My husband and boys love to go fishing. When we went on a trip to Northern MI, they did a fishing charter on Torch Lake and caught some trout and salmon. This recipe was an easy and delicious way to showcase their fish catch.
The cornmeal we buy is certified Gluten-free from Bob’s Red Mill. It is a medium-coarse grind, so I wanted a bit lighter coating, I put the cornmeal in the blender and pulse it a few times to just get finer cornmeal, but not to the point of being a flour texture.
Seasoning
Dredging fish is straightforward and easy. The fillets are moist enough to hold the coating. I wanted a simple combination with the texture and taste of the fish to shine through. Dredging in a shallow dish make things easiest, I put the cornmeal in a pie plate and added some of my homemade vanilla sea salt.
You could just add some vanilla bean caviar to some salt, if you don’t have vanilla salt on hand. I have purchased these vanilla beans on Amazon in the past and they were good quality.
You could change up the flavor profile to whatever you want. Some smoked paprika would be good, a bit of pepper, any herb/spice or flavor you want. I had 7 fish fillets and plenty of coating to cover them.
We cooked ours on our Blackstone griddle, but a cast iron skillet on the stove would work just fine.
We served it over a bed of wild rice (from Thrive Market) and with sautéed vegetables and a salad. I served a cashew sauce to go with the fish and some slices of lemon. Delicious meal!!
Cashew Sauce
I wanted a sauce to go on the fish, two of my kids can’t have dairy, so I didn’t want to do a cream based sauce. My oldest son hates mayo, and I wanted him to enjoy it. I had some organic, raw cashews, so I decided to just play around with them. It was a delicious sauce. We used the leftovers as a veggie dip the next day.
I toasted the cashews in a dry cast iron skillet till lightly browned.
The toasted cashews went in the blender and I added the juice and zest of 1 lemon, some canned coconut milk, and blended until smooth. I added a pinch of ground black pepper, a pinch of vanilla salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper and some chopped dill. Stir till mixed.
Cornmeal coated fish with a cashew sauce
Course: MainDifficulty: Easy6
servings30
minutes20
minutesIngredients
6-7 fish fillets (we used trout and salmon)
1 1/2 cups gluten-free cornmeal, finely ground (but not flour)
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla sea salt
Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews, toasted
1/2 can of organic full fat coconut milk
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 pinch ground black pepper
1-2 pinches vanilla sea salt (if you end up using salted cashews, do not add more salt to sauce)
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
fresh dill, finely chopped, to taste
Directions
- Mix finely ground cornmeal and vanilla salt in a shallow dish (pie plate works well)
- Dredge fish fillets in cornmeal mixture, make sure plenty sticks to fish, I like to kind of press it on each side of the fillet.
- Preheat skillet or blackstone griddle. Heat some high-heat oil in the skillet or on your blackstone griddle. Once oil is hot, add coated fish fillets. Cook, turning once until both sides are golden and the fish is cooked through.
- For the Cashew Sauce:
- If your cashews are not toasted, make sure to toast them in a dry pan till lightly golden. Stir so they don’t burn while toasting.
- Place cooled, toasted cashews in blender. Add juice and zest of one lemon and a half can of coconut milk (you can use less coconut milk and replace with water if you don’t want so much coconut flavor). Blend till well mixed and smooth, stirring between pulses, if needed.
- Add to blended mixture, a pinch of vanilla sea salt, black pepper and a small pinch of cayenne pepper. Mix. Taste and more seasoning or lemon juice as needed. Mix in finely chopped dill. The sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated till ready to serve.
- Serve fish over a bed of wild rice with the cashew sauce on top and a wedge of lemon and sprig of dill.
