"Ohhhh Red Snapper. Veeery Tasty."

Up until this point in my life, my only experience with the aforementioned fish was from a hilarious bit from the too-awesome-for-words movie UHF (Wheel! Of! Fish!). And then Tuesday came.

Okay, let me back up a bit. Last weekend Kelly and I decided to take a trip to Traders Joe's. We heart TJs, but we don't so much heart the crowds that accumulate there on the weekends. However, 10 AM on Sundays is the best time for heathens likes us to shop since many folks are at church services. Anyway, I'm walking down the freezer aisle and notice that there is a variety of tasty fish. I love seafood, but haven't cooked much more than shrimp or salmon on the grill, so I decided to try something new. Hence, the Red Snapper.

More back story: early last week I was at the JCU bookstore and they had a ton of books on sale and I ended up picking up two cookbooks for a total of $4.89. One of which was a book called "Chef Interrupted" and it promised to be a book of recipes from famous chefs that have essentially been dumbed down (the recipes, not the chefs) for the home cook. There must have been some super fine print that said "but only if you have crazy expensive ingredients like truffle oil or hard to find fish like Rouget." But I was lucky enough to find a recipe for a Parmesan and herb-crusted red snapper that sounded quite tasty and not too involved.

Okay, now we are back to Tuesday. Kelly has worked late and is in route to Hatgas Compound East while I get dinner ready. So I am cutting up chive and tarragon, carefully measuring turmeric and Parmesan, and mixing it all together with some good ole panko bread crumbs (a new favorite of mine). I put it all together with some melted butter, covered the fish with it and under the broiler it went.

I know what you are thinking right now; "uh oh. What happens next? How did bumbling Kevin screw this one up?" But that is kinda the point...that never happened. I made a pretty good fish dish with ingredients that I was unfamiliar with and I didn't crack, I didn't lose confidence (though I almost ruined the rice pilaf). I guess I'm getting a little more confidence in the kitchen which is never a bad thing.

My rambling will end soon, I promise, but I do need to tell you a bit about the fish. It was okay. It wasn't stellar and it wasn't garbage, it was just kinda "eh"...nothing special. I really liked the snapper- it's firm, it's slightly sweet, it's a very nice fish to be sure- but the crust on the fish was nothing to write home about. I think it's because of that stupid tarragon, which didn't quite overpower the dish, but it was really close. If I do this again, I will substitute the tarragon for some parsley and I think this could be a keeper.

By the way, if you've never seen UHF "you're so stupid!!"