‘gilded’ hake, marjoram, micro scallion; sautéed vegetables

hake_fennel_cucumber_turnip

The picture looks great, but it doesn’t tell everything.

The ingredients, and the recipes too, were excellent, but I’ll be honest: I made two blunders in the cooking process, although neither was much of a disaster, even a culinary disaster.

The hake fillet was pretty thick, thicker than those I normally have, and I underestimated the time it would require to cook. I had separated it into 2 pieces after I thought it was done, and they were already on the plates before I realized I was premature, so I quickly flipped off the garnish and returned them to the pan for another minute or so, replacing the micro scallions when they were returned.

The vegetables were also less than perfectly cooked, since I had let the chopped turnip, sautéed ahead of the others, get too carbonized, somewhat compromising enjoyment of the larger mix. The solution would be to simply pick out the more charred pieces, and it almost worked.

  • one 13-ounce hake fillet from Pura Vida Fisheries, dredged in seasoned flour and dipped in a beaten egg from Millport Dairy, sautéed in butter along with a handful of marjoram leaves from Stokes Farm, drizzled with lemon juice and the pan juices that remained, sprinkled with some beautiful micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge
  • ten or so small purple Hinona Kabu turnips from Tamarack Hollow Farm, scrubbed, cut into small pieces, sautéed in olive oil inside a large enameled cast iron pan, followed by segments of a small fennel bulb, and cut some stems, from Stokes Farm, segments of a Chinese cucumber from Norwich Meadows Farm, and part of a small red Calabrian pepper, finely chopped, from Campo Rosso Farm, all cooked until beginning to caramelize, then seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with chopped parsley from Keith’s Farm and chopped fennel frond, arranged on plates and drizzled with olive oil
  • the wine was a Spanish (Rueda) white, Naia D.O. Rueda 2014, from Verdejo old vines
  • the music was Q2 Music, streaming