Amuse Bouche

Sasquatch Smokehouse, Nigel Slater & Smoked Haddock with Butter Beans

The beginning of this story goes back to our 10-year anniversary last may when we went back to England to stay in the castle where were married and to travel a bit.  One of the places I had always wanted to stay was at the Inn at Whitewell on the edge of the forest of Bowland.

Not only is the quirky inn gorgeous, with a divine dining room, but they also have a great selection of wines and cookbooks that they sell.  It was there that I picked up a copy of Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries.  It languished on my shelves for the last year or so and recently, after many had suggested his writing when I asked for cookbook selections, I moved it to the top of the stack for a read. The premise, for those not familiar, is a diary of what he cooked and ate over the course of a year.  This is not a rote recitation along the lines of, 'had a sandwich and a glass of milk', but a gorgeously written account of a year in his kitchen and garden.  Each entry is brief and each recipe is written more like you were chatting with your friend on how they made the scrumptious soup.  In other words, more 'tip in some' and 'roast until sticky' over Thomas Keller like technique.  I was smitten immediately.  The book begins in January and since Britain is obviously a bit more temperate than New England some of the ingredients he can get are well off our calendar dates, but no matter.  Somewhere around February 8 -  A Smoked Fish Supper' I became obsessed.

Sorry Nigel, but I have to quote the paragraph preceding the recipe here.

"There is something old-fashioned about a supper of smoked haddock, something redolent of the 1950's when women wore an apron when they cooked and would get a meal on the table at the same time each day, year in, year out.  I like my smoked haddock baked with a little cream as I do almost anything smoked, but until recently was never sure what to eat with it.  Mash never seemed right, buttered toast never substantial enough, rice too reminiscent of kedgeree.  It was out of curiosity that I turned to beans, pale ones from a can, their texture a pleasing contrast.  Now this is one of my favourite teas, though not the prettiest."

Now I have always loved anything smoked.  Mussels, fish, meat, even nuts, which I really don't like at all normally, add some smoke to it and I can't resist.  I had seen many recipes with smoked haddock before in Delia, Two Fat Ladies, Sophie Grigson and living, as I do, in New England, specifically not far from Gloucester the oldest seaport in the US I just ASSUMED, and you all know what happens when we assume don't you, that I could find smoked haddock. Ha! Smoked salmon, bluefish, trout, mackerel, salmon cured with tea and spices, mackerel coated in cracked black pepper and smoked but no, not one SINGLE piece of smoked haddock and let's just say I don't lack sources for ingredients given my line of work.  After a week or two of searching I popped over to my Google window and "smoked haddock, MA", and up popped a chowhound thread.  They mentioned loads of the usual suspects, but about halfway down one caught my eye.  They mentioned Sasquatch Smokehouse in Gloucester.

"My suggestion is Sasquatch Smokehouse: 44 Whittemore St., Gloucester, MA
Phone #: 978-282-7721. It's run by a Gloucester fisherman named Paul Cohan. He's an amazing seafood cook (I've tried his monkfish piccata and seafood soup.) He's also well-informed about the New England fishing community and he's an hilariously funny storyteller and bluegrass guitarist. He can tell you everything you want to know about smoking fish.  Since haddock is a local species, I bet he'd make a special order if necessary. It's a trip worth making. But call first."

So call I did.  I told him I needed some smoked Haddock and some smoked trout for work.  He told me he was putting some stuff in the smoker this weekend and to give him a call the following week.  Tuesday we made plans and Friday I took the long drive up 128 to pick up my fish. 

Paul's place is tucked away in a corner that you will never find without calling him for directions, trust me on this.  He is not far from the first Gloucester rotary, or roundabout for you Brits following along, in a corrugated steel building overlooking a river outlet. 

If you want to talk about fish, or the fishing industry, or CSF's, NOAA, NMFS or any other acronym associated with the fishing industry, smoking foods, or pickled kielbasa or bluegrass music plan on spending some time. 

