishcake approach worked well. Saute some minced carrots, onion, celery, add a raw egg and panko, mustard and dill, and cook in a little olive oil. In a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and mayo, It tasted like fish, but pleasant fish.


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## margcata

I would go with a Fish & Seafood Chowder ...

Ingredients:

butter

pancetta

1 leek

1 carrot

1 stalk celery

white fish variety of choice fresh better, if not than a frozen variety thawed of course

shrimp

1 potato

1 cup cooking cream

salt, rose, green and black freshly ground pepper

parsley

fresh squeezed lemon juice

a bit of flour

fish stock or shellfish stock

Have lovely August.

Hope all works out,

Margaux.


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## chefedb

This sounds crazy but give it a shot .

Stuff the fillets(roll them) with whatever kind of stuffing you like I use blueclaw crab,spices and crumbs

Then I top it with a thousand island dressing with sliced blanched almonds ,dill and parsley.added then bake it till done.

We have used this on many banquets and they really liked it. and it covers the terrible frozen flounder.


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## margcata

Chef Ed,

Stuffed filet of sole or flounder with crab and / or shrimp can be an excellent alternative ...

The fried fish fritters is another direction ...

Fried Fritters of Filet of Sole with Piquant Salsa - Photo Courtesy: Le Cordon Bleu - Madrid Capital Culinary Course





  








cod fish fritters with salsa brava.JPG




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margcata


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Aug 8, 2012








Photo Courtesy: Madrid Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute





  








cangrejo relleno.jpeg




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margcata


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Aug 8, 2012


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## chefedb

Hi    The issue here is how bad the flounder is to start. The stuff they sell frozen in these warehouse stores is like a  water logged blotter, it throws off about 30% water  and has no taste or taste nasty. He, I believe wants to hide this . Thats why I suggested the 1000 isle topping to help disguise the stuff.  EdB


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## margcata

Chef Ed,

My viewpoint is: A Poor quality product, does not make a high quality delicious dish ...

What is your view on a fish & shrimp chowder ?

Kind regards.

Margi.


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## chefedb

I love chowders and bisques of any kind of seafood.  The thicker the better..Give me a bowl and a good loaf of bread and butter and thats dinner. Edb  

And I agree start with quality you wind up with quality


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## margcata

Chef Ed,

I am very fond of Lobster Bisque too ...

In chowder, I love a good Manhattan Clam ...

Of course, warm oven crusty bread for dipping !

Have great August. How is weather in Palm Beach ?

Kindest.

Margi.


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## chefedb

Extremely Hot and Humid 2nd worst month of year(September the worst)   Then again had it not been for the advent of Air Conditioning and a Mouse, in Orlando  there would be no Florida.................--------------------------............................--------------------------------


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## woolster22

margcata said:


> Chef Ed, I am very fond of Lobster Bisque too ... In chowder, I love a good Manhattan Clam ... Of course, warm oven crusty bread for dipping ! Have great August. How is weather in Palm Beach ? Kindest.	Margi.


Manhattan?! Blasphemy. Chowda is white and rich, creamy goodness. That junk is soup 

To the op, cut them down to size, double bread with a well seasoned flour (beer batter is great too) fry and throw them into tacos. Previously mentioned stuffing should help your cause. I haven't had the displeasure of using frozen flounder yet, but would imagine it turns to mush. Maybe stuff with crab (small rolls), bread with a heavily crumbed flour and fry for little seafood puffs? Breading hides texture, stuffing helps flavor...

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2


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## mike9

IQF is the only way to buy frozen fish.  Otherwise as mentioned they are 30% water - a tactic to up the weight.  Try drying them good then you can try treating them like any other mild fillet.  I can see a chowder with addition of either salt cod, and/or a smoked fish like a Finnan haddie some clams, etc.  And don't forget the bacon.


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## steve tphc

Polish Proverb: Fish, to taste right, must swim three times - in water, in butter, and in wine. This one my mother cooked all the time.

Thaw the fish and blot dry with a paper towel. Smell the fish. If it stinks, toss it and go out for dinner.

Otherwise, salt the fish lightly and leave it salty side on paper towels for 20 minutes to draw out even more moisture. Now paint a oven safe pan with unsalted clarified butter. Place fish on the butter. Herb the top of the fish with your favorite herb and finish with lemon pepper. Paint top of fish with butter.  Place in oven at 350 F cooking slowly for 20 minutes. Bring a 1/2 cup of dry white wine just to a boil. Pour over fish. Continue cooking in oven until fish is done.

Pour off excess liquid from the fish into a sauté pan. Reduce over high heat the pan runoff to a mere 2 tablespoons. Remove pan from heat, squeeze in a teaspoon of lemon juice. Add two patties of butter and swirl the sauce in the pan to thicken. Pour the lemon beurre blanc sauce over the fish servings. Fish should be delicate with lemony undertones.


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## savoryfrosting

Simple!

Home Made Cat Food!

Well, or find a neighbor that you sort of do not like...you know, their dog poops in your driveway every morning or something like that?!, and take that frozen "fish" and deposit it in their garbage can.....at least six days before the pick up date by our fav garbage peeps.


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## tommy d

With any white fish (walleye works best), you can poach it with salt and honey, then put it in a bowl with finely chopped celery, parley leaves, pepper, old bay, and lemon juice, then fold in some mayonnaise.

Put that on a lightly toasted bun, and blammo… poor man’s lobster roll!

T


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## chefedb

In England, called Fish and chips for centuries


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## jo jo le tiel

This is an old post, but I also had this experience. The texture is terrible! I usually buy frozen fish that is vacuum packed, ie. each piece or fillet is in its own wrapping. It seems to make all the difference, because the texture and flavor aren't bad. When I accidentally bought a bag of frozen flounder where the pieces weren't individually wrapped, they were awful, baked or fried.


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## etherial

Love the sausage idea and will use it with a champagne coconut beurre blanc sauce.


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## cheffred

Cut your losses and do not by that crap again.


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## tbos42

Doesn't sound like it is that flavorful. I would use it in a fish soup. Fish stock, root veggies, corn cob, onions, other seafood. Similar to a Spanish fish soup. It will do a god job as a filler and you can season it as needed, I add a little coconut milk to mine......


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## qlderj

Just a simple risotto would negate the texture. White wine and lots of parsley a must.


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