Recipe: Kingfish Sabatini with Kale and Shitake

I created this recipe after my brother Kenneth and his daughter Ava caught a kingfish offshore from St. Augustine, FL.

The name Sabatini comes from my maternal grandfather, Nicholas Sabatini, who was head chef at the historic Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, and several New York restaurants. He's also the inventor of Chicken Tetrazini!

Kingfish is not oily by nature, so it’s easy to dry it out by cooking it too long. This method makes it succulent – it flakes apart with a fork and it melts in your mouth.

You may know kale only as a garnish. Marinated and baked with the fish, it turns out crunchy and incredibly tasty.

Shitakes are one of the most nutritious mushrooms around. In this recipe, they soak up the marinade and are phenomenal.

Entree Ingredients
Kingfish fillets
Fresh shitake mushrooms, stems removed
Fresh raw kale
Distilled white vinegar
Black pepper
Sea salt
Butter

Marinade Ingredients
Organic cold-pressed virgin olive oil
Freshly ground ginger
Freshly ground black pepper
Diced shallot
Diced red onion
Diced garlic
Sea salt
Dried basil, thyme & cilantro
White wine
Soy sauce (Can substitute Tamari or Liquid Amino)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. On the stovetop, reduce the marinade at medium heat.
3. Remove the marinade from heat. Allow marinade to cool.
4. Separate marinade in equal quantities into two bowls.
5. Add vinegar to one bowl of marinade.
6. Using the vinegar marinade, soak the kingfish filets for 15 minutes per side.
7. While the fish is marinating, roughly chop the shitake mushroom caps.
8. Drain marinade from the filets and discard.
9. Place fish on baking sheet, then cover with the shitake caps and kale.
10. Melt butter, then brush the fish and veggies with it.
11. Brush the fillets with the remaining bowl of marinade.
12. Season the contents of the pan with black pepper and sea salt, to taste.
13. Bake the fish at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!