Black Tip Shark That Looked Great But Tasted Lousy

The other day I purchased what I thought were gorgeous looking shark filets for grilling. They were on sale at a ridiculously good price, which should have been my first clue something may not be right, but I have purchased a lot of fish on sale before with no problems.

I’ve been told by fishmongers I trust that supermarket chains sometimes buy too much of one item and then have to put it on sale to move it. Other times they put an item on sale so they can advertise it in the paper to get people in the store or so they can make one of those annoying announcements over the speakers while you are in the store.

This is why it is so important to find a fish store or supermarket you like and get to know the person running each department. Build a relationship with your fishmonger or butcher and they will typically steer you in the right direction, making sure you get quality product and the best sales. In this case I didn’t follow my own advice. I purchased the fish at a supermarket chain whose fish department doesn’t usually “wow” me, from a person behind the counter I did not know.

They told me the filets were black tip shark, great for grilling and tasted like swordfish that was selling at a significantly higher price. The filets looked great as you can see in the above photo and when I brought them home, they smelled fine.

Grilling and Tasting

I seasoned them with a little olive oil, salt & pepper and threw them on my gas grill being careful not to overcook them. We like our fish medium, especially if we are serving it to the kids.

When I made my first cut into the fish for that first bite, I knew something wasn’t right. The fish did not flake apart like I expected. When I took that first bite, the meat was very tough, tasted mealy and was almost inedible. When I say inedible, I don’t mean the fish was turned but chewy….not at all what I expected.

I thought maybe I didn’t cook it right or was I suppose to marinate it for a few hours so I emailed my friend Chef Alan Bickel with my own Ask A Chef Question.

I wrote, “Chef, what did I do wrong?  Is it my cooking technique or the fish? And if it was the fish, what was wrong with it? It looked great at the market.”

Here is what Chef Alan replied back to me:

“I have experienced what I think you’re referring to, although it has always been with swordfish in my case. It is almost a ‘grainy’ texture in the mouth, almost as if you were trying to chew finely ground up sandpaper?

In addition, I find the surface of the steaks have almost a sandy feel and not as firm as normal for a dense fish of that kind. As far as flavor profile goes, in a case like this there’s a very bland, depthless feel to it, instead of a full characteristic flavor.

(more…)

First, I would like to say thank you to everyone who sent in a cartoon caption. They were all great. Some different, but I enjoyed everyone of them.

In the end, I couldn’t pick just one so I decided to choose two of my favorites to print on tee shirts at Cafe Press and I will be contacting the two who sent the captions in for mailing instructions.

I’m hoping this is something you all enjoyed. If so, we can do it again with another cartoon in the future. Thanks again.

Here are two of my favorites:

Josh Baugher sent in “Honey, I’ve got everything under control.”

and Evelyn sent in “It’s not burnt, it’s Cajun!”

If you would like a tee shirt, grilling apron, or coffee mug with one of these cartoons on them, they are now available at my Reluctant Gourmet Cafe Press. Plus you can find some of my other cartoons printed on all sorts of stuff.

Friday night my youngest daughter had her first sleepover with a friend from her firstgrade class. When I asked my daughter what she wanted for dinner with her friend, she immediately replied, “Filet Mignon with Demi Glace Sauce!”

This is her favorite meal of all time and it would be her friend’s first encounter with filet mignon. My daughter wanted to share her excitement over this meal so I went out and purchased a few steaks.

I was a little concerned because when her mother dropped off my daughters friend she said her daughter was a very picky eater and didn’t like much but she did love french fries so steak frites (steak and fries) it was. I did serve a salad and creamed spinach for my wife and I but the kids would have none of it.

First Grilling – Two Mistakes

Normally I grill all winter long and I’m sure I ventured out into the cold at some point this past one but it has been a while. Friday night was a gorgeous night to grill. Clear skies, warm weather and a glass of wine in hand but I made two big mistakes which I will share with you now.

First mistake this first night of grilling was not to clean the ashes from the bottom of the kettle before starting. Normally I give both my gas grill and charcoal grill a good cleaning at the end of the fall season but I didn’t clean the charcoal grill this time.

Normally it doesn’t matter that much but because the ashes got damp and wet over the winter they formed a solid mess at the bottom of the kettle. This mess covered up a couple of the air vents at the bottom and made it difficult to get enough air flow necessary to get the fire hot.

I should have realized this as soon as I noticed how long it was taking to get the coals hot. I ended up doing a lot of huffing and puffing to get the coals hot enough to grill the steaks. And speaking of coals, this leads me to my second mistake. Not enough coals.

Second Mistake – Not enough charcoal

I don’t know what I was thinking but I skimped on charcoal when I initially made the fire and ended up having to add more before I could even start grilling. This slowed down the whole process and the kids were getting antsy for dinner. 

I like using 100% lump hardwood charcoal. It costs a little more than the more common charcoal briquettes you find everywhere but the hard wood charcoal burns hotter, cleaner and with no chemicals.

So all I can say is, “Don’t skimp on a couple of dollars worth of charcoal and chance ruining $30 plus dollars worth of meat.”

I grilled the steaks like usual but served up the small pieces that cooked faster to the girls and let the bigger cuts cook a little longer. If you want to see my grilling tips, you can find them at http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/cooking-tips/grilling-tips/ 

I also have some more grilling tips on my web site at Grilling Techniques

If you are interested in making your own demi-glace sauce, check out my blog Demi-Glace For Great Steak Sauce.