You may remember from yesterday that Greg Zeek, local fisherman/fish monger was saving a few pounds of Bluefish he had caught the previous day for me. True to his word when I stopped in, there he was, smile on his face, fish in hand. It was as nice as I expected it would be.
Bluefish seems to be one of those love it or hate it fish, with the nay sayer's and proponent's firmly ensconced in their own little camps. People say it is oily, or tough and strong is a term I have heard bantered about. Needless to say I do not agree with these descriptions. I am happy however when, for whatever reason people do not scoff up all the Bluefish at first sight, as it leaves more for me and my people, the Bluefish lovers, (sort of like Star belly Sneatches, without the obvious star).
As with yesterdays meal I was going for less is more with my approach to preparation, the A.A. terminology, Keep it Simple Stupid comes to mind, or KISS. But I digress. I took some of the mustard/mint vinaigrette from a few nights ago and brushed the fish lightly with it, giving it a glossy coat, but not enough to pool in the dish. S/P and the juice of 1/2 lemon* finished the prep. The fish was in a Pyrex dish, which was going to go in the oven at 400 degree's for 15 minutes when the time was right. What no grill you ask? Scratching your head, not with the mighty Bluefish. Blue can be delicate and like Salmon the "fattiness" can make for flare ups on the grill. Charred Blue is not good, perhaps one the reasons people say they do not like it. JM likes to wrap the bluefish in tinfoil and toss it on the grill which does give the fish a nice grill flavor. I find that baking the fish brings out the flavor and keeps it very moist. So moist in fact my dinner guest, Sven, thought it was the best Blue he had ever had, high praise from such a Fishavore.
To go along with the aforementioned Bluefish I had some Asparagus, which I planned to steam, then finish with garlic and O.O. in a light saute'.
Remember when your Mother would make three bean salad and you and your sister would shove each other out of the way in an effort to find the best hiding place? Well, as someone far more quotable than me once said, "the times they are a'changing". Three bean salad can be both versatile and healthy. It is very easy to make your own and you do not have to stick to the formula of Green beans, Wax and Kidney beans. In my case I chose Black beans, dark Red Kidney and Cannelli or Navy beans. All canned, drained and rinsed they went into a large bowl with one Red Pepper, small dice, one clove of crushed Garlic, made into a paste with salt, 1/2 cup minced red onion, two ears of roasted corn cut off the cob, a small fistful of cilantro, oregano, S/P, O.O. splash of red wine vinegar,( to taste) and toss it all together. I let it sit at room temperature for one hour to let the flavors blend then refrigerate. Taking the salad out of the cooler a little before service will bring the flavors to the surface.
When roasting the corn, I soak the ear's, husk and all in water for 15 minutes to give it some moisture, then grill or roast in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. If grilling, just cook until the outer leaves are charred and the corn "gives" to the touch, let cool, shuck and cut.
The usual green salad made an apperance tossed with an Italian vinagrette. Sven chose a beer made by Magic Hat http://www.magichat.net/, JM and I water and by all accounts the evening was a sucess, topped off with a Red Sox win!
* add lemon juice one hour before service to avoid "cooking" with the acid from the lemon
By my clock it's June 4, where is my favorite food clogger? blogger, slogger, whatever.....
ReplyDelete