It’s all about too much of anything, and in this case, something that doesn’t come cheap, but it’s hard to do portion control when the fish don’t cooperate. I’m not sure about sea bass, but many fish species run in schools.  This time the class was all of a size where 4 fillets were an overly generous portion, but 2 would have been inadequate (I have to bring home an even number), at least without the support of another course or another vegetable. I had time for neither last night.

Since they shrink a bit after they’re cooked, and the size of my vegetable was modest, I don’t think we looked like we were being unreasonably overindulgent once the fillets were on the plates.

Also, they were so good, I had no regrets I that I hadn’t skimped.

The bass just out of the oven.

The radicchio in the pot.

The bread on the cutting board.

• four Black Sea Bass fillets from Pura Vida Seafood, totaling about 19 ounces, placed skin side down inside an enameled cast iron baking pan in which a teaspoon or so of olive oil had been poured, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with a mix of parsley and lovage from Keith’s Farm, sage from Phillips Farm, thyme from Stokes Farm, and a bit of a home-dried heatless, orange/gold Habanada pepper (purchased fresh from Norwich Meadows Farm last fall), the fish topped with a coating of homemade bread crumbs and drizzled with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, placed inside a 425º oven for 8 or 10 minutes, finished on 2 plates with a squeeze of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market and a light drizzle of olive oil
• one medium head of radicchio from Norwich Meadows Farm, sliced broadly, sautéed until barely wilted inside a large, high-sided tin-lined copper pot with a little olive oil in which one medium Rocambole garlic clove from Keith’s Farm and 2 thin sliced French leeks from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm had already been heated until they had softened, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, arranged on the plates and drizzled with a little olive oil
• slices of a terrific ciabatta, made with stone-ground organic unbleached wheat flower, organic corn flower, whole organic oats, salt, yeast, fromfrom Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse at the Union Square Greenmarket
• the wine was a California (Clarksburg) white, Richard Bruno Clarksburg Chenin Blanc 2016, from Naked Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Thrive on Routine‘, with performances by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, including John Luther Adams’ stunning, single-movement piece, ‘In a Treeless Place, Only Snow’