This recipe is easy to fix and fast. If you like fish with a little spice added it will definitely be a pleaser. Usually I fix it with a lightly flavored white fish such as Tilapia, Flounder, Spanish mackerel, or whiting. I suppose a perch would work well also.
When buying fish buy as fresh as possible, the fish shouldn’t have a strong smell or appear “dry” it should look slightly moist and have firm flesh. Strong smell and/or mushy or dry flesh are definitely things to avoid.
You’ll need:
1-2 pounds of boneless fish filets, for me, my wife and daughter 1 ˝ pounds is usually enough
2 – packets of boil-in-bag white rice
1 – large green, red, orange or red sweet pepper (enough for at least a cup of chopped pepper, chopped in 1 inch squares, give or take)
2 – fresh lemons
Louisiana Hot Sauce (or your favorite)
Basel, fresh or dried
2 – medium fresh tomatoes, I like roma tomatoes but any fresh is good, the ones that are sold still on the vine seem to have the best flavor
1 – glass or stoneware flat pan, about 12 by 14 inches in size, don’t use aluminum!
Salt
Fresh ground pepper (I like to use the grinder, but course ground from the store is ok)
Olive oil
1 medium mixing bowl
1 wooden or plastic mixing spoon
1 medium sauce pan
1 table fork
2 oven mitts or hot pads
1 sharp knife
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Step 1: Fill sauce pan ˝ with water, add about ˝ teaspoon of salt, put on high heat to boil
Step 2: Set the oven to 500 degrees to pre-heat
Step 3: Cut the pepper and tomatoes into 1 inch cubes, place in bowl
Step 4: Mix in the juice form the two lemons (you can use about ˝ cup of pre-squeezed if desired, but fresh is best)
Step 5: Add in 2-3 drops of hot sauce, mix ingredients completely using spoon
Step 6: Lay filets in glass/stone pan and rub filets on both sides with olive oil
Step 7: Sprinkle fresh Basel over the filets until lightly coated on side facing up
Step 8: Lightly salt and pepper filets
Step 9: Use spoon to cover the filets with the chopped pepper/tomato mixture, be sure the lemon juice at the bottom of the bowl is equally distributed over the filets.
Step 10: Place glass/tone pan uncovered in oven, should take about 15-20 minutes to cook. Cook until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Step 11: While fish is cooking, place boil-in-bag rice in (now boiling) water, turn heat down to medium and let boil for about 15 minutes.
Step 12: Once fish is done, take pan out with oven mitts or hot pads and set someplace safe to cool a little
Step 13: Remove boil-in-bag packets, one at a time, from boiling water using fork, allow to drain back into the pan, then transfer bag to bowl used for mixture, slice open with sharp knife and pour rice into bowl, repeat with second bag.
Step 14: Mix the butter or margarine into rice until it is completely melted
I usually serve the fish with the tomato/pepper mixture still on top and a serving of rice on the side. Of course I like to mix mine together when I eat it, the combination of flavors with the rice, butter, tart lemon and sweet pepper and tomato and the kiss of hotness form the hot sauce with the fish is great.