Paul is a man of many interests and a word smith with many an opinion and I might add, rather hilarious.  We stood and chatted for a couple hours about the state of things and I picked his brain about the setup he had built. I have a feeling Paul is the guy you want at the end of your dinner table to keep the conversation moving.

Our conversation was punctuated by his popping into the walk in to remove tasty morsels like the Kielbasa he had smoked and pickled himself some smoked mussels and he even passed along some dog treats he makes.  Dog treats, which are most amusingly made from dog fish, dehydrated slices of dog fish.  Trust me,your dog wants some NOW.

I took home a load of smoked haddock (all the smoked fish freezes well) and the trout I needed for the class.  I had Paul point me in the direction of a good place to pick up some fresh fish and he pointed me down to the next rotary to the waterfront and Steve Connolly.  Bring cash because that is all they take, but I picked up cod for class that night for $6.49 a pound.  Cod I might add that Whole Foods was selling for $14.00 per pound.  The very same Whole Foods that had a truck parked out back of Paul Connolly's docks.  Need I say more?

Now if you have made it this far, what you see below is what you want to make for dinner.  You really WISH you had SMELL-O-VISION for the picture you see here.  I cannot accurately describe in words how this smelled when it came out of the oven.  This is also the kind of dinner you can have on the table any night in 30 or so minutes.  Come in, turn the oven on, spend 5 minutes mixing things and pop it in the oven.  Go and sort your mail, change into your jammies, pour a cocktail, set the table and before you know it that smell will begin to waft from the oven.  The most heavenly smokey, seductive smell.  I may have seriously underestimated my haddock purchase quantity.  Paul does not hard smoke his fish, rather they are still moist and supple so I skipped a step in Nigel's recipe for basically poaching the fish in milk and water that you discard once the fish flakes.  There is NO NEED to do this with Paul's fish.  It is also not as salty as a lot of smoked fish, so do season a bit if you are following along using Nigel's recipe.  My adaptation is listed below.  And if you go and visit Paul at Sasquatch Smokehouse, and believe me, you should, ask him to play you his Sarah Palin ditty, it's a hoot.

Smoked Haddock and Butter Beans

All the ingredients here are estimates because this is one of those meals.  WING IT PEOPLE, you really can't go wrong.

• 1 smoked haddock  - skin removed
• 1 gratin dish or shallow dish lightly buttered
• Some heavy cream, oh say 3/4 cup
• A few tablespoons milk
• Some nice freshly minced flat leaf parsley, minced (don't skip this)
• A few tablespoons of whole grain mustard
• 1 bay leaf
• Freshly ground pepper
• Kosher or sea salt
• 1 tin of Butter Beans, rinsed.  I always find these in the Goya section and they are the best beans for this recipe in my opinion since they are soft and absorb all the flavours of the smoke and cream.

Oven 350F, butter dish, break fish up into a few chunks.  In a bowl mix chopped parsley, cream, milk, whole grain mustard and then tip in the rinsed beans.  Stir, season with some salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Lay the pieces of fish in the gratin dish.  Tip the contents of the bowl over the fish, nestle things around a bit leaving some of the beans to stick up and get a crust. Tuck in the bay leaf and pop it in the oven.

Bake 30 - 35 minutes or until nice and bubbly.

Salt and Pepper Squid, Bún(Herb Noodle Salad) and Chè Chuôi (Banana Tapioca in Coconut Milk)

On the whole I tend to cook in waves.  Reading a book on India?  Expect quite a few spicy dishes to crop up in the rotation. Watching a lot of Pedro Almodóvar films? Pimentón and chorizo are everywhere.  Friday I had to go to Kam Man in Quincy to stock us up at school for the upcoming  Thai, Vietnamese, Indian and soon Korean classes.
Allowing me loose in there with no time constraints and a long list is like heaven, it also means we will be eating from several cuisines, but all firmly in the far East for the foreseeable future.

I bought a half duck and Friday night I made lettuce rolls dipped in Nước chấm with the chopped up duck and to go with I was craving squid/calamari. For some reason salt and pepper squid popped into my head and wouldn't leave.  I've never made salt and pepper squid before but I guessed it would be pretty quick and pretty easy.  I hunted around the web and decided on cornstarch as my coating.  My tempura batter is heavy on the cornstarch and I like the light 'batter' it makes on the outside.  Cornstarch makes a very light, very crisp coating and unlike many traditional batters, it won't separate from what you have coated.  The lettuce rolls were good, but the squid, THE SQUID were heavenly. 

In fact, I had a few left in the ziploc that I didn't fry Friday night and much to my husband's horror, I fried them up quick for breakfast before I left.  He squinted his very British nose at me while he spooned in his milk and cereal and I vainly tried to explain that people in China probably ate this for breakfast and no one blinked an eye.  His retort was that we were not in China.  My retort back was then why aren't you eating fried beans, fried bread, fried tomatoes, fried mushroom and blood sausage then?  He shut up and continued spooning in his Harvest flakes.

Saturday I drove up to Framingham to look at FLOR tiles at Circle furniture for our remodel and I brought along The Little Saigon Cookbook by Ann Le for inspiration before I hit the local Whole Foods.  Before I left home I called to check in with Mom and SD.  Coincidently that very morning she, many states away  in VA, had driven to her local Asian market to stock up and as I waxed about S&P squid she said they had ordered it last night for dinner.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Anyway, I promised her I would put the recipe here in case she wanted to make it at home.  Her local had put it on a 'salad' of finely minced sautéed vegetables including chilies and I am guessing shallots, but if anyone knows what it is 'traditionally' served on, let me know so I can try to make that as well.

Sitting in the parking lot of Whole Foods sipping my iced coffee I decided I was going to have the squid again.  I know!  Again!  I never, NEVER eat the same thing three meals in a row.  I assure you right now that this is going to be my summer addiction.  I flicked through the book at decided that I would make a bún or herb salad to go with it.  My garden has a great patch of Vietnamese Coriander this year and that is just something I can't find in the stores.  Even Russo's my faithful Asian produce supplier never seems to carry it so I take matters in my own hands and grow it. I find my plants at Russell's in Wayland. That is some Vietnamese Coriander  up in the top right hand corner of the bowl with the long pointed leaves.  It tastes like a cross of cilantro and Thai Basil.  I adore it.  Cilantro haters will despise it with equal measure. The salad was loads of mint, Vietnamese Coriander, cilantro, mung bean sprouts, a few sliced shallots and it was all tossed with some cellophane noodles, topped in fried garlic slices and at the last minute doused in Nước chấm.  Bright, fresh, and the perfect foil to the fried squid. 

For dessert I decided to try my hand at the Chè Chuôi.  If you are a tapioca fan like I am this was heaven.  Tapioca cooked in water until translucent and then you add in coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, sugar, salt and banana, simmer for a bit and then let it sit.  You can top it in shaved coconut, but I had it as is at room temperature and it was heaven.  

So for the sake of Mom who requested it, here is all you need to do for heavenly salt and pepper squid.

No measurements here since it will all depend on the amount of squid you have, but I had between 1/2 - 3/4 pound of squid bodies.  I cut the cleaned tubes open and then scored them across with my knife and cut each body into 4 pieces.  My squid were about 3 - 4 inches long.

In my suribachi (or mortar and pestle or coffee grinder) went about 2 TBS of black peppercorns and about the same of Maldon sea salt.

After I ground it a bit it looked like this.  Some larger and smaller chunks of everything.

Into a ziploc went about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of cornstarch (sub coconut flour for paleo) and 3/4 of the salt and pepper.  I save some for sprinkling on after frying.  In go the squid.  Toss, shake, shimmy, toss.  Heat oil (coconut oil or rendered lard, I've also used duck fat) in a wok, not very deep, just enough to cover squid.  Set up a paper towel to drain.  Add in a few pieces at a time and fry quickly, I repeat QUICKLY, 2 minutes...maybe.  pull and drain, sprinkle with a bit more s&p.

