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By Root 4108 0

Whisk the pomegranate molasses, walnut oil, broth, mint, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a large baking dish. Add the quail and turn a few times to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning the quail occasionally in the marinade.

If using a grill: Oil the grill grate and prepare the grill for direct cooking by either heating a gas grill to high heat or creating a hot, well-ashed coal bed in a charcoal grill. Take the quail out of the marinade and place them on the grill grate directly over the heat source or the coals. Cover and grill for 5 minutes, brushing occasionally with the marinade until lightly browned. Turn the quail, then move them to a cooler section of the grate. Mop with the marinade, cover, and continue cooking until well browned and the leg joints move freely, about 3 more minutes.

If using a grill pan or a skillet: Heat the pan over medium-high heat, swirl in about 2 teaspoons walnut oil, then slip the quail in skin side down. Baste immediately with the marinade, cover, and cook for 4 minutes. Baste them again, then turn them and continue cooking, uncovered, basting every once in a while, until browned on both sides and the leg joints move quite freely, about 4 more minutes.

Variations: Substitute frozen cranberry juice concentrate, thawed, for the pomegranate molasses.

Substitute almond oil or olive oil for the walnut oil.

Fish and Shellfish

QUICK, EASY, FRESH, LOW IN FAT, HIGH IN ESSENTIAL MINERALS AND PROTEIN: we’ve all heard the good news about fish. Even fresh shellfish has come up from the deep for their culinary kudos recently. Yet the bulk sold is canned or made into fish sticks.

Fresh fish? It looks good, sounds good, is good; but people still sidle up to it warily. Maybe it’s that whole-fish dilemma: lying on the ice, eyeing you. We inhabit a sanitized world; there’s something strange about buying food in its original (or almost original) state. “Food with face,” as one friend puts it. Most of us never see a head-on chicken, much less any recognizable part of a cow.

And perhaps seafood’s much-touted quickness also gives some of us pause: prepare it now, don’t delay. Many people market once a week; fresh fish doesn’t fit that strategy.

Yet despite all that, fish and shellfish sales have ticked up in the last few years, thanks in large part to better fish counters at supermarkets, but also to the ongoing popularity of sushi and to our modern, fast-paced lives. What’s more, fish sales are up the most among the under-thirty-five crowd. Maybe the kids were paying attention in school. If fish is the future, it’s a fresh and fast one.

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Thin White-Fleshed Fish Fillets:

Tilapia, Snapper, Orange Roughy, Flounder, Fluke, Sole, Turbot,

Freshwater Bass, Large-Mouth Bass, Hake, Catfish,

Rockfish, Ocean Perch, Lake Perch, or Crappie

Rather than giving you a few preparations for red snapper, some for roughy, and then a handful for tilapia, we’ve grouped the recipes in this chapter in large subheadings based on the kind of fish or shellfish called for—and we’ve left a range of possibilities within each. That’s partly because of the versatility of fish; snapper, roughy, and tilapia; all can be substituted for each other in these dishes. And it’s partly because of market dynamics; with modern shipping and distribution, it may be hard to find any one kind of fish at any one time. So here are sautés, parchment packets, and escabeches, appropriate for a wide range of thin fish fillets.

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Five Easy, One-Skillet Sautés for Thin White-Fleshed Fish Fillets

Simplicity in minutes. All these preparations work the same way: quickly sauté the floured fillets, take them out of the pan, and build a simple sauce. There’s a range of fats used to sauté the fillets; if possible, use the same one that you will use in the sauce. Makes 4 servings

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt, plus additional as desired

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, olive oil, or canola oil

Four 4-to 6-ounce thin white-fleshed fish fillets