Search for weakfish - 7 results found

herb-marinated weakfish; asparagus, mint; rhubarb biscuit

Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’ or Sea/Ocean Trout). I’ve written it before: We love this fish.

It’s a noble fish, but it’s not a trout. It’s generally marketed as ‘ocean trout’, I suppose because ‘weakfish’ doesn’t present a positive image. In fact the ‘weak’ part is only because the fish’s jaw tears apart easily when it is hooked (ouch), meaning it can more easily escape from an angler, the people who pass out the names, sometimes with less than fairness.

I seem to have prepared it 4 or 5 times, in several very different sizes. I’ve come to call it Squeteague, (except when I have to squeeze a name into a headline) mostly because of my fondness for coastal New England and its Narragansett heritage in its south [in the Narragansett language: pesukwiteag, meaning ‘they give glue’, because glue is made from them (or was at one time)].

  • two 10-ounce squeteauge fillets (larger than our usual portions, but they don’t come to order) from American Seafood Company, marinated for a little over half an hour on the counter in a mix of a tablespoon or more of Whole Foods Market house Portuguese olive oil, 2 or 3 sliced spring garlic cloves from Lani’s Farm, and only 2 herbs this time (I’ve used up to 11), chopped dill from Stokes Farm and a smaller amount of chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm, after which the fillets were drained, sautéed or fried for almost 3 minutes inside a oil coated tin-lined heavy oval copper pan which had been pre-heated to medium-hot (enough oil to protect the tin lining while the pan heated up), skin-slide down first, then turned and cooked for another minute or 2, arranged on the plates, the juices, mixed in the pan with some of the marinade, drizzled on top
  • three Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, halved, their cut sides sprinkled with salt and pepper, heated inside an antique enameled cast iron porringer, turning once, arranged on the plates, sprinkled with chopped winter savory from Keith’s Farm and drizzled with the juices that remained in the porringer
  • less than a pound of medium thickness asparagus (before trimming), 20 altogether, a mix bunch from Hoeffner Farms and John D. Madura Farms, their bottoms snapped off at the point where they easily break, rolled in a tablespoon of butter and less than a tablespoon of olive oil inside a heated large enameled rectangular cast iron pan, then sautéed over medium high heat while frequently rolling or turning them until they were beginning to brown (about 15 minutes), finished with a sprinkling of local sea salt from P.E. & D.D. Seafood and freshly-ground black pepper, sprinkled with zest from most of an entire Whole Foods Market organic lemon and some chopped furry spearmint from Space on Ryder Farm
  • the wine was a delightful and extraordinary original from New York (Hudson River) orange, using traminette grapes, the unfined and unfiltered ‘Luca’ Skin Contact Traminette, 2017, that we had bought directly from the vintner

There was a sweet.

  • one halved quite brilliant treat, a ‘shortcake’ from Lost Bread Co., their last ‘hominy biscuit’ at the stand that day (the ingredients are organic bread flour, butter, milk, purple corn, wheat , baking powder, baking soda, slaked lime, sea salt, sugar), topped with dollops of Talenti Madagascar Vanilla Gelato from Whole Foods, and drizzled with ambrosia: a homemade rhubarb-cardamon seed-star anise compote made with tiny (1/3 to 1/2-inch thick) early (late winter?) rhubarb stems from Hoeffner Farms
  • the wine was Blandy’s 5 year old Bual Madeira

 

pan-grilled Weakfish and braised purple cauliflower

weakfish_purple_cauliflower

Color is also a part of good cookery.

  • Weakfish, from PE & DD, brushed with oil, seasoned, pan-grilled over a bed of basil leaves, and finished with a mixture of chopped basil, garlic, oil, and a bit of white wine vinegar
  • a braise of purple cauliflower from Norwich Meadows Farm, sliced garlic from Berried Treasures, a mix of colorful cherry tomatoes from Central Valley Farm, one dried Peperoncino, crumbled, and some bruised fennel seeds, finished with chopped oregano from Central Valley Farm
  • the wine was a Côtes du Rhône rosé, Parallèle 45

sautéed herb-marinated squeteague; tomatoes; collards

How many names can one fish support?

Cynoscion regalis: I want to call it Squetauge, because I like the sound, because it’s what they call it in Rhode Island, and because it’s what it was called by Americans long before there were any Europeans, Africans, or Asians to name anything.

Weakfish is the name by which it is generally known, I think, but it there are many other ways to designate this excellent eating fish.

My fish monger calls it ‘sea trout’, although it’s no relation to the true trout.

I go through this exercise about fish names a lot, with all sorts of species that we consume at home or elsewhere, but the reason I’m making something of it this time is that while I’ve cooked cynoscion regalis at least 5 times before, ‘sea trout’ didn’t show up on this blog site when I was standing at the fish stand trying to remember what I usually call that fish in the plexiglas window.