I served mine with Kewpie, cause I like it that way.  But sometimes I would dip it in the Nước chấm
and then the kewpie.  Oh....my. Tonight I am feeling a bit French.  It will be an omelette with a nice side salad and a glass of wine.  Ohh la la.

Tuna Salad

This is what passes for tuna salad around these parts when the days get long, and the garden work calls until the sun sets. After the dirt and grime are scrubbed off and a cocktail is consumed, the music fills the kitchen and some variation of this dish is made for each of us.

This one happens to include: My favourite ewe's milk feta; Valbreso , butter beans tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper, watercress tossed with EVOO, a dribble of truffle oil, lemon juice and S&P, a quick pickle of finely shaved red onion (toss with vinegar of choice, sugar and salt, let rest, squeeze out - enjoy), sun dried tomatoes, a supreme of tangelo and at the heart always, ALWAYS a jar of Ortiz tuna. If you remotely think you do not like tuna in a can or tuna in a jar I dare you to buy some Ortiz and try again. Spain knows seafood and Spain knows how to process seafood in a tin and seafood in a jar. It puts Charlie to shame. I topped it with salmon roe and a dribble of creme fraiche on the side. Eaten in a typical European fashion with a bit of this and a bit of that pushed on to a fork using your knife it is summer heaven. Trust me on this one. Oh, and drink a nice chilled Rosé.

New England Clam Chowder

Last week my friend and former culinary school cohort Brian wrote about some nasty, NASTY dehydrated clam, pot noodle concoction.  Many of us weighed in on not only how disgusting the thought of eating it was, but about other evil atrocities like clam chowder that includes tomatoes (no, just no! - have cioppino instead please) and noodles.  The horror of that Styrofoam contained monstrosity triggered my instincts to right the world's wrongs by making some clam chowder today for dinner.  I mean, what else does one think of when they live in New England and the landscape has been white since two weeks before Christmas, white snow, salt white roads and cars, white, white, WHITE, snowblindness.  Oh and did I mention that it was 2 degrees F when we awoke this morning?  Yea, chowder it is.

Oh look at the 6:00 PM heat wave!

Now I'm not writing this recipe to inform Brian on making good clam chowder.  He needs no help, not only has he been down the path of culinary lessons, but folks he's from Maine and there is an unspoken rule that you come out of the womb knowing how to make clam chowder and how to find a mean Whoopie pie.  I'm putting this recipe here because I really don't know why anyone would buy clam chowder in a can or frozen because really, if there is an easier soup to make I don't know what it is. 

I called my favourite local fishmonger Captain Marden's this morning to find out if they had fresh chopped chowder clams and of course they did. 

But really, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with using clams in a can.  Nope there is NO shame there.  I also picked up some of their fish stock, fumet if your feeling all food snotty or French, sure I could make it myself by asking for some heads and frames of a non-oily fish and about 30 minutes of my time, but this is fish stock from a major fish store that wholesales to local restaurants, if their fish stock isn't good shame on them and i assure you, it IS good.

On my trail of errands I also picked up some bottled clam juice.  A pantry staple in this house that I use liberally whenever making fish based soups or steaming mussels, or making clams with linguine.  Cheap and so useful.  I recommend every cupboard have a bottle or two.  I'm not asking you to drink clamato here people, but you will find yourself using it far more often than you think.

Now another traditional aspect of clam chowder is salt pork.  Maybe it is just because I live here in New England, but I can always find salt pork in my local grocery store, generally somewhere near the bacon.  It keeps for a long time and if you check each package you can find one that has lots of streaks of meat and good chunks of fat.  As you would expect from the name it IS salty, but it adds a depth of flavour to clam chowder that is necessary.  Bacon, is an option that others have used as a substitute, but in my mind the smoked flavour of bacon is not right for this chowder.  You want the pork, the salt, but not the smoke or the often added flavourings that come along with bacon like maple or pepper.  If you do find salt pork, it will freeze well, so don't worry that you won't use the portion you find in the store, it keeps for a long time. Oh, and as an added bonus in these lean times, it is cheap as chips as they say.

