We both chose the blowfish on our own, without any visual stimulus, and unanimously (Barry by responding to the photo I had sent him of the fish board that day, via Slack), but the vegetable seemed to have invited itself, once I had spotted two bunches of long beans that remained on the farmer’s table at the Greenmarket on Monday.

Today many of us think that Italians traditionally tend to overcook their vegetables, but author of the recipe on which I based my preparation of these (very un-Italian beans) has a different take:

If you ask me, people don’t overcook their vegetables often enough. The truth is, vegetables can sometimes be absolutely delicious when cooked until there isn’t a trace of crispness left. In fact, some vegetables practically require long cooking—like these long beans braised in tomatoes, which are best only after you’ve cooked them to death.

I can understand the concept, at least in this case.

• eight local blowfish tails (exactly one pound together) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company, dredged in about 2 ounces of a local Union Square Greenmarket-purchased whole wheat flour (from the Blew family of Oak Grove Mