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Fish as firepower: when it comes to building muscle, fighting fat, and protecting your brain and heart from disease, there's no better way to arm yourself than by slapping a slab of fish onto your plate

Men's Fitness, Sept, 2005 by Bobby Flay

buying fish

For most cooks, nothing is more daunting than shopping for fish. In an ideal world, you'd all be best buddies with the local fishmonger. That way, you'd be practically guaranteed to get the freshest fish available. But since that's not always an option, here's the next-best way to be sure the fish you're buying is always as fresh as possible:

* Check the Sheen

Fresh fish is shiny. Any film on the fish should be transparent and glistening. If it's not, don't buy it.

* Feel the Firmness

Fish flesh should feel firm and the skin taut. If possible, press your finger against the side of the fish. It shouldn't leave an impression.

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* Analyze the Odor

Fresh fish should not smell fishy. Saltwater fish should smell like the ocean; freshwater fish, like a clean lake or pond. The more any fish you're sniffing smells, the older it probably is.

* Tip the Scales

The scales on fresh fish should adhere to the body tightly. If the scales are loose, it means the fish is not fresh.

* Grade the Gills

When buying a whole fish, lift the gills to make sure they are bright red. This tells you the fish just recently left the water. If the color is dark or brownish red, it means the fish is old--no longer soaked to the gills.

IS FISH THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD YOU CAN EAT?

Broccoli, tomatoes, almonds, soy--they all get a lot of play on the news and in the papers. But when we asked MF adviser Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D., an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Connecticut, what one food could benefit the most people if added to their diet, he said the answer was easy; Fish is hands-down (well, fins-down) the best selection. And the very best fish? Salmon, of course.

"Salmon is hard to beat," Volek says. "It's an excellent source of omega-3 fats, containing one to two grams per three-ounce serving." Study after study has also shown the beneficial effect salmon has on improving triglyceride levels in the blood, enhancing insulin sensitivity, fighting inflammation, and helping to lower your overall risk of heart disease and stroke.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. "Compared to other fats in the diet, omega-3s also help to speed the body's fat-burning capabilities," says Volek. In fact, he adds, the omega-3 fats in fish like salmon may do more to promote good health than any other nutrient you can eat. And that's just for disease prevention. Salmon is also an excellent source of protein. A three-ounce cooked serving contains 2Q high-quality grams of the stuff--making it ideal for building muscle and taking off fat. Besides stimulating your metabolism three to four times more than carbs or fat, protein is the absolute best food for helping to fill you up, so you take in fewer calories and burn more.

The bottom line: For maximum nutritional payoff, Volek recommends incorporating salmon or other types of fish into your diet three or four times a week, or more.

PREP SCHOOL

Cooking your catch of the day first requires a little dirty work, especially if you bought it whole at your local grocer, Here's a crash course on fish preparation, by Chef Laurent Tourondel of Manhattan eatery BLT Fish.

Wash the fish in cold water. Remove the fins with heavy-duty scissors. Take the fish by the tail and use the flat side of a knife to remove the scales.

Use scissors to remove the gills. Then slice the belly of the fish from the base to the head. Don't cut too deeply or you could pierce the intestine, ruining the taste of the fish.

Reach into the belly and pull the insides downward, removing them. Scrape out the kidney--the small white sac attached to the backbone.

Rinse again under cold water.

Cut off the head and tail.

To fillet the fish, slice into the area behind where the head was, running the knife along the spine and separating the flesh from the bones.

Remove the skin with the knife and pick off any remaining small bones.

Whole fish should be stored in the refrigerator, topped with lots of crushed ice, and used within 24 hours of buying. Fillets, on the other hand, should never make direct contact with ice. Instead, they should be wrapped well in plastic wrap and stored on top of a large ice-filled bowl. Cover the bowl as well to help hold in the cold. This will allow you to store the fillets safely in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

If you can't use your fillets within that amount of time, freeze them. Wrap the meat well first in plastic wrap and then in foil. When you're ready to cook the frozen fish, allow it to thaw out gradually in the refrigerator. This will help prevent the formation of ice crystals that can alter the taste and texture of the fish.

cookibng it up

From my experiences speaking to home chefs, I know fish is often considered the most difficult thing for people to cook. But it shouldn't be. Cooking fish is really quite simple, as long as you remember these essential rules.

* Start with the basics

If you're new to cooking fish, that is. Firmer fish, such as tuna, swordfish, and shark, are the easiest to prepare because of their steak- and chicken like texture. (This firm texture makes it easier to flip the fish without it falling apart.)

Fish as firepower: when it comes to building muscle, fighting fat, and protecting your brain and heart from disease, there's no better way to arm yourself than by slapping a slab of fish onto your plate

Men's Fitness, Sept, 2005 by Bobby Flay

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