The Family Chef

Jewels & Jill Elmore

Jewels is Jennifer Aniston’s personal chef. In the foreword for the cookbook Jennifer wrote…

“Until the secret of how important it is to nourish one self is introduced into your like, you live in the dark and at the mercy of processed foods.  I used to think anything packaged as “low-fat” was good for me; I was an avid consumer of artificial sugar and butter substitutes.   Then Saucy, inspired and Graceful-otherwise known as Jewels-walked into my kitchen and my heart and taught me how to nourish my body with real food-food that’s truly and naturally life sustaining and delicious.“   While we all can’t hire our own personal chef, it is crucial we recognize the importance of eliminating processed foods from our diet.  Former Surgeon General C. Everett Coop said nearly 75% of all deaths that occur in the U.S. each year are from diseases that could have been prevented through nutrition. Wow, that’s a wake up call.

Walnut-Encrusted Whitefish

Serves 4

1 cup walnuts

½ cup flour

1 egg, beaten

1 ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning or Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Blackened Redfish Magic

4 6-ounce pieces of whitefish, skin on

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

½ a lemon

1.     Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2.     Place the walnuts in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. You can also finely chop by hand if you do not own a food processor.

3.     Place the walnuts, flour and egg in three separate shallow dishes (pie plates work well).

4.     Season the flour with ½ teaspoon Cajun seasoning.

5.     Season the fish evenly on both sides with remaining Cajun seasoning.

6.     Dip flesh side of fish first in flour, shaking off any excess. Then dip in egg and, finally, in walnuts. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with the rest of the fish.

7.     Heat an oven-safe skillet large enough to accommodate all the fish over medium-high heat and add the oil and butter. Sauté the fish, walnut side down, for 2-3 minutes, watching carefully so as not to burn the nuts. When the nuts are nicely browned, flip the fish over and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes or until skin is crispy. 

8.     Transfer the pan of fish to the oven to finish cooking. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the fish and serve immediately.