Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Flounder with Tomato, Pepper and Bacon

My husband is the fish eater in the family. Since reading it can poison you I now have an excuse to not have to eat it very often. But my husband snuck off to the farmers market in Park Slope and brought home not delicious baked goods or cheese like I would like, but flounder. Blech. I make this meal with a heavy heart.

6 slices of lean bacon, chopped fine
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
2/3 cup minced red or yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
a 28-ounce can tomatoes including the juice, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried basil
six 1/2-pound flounder fillets, halved lengthwise and seasoned with salt
and pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a skillet cook the bacon over moderate heat until it is crisp, transfer it to paper towels to drain. In the fat remaining in the skillet cook the shallot and the pepper over moderately low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes, add the wine, and boil the mixture, scraping up the brown bits, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with the juice, the basil, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until it is thickened.

On a work surface arrange the flounder fillet halves, beginning with the narrow end roll up each fillet half jelly-roll fashion, and secure each roll with a wooden pick.

In an oiled flameproof baking pan, arrange the fish rolls, seam sides down and not touching each other, pour the sauce evenly over them, and bake the mixture in the middle of a preheated 400°F. oven for 10 minutes. In a bowl stir together the the parsley, the bacon, and salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the topping over the rolls. Drizzle the fish rolls with the oil and bake the mixture for 10 minutes, or until the fish just flakes. (For a crisper topping, the cooked mixture may be broiled under a preheated broiler about 4 inches from the heat for 1 to 2 minutes.)

Whatever. I drank my dinner that night. I served the left overs cold to my son the next day. Does that make me a bad mom? Am I shrinking his brain? My daughter wouldn't touch it. As much as I hate to toss any food at all, ever. . . 30% of this ended up in the trash.

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