Striped Bass

From the fine folks at Kate's Fish in the West Side Market. Lovingly farmed in or around Maryland. Here's what Monterey Bay has to say about them. Sides are a mediocre attempt at coconut rice, and some of the best kale I've had in some time.

For the fish, I rinsed and dried the fish with a paper towel (I nearly always do), lightly scored the skin, seasoned with salt and pepper, and lightly dusted with cornstarch. Then I sauteed it in a mix of equal parts butter and canola oil. I made a little brown butter in the cleaned out pan. This post had got me thinking. With the fish the saute can take some time, so a little patience is required. It's great rare/med-rare with the crispy skin, but if you're looking to go more well done it could stand to be placed in a hot oven for a minute or two to get it cooked through.

The rice was standard Basmati cooked with coconut milk instead of water. 2:1 ratio liquid to rinsed damp rice, brought to a boil together with a little salt, then simmered covered for about 12 min and left to sit covered another 5.

The kale. Gown in a wood fire heated hoop house with compost and manure, it's some of the earliest local green available around here. For it I heated some olive oil in pan over a fairly low heat. While the oil was heating I rinsed the kale and just barely shook it dry. Then I added the kale to the very warm, not super hot, oil along with some salt and pepper. I turned the kale over to make sure it was evenly coated in oil and then covered the pan, rotating the kale occasionally. It took something shy of 10 min over slow heat to get wilted leaves and tender crisp stems. When it was done I drained them on paper towels, adjusted the seasoning, and kept them warm in a 200 degree oven. (I used the same wiped out pan to cook the fish.)

[Sadly, I forgot to top with pomegranate seeds, which were easily removed from the fruit by bashing the skin side of a pomegranate, which had I split along the equator, with a large metal kitchen spoon.]