Conger Steak - the easy way!
Comments from the author:
“This article has been dragged, kicking and screaming, from the old BretonDiary.”
The fish van is came round this morning (whilst I was at work). I had handed in my order to Michelle (the landlady of my local bar) - the fish are freshly bought off the boats earlier in the day - I went for a Conger steak, to be slowly cooked in wine with tomatoes and shallots and served on a bed of rice. Almost Italian! As, I was in a good mood, I even splashed out on a few prawnies, for my masters (the cats who have to be obeyed), as well!
However, when I got home, I decided to cheat and do something different. I'm not sure if it was the thought of washing up that pointed me in the right direction but, I did make the right choice.
I finely chopped some shallotts, some olives and some garlic. I put them in a small glass container that had once contained creme brule (very useful, those little glass jars). I added some olive oil and a little bit of white wine, pepper and salt and lemon juice, stirred it very well and then - I let it sit for an hour, in the fridge.
The conger steak was then smothered in the resulting mixture and then placed on a piece of tinfoil. On top of the steak, I put some sliced tomatoes and a few prawns. I added some cubed courgettes and then I wrapped the tin foil package up and put it in the oven.
Eight minutes later (just long enough to cook some rice and make a Chicory, Tomato and Onion salad), it was ready to serve. It was gorgeous!
Cooking this way, you lose no juices and add no un-natural flavours. Also, no washing up! You just chuck the tinfoil in the bin!
I think that what helped was that the raw ingredients were wonderfully fresh. The cooking was natural and, as a man, I do have to add - no washing up!
Cooking in tinfoil is something that I am going to be investigating, this year. I can imagine the same effect with steak and also, slices of filet mignon de porc. At work, we are currently doing a special offer on the latter - 5 euros a kilo - I wonder how that would work (perhaps a few slices of apple added on top - with a sprinkiling of sugar)?