  • 7 and a half-ounce fillets of Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’, Sea Trout, or Ocean Trout) from Pura Vida Seafood Company, marinated for more than half an hour, first in the refrigerator and then on the kitchen counter, in a mix of a fourth of a cup of olive oil, 2 minced cloves of Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic, and 7 different chopped or torn herbs (1 crushed fresh bay leaf from West Side Market, parsley and spearmint from Phillips Farms, rosemary from Willow Wisp Farm, lovage from Quarton Farm, and marjoram buds from Stokes Farm), drained, reserving some of the marinade, then sautéed, or fried, for about 2 minutes inside an antique lightly-oiled (one tablespoon), heavy tin-lined oval copper pan which had been pre-heated to medium-hot, skin-slide down first, then turned and cooked for another minute, arranged on the plates, brushed lightly with a bit of reserved marinade, garnished with micro red chard from Two Guys from Woodbridge
  • five really special very ripe Mountain Magic tomatoes, halved, heated inside a small vintage Pyrex blue glass pan in a little olive oil, turning once, seasoned with sea salt, and freshly-ground black pepper,, arranged on the plate garnished with a bit of basil, the gift of Franca Tantillo of Berried Treasures Farm
  • one bunch of collard greens from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, stemmed, washed 3 times, drained (some of the water retained and held aside to be added, as necessary, while the greens cooked), cut roughly and braised gently until softened/wilted inside a large, heavy enameled cast iron pot in which 2 cloves of Keiths Farm rocambole garlic had been heated until they had softened, seasoned with salt and black pepper, finished with a small drizzle of olive oil
  • slices of a She Wolf Bakery polenta sourdough boule
  • the wine was a California (Napa) red, La Tapatia Chardonnay Carneros 2016, from Naked Wines
  • the music was Handel’s 1726 opera seria, ‘Scipione’, in a performance by Les Talens Lyriques conducted by Christophe Rousset

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].

 

sautéed marinated Squeteague; blue potatoes; fiddleheads

Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’ or Sea/Ocean Trout). I’ve written it before: We love this fish.

I seem to have prepared it 3 times, in 3 different sizes, in the first post calling it ‘Weakfish’ but eventually I tagged it Squeteague, mostly out of my fondness for coastal New England and its Narragansett heritage [Narragansett: pesukwiteag, meaning ‘they give glue’, because glue is made from them (or was)].

I had originally planned on accompanying the fillets with fiddleheads alone, but when I had spread the furled fronds on the counter, I realized there really weren’t enough of them for that major role, and I reached for the basket where I had been storing some blue potatoes for over a month.

The first picture is of some of the fishmonger’s buckets, as I found them in the Greenmarket, under a scuffed plexi lid, showing, clockwise from the top left, cod, scallops, mackerel, and Squeteague.

The second shot is of some of the farmer’s foraged fiddleheads.

The third, of the blue potatoes, may look familiar: I’ve used the same shot before. I picked up the tubers at the Greenmarket on March 31, and I included a majority of them in the meal I prepared that night.

  • two 8-ounce fillets of Squeteague (aka ‘Weakfish’ or Sea/Ocean Trout) from Blue Moon Fish Company, marinated for about half an hour on the counter in a mix of a little olive oil, one minced garlic clove from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, and 11 different herbs (yeah, I went overboard, especially just one would have actually been enough), including one large crushed fresh bay leaf from West Side Market, rosemary, chives, and oregano from Stokes Farm, sage from S. & S.O. Produce Farm, parsley from Norwich Meadows farm, mint from Phillips Farm, thyme from Eataly, lovage and cilantro from Windfall Farms, dill from Bodhitree Farm, after which the fillets were drained, sautéed or fried for about 2 minutes inside a lightly-oiled (one tablespoon), tin-lined heavy oval copper pan which had been pre-heated to medium-hot, skin-slide down first, then turned and cooked for another minute, arranged on the plates, the juices drizzled on top, garnished with micro red amaranth from Windfall Farms [I had originally intended to put the amaranth on the potatoes, but I realized at the last moment that they might almost disappear in their blue-purple hue)
  • three ‘blue potatoes’ from Norwich Meadows Farm, boiled boiled in well-salted water, drained, dried in the still-warm vintage Pyrex glass pot, rolled in a little olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper
  • one small basket of fiddlehead ferns from Tamarack Hollow Farm, blanched for 3 or 4 minutes, drained, dried, briefly sautéed with chopped wild garlic bulbs from Lani’s Farm that had already been warmed, and some chopped thyme from Eataly, finished with a squeeze of juice from a sweet local lemon form Fantastic Gardens of Long Island
  • the wine was a French (Loire) white, Domaine Vincent Giraudon Primavera Côte Roannaise 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault 
  • the music was the album, ‘1700 – The Century of the Portuguese‘ (we are going to be in Portugal and Galicia in late may and early June, and had just finished watching