Spring Bounty

Spring continues to shower us with good things and I am again savoring time in the kitchen.  You may be tired of reading about ramps and morels and spring vegetables, but we have in now way exhausted the possibilities in the kitchen.  Now that spring is really here, even the offerings at the fish market seemed to have improved. When I stopped by Adams on Friday, I got to the store just after a group of fishermen had dropped off a catch of Striped Bass.  Now I have mentioned before how lucky I am that I get Bluefish, Striped Bass, and at this time of year, Shad, that are brought in by local fishermen the day they are caught.    As I walked to the fish market, they were just unpacking a bunch of bass onto the ice.  They were beautiful and of course I bought one.

Now a good sized whole striper is a bit big for two of us, so I did not cook it all Friday night (I hope this does not bring out the fish police).  One fillet was wrapped in paper, surrounded by ice and this whole conglomeration of things was then put in a giant zip Lock bag (I think fabric came in it originally) and stuck way in the back of the refrigerator until Saturday night.   

And because it is rare that I have two pieces of the same fish, I decided to experiment a Little.  Friday night I steamed the fish using a technique I learned from an article about Jean Georges Vongerichten many years ago.  I pulled off a large sheet of foil, then I layered spring vegetables on the foil.  I used some of the tiny asparagus you see in the photo, morels, and some slender tiny spring carrots, grown in pots, each about the diameter of a pencil.  I placed the fish on top of this and then layered the ramps over the fish and drizzled the entire thing with olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  Then I sealed up the foil packet and placed the entire package on a very hot iron skillet that had been heating while I got everything ready.  When the foil packet puffed up like an old jiffy pop popcorn package, I started the timer, and cooked the fish for 4 minutes.  I took it off the heat and let it rest 1 minute more.  Then dinner was served.  It was heavenly.

Saturday night I baked the second fillet, again simply drizzled with olive oil.  The ramps were cooked and pureed and baked into individual custards, and the remaining tiny asparagus and the bell pepper were simply sauteed together.  Another perfect dinner. 

Now what was the purpose of all this?  I wanted to see how the fish turned out.  The steamed fish was delicate and flavorful, really really good, it almost melted on the tongue.  The baked bass was also very good, very flavorful, and a little more toothsome.  It was still quite tender but it had a little firmness on the tongue, more al dente I suppose, and George and I both felt we preferred this preparation.  The differences were subtle, but now I know. The vegetables and the meal as a whole was a success both nights.  Perhaps it is true, simple things are best.

And speaking of simple things, the pansies I planted last fall have sent up progeny this spring.  They have been blooming heavily the last month or so: