Living in New England has it’s drawbacks (snow, and lots of it), but it also has it’s perks. Being able to take a half day off work in order to head out on a fishing charter is one of them. And despite the fact that Stu hates seafood, and the smell of the sea in general, we knew that we would have an amazing time and lots of laughs with some great friends.
As we set out (after taking some Dramamine, of course) we were told that we were likely to catch bluefish…said to be a strong, muscled fish with teeth big enough to take off your finger if you aren’t careful (this fun fact was provided after one of us went to pick-up their catch for a photo-op!). Even worse, it was said to be an ‘oily’ fish, that tends to be gamy, with blue meat. At that point, I though yuck…I really hope we catch something else!
But after several hours on the water, a bit of good spirited trash talking and a few arguments as to whose was bigger (wink, wink) we caught 14 big bluefish between the 6 of us. Below is me, exhausted, after bringing in my first fish of the day! (I’m not posting pics of my friends as I don’t know that they want to be featured on my food blog!)
Not to be deterred, we had the captain clean, fillet and skin the fish for us (sorry for the blurry pic but we were heading back to shore at full steam when I took this with my I-phone) and I took my portion home determined to figure out how to make it tasty…
After doing a bit of research, I realized that I had to cook the fish right away, or risk it becoming gamy. I settled on a Whole30/Paleo twist on a dijonnaise recipe which seemed to be the most popular way to enjoy bluefish. I used homemade mayo, French’s spicy brown mustard (which is Whole30 compliant), lemon juice, salt and pepper!
And it turns out that the above combo was the perfect sauce to pair with this fish which turned out NOT to be gamy, or oily as people had alleged (I think the fact that it was less than 24 hours old helped). Although, the color of the raw fish is a bit off-putting!
The fish did look a bit prettier after applying the sauce (and a few lemon slices)!
After baking, the bluefish turned white and firm (similar to swordfish)…and the sauce thickened…
I was VERY pleasantly surprised by taste and texture of the bluefish, as were my parents whom I invited over for dinner to eat Stu’s share! The bonus was that there was an extra portion of fish and sauce for my desk lunch the next day, which I ate over a salad and enjoyed just as much, if not more, as the sauce made for a wonderful salad dressing.
While finding bluefish at your local fishmonger may be difficult, the sauce included in the recipe below would work with any whitefish (think cod, scrod, haddock, swordfish). I really hope you give it a try!
And if you ever find yourself in Rhode Island and are looking for a fishing adventure with a great captain, I highly recommend Captain Dave of Irish Jig Charters…find out more about them here.
PS – Thank you Lisa and Sven for the invite…I had a wonderful time would love to do it again!
- 6 Tbs sugar-free mayonnaise
- 2 Tbs sugar-free spicy brown mustard
- 1 lemon, cut in half (juice one half and cut the other half into wedges)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 fresh Bluefish fillets (6 oz each)
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F
- In a small mixing bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Pour the olive oil into the bottom of a 9" x 11" baking dish.
- Place the fish fillets into the baking dish.
- Coat the fish fillets with the sauce.
- Bake the fish for 20 mins, or until it flakes easy with a fork.
- Serve with lemon wedges.
Well I tried it and liked it. The blue fish is a solid fish like swordfish but prepared this way it was moist – swordfish often becomes dry in the baking process. The sauce complimented the fish perfectly. Not you ordinary dish!
Glad that you gave it a try and that you enjoyed the sauce! – Lee