Grilled Fresh Orange Roughy

OK, let first me say. I have eaten fish for a long time. One of my first jobs was in a small fresh fish market where cooked food was served as well. While working there I regularly visited restraunt fish supply houses in downtown Los Angeles where I would see and sample fish from all over the world. I then travelled to Japan (at 17) where I developed an affinity for sashimi. I also had a job on a small commercial fishing boat (sea urchins) where we would frequently stay overnight in the Channel Islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, and San Miguel) on our boat alongside the boats of other types of fisherman. We would frequently get together on one of the larger boats and cook various fresh caught seafoods like rockfish, snapper, halibut, tuna, octopus, squid, crab, lobster. Most of the time we would BBQ the fresh catch, but sometimes various dishes were prepared in the oven.

Anyways, my point is this, I am excited about this meal tonight. In all my years eating fish, I have never had fresh orange roughy. It is usually imported frozen from New Zealand, even in the finest restraunts. Today we went to a local fish monger (not our usual) and to my surprise he had just gotten some fresh orange roughy overnighted from New Zealand. FRESH not frozen!!! What a treat!!!

Here is how we cooked it:

3 fresh orange roughy filets

two lemons

italian seasoning

paparika

fresh ground black pepper

fresh herb compound butter

Lightly season fish filets with italian seasoning, paparika, and black pepper. Squeeze juice from one lemon over fish. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Place filets on grill over low-medium heat. Let cook 8-12 minutes and do not turn. When 4-5 minutes from finish, place a pat of compound butter on top of each fish filet and then squeeze some juice from the second lemon. Cover grill until done.

YUMMY!!!