A chef's step-by-step guide to restaurant-style Alaska rockfish

The Eat Alaska Project is a partnership of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and Alaska Grown.

"A dish should have three main flavors, three textures and three colors," said Jack Sprat executive chef Andrew Brown, creator of this recipe for crispy rockfish with roasted tomatoes atop fresh salad greens, complemented by a celery root puree and confit leeks and drizzled with a lemony brown butter caper sauce.

"You always want to have a balance of flavors, textures and appearances," he added. In this recipe (find it below), a onetime Jack Sprat special that became a regular menu item, the balance incorporates crispy, creamy and fresh. Here, for your at-home enjoyment, Brown offers some tips and techniques to coach you through its preparation.

The recipe is ambitious, but not unattainable, and Brown even starts with an approved shortcut to ease you into it. For the home chef who would just as soon skip a step with the roasted tomatoes (boiling and peeling, though it actually goes pretty quickly, he said), "The easiest work-around is using whole, canned tomatoes." While commercial canned tomatoes won't be Alaska-grown, Brown added, " if the option were skipping it entirely or using canned tomatoes, I'd support canned."

The starch

First things first: Why celery root?

"I had always kind of known about it but never really worked with it before," Brown said. "I saw it in the order guide from our produce distributor, ordered a case and decided to play around with it." He tried it roasted, pureed and shaved and eaten raw; the puree was his favorite.

For its preparation, he offered a chef's tip: When boiling the celery root and potatoes, adding a little sugar to the water prevents the vegetables from leaking flavor, "for some scientific reason that has to do with osmosis" (he thinks).

Brown also advised boiling the potatoes and celery root separately, since they cook at different speeds.

From there, he said, "it's basically like mashed potatoes, but it's more celery root than potato. Potato adds structure to the puree, but it's the same process."

The vegetable

After deconstructing the celery root puree to mashed potato simplicity, Brown went on to prove that the confit leeks are the least intimidating component of the recipe. Two ingredients; one hour; stir until melted.

"Leeks can be so fibrous," he said. "The slow and low method works really well. You can't really overcook them."

The fish

Brown has a few tips for making restaurant-delicious fish from the comfort of your own kitchen.

"Rockfish is one of my favorites," he said -- for its rich flavor, flaky texture and fattier flesh. He enhances it with a classic (and naturally gluten-free) potato crust, using potato flakes rather than hash browns or panko -- something he learned from a chef he worked with in Portland.

"Fish in general takes a lot more salt than people realize," he said. "People are often shocked when they see me seasoning fish, but it can handle a lot more salt than other foods without being overly salty."

With all white fish, he said, be careful to cook it through but not dry it out. He suggests searing the fish on the non-skin side first -- getting it really hot and caramelized -- then flipping it just once to cook briefly on the second side.

Technique aside, Brown admitted that restaurant stovetops are engineered to get a little hotter than your average home range, and they have a more advanced hood system. "When I try to do it at home, the house gets filled with smoke," he laughed. For the best at-home result, he recommends using a cast iron pan, which allows the fish to cook at a higher temperature without sticking.

The sauce

"The brown butter sauce takes most of my attention," Brown said.

While heating slowly and stirring, wait for a for a light brown color and a strong hazelnut smell. By the time it starts to brown it will be cooking quickly -- and easy to burn. Even after you turn off the heat, he said, it will continue cooking for a minute or two.

While the sauce requires a lot of attention, Brown says it is -- like the rest of the dish -- still totally attainable for the at-home chef. Bon appetit.

***

Alaska Rockfish with Celery Root Purée

Recipe by Chef Andrew Brown, Jack Sprat, Girdwood

Time: 1 hour

Rockfish

6 fresh Alaska grown tomatoes

Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

8 ounces Alaska grown arugula

1 Alaska grown fennel bulb, trimmed and shaved paper thin

4 (6-ounce) fillets Alaska rockfish

1 cup potato flakes (instant mashed potatoes)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Celery Root Purée

2 pounds Alaska grown celery root, peeled, diced, reserve leaves for garnish, stalks for stock

1 pound Alaska grown red potatoes, peeled, diced

Kosher salt

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Confit Leeks

2 Alaska grown leeks, washed and trimmed, reserving greens for stock, if desired

½ cup unsalted butter

Brown Butter Caper Sauce

4 tablespoons nonfat milk powder

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup capers, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or other light/neutral cooking oil)

6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, minced

Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Makes 4 servings

Preheat oven to 375°. Using a sharp knife, cut an x in the stem end of each tomato. Place tomatoes in a pot of boiling water until skin starts to peel off. Place tomatoes in a bowl of ice water. Peel, discarding skin. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Drizzle with olive oil; season generously with salt and pepper. Spread tomatoes, cut side down, on a baking sheet and roast until very tender, about 25 minutes. Remove tomatoes from oven; set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.

Combine arugula and fennel in a bowl, season lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper; set aside.

Season fillets generously with salt and pepper; divide potato flakes evenly and coat one side of each fillet with flakes. Coat the bottom of a large ovenproof sauté pan with olive oil and place over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering but not smoking, add fillets to pan, potato flake side down, and cook 2-3 minutes, until golden brown. Turn fillets over in pan; place pan in oven until fillets are cooked through, but not falling apart, another 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with Celery Root Purée, Confit Leeks, reserved arugula and fennel and Brown Butter Caper Sauce.

Celery Root Purée:

Cook celery root and potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 18 to 20 minutes. Drain and process with food mill or a ricer. Stir in cream, butter, cayenne and season with salt to taste.

Confit Leeks:

Quarter leeks lengthwise and dice into 1-inch pieces; wash thoroughly. Heat butter in a large sauté pan, add leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, over very low heat, about 1 hour or until melted and creamy. NOTE: You can cover and place pan in a 300-degree oven for 1 hour, or until creamy.

Brown Butter Caper Sauce:

Place 4 tablespoons nonfat milk powder and 4 tablespoons unsalted butter in a small pan and heat slowly until milk solids begin to caramelize and smell like hazelnuts, remove from heat and strain off clarified oil with a fine mesh sieve, reserve solids. Place brown butter solids, and next 4 ingredients in a blender. With blender running, slowly drizzle in oil until emulsified; add parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

This story is sponsored by the Eat Alaska Project. Make this dish and post a photo on social media! Tag it with #eatalaska.

This article was produced by the special content department of Alaska Dispatch News in collaboration with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute and Alaska Grown. The ADN newsroom was not involved in its production.?