I happened to have some guanciale in the fridge.  What, you don't have friends who buy you cured pork products as gifts?!?  My friend Renee bought me a full package of Niman Ranch guanciale (cured, salted pig jowls) for a Christmas present this year AND she wrapped it in a snazzy red box with a ribbon.  Doesn't everyone want a friend like her? 

There are a few heretical things I do with this recipe for purists.  First I use Yukon Gold potato since they hold together AND they allow me to freeze and reheat my chowder without them falling apart and turning to mush. 

Second, I add flour to my onions to thicken my chowder.  Yukons may retain their shape, but they are not as starchy as a Russet and I am not using the ancient tradition of thickening with crushed up hard tack crackers, so I use some flour to give it body.  I use the fish stock I mention above along with clam juice.  Some purists would only use the juice from steaming open the clams.  Whole clams that they steamed open, shucked and chopped themselves.  Is life not too short people?

Okay here is the recipe..simple and quick, what more could you want? And don't bitch about the cream, you aren't eating this every night for heavens sake!

New England Clam Chowdah (Chowder for you non native speakers)

2 ounces salt pork or guanciale, diced

2 cups Spanish onion minced fairly fine

4 TBS flour

4 cups fish stock

8 ounces bottled clam juice

1.5 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into chunks between 1/4 and 1/2-inch depending on your preference.

2 cups of chopped fresh chowder clams (or equivalent canned, drained with juice reserved and used as part of the toatl clam juice, fish stock amounts)

2 cups half and half OR 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk

Salt, to taste

In a large, heavy pot slowly render the guanciale or salt pork.

Remove the cracklings and set them aside, serve them sprinkled on top of your chowder, if you can resist eating them as you cook.

Slowly cook the diced onions in the fat for about 6 - 10 minutes, stirring frequently, you don't want colour here, more like a sweat, in fact for part of the time I cook them on very low heat with a lid on.

Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2-3  minutes.

Add the fish stock and clam juice, stir or whisk to remove any lumps

Add the diced potatoes and then bring the liquid to a boil, turn it down a bit and then simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Lower the heat substantially and stir in the reserved clams and cream/milk mixture or half and half.

Allow this to come up to temperature very slowly being careful to not bring it to a boil.  Now taste and add some salt.  I think I ended up with 1 - 2 tsp in the end.  Don't panic people, again, look how much liquid we have here!  Add some, taste, let it simmer gently.  Taste, season again.  Heck, add some cracked black pepper if that's how you roll.  Just no tomatoes..PLEASE.

Oh...and I bought a new book today.  More details later.

Another Weekend cooking fest

It's another weekend of cooking around here as I adjust to life with a 50+ hour work week.
What on earth am I doing you ask?  Well, I accepted an offer that I just couldn't turn down.  Renee and her business partner offered me the opportunity to come on board and run create a cook.
Me.  The girl who was laid off 4 years ago from over a decade in IT in the financial sector decided to have a midlife career crisis and pursue her first love for feeding people went to culinary school and fell in love with teaching and now, now, I am running a cooking school.  Life is a crazy ride people, take what it throws at you and run with it.

What started out as just a cooking school for kids is now rapidly expanding to offer adult classes and adult cooking parties, and soon we may just be building out a third kitchen.  It's been a heck of a curve in the last month going from the calm life of planning recipes and teaching a few classes a week to full throttle since September 1st, but I am loving EVERY long CRAZY minute of it. 

The hours mean it is a little tough to cook as much as I used to during the week so I have been making the most of the weekends to make life a little easier and get some Bento Box fodder for lunches during the week.  On top of the usual roasting of some chicken breasts for husbands lunch, Saturday found us working on the following three dishes...all at once.  One can never have too many Le Creuset pots is my mantra.

