sautéed flounder, tomato-shallot-papalo butter; okra, chili

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I’ve used it before, but, like all recipes, or at least the ones we amateurs play with, it turns out at least a little differently each time. Last night I worked that part even more by picking tomatoes I had never used before in this preparation.

The recipe was one which I had found on the LA Times site 2 years ago; I made only a few adjustments.

As usual, all of the ingredients (save for the oil, butter, salt, pepper, and vinegar – and the wine), came from the Union Square Greenmarket. The tomatoes were wonderful, and the small okra was a real find.

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  • one 12-ounce flounder fillet from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, lightly seasoned, cooked for a few minutes in olive oil and butter in a heavy oval copper pan over high heat, turning once, divided into two servings, placed on the plates, a couple of spoonfuls of ‘tomato butter’ [see below] arranged on and around the fish
  • tomato butter, begun by cooking, inside a small pan with a generous amount of butter until slightly soft and fragrant, one large fresh red scallion from Norwich Meadows Farm, then letting the flavored butter cool slightly before being poured over 4 ounces of halved sun gold cherry tomatoes from Lani’s Farm, chopped, adding 2 tablespoons of fresh papalo leaves [porophyllum ruderale], also from Lani’s Farm, the mix seasoned with salt, pepper, and a few drops of good Spanish wine vinegar (Rioja)
  • small okra from Norwich Meadows Farm, sautéed over a high flame in a large cast iron pan with a little olive oil and a good part of one small red Calabrian pepper from Campo Rosso Farm, seasoned with sea salt
  • the wine was a California (Monterey/Santa Barbara/Sonoma/Napa) white, Joel Gott unoaked Chardonnay 2015
  • the music was Q2 Music, streaming, from their ’24-hour Steve Reich Marathon’