Note: This column oiginally appeared in the July 2007 issue of On The Water magazine. The recipe was included in Dave “Pops” Masch’s cookbook, Cooking The Catch.
Bluefish is an often underrated fish, but once you learn how to prepare it properly, you’ll discover its versatility and great flavor. Boston bluefish in particular is a regional delicacy known for its delicious meaty texture
In this article, I’ll walk through easy methods for cooking bluefish fillets and whole bluefish to bring out the best in this fish. With just a few simple steps, you can make tasty bluefish meals at home from this abundant New England species.
Choosing Your Bluefish
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Look for glistening, shiny skin without bruises or discoloration. The eyes should be clear and bulge slightly.
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Smaller bluefish around 1-3 lbs will have a milder flavor and less oily meat. Larger trophy fish over 10 lbs will be especially moist and fatty.
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Wild caught local bluefish like those caught off Cape Cod have the best flavor. Farmed bluefish tends to be less flavorful.
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Whole bluefish keeps longer but fillets are easier to cook. Have your whole catch filleted if possible.
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Once caught, bluefish meat starts to degrade quickly so cook within 1-2 days of purchase for peak freshness.
Preparing Bluefish Fillets
The delicate white meat of bluefish adapts well to almost any cooking method. Here are some top preparation tips:
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Rinse fillets and pat dry with paper towels before cooking.
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Brush flesh side with olive oil or melted butter and season generously with salt and pepper.
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Always cook bluefish fillets until they flake easily with a fork – they should be opaque throughout.
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Baking, broiling, grilling and pan frying are all great options for cooking the fillets.
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Try lighter preparations like crusting fillets with breadcrumbs or flour before pan frying.
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For stronger tasting bluefish, acidic ingredients like lemon or tomato help balance the oiliness.
Baking Whole Bluefish
Baking is one of the easiest ways to prepare a whole gutted bluefish:
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Rinse the fish cavity well and pat the outside dry. Leave head and tail on for presentation.
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Stuff the cavity with parsley, onions, and citrus slices. Season all over with salt, pepper and olive oil.
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Place on a parchment lined baking sheet or casserole dish. Bake at 425°F for 7-9 minutes per pound.
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Test doneness by inserting a knife behind the dorsal fin area. The flesh should flake and separate from the backbone easily when fully cooked.
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Garnish with extra parsley and lemon wedges before serving. The fish can be carefully filleted after baking by loosening the top fillet with a spatula and lifting off bones.
Pan Frying Small Bluefish
Pan frying works well for smaller whole bluefish or chunks of flesh:
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Cut bluefish into diagonal slices or steaks around 2 inches thick. Season flesh generously with salt and pepper.
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Coat the fish pieces lightly in flour, cornmeal or panko breadcrumbs.
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Heat 1/4 inch of olive oil in a cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pan fry fish in batches 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown.
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You can also sauté some diced onions, garlic, and bell peppers in the pan before adding the fish to create more flavor.
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Splash the pan with white wine or lemon juice once fish is cooked for an easy pan sauce.
Grilling Plank-Roasted Bluefish
For whole fish, plank grilling over indirect heat is a dramatic presentation:
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Coat flesh side of bluefish with olive oil and season inside cavity as well.
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Preheat grill with soaked cedar or maple planks placed over direct heat.
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Once planks start to smoke, move them to indirect heat and place whole fish directly on the plank, flesh side down.
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Close grill lid and plank roast the fish for 12-15 minutes until cooked through and flaking.
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Top with fresh herbs and citrus slices. Carefully slide fish off the plank to serve.
With these simple tricks for preparing bluefish fillets, whole fish, and steaks, you can showcase this tasty regional fish at its best. The next time you reel in bluefish off the Cape, cook it up with pride!
