marinated squeteague; tomato; romano beans; wild berries

The return of Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’ or Sea/Ocean Trout) to our table.

The reappearance of some wonderful tomatoes.

The first pole beans of summer.

  • one 15-ounce fillet of Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’ or Sea/Ocean Trout) from Blue Moon Seafood Company, cut in half, marinated for about half an hour on the kitchen counter in a mix of a little olive oil, 2 minced cloves of green garlic from Lani’s Farm, and 7 different herbs (1 crushed fresh bay leaf from West Side Market, parsley and rosemary from Phillips Farm, peppermint and thyme from Lani’s Farm, lovage and tarragon from Keith’s Farm, and epazote from Windfall Farm), drained, pan-grilled inside an enameled cast iron grill pan which had been pre-heated to medium-hot, skin-slide down first for 3 minutes, the fish then turned and cooked for another minute, until opaque and firm, drizzled with the juices and some of the marinade, served with a garnish of tarragon blossoms from Two Guys from Woodbridge
  • halved sweet cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, in Mullica Hill, NJ, purchased Saturday at Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market, heated in warm olive oil with a little bit of chopped shallot from Berried Treasures inside a vintage small Pyrex glass skillet, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper and mixed with some chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm
  • purple Romano beans from Lani’s Farm, parboiled for a few minutes, drained, dried, reheated in a heavy tin-lined copper pan with a bit of finely-chopped  in oil, the vegetable then finished with salt, pepper, chopped copper (or bronze) fennel fronds, and lovage, both also from Berried Treasures
  • the wine was a French (Bordeaux) rosé, Château de Fontenille Rosé Bordeaux 2016, from Chelsea Wine Vault

And a very special dessert.

Seen here as they appeared on the forager’s table in the Greenmarket. The small fruits barely visible just above the strawberries are ‘Nanking Cherries’ [prunus tomentosa].