This was one of my spontaneous concoctions on a Saturday night.  I did not have the urge to have a night on the town so I stayed in to experiment with a recipe.  I picked up some Butterfish fillets from Sayroo`s Bakery along with some fresh wheat buns and I figured I could put together a fish dish of some sort but could not settle on a definite plan of action. My palate further complicated me when I stopped into Whole Foods and saw a Mozzarela made right here in Florida.  So there I was in no man`s land craving fish..and cheese!  However I am never at a loss in the kitchen.

I quickly lit some coals; as you can see in the above picture, I usually heap the coals on one side of the grill

 and light them.  I prefer this indirect method as it works just like a convection oven and cooks slowly without charring.  if I need a char I can always move the meat to the hot side for a bit.  Anyhow, I marinated the fllets in my green seasoning (previous post) and had them sit and play in it whilst those coals smouldered

I ended up having my cake and eating it.  I came upon the idea of dressing the fish sandwich with a caprese salas. The bread was toasted then adorned with mozarella, basil, chery tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cracked pepper and chopped basil.  The fish was flavorful and spicy due to the marinade and the cheese and tomatoes really balanced and coled it down. This was quite a unique flavour and texture.  I hesitated at first to do this, prosciutto seemed a much safer meat, but who wants to be safe in the kitchen. The risk was definitely worth it.

This was a light, healthy sandwich that packed a unique flavour punch.

You will need:

Butterfish fillets, Wheat buns, butter, Mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, basil, olive oil, Balsamic vinegar

  • Season the fillets in 1-2 tsps of green seasoning (refer to my previous post)
  • start grill , be sure to arrange coals on one side of the grill so as to do indirect cooking.
  • once coals are ready place fillets skin side down and cover grill.  Return to grill in 15-20 minutes to check for doneness
  • Whilst the fish grills, spread some butter(I prefer kerrygold Irish butter) on the buns and broil in toaster open faced.
  • When golden brown remove and place some thin slices of mozzarela on one side. Adorn with sliced tomatoes, chopped basil and cracked pepper; then drizzle some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Less is more here as you do not want the vinegar to overpower the fish, just combine wiht the basil and tomatoes
  • PLace that nice hot, seasoned fillet on top and enjoy!

Whilst this would have been great wiht a Pinot gris, I actually was drinking a dry ginjo sake at the time and it went well together.

This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2009.