Baked Bluefish with Potatoes, Genoese Style (for “The World’s Best Bluefish Recipe”
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel and slice the potatoes thinly (about ⅛-inch thick). In an enameled cast iron (16×10-inch) casserole dish, mix the potatoes with half of the garlic, half of the parsley, half of the olive oil, and a lot of salt and pepper. Put the dish in the upper third of a hot oven and bake for 15 minutes. The potatoes should be spread out evenly on the bottom and sides of the dish. Remove the dish and place the fillets, skin side down, on the potatoes. Mix the remaining olive oil, garlic and parsley and pour over the fillets. Salt and pepper liberally and return the casserole to the oven for 10 minutes. Take the dish out of the oven and use a spoon to coat the fish and potatoes that are already brown with some of the oil in the dish. Take the browned potatoes off the sides of the dish and put in the potatoes that haven’t browned from the bottom of the dish. Bake 5 minutes more.
Serve piping hot directly from the casserole dish, scraping up browned potatoes stuck to the pan. You should save these tasty bits for yourself or someone you like almost as much, Marcella says. ”.
To make more of these “delectable bits,” I sometimes use two baking dishes, twice as many potatoes, and the same amount of fish. ” My family has almost come to blows over these browned potatoes. Does it really matter whether the potatoes or the fish taste better? Why not? Go for it! Home cooks don’t get enough praise or fame.
This simple recipe is not only outstanding, but versatile; you can cook any firm-fleshed fish in this way. If you don’t dry it out, it goes well with swordfish, salmon, mackerel, and striped bass. You really can’t go wrong with it. The only things that could go wrong are not pre-cooking the potatoes long enough or, even worse, cooking the seafood for too long. You can eat it with shrimp, scallops, or both; squid, octopus that has already been cooked; or a mix of all of these. You will not be sorry and your renown will grow. I promise!.
All “Blues” Are Not Sad
As summer approaches, so do the fish that come with it. Let’s catch some and cook them right.
There’s not a lot of ways to write column after column without getting repetitive and boring for the reader. It’s already boring for me, so why should you care?
Anyway, I know a fish that is always fun to catch or eat, and that fish is the much-maligned bluefish. Everyone knows it’s a great fighter, but it’s dangerous to handle. If you do it right, it’s delicious to eat. The bluefish is disliked by many for being oily or “fishy-tasting” and even repellent when cooked. These negative reactions are always about fish that were poorly handled when caught. When blue whales are feeding on the surface, fishermen often catch a lot of fish quickly. In the excitement of the moment, the fish are thrown to the deck or put in boxes and forgotten until the blitz is over, the tangled lines are straightened out, and the gear is checked over. Then the fishermen have to talk about what happened before they can finally get to the dead fish that are cooking in the boxes or just sitting in the sun. Some people don’t pay attention to this fish until they get to the dock. There, they unload the spoiled fish and give it to their friends and neighbors, who quickly grow to dislike the good fish.
Every summer I write to exhort my readers to bleed each bluefish as it comes aboard. Making a cut just behind where the gill covers meet on the bottom of the fish is an easy and dangerous way to do this. Bluefish have sharp teeth, strong jaws, and are very mean. Be careful, because they will quickly eat the flesh off of your finger or thumb! I know this from personal experience. Before you make the cut that will bleed, you should hit big blues over 6 pounds hard on the top of the head with a “priest” or some other kind of club. (The name “priest” for the chosen bludgeon is apt, for it applies the “last rites” to the fish. After cutting the fish’s throat, I put it in a bucket that’s half full of water to keep most of the blood off the boat. When the blood is gone, I put the fish on ice or, if there is no ice, in a wet burlap bag. Evaporation from the wet sack will keep the fish cool for as long as the sack remains damp. I then gut the fish as soon as possible, usually while still at sea.
If you do what I say, you’ll have a nice gift for your friends and neighbors. They won’t have to hide when they see you coming with “fresh” fish. They will actually welcome you with open arms and thank you very much, especially if you can persuade them to cook the food you gave them in this way, which I call the “world’s best bluefish recipe.”
The book More Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, which came out in 1978 and is not my own, has this recipe in it. In the eight years I’ve been writing about this recipe, I’ve done so almost every year. I think it’s important for the bluefish’s reputation as a tasty food and for yours as a tasty food treasure to your family and friends. It is also easily prepared. What more could you ask for in a recipe?.