Some Lent Learnin'

Lula's Curried TilapiaSo, for lots of us (and the grocery stores) fish is in store for the next few weeks - and I want to give you a helpful tip to keep your at home fish from being tough and dry.Fish (any kind) contains ALOT of water and has a very loose protein structure that makes cooking fish a delicate process.  You just don't want to over cook fish, because fish, more than any other protein, has dramatic "carry-over" cooking.What is carry over cooking?  Well...you follow instructions when roasting meet to "let it rest" to re-absorb juices, right?  Well, it's also finishing the cooking process right there on the counter.  That's why most cookbooks/instructions tell you that medium rare is 130 degress...but they tell you to pull your meat from the heat at 125 degrees.Same for fish, and funnily enough, when you cook your fish at a higher temperature, the carry over cooking is much more dramatic (ex. salmon at 250 degrees reaching a 125 temp will raise another 7 or so degrees sitting on the counter for 5 minutes, but salmon cooked at 450 degrees to 125 will raise another 27 degrees after 5 minutes!!  SO.....UNDERCOOK your fish at a LOW temperature and let it rest just like you do meat, and you'll have moist, flaky, perfectly done fish!!  You're welcome.  -Lula