Captain Earl here.  Being a charter captain I have many clients who do not wish to keep their fish, the fun is in the catching.  My family enjoys eating fresh fish, so I often bring home one or two for dinner.  We usually grill or fry our fish, but sometimes we like to mix it up a little and have something different.

 Southern Mississippi has a strong connection with the Cajun culture as many New Orleans families have summer homes on the Mississippi coast where they get away from the summer heat and humidity of the Louisiana delta.  Of course they bring their cuisine with them, and it soon becomes part of the local cooking style.  I thought you might find Cajun Coubion, an interesting way to prepare and serve fish.  Coubion roughly means using a Court Bullion to slowly poach fish.

Ingredients

3 cups fish or chicken stock

1/3 stick butter

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup flour

Vegetables chopped into fairly small pieces

              1 rib celery

              1 bulb garlic

              1 green pepper

              1 medium onion

1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes

Dash of salt and pepper, adjust to taste

Creole seasoning to taste, Start with ½ teaspoon, taste and adjust

4 pounds of cleaned and scaled firm flesh fish, whole or filleted

Preparing the coubion sauce

The first step is to make a roux.  Melt the butter over low heat, add vegetable oil and slowly add 1/2 cup flour, stirring until the flour is incorporated.  Continue stirring over low heat until the roux becomes golden and has a slightly nutty odor.  This takes about 10 minutes.  Add the chopped vegetables except garlic and continue stirring over low heat until softened, about seven minutes.  Add the garlic, c, continue stirring, and after two minutes add the tomatoes.  Stir them into the roux and use a spoon to break them up.  Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for about half an hour until thickened.  Add the chicken or fish stock, salt, pepper and creole seasoning.  Simmer about 30 minutes.  Don’t over-cook; the sauce is done when it is the consistency of a gravy. 

Captain Bob made the dish in the picture using Captain Earl’s recipe, and using Croaker fillets.

Gently place the fish on top of the sauce, cover with a lid, and poach on low heat until the fish flakes.  The thickness of the fish will determine cooking time, about 15 minutes for one inch thick.  Do not stir while the fish is cooking, you will break up the fish portions.  The key to success with this dish is to keep the heat low and do not rush the cooking time.

Traditional serving of Coubion fish is with rice.  Place a fish portion on a bed of rice and spoon sauce over the fish and rice.  For added heat use hot pepper sauce such as Tabasco.

Captain Earl, Whippa Snappa Charters