We made a trip to Captain Marden's to pick up halibut steak for a recipe from Molly Stevens All About Braising. Cut a bunch of leeks (quantity is irrelevant as some leeks have 2 inches of white and some have 6 or 8, in the end, we had about 3 cups of sliced leek) in half inch, half moons and saute quickly in some butter, coating them all over, add a bunch of chopped thyme and 4 - 5 cloves of minced garlic, stir a few times, add about 3/4 of white wine, bring it to a boil and then cover it with some parchment paper and a lid and toss it in a 300F oven.  Stir after 20 minutes, back in the oven and then after an additional 20 minutes check that the leeks are nice and soft.  Season well with salt and pepper.  I held the dish at this point since I had to run to work from 6-7.  In the end when I got back home I turned the oven back on, heated the leeks on the stove and then proceeded.  Salt and pepper some halibut steak and lay it on top of the bed of leeks, pour in 1/2 a cup of cream and put the parchment back on, no lid this time and place the whole thing back in the oven for oh say, 20 more minutes or until the fish is nicely done and flakes off the bone.  Put the fish steaks on a warmed plate, remove the skin and bone and tent to keep them warm.  Place the pan with the leeks and cream on the stove and over medium heat, season to taste with salt and pepper and allow the sauce to thicken just a bit.  Serve the fish on a bed of the creamy leeks and we had it with a side of fried potato slices that were fresh dug Red Pontiacs from our farmer in Maine at Mt. Nebo orchard.

The apple pie I made on Sunday with the apples from Mt. Nebo orchard. Last weekend Mom and SD picked tons of apples ( we like Macs and Cortland) and brought them when I went to meet her in New Hampshire for the closing of Maine for the winter items.  Saturday I made my standard pie crust and it rested all day in the fridge.  This morning I rolled it out and peeled and tossed the apple slices with dark brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg with some lemon juice.  I dumped it all in the pie case and tossed on some dots of unsalted butter and slapped a lid on it. Husband was just standing over my shoulder while I took the photo above saying.."Can I eat yet, Can I, Is it done, Please?" 

I'm making him wait until after dinner. I'm mean like that.

Also on Saturday we went over to John Dewar in Wellesey and I picked up some flanken cut beef short ribs.  A perusal of Molly Stevens All About Braising (have you bought this book yet?  Shame on you if you haven't!) had me browning them all over to a nice mahogany colour and removing them to rest. In the same pan, brown some onions and carrots for aromatics.  The pan was deglazed with a goodly amount of Porter and then some veal stock (homemade from my pals at Citrio)  toss in a few sprigs of rosemary from the garden and a few bay leaves.  On went a nice parchment lid and an inverted lid of foil and the Le Creuset lid and this hit the 300F oven for 3 hours.  After the 3 hours were up, I let the ribs cool and tossed them in the fridge overnight.  Braises taste so much better on day 2 and the rest lets you remove the boatloads of fat that will have solidified on the top of the pan.  Tonight we'll warm them back up in the braising liquid and then toss them in a roasting pan.  Then they get glazed with maple syrup that has had a rosemary infusion by heating the syrup and steeping a few sprigs of rosemary in it for an hour. This will have a fire under the broiler to make the glaze all sticky and bubbly. I don't know why I never thought of maple syrup and rosemary together before, the taste is amazing and woody and piney with the sweet maple on top.  So good.  I'll probably mash up some more of those Red Pontiacs tonight as a side.

While the ribs and the leeks were braising in the oven the neighborhood must have smelled pretty strange as I was also making a giant batch of Pho chicken stock for dinner one night next week.  I skinned a whole chicken and cut it into pieces, put them in a pot covered it in water and added an onion and a huge chunk of ginger that I grilled until they were nice and brown.  I tossed some smashed garlic, cloves and black peppercorns in a hot skillet and stirred them around until they were fragrant.  These all went in a tea steeper and plunged in next to the chicken.  4 peeled shallots, 2 pieces of lemongrass smashed with the back of my knife, some fish sauce and rock sugar went in and the whole thing simmered for around 2 hours.  The chicken was all pulled off the bone while the puppy sat directly ON MY FEET willing me to please drop some here.  I drained the stock, discarded all the aromatics and put the chicken back in the stock.  It's now hanging out in the fridge upstairs.  Again, the fat will have risen and solidified so it can be discarded before we have Pho one night next week.

Right now we are photographing a ton of Fiesta pieces and putting them up on ebay for Mom, there might even be a fire later in the kitchen fireplace and a Manhattan before dinner.  Life doesn't get much better than that.

Scallop, bacon and potato salad

Yet again, dinner comes out of The French Market by Joanne Harris & Fran Warde.  If i haven't convinced you by now that you want this book, I guess I never will.
No photos of dinner, just a view into the kitchen from my side garden as the bacon was rendering.

Scallop Bacon and Potato Salad

Take some fingerling potatoes and steam them until tender. 

Cut them into a few pieces each and toss with 1 TBS of white wine vinegar, I happened to have champagne vinegar. 

Add some chopped fresh herbs, she recommends tarragon, but I don't happen to grow tarragon, and I couldn't find any at the store or at the farmer's market so I added about 2 TBS chive, 2 TBS basil, a few sprigs or marjoram and a tiny tip off a rosemary sprig. 

Toss it all with some sea salt and pepper and set aside.

While the potatoes are steaming render some nice smoked bacon, preferably slab if you can find it.  When it is nicely cooked to your liking, drain it and then toss it in with those potatoes.
Now, remove some, but not all of the bacon rendering. 

Take some nice sea or diver scallops and pat them dry, season both sides with some sea salt and pepper and heat that pan with the bacon rendering back to hot, hot, hot. 

When it's ready, add those scallops in a circle like the face of a clock and watch the sides for opacity.  Cook 1, maybe 2 minutes depending on how thick they are and then flip the scallop, again, following the clock motion you used to put them in the pan,(12o'clock, then 1 o'clock, etc.) Cook another minute or 2 depending on how done you like your scallops.  I like mine barely cooked through.

Put those lovely scallops on a plate and top it with some of that potato, herb and bacon mixture, give it a loving anointing drizzle of some fruity extra virgin olive oil and call it done.  I had it with a nice cold rose of course.  Can you also tell that is my summer quaff of choice?

She:  What I just told you about, now go and make it!

He: Grilled tuna steak that was marinated in ginger, garlic, tamari, kecap manis, mirin, sesame oil and rice vinegar with a splash of hot chili oil.  Steamed rice drizzled with the heated remaining marinade.

Squid (Calamari) Salad

A quick outing this morning to hit the Farmer's market in Waltham, Captain Marden's and Roche Bros in Wellesley and we came back home to unpack.  I whipped this up for lunch in under 15 minutes, again inspired by the lovely book The French market by Joanne Harris & Fran Warde.  I'm planing recipes for Everyday French for create a cook in two weeks and every time I flick the page on one of her cookbooks I want to cook something, in fact dinner tonight for me is coming out something I saw a few pages later.

Squid (Calamari) Salad
Toss some lettuce leaves with lemon juice and a little salt. 
Add some EVOO and, if desired, a few drops of white truffle oil, toss. 
Take some cleaned squid bodies and slice them in rings. 
Zest 1 lemon and chop up some parsley and lemon or regular thyme leaves, toss this in a small bowl and add some minced garlic, maybe 2 cloves, mix this up. 
Heat some olive oil on high in a sauté pan, toss in the calamari rings and season quick with salt and pepper. 
Stir or toss for about 45 secs, add the parsley, garlic mixture and toss/stir for about 1 minute more or until the calamari are just white.
Taste for seasonings and place on top of the dressed lettuce leaves and serve immediately.

Friday: We're Having (or I should say We Had)
She: Salad of Olivia's organics lettuce, butter beans, red onion, fresh corn cut off the cob and baby tomatoes (Nonantum farmer's market) tossed with EVOO, white truffle oil and lemon juice with Ortiz tuna, which is on special right now at whole Foods for $7.99 a jar.

He: His usual tuna salad of Olivia's Organics Spring Mix, Ortiz tuna, cucumber, red onion, tomato (garden) and cole slaw.  he is nothing if not consistent.

We're Having: She and He (Episode 7)

It's muggy enough today to peel the paint off of wood, the skies are starting to look like we might have another thunderstorm blow through and here I am, planning on cranking my oven up to 400F.
Before you think me mad, it will only be on for 15 minutes (alright, maybe 25 with warm up and all) and then it will hit the table with about 20 napkins and big bottle of cold rosé that will dribble condensation like the inside of shower all over the table. 

What you see up there is a lovely combo I picked up this afternoon at Captain Marden's in Wellesley.
Some diver scallops, jumbo shrimp, Jonah crab claws, littleneck clams and mussels all lovingly massaged with oil, garlic, chilies and rosemary.  After 15 minutes that will come out of the oven and be tossed with some salt and pepper, chopped parsley and basil.  There will be some crusty bread for mopping up the juice and a bit of saffron tinged aïoli, with hot smoked pimenton to dip the fish in.  Fast, easy, fabulous.

She: Fruits De Mer a L' Aïoli with some nice French bread.  Leftovers to be converted to a nice cold seafood salad for lunch tomorrow.

He: Halibut steak, dredged lightly in s&p and flour, seared on each side until lightly brown and then finished off in the oven with twice cooked fingerlings.

**This recipe inspired by The French Market by Joanne harris & Fran Warde a book I highly recomend.

Braised monkfish (or really any fish you want)

I know braise is probably the last word you think of when the mercury is climbing and the dewpoint makes the simple act of getting dressed a sticky event, but trust me on this one you want to make this.
First the braise only takes 20 - 25 minutes...tops.
Second it's based on a recipe Molly Stevens fabulous, award winning, cookbook All about Braising
Third you use boatloads of cherry tomatoes and pretty soon people we will be AWASH in cherry tomatoes so read on and tuck this one away in your little mental file cabinet.

The other beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can chose any nice whitefish you like to braise, or, dare I say it, skip the fish and just toss this heavenly sauce with some pasta, add a salad and a good loaf of crusty bread and mmmm, maybe a nice COLD glass of rose and dinner is done.

Braised Monkfish with Fennel and Cherry Tomatoes

3 ounces pancetta or guanciale, diced
1 fennel bulb, cored, sliced or diced or however you like it
A good pinch of crushed red pepper and if you are in this house, an additional pinch of aleppo pepper because it makes everything taste good
1 pint cherry tomatoes, rinsed
5 cloves garlic, peeled, sliced
5 or 6 basil leaves, rolled like a cigar and cut in thin strips (chiffonade if you are so inclined)
1 monkfish tail (yes, I know, endangered, non-sustainable, but my local monger had it and someone had to buy it)
1/2 cup orzo (omit for paleo or pimal - might be nice over sauteed cabbage)
Extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Saute the pancetta or guanciale in 2 TBS olive oil until it is just crisp.  Remove and drain, reserve.  Add the chopped fennel and 1/4 cup water, stir, sprinkle with some salt, put the lid on and cook on low heat about 10 minutes or until the fennel is soft. 

Add the tomatoes, the pinch of crushed pepper and slap the lid back on.  Shake the pan a few times, walk away for 5 minutes and get your fish ready or start your water for your pasta or read a few pieces of mail. 

When the tomatoes begin to burst, add the garlic, 2 or 3 more TBS of water, the reserved pancetta, and put the lid on again.  Cook for 5 minutes. 

If using the monkfish, make sure the thin layer, like silverskin, has been removed, rinse your fish, pat dry, sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. 

Heat up a nice skillet with 2 TBS of oil and quickly sear your fish on each side, 2 - 3 minutes. 

Nestle the fish into the pan with your lovely braise, taste the sauce for seasonings and add salt and pepper if desired. 

Cover again and cook 5 - 8 minutes or until monkfish is cooked though.

Add your basil and serve. In my case on a bed of orzo tossed with some extra virgin olive oil.

A little bit of heaven

The Cheese Hamlet - West Didsbury, Manchester, UK

and this market is just next door.  Now that is what I call shopping.

...more later when I get back from Maine!