Menu
Bluefish baked on a Bed of leeks and Potatoes
Beets with Mustard Sauce
Sautéed beet leaves with crispy stems
George and I have been doing the grocery shopping together
the last couple of months and I really enjoy going with him. I think we have both relaxed as time goes on,
he is more patient with my foibles and pickiness about getting this item versus
that, and I am more patient. Certainly
grocery shopping takes longer, but it is also so much more enjoyable and we can
discuss what menu delights might come
out of the new and unexpected things we see in the market. The whole process has turned out to be quite
wonderful.
Today I found some fairly nice produce, nice shallots and
peppers, even tiny hot Thai peppers. There was also some local garlic that still looked pretty good, some
fresh galangal root, and really lovely cauliflower without any brown spots or
yucky areas. Even the ginger was young
and still kind of pink, crisp and moist, not the old dried up stuff I usually
find.
Then, on top of everything, the first thing I noticed when
we walked into the fish market was a really huge pile of fresh bluefish,
George’s favorite fish. Bluefish has
been in short supply lately. We haven’t
seen any in the market since early spring, surprising as there is usually a
pretty reasonable bluefish season from mid summer to mid-late fall. When we talk to the manager, he tells me that
the bluefish he has seen at the market have just not been good, but he will
keep his eyes open. I know George
reminds him every week, but I think he was despairing of ever seeing bluefish
again.
It took G a few moments to notice, he was thinking tuna, as that’s what we
bought last week, and squid. I had to
hint that there was something he would really like in the case and when he
finally spotted it he could dance for joy.
As it happened, we had just purchased some really gorgeous
leeks at Hannaford and I knew they were sitting in the car. I knew I would sauté the leeks until very
tender and soft and then layer them on top of thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes, bake them until the potatoes were soft and beginning to crisp
around the edges. Then I would add the
bluefish on top with some herbed bread crumbs and bake it until everything was
browned and bubbly.
I still didn’t have tonight’s vegetable, I had left today
open on the menu, but when I saw the beautiful beets in the produce section I
knew they were going in my basket. The
beets looked great, but even more telling, the stems were firm and crisp and
the leaves looked absolutely fresh and crisp and luscious.
The beets can bake while I make the potatoes and fish and I
can toss them with a little mustard sauce just before serving. I will mince the beet stems up really tiny
and caramelize them with onions until they are almost all soft and brown and
jam-like, then I will stir in garlic and the beet greens, finishing off with a
dusting of fennel pollen.
Ooh, I can’t wait for dinner time. Perhaps I should go down in the basement and
see if I can find a nice bottle of wine.