Tuesday Fish Night

For my recent birthday I received two really cool seafood books: Fish Without a Doubt, by Rick Moonen (of Top Chef Masters fame) and Roy Finamore, and For Cod and Country, by Barton Seaver, a seafood chef and sustainable fishing expert.  Both these books are by chefs who love fish and contain great looking recipes.  Importantly, they also both are very involved in spreading the word about responsible and sustainable fishing practices, so that we can continue to enjoy the sea's bounty for generations to come.  Leafing through these gifts the past week inspired me to go buy some fish last night and cook up a captain's feast for CW and myself.

I hit Whole Foods after work because they tend to have a large selection of fresh fish, with certificates of sustainability and origin.  Wanting a fleshy white fish like Halibut, I experienced some sticker shock when the wild halibut was $24.99/lb.!  Kind of steep.  Then I saw the Turbot in the case at $11.99/lb.  Turbot has been popping up on a lot of menus lately and is listed as a sustainable species.  The fish monger said that the consistency was similar to that of halibut, so I grabbed a pound and was on my way.

The fish issue being settled, I needed to buy some stuff to go with it.  I had no recipes with me and my phone battery was dead, so it was all up to my imagination.  The produce section had heaps of beautiful looking heirloom tomatoes.  It is towards the end of local tomato season here in San Diego, and I decided to get some fresh tomatoes.  Then I saw basil bunches and the plan revealed itself in my mind.  I would make a puree of yellow tomato and basil to dress a simply seared fish, and serve it with some roasted broccolini.  I also grabbed a second, red, heirloom tomato to toss with some salad greens left over from the day before.

The one tough thing about the turbot was that the fillet came skin-on.  I could have easily cooked it this way and just crisped up the skin, but CW prefers to not eat the skin, so I set about skinning the fish first.  This proved a slow task, and is indeed a skill I need to read up on and practice.  Having gotten the skin off, I simply rubbed the fish on both sides with kosher salt and heated some canola oil over medium-high heat in a skillet.

Roasted Broccolini

Meanwhile, the broccolini was tossed with olive oil, salt and a clove of grated garlic and thrown in the oven at 375 degrees.  While my sear pan was heating, I chopped the yellow tomato and put it in a blender with a handful of basil leaves, a drop of olive oil, a clove of garlic, and a pinch of kosher salt.  This I pulsed until "lumpy-smooth" and set it aside to use both as a salad dressing and sauce for the fish.

The salad was simple - tossed chunks of the red heirloom tomato with salad greens, then the above sauce over the top with some ground pepper.  It was quite delicious, but a little wet from all of the tomato's juices.

Mixed Greens and Tomato Salad

The turbot was seared on either side until starting to brown and get crispy, then it was plated with the broccolini and the yellow tomato-basil sauce drizzled on top!

Searing Turbot!

 

As Served to CW

All in all this was a very simple meal to prepare, although I did manage to make a big mess of the kitchen and use about 5 bowls, 2 knives, 4 plates, a sear pan and 2 cutting boards in the process.  Such is the life of an amateur chef - the dishes inevitably await after the feast. 

But, for the most part, doing the dishes is well worth the satisfaction of having made oneself a tasty dinner at home.  Tonight will be less messy though, as I plan to use my left-over tomato basil sauce with some pasta and chickpeas (which are also left-over!).

Oh, how could I forget the wine!  We shared a bottle of a Beringer 2008 Alluvium Blanc.  This was a really good bottle, with a nice clean palate and smooth finish.  Plus we had gotten it on sale!  L'Chaim!