It was our fourth seafood dinner in 9 days, but the first one to include actual fish. Until last night there had been mussels, scallops, and crabs, but nothing with fins.

• six beautiful 2 or 3-ounce orange/red ocean perch fillets from American Seafood Company’s stand at Saturday’s Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street, rinsed and dried, both sides brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with a total of little more than one teaspoon, combined, of chopped ‘Chesnok Red’ garlic from Alewife Farm and a section of one thinly-sliced ‘red spring onion’ from Norwich Meadows Farm, seasoned, also on  both sides, with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled, skin side up, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for 4 or 5 minutes, or until the skin had become crisp and the fish cooked through, finished on the plates with some olive oil that had been heated inside a small antique enameled cast iron porringer over a very low flame for about 3 minutes with 2 salted, rinsed, and filleted Sicilian anchovies from Eataly, rinsed and filleted, the perch garnished with scissored bronze fennel buds and blossoms, from RIse & Root Farm, served with organic California lemon halves from Whole Foods Market on the side
• three small Pozzano plum tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved lengthwise, dried thoroughly, placed cut side down on a plate that had been sprinkled with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-grilled, cut side down, then turned over, and finished with a dab of olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar, garnished with chopped marjoram from Stokes Farm
• one small fennel bulb from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, the fronds having already been removed and set aside after it had arrived at the apartment, cut into bite size pieces and sautéed inside a large high-sided tin-lined copper pan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil until beginning to caramelize, stirring in near the end one thickly-sliced garlic clove and 3 small red shishito peppers, sliced, until the garlic had softened and the mix had become pungent, finished by tossing in some of the more tender fennel fronds, chopped, the vegetables arranged on the plates with a sprinkling of more fennel fronds
• the wine was an Australian (Victoria/Rutherglen) white, Jen Pfeiffer The Rebel Sauvignon Blanc 2018, from Naked Wines
• the music was a 1658 opera by Pier Francesco Cavalli, ‘L’Ipermestra’,  Mike Fentross conducting La Sfera Armoniosa , with one particularly gorgeous tenor voice

I love this fish in so many ways. This may have been my tastiest broiled sea perch with anchovy, ever, and there have been a lot of them.

Here they are still inside the fishers’ bucket at the Union Square Greenmarket:

Unrelated: I think freshwater perch (Perca flavescens) would be even more popular than it already is if it were as red as these beauties, which even stay orange or red throughout the cooking process.

Oops, I just read that my favorite finned delicacy while I was growing up around the Great lakes, ‘the ultimate pan fish’, is now mostly farmed.  You really can never go home again.

The fillets lying on the counter at home, after being rinsed:

After being placed inside the pan, oiled, garlic-ed, and seasoned:

• four beautiful Atlantic sea perch fillets (one pound total), red, or orange-red colored, sometimes called ‘redfish’, but in New York area at least, it’s normally ‘sea perch’ or ‘ocean perch’, even though they aren’t really perch at all, but ‘rockfish’ [?], from American Seafood Company in the Union Square Greenmarket, brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with about a teaspoon of finely chopped garlic from our local, 8th Avenue Foragers Market, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, placed inside a large enameled cast iron pan, broiled skin side up 4 or 5 inches from the flame for about 4 or 5 minutes, at which time the edges had become a little crisp, and the fish was cooked through, removed from the broiler and sauced simply with a bit of warm anchovy in olive oil (2 salted Sicilian anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed thoroughly, filleted and chopped, had been heated over a very low flame for about 5 minutes in 2 tablespoons of oil, by which time the anchovies had fallen apart), the fillets garnished with micro red radish from Two Guys from Woodbridge, Whole Foods Market lemon wedges served on the side
• just under a pound of very sweet small redskin potatoes from Race Farm, scrubbed, boiled unpeeled in generously-salted water until barely cooked through, drained, halved, dried in the still-warm large vintage Corning Pyrex Flameware blue-glass pot in which they had cooked, tossed with a little Trader Joe’s Italian Reserve extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and tossed with scissored fresh chives, also from Phillips Farms, which were supposed to be served with more chives scattered over the top, but I forgot to add them
• what remained of a large bunch of broccoli rabe (aka raab, or rapini, among other names) from Migliorelli Farm after cooking most of it 2 days earlier, wilted in a little olive oil inside a medium size antique high-sided tin-lined copper pot in which 6 small garlic cloves from Foragers Market had been heated until fragrant and slightly softened, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a couple pinches of dried peperoncini Calabresi peperoncino secchia from Buon Italia in Chelsea Market, divided between the 2 plates and drizzled with a little more olive oil
• the wine was a Portuguese (Alentejo) white, Esporao Monte Velho White 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was a recording of the 2018 premier performance [yeah, the premier] of Donizetti’s 1839  opera semiseria, ‘L’ Ange de Nisida’, in a concert performance at the Royal Opera House in London, in association with the remarkable company, Opera Rara, conducted by Mark Elder, the title role sung by Joyce El-Khoury

It’s a beautiful fish

And it’s an absolutely delicious fish. Last night we enjoyed what may have been one of my most successful preparations ever, using a simple recipe I’ve become very fond of, on some very fresh fish.

It’s precisely however because I’m realizing how good this fish is without the addition of strong flavors, and because I know I’ve been in something of a rut, that I’m going to have to try even simpler recipes to showcase it in the future.

• one pound of 6 red sea perch fillets (sometimes called ‘redfish’, but usually it’s ‘sea perch’ or ‘ocean perch’) from American Seafood Company in the Union Square Greenmarket, brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with about a teaspoon of chopped Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic, then seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and placed inside an enameled cast iron pan, broiled skin side up 4 or 5 inches from the flame for about 4 or 5 minutes, at which time the skin had a little crisp and the fish was cooked through, sauced with a bit of olive oil in which 2 salted Sicilian anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed and filleted, had been heated over a very low flame for about 5 minutes until the anchovies had fallen apart (this time it had just been prepared, but it could have been done a little earlier and kept warm while waiting for the fish to cook), the fillets finished on the plates with chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, lemon wedges served on the side
• six Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market sliced 1/4″ thick, slid into a medium size copper skillet in which some olive oil had been heating and softening one Camelot shallot from Quarton Farm, allowed to warm and also soften just a bit, seasoned with salt and black pepper, some chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge mixed in and a pinch or two of dried fenugreek from Bombay Emerald Chutney Company (purchased last fall at the Saturday Chelsea Farmers Market) added
• a small amount of Savoy cabbage from remaining from the preparation of a much earlier meal (there’s a reason why cabbage was so important in the winter before California and Florida were invented) sliced into fairly narrow ribbons this time, sautéed in a little olive oil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the leaves were tender, had begun to brown and become (ideally) slightly crisp at the edges, seasoned with sea salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and 4 flattened juniper berries, a few drops of sherry vinegar added, the contents of the pan stirred over heat for a moment then arranged on the plates with a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a French (Menetou-Salon/Loire), Domaine Pelle, Menetou-Salon Morogues 2017, from Flatiron Wines
• the music was the ECM album, ‘Now, And Then’, Dennis Russel Davies conducting the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in the music of Bruno Maderna and Luciano Berio, in this case the composers addressing, respectively, the Italian Renaissance and Early Baroque eras and the tradition of classical and flamenco guitar

[the images are somewhat sepia-like because I had accidentally left the camera on the wrong setting]

I love this fish, and have sung the praises of sea perch on this blog more than once before. The only hesitation I ever have in dealing with it comes while I pause to decide which recipe to use.

Last night I went with the one which involves anchovy, because the rest of the plate pretty much said ‘Mediterranean’.

• six red sea perch fillets (totaling 15 ounces) from American Pride Seafood Company, their stall in Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street, brushed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil mixed with about a teaspoon of chopped ramp bulbs from Berried Treasures, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, placed inside an enameled cast iron pan and broiled skin side up, 4 or 5 inches from the flames, for about 4 minutes when the skin had become crisp and the fish cooked through, sauced with a bit of olive oil in which 3 salted anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed and filleted, had been heated over a very low flame for about 5 minutes until the anchovies had fallen apart (the sauce had just been prepared, but I could have been done a little earlier and kept warm while waiting for the fish to cook), the fillets finished on the plates with chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm, lemon wedges served on the side
• four large cherry tomatoes from Alex’s Tomato Farm, via Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market, halved, gently warmed and slightly softened in a little olive in which a very small amount of chopped ramp bulbs from Berried Treasures Farm had been warmed until the allium had begun to be fragrant, sprinkled with torn leaves of basil from Stokes Farm
• one small head of treviso from Campo Rosso Farm, washed, the moisture drained or shaken off, halved lengthwise, most of the V of the root ends cut away (and immediately eaten by the cook, as I love chicory in any form), arranged cut side up on a medium Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic oven pan (after securing the leaves with toothpicks and/or string), covered with an abundance of thyme branches from Keith’s Farm, seasoned generously with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, drizzled with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, baked in a pre-heated 400º oven for 12 minutes or so, turned over, returned to the oven for 8 or 9 minutes, then set cut side up again and drizzled with one more tablespoon of oil, then finished baking until the root was tender when pierced with a knife, or about 2 minutes more, arranged on the plates and sprinkled with a very little bit of balsamic vinegar
• the wine was an Italian (Langhe) white, Azienda Agricola Rivetti Massimo Aurelia Arneis Langhe 2015, from Chelsea Wine Vault
• the music was the album, ‘Musica Baltica’, Reinhard Goebel conducting Musica Antiqua Köln (basically, performances of music composed in the Baltic Sea Hanseatic courts during the seventeenth century)

It’s a beautiful fish, with a delicate red skin, although the color mostly disappears with cooking.

New York venders (and restaurants?) sometimes call it ‘redfish’, but usually it’s ‘sea perch’ or ‘ocean perch’, even if it bears little resemblance to the fresh water perch I grew up with around the Great Lakes.  The brilliant color of its scales and its skin would be enough evidence of the distinction, but I have to admit, even at this gap in time and distance from 1940s-50s Michigan and Wisconsin, there may be something to be said about the similarities in taste.

The French know it as Rascasse, but there’s some confusion with names on the other side of the Atlantic because it apparently belongs to the family, ‘scorpaenidae‘, which also includes the scorpionfish.

This looks like the best answer to the question, ‘what is it?’

 

• four fillets of red sea perch (19 ounces) from Pura Vida Seafood, brushed with olive oil and one chopped garlic clove from Tamarack Hollow Farm, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, then broiled, 4 inches from the flames, for about 4 minutes until the skin was crisp and the fish cooked through, sauced with a bit of olive oil in which 3 salted anchovies from Buon Italia, rinsed and filleted, had been heated over a very low flame for about 5 minutes until they had fallen apart (the sauce having been kept warm while waiting for the fish to cook), the fillets finished on the plates with chopped parsley from Eataly

I had collected two kinds of beautiful small carrots in recent visits to the Greenmarket, and last night I decided it was time to enjoy them both.

• ‘Purple Haze’ (the purple ones, a hybrid) and ‘Kyoto’ (the red-orange ones, an heirloom) carrots from Norwich Meadows Farm, washed, trimmed, scrubbed, and dried, tossed in a very little olive oil with salt and pepper, spread inside a large seasoned Pampered Chef pan and baked at 400º until tender (the time would depend on size; these took little more than 15 minutes), finished with a combination of chopped thyme from Eataly and oregano from Stokes Farm
• the wine was a California (Napa) white, La Tapatia Chardonnay Carneros 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was the last parts of Handel’s 1730 comic opera seria [sic], ‘Partenope’, with Riccardo Minasi conducting Il Pomo d’Oro, which we had begun to listen to the night before