Don’t Give Up On A Good Thing
You gotta love Trader Joe’s! I recently came across their Tilapia Citronette, and it has quickly become one of my favorites. If you’re not familiar with this dish – its marinated tilapia fillets topped with grilled asparagus and sliced carrots. However, I just have one little problem with it – the cooking directions. The peeps at Trader Joe’s say that you can either nuke this dish or cook it in the oven. Nuking this entree, per the instructions, makes the fish taste more like rubber chicken and the oven directions take way too long.
Luckily, I did not give up on this tasty dish even after having less than stellar results using their instructions. I think that I may have struck gold, though, by using a combination of both suggested methods with my own little spin on them!
First, poke a few holes in the plastic and cook it in the microwave for about six minutes. This will thaw it out a bit and get it ready for oven cooking.
I have 2 different recommendations for completion:
1. Pan sear it a bit on the stovetop and then finish it off by placing it in a 385 degree oven for about 12 minutes.
-OR-
2. After taking it out of the microwave, cook it up on a medium/high heat stovetop for about 2 minutes on each side.
Either way works perfectly and yields the warm, white, flaky decadence that’s pictured on the packaging label. Just remember, with either option, to coat your pan with plenty of olive oil to keep the fish from becoming permanently affixed to it forever!
Finally, to give this dish the Love TKO, serve this up on a dinner plate over an arugula salad. While you’re at Trader Joe’s pick up a bag of baby arugula. In a mixing bowl – Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt –n- pepper, and the arugula. Mix together.
On a dinner plate, place a portion of the “arugula salad” down first. Then top it with the Tilapia Citronette. Pair it with an Argentinean Torrontes like the 2009 Alamos Torrontes and you’ve got a party! If you want a little something extra, you can also add your choice of steamed vegetables.
Salud!
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Tags: 11 Responses to “Don’t Give Up On A Good Thing”
I have always wondered how that fish was. Thanks for the tips!
A couple of problems with this: 1. Tilapia is farmed through crazy processes:see below:Tilapia is the third most important fish in aquaculture after carps and salmonids, with production reaching 1,505,804 metric tons in 2002[6]. Because of their large size, rapid growth, and palatability, tilapiine cichlids are the focus of major aquaculture efforts, specifically various species of Oreochromis, Sarotherodon, and Tilapia, collectively known colloquially as tilapias. Like other large fish, they are a good source of protein and a popular target for artisanal and commercial fisheries. Most such fisheries were originally found in Africa, but outdoor aquaculture projects in tropical countries such as Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Indonesia are underway in freshwater lakes.[6] In temperate zone localities, tilapiine farming operations require energy to warm the water to tropical temperatures. One method uses waste heat from factories and power stations.[7]Commercially grown tilapia are almost exclusively male. Cultivators use hormones such as testosterone to reverse the sex of newly spawned females. Because tilapia are prolific breeders the presence of female tilapia results in rapidly increasing populations of small fish, rather than a stable population of harvest-size animals.[8]Whole Tilapia fish can be processed into skinless, boneless (PBO) fillets: the yield is from 30 percent to 37 percent, depending on fillet size and final trim.[9] The use of tilapia in the commercial food industry has led to the virtual extinction of genetically pure bloodlines. Most wild tilapia today are hybrids of several species.2. Why microwave?3. Marinating covers the "non – fresh " factorSolution: Go to your seafood purveyor and buy local and fresh if possible. If you have to go to Trader Joe's to buy seafood , buy their Wild Salmon or Halibut that is flash frozen.
Amen to Wild Salmon !
In the long run, wild caught is always better…it gives the individual fisherman as well as the fleet an economic incentive to preserve their fisheries…although that logic has flown out the window many times in the past i.e. Maine Lobster and Atlantic Cod…besides Tilapia tastes muddy, hence the complicated marinades and such and because it's highly segmented once it becomes mostly cooked it breaks apart easily and starts to present problems for plating and garnish.
@John Lots of good info on Tilapia, in particular the commercially grown – thanks for sharing. I think many people that shop at Trader Joe’s are under the impression that many of the products offered are environmentally conscious/friendly. Although I can’t say for certain that the frozen Tilapia I had was derived from a sustainable source, it appears that Trader Joe’s is making efforts towards this.Wikipedi: After a campaign of demonstrations by Greenpeace and several other environmental and consumer groups across the country, Trader Joe's pledged to drop all genetically modified food from its product line in November 2001.[22]On July 11, 2009, Trader Joe's released a statement announcing the company's intention to use the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program to inform its purchasing decisions.[23]Trader Joe’s website: 3/23/10 Update – In our efforts to offer seafood options that fit customer needs ranging from food safety and taste, to concern over the environment, we have established the following goal: all of our seafood purchases will shift to sustainable sources by December 31, 2012. This applies to all formats of seafood we offer: frozen, fresh, canned, etc.
I love Trader Joe's ( especially the Maple Syrup since I prefer the grade B since it seems richer) but I hope this wine life 365 is not a trader joes' front!
@John You just made me chuckle. I can assure you – I am just a fan too.
Mark
Me too John…by the way if you go to the N.E. states you will see they never use grade A amber cuz it's not reflective of the real syrup…they only use the grade B, like you, cuz that's the stuff that has the real flavor.
Great info.I like all your posts. It's good to see you speak from the heart..
Thanks to all for the seafood comments. I heard a talk that was given on NPR last night in SF that said that farmed Tilapia is sometimes misrepresented and that it is actually Hake, a very large fish caught on long lines (catching lots of other species as well) off the coast of So. America. Anyone know about this? Is T.J.'s fresh, farmed Tilapia actually something else? We try to eat sustainably caught wild fish, but not always possible so sometimes fall back on T.J.'s farmed Tilapia. BTW: I don't do anything to it. I rinse it, wrap it in unbleached paper towels, saute it with green onions, garlic, shitake/oyster mushrooms, olive oil and when I turn it I add a little white wine. I add a little herbs, maybe, but no salt and it always tastes wonderful.
My local Trader Joe's just told me that the Tilapia Citronette has been discontinued due to 'quality' issues…