Cooking Local and Wild

Braised Lamb Shank with Mint Gemolata and Braising Liquid, Sauteed Wild/Japanese Asparagus, and Ramp Risotto. Two hits, two misses. Shank and risotto, very good. Gemolata and wild asparagus, not so much. The gremolata, shown in progress below, with lemon zest, salt, mint (scavenged from the community garden), and a bit of olive oil was too citrusy. A little less zest and/or more mint and it may have worked.

As for the asparagus, bartered for at the Shaker Square Farmers Market, it wasn't for me. It tasted green and grassy to the point where I wasn't really sure it should be eaten. I had just sauteed it in olive oil with salt and pepper and added a little water to steam it at the end. They weren't to my liking. It may have just been me.

I also picked up the lamb shank and ramps at the Market. The lamb shank, also pictured below, came perfectly trimmed and looked great. First, I seasoned the shank with salt, pepper, and cumin and then browned it in olive oil. Then the shank was removed from the pot and some red wine was added and reduced. After the wine reduced in went a small can of tomatoes that I crushed somewhat with my hands. Once that was at a boil I seasoned with salt and pepper, added the shank back in, and then added some homemade veggie stock to come about halfway up the shank. The pot was then covered and placed in a 325 degree oven for about an hour and a half. After that the shank was removed from the liquid and kept warm in the turned off oven while the sauce was reduced down. Resting under the shank are some of the crushed tomatoes.

The ramp risotto recipe is not too different from this one. I used my usual method, substituting ramp bulbs and shallot for onion in the base saute. I also used the homemade veggie stock in place of the usual chicken stock. All that was was a bunch of old but still okay looking vegetables and mushrooms slowly boiled for about an hour and then strained. At the end I added some butter, cheese, and some chopped ramp tops.

That's it.

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.]

Red Lentil Dal

Not much to say about this one. Very simple and very tasty. It's too bad I didn't look for recipes like this one before making the dish (or bowl). The addition of onions, and/or shallots, and garlic would have been nice, but for a cutting board free meal I have no complaints.

As for the recipe, I just cooked some Pakistani Basmati Rice and topped it with lentils that were boiled in a good quantity of water until some of the water boiled off and the texture looked good. I added a chili powder, cayenne powder, salt, and pepper to the cooking lentils. Now if I can learn to make naan . . .

A rose by any other name . . .

Sablefish, Black Cod, Butterfish, Alaska Cod. Whatever name you prefer, it's a great fish, and it couldn't get a better rating from the Monterey Bay folks. Even Daniel Boulud recognizes the fish's greatness here. If you click on that last link, you'll see that my people were ahead of their time, along with the Japanese. And sorry for the title, I still haven't gotten over the last post.

As usual, the fish came from Kate's at the West Side Market, and the snow peas came from the veggie section of the Market. While I prefer the produce at the North Union markets, I was already at the Market, and you generally can't beat the prices or the breadth of the selection. Of course, caveat emptor, here more than most places.

The meal was very satisfying, with sweetness coming from the sauce/marinade and the rice, sour from the same place, salty from soy sauce, and savory from fish.

For the rice, you can go here and find the link. I enjoy sushi rice very much.

Fish (adapted from Kate's recipe--unsurprisingly, Kate's Fish is owned by Kate)
Ingredients:
- Fish
- Soy sauce, one part
- Honey, two parts
- Vinegar, splash
- Ginger, minced
- Salt and pepper
- Oil (I mixed sunflower and toasted sesame oil, about 80%/20%, respectively.)
Method
- Mix all ingredients except the fish and oil
- Marinate fish in fridge for around half an hour
- Turn on broiler
- Heat up broiler safe pan
- Lightly oil the hot pan
- Place fish on pan (reserve marinade)
- Place pan about six inches from flame and cook until it's done to your liking (the fish will flake easily and have a great texture)

Peas
Ingredients:
- Snow Peas, washed and still a bit wet
- Ginger, minced
- Soy sauce
- Salt and pepper
- Oil (Here I mixed sunflower, toasted sesame oil, and a little chile oil.)
Method:
- Preheat a pan--get it very hot (I used a carbon steel wok.)
- Add oil to hot pan
- Add peas, ginger, salt, and pepper and mix well
- Move peas around relatively often
- When peas are about done add soy sauce
- When peas are to your liking place on plate
- Reduce fish marinade in pan while it's still over heat
- When the marinade is well reduced (It will be much thicker off the heat than it is in the hot pan. Be careful not to over reduce.) add it where you'd like (I put it on the peas.)
- Plate everything together and enjoy

It's a great mix of flavors, and everything can be adjusted to taste--the salt, sugar, and vinegar in the rice, the ratio of the things in the marinade, and the oils. I wouldn't go too much sweeter though, as the fish has a lot of sweetness on its own. Added spiciness might be nice.

I know I missed the wagon with this one, as Miso Black Cod long ago joined the ranks of braised short ribs as a ubiquitous restaurant offering. But like short ribs, there's good reason for its commonplace--it's hard to screw up, and it's good. This really is a great fish, and it's a shame I took so long to join the crowd.

Here's another shot of the dinner.