tautog with lemon, dill pollen; radishes with ramps, lovage

Tautog_dill_pollen_radish_greens

Choosing the ingredients for this meal was easy. I went to the Greenmarket on Wednesday primarily to buy fish, and nothing else. The sign for Blackfish (aka ‘Tautog) jumped out at me as soon as I arrived at the Blue Moon stand, and so it would be; it’s one of my favorites.

I didn’t really need any more vegetables, but I’m a sucker for a good display, and the people of Eckerton Hill Farm are masters at it. Lying next to a table laden with beautiful greens in woven wicker and miniature ‘bushel’ baskets was this display of ‘French Breakfast radishes‘. I decided that choosing them as a side would give me both roots and greens in one dish.

French_breakfast_radishes

  • a 1-pound fillet of Blackfish (Tautog in New England) from Blue Moon Fish Company, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Telicherry pepper, sautéed in a heavy tin-lined oval copper pan for about 4 minutes on each side, the skin side down first, drizzled with organic lemon juice, and finished with a dusting of Pollen Ranch Dill Pollen, divided into two and moved onto plates, the pan juices gently drizzled over each one
  • one bunch of French Breakfast radishes from Eckerton Hill Farm, washed, the leaves removed and set aside (the little white ‘tails’ could have been left on, but I removed them without thinking), and the roughly-chopped buds of a half dozen ramps from Berried Treasures, sprinkled with salt and pepper, sautéed in a little olive oil in another copper skillet for a few minutes, the radish leaves and the ramp leaves (cut as ribbons) added to the pan and stirred in, chopped lovage from Berried Treasures added, and more used to garnish the vegetables when they were on the plates  [I added a little white wine after sautéeing the radishes and ramp buds, and kept cooking, stirring, until the liquid had evaporated, but that step is certainly optional]
  • the wine was a French (Loire) white, Château Soucherie Cuvée Les Rangs de Longue Anjou Blanc 2014 , from Chelsea Wine Vault
  • the music was by Heinrich Ignaz Biber, the album, ‘Mensa Sonora, Sonata Representiva