spicy grilled salmon, lovage; sautéed cucumbers; cheeses

salmon_cucumbers

four_cheeses_bosc_pear

I had planned on serving a pasta Friday night, because the Union Square Greenmarket being closed the day after Thanksgiving, there would be no fresh local fish. Then I remembered that, although it was hardly local, there was always wild-caught salmon available less than a block from our door.

I opted for the Sockeye; there will always be pasta.

  • one 14-ounce wild sockeye salmon fillet from Whole Foods, coated on both sides with a mix of light brown turbinado sugar, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, freshly ground allspice, freshly ground nutmeg, and the zest of half of an organic lemon from Whole Foods, allowed to marinate in the refrigerator in a covered dish for about 3 hours, the fish then rinsed, patted dry, brought to room temperature, oiled generously, and cooked on an enameled grill pan, flesh side down, removed when the inside was not quite pink, the outside crisp and smoky, divided onto 2 plates, drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled with lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge, served with lemon wedges [the recipe is little altered from this one from Melissa Clark]
  • two small Japanese scallions, sliced, and one heatless fresh habanada pepper, chopped finely, both from Norwich Meadows Farm, heated in olive oil inside a large cast iron pan until softened, then several small Korean cucumbers from Lani’s Farm, chopped into one-inch bits, added and sautéed until beginning to brown, seasoned with salt and pepper

There was a cheese course, this time with fruit rather than toasts

  • the cheeses were, from left to right in the picture, ‘Bigelow’, a goat cheese from Ardith Mae; Consider Bardwell Farm’s ‘Reconsider’, which is a one-time event: a cow cheese finished in their ‘Manchester’ goat cheese cave; Consider Bardwell Farm’s ‘Dorset’ cow cheese; and an organic gorgonzola, casarrigoni from Whole Foods