There's fish stores. And there's Randazzo's, on Arthur Avenue, in the Bronx. Randazzo's is my favorite fish store because they always at least half a dozen seafood varieties displayed which I've never cooked before, encouraging experimentation.
On a recent visit, I picked up a couple of pieces of skate wing, which they skinned at the store for me. Now, I've had skate in restaurants many times, but I've never prepared it at home, and wasn't sure what to expect. Since dinner was only for my father and me, I knew I wouldn't go too far wrong, as he eats just about anything without complaint.
My first idea was to braise it in tomato sauce, but I scrapped that because on the prior Friday night I did a similar treatment of bacala, so I didn't want to be redundant.
I fished around (npi) on the net for some recipes, and one theme kept repeating - floured, fried, and finished with a lemon, caper and butter sauce. It sounded good as a second course for escarole and beans, so I went with that plan.
I seasoned some flour with salt and pepper, and dredged the wing pieces in it. I fried them on one side, and then the other, in olive oil, and then let the pan set in a 200 F degree oven with the door ajar while we ate the beans - that's usually good enough to keep fish warm but not continue cooking it.
The skate had an odd texture - the flesh came off the bone in spaghetti like strands - it reminded me a bit, tastewise, of halibut, and had a similar color. The texture was a bit softer. It wasn't chewy or rubbery at all. The turn off for me was the strand like quality - I couldn't get enough in my mouth at one time; it was far too much work.
My father of course pronounced it pretty good, which probably means he hated it.
I love cooking for him.