I'm making fish today, on a tray bake.
We have eight-ounce portions for each person.
This is sustainable cod.
Any thick, white fish will do for this.
Or if you prefer, chicken breast.
Boneless, skinless. (audience applauding)
So, these guys.
I start with dousing them with a little lemon juice,
squeeze cut side up,
so that the seeds stay with the lemon.
Salt and pepper.
And then for these guys, I get 'em going with
a little jacket of olive oil.
A little EVOO on top.
And then we're going to scatter thinly-sliced onions
directly onto the fish.
And then we're going to build a salty, fresh tomato sauce
to throw on top.
We have the oven preheating to about 400, 425.
The next bit of business is the ingredients for the sauce.
So the tomatoes go in, and now, lots of salt.
Like, I like my eyes to be swollen
pretty much every morning I wake up.
(audience laughing)
So, I have black olives, oil-cured or Kalamata,
whichever you prefer.
I like the nice, oil-cured ones.
That really deep flavor that's so earthy.
Cerignola olives, lovely in a martini,
and delicious in this sauce, throw them in.
A handful of flat-leaf parsley,
and a little fresh oregano or dried.
Now, if you use dried, I'd put in two teaspoons.
If you're using fresh, I'd put in two tablespoons.
And then we're going to add a little bit of chili.
A little or a lot, however spicy you like things.
And a little bit of fennel.
The dry herbs are stronger in flavor.
That's why you put less... That's right.
than a different amount. Yes, yes.
Exactly.
And I like fennel, I love fennel.
So, I put in fennel seed and fennel pollen.
And then we drizzle the sauce itself with a little EVOO
and then mix this all together.
I love your spoon.
(Curtis and audience laughing)
My mother, it's my mother and me.
Ciao, Elsa.
My mother, (speaking foreign language) is your property,
but everybody calls her Elsa.
My mother always said
that the two most useful instruments in the kitchen
are attached to your arms, use them.
And then she'd say, "You're not using them fast enough."
(Rachael laughing)
(audience applauding)
Okay, so there's the tray bake before it even goes in.
Curtis, could you do me a huge favor?
Just pop that sucker in there, will you?
That looks gorgeous. I mean, come on.
And you just leave it in there.
(audience cheering and applauding)
You just leave it in there until the fish is opaque
and the sauce has slumped.
I'm setting bread on fire over here.
Like, giant, live flame fire.
We're making bruschetta.
Bruschetta is not tomato topping on bread,
it is charred bread,
and you can put anything you want on it.
So we're charring bread.
And the reason I'm doing it over the open flame
is A, because they have a gas stove here.
Otherwise you have to do it under your boiler.
And B, because anytime I put bread in the oven,
I burn it and it does actually catch fire.
(audience applauding)
Smells- Oh!
(audience oohing)
Oh, snap.
Oh, wow!
Take a whiff.
Oh my goodness.
That it, smells all right. Right?
Smells better than it looks.
(audience cheering and applauding)
And it looks sensational.
Now, I should put this on a pretty platter
but just to recap, 'cause it's fresh outta the oven,
you can just take it into the kitchen
and serve it up for the fam.
But the important part is that we do this.
In our family, the whole point of the bread
is to be the vehicle that maneuvers the food to your mouth.
(audience cheering)