Potato-Crusted Flounder Stuffed with Fire-Roasted Red Pepper & Chorizo

This recipe was lifted straight from The Food Network - they lifted it from a small restaurant called Noah's. Noah's  is a 75 seat, chef owned and operated, restaurant located in Stonington, CT - just seven miles from the town of Mystic. Their menu looks fantastic and so is this dish.

When I first started doing this blog I said some of the recipes were easy and some were not. This one proved to be quite difficult for me. I have adapted it over the years to make it much easier and much less time consuming. The original recipe had you making a fresh tomato sauce and a stuffing that took so much time that you were exhausted before assembling the dish. The trick is to make the stuffing the day before you need it. You will have plenty left over to freeze so making the dish for a second and third time is a breeze. One of the ingredients in the stuffing is chorizo. I hate to admit it, but I don't trust anyone's chorizo but my own, so I'll make that too. I'll give you the recipe but you can always purchase it and save yourself even more time.

Day One

Making Chorizo and Stuffing

I found a chorizo recipe in Cuisine Magazine, Issue 68 on page 34.

Sweet and Spicy Chorizo

• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 pound bulk pork sausage
• 1 poblano chile , roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine brown sugar and spices. Blend in remaining ingredients except vegetable oil.

Saute the mixture in vegetable oil. Drain and set aside. You will use the chorizo in the stuffing.

Stuffing

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 pound of chorizo, diced small if you are purchasing it already made
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, stemmed and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 ripe red bell peppers, charred over an open flame, chilled, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons sherry
• 1-1/2  to 2 cups breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper

To make the stuffing: In a large saute pan, add the olive oil, then chorizo, and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and saute on medium heat until the onions are soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the oregano and bay leaf and cook another 2 minutes, until you can smell the herbs cooking. Add the diced bell peppers and sherry and let simmer 1 minute. Turn off the heat. Fold in the bread crumbs until all liquid has been absorbed. Season with salt and pepper. Taste it. Adjust and set aside.

I generally make this dish for two. At this point I freeze the stuffing into 1/2 cup portions which is all you need each time you make the dish. You are done for the day. Relax and have a glass of wine!

Stuffing in 1/2 cup portions

Potato-Crusted Flounder Stuffed with Fire-Roasted Red Peppers and Chorizo

Serves 2

After Fish Has Been Plated

Day Two

Tomato Sauce

You can make your own sauce, but I find this dish has so much flavor that it really overpowers the sauce. I say canned is fine.

• 1 - 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
  
• drizzle of olive oil
• 2 fresh basil leaves, torn
• salt and pepper to taste

Stuffing

1/2 cup of stuffing

Potato Crust:

• 1 large russet potato
• salt and pepper
• 1-1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Flounder:

• 2 fresh flounder fillets per person, about 4 to 5 ounces per person
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Filets Placed on Potato Mounds

1. Place the ingredients for the tomato sauce in to a small pan and simmer.
2. To make the potato crust: Using a mandoline shred the potato into a bowl. Add sat and pepper and add cornstarch. Mix until blended and set aside.
3. To stuff and crust the fish: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4. Lay out the fillets flat on a work surface and season with salt and pepper. Place a golf-ball sized piece of stuffing in the center of 1 fillet. Spread to distribute the stuffing evenly over the filet. Top with second fillet. Repeat process with remaining fillets.
5. Heat a large nonstick, oven proof saute pan over med-high heat. Add olive oil. When hot put two mounds of shredded potatoes in the basic shape of the fish in the oil. Lay the stuffed fillets on top of the potatoes - press down lightly. Let sit until the potatoes are golden brown about 5 minutes. Carefully flip over stuffed flounder (check to make sure potatoes are good and brown before flipping). Place the flounder in oven for 9 to 12 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
6. Remove the fish from the oven. Ladle tomato sauce onto serving plates. Lay the stuffed flounder over the sauce and serve with a vegetable, such as sauteed spinach.

I know this dish looks and sounds complicated, but once you have done it you will find that it is quite easy. I began making this in 2005 and always find that it makes everyone who eats it smile. Life is good - enjoy!