Fishing season for commercial fishermen officially opened yesterday and as luck would have it I have one of Rhode Islands finest, most avid fisherman living right here on my little Island. What makes this is even more important to someone like me who does not know a hook from a line, and thinks a sinker is something Jonathon Paplebon, (pitcher for the Boston Red Sox), needs to incorporate into his arsenal, is that Greg Zeek has a nifty little bait shop that sells locally caught fish.
Zeeks has been selling quality, high quality fish for as long as I can remember out of a shop the size of a postage stamp. JM and I mark the day this gem opens on our calendar and cry when they close in the fall. I try to get there early and see what the day, or the night has brought and avoid the rush, or finding out later that I missed out on some Bluefish that was caught on last night's line. So much to my joy I was greeted yesterday with some of the nicest Stripped Bass I have seen, (well, since, last summer).
As three lovely ladies made their rather large purchase I eagerly ordered the last two filet's in the ice chest and was rewarded with 1.5 Lbs of Bass that had been swimming happily along the shores of Narragansett Bay only 12 hours previously. This beauty had been 30 plus pounds!
Determined to do as little as possible to change the natural goodness of this prize fish I marinated the fillets in O.O., S/P, a few slices of red onion, cilantro leaves, 2 crushed Garlic cloves and an hour before service, the juice of one lime. I really just wanted the flavor of Stripped Bass to be the star of the plate. To accompany the Fish I had some Beets and a Sweet Potato I planned on simply roasting, tossed with O.O., S/P, Garlic and Onion powder. Roasting the Beets brings out all the sugars and the color is wonderful. Again, there are times when less is more and this is one of them. Simple treatment of the freshest products. At this point I am doing my best to just not mess with the essence or integrity of the product. There is a whole school of thought behind this, spearheaded by Tom Colicchio' at Craft in NYC. http://www.craftrestaurant.com/
For the most part I think this is a great approach as we seem to be leaning toward doing more to our food and changing the product to our liking as opposed to letting it shine on it's own.
After grilling the Stripped Bass, 6 minutes or so per side, shining is what we had. Meaty, light, tender, the adjectives and a few expletives just rolled off the tongue as the fish melted in our mouths. The Beets and Sweets roasted at 350 degrees for just under and hour in my trusty Pyrex dish,( I love Pyrex as it imparts no flavor to the food and easy to clean). A green salad as always was present at the table along with some sparkling water, though a nice wine would have made a fine choice.
Tonight I have company coming and am heading back to Zeek's for some Bluefish I spied, which Greg assured me he would hold a few pounds of for me in case I am not the first in line. Not sure what I will be doing with it, but I can be assured of it's freshness and a summer full of more to come. If your not lucky enough to find yourself in Jamestown in the summer look around your neck of the woods and find a local fish monger. For those inlanders out there, and I feel for you, many of the co-ops and "natural food" stores have pefectly fine fish departments. Inquire as to when and where your fish comes from and plan accordingly. You can always plan a road trip to the shore, bring a cooler full of ice and tell Greg I sent you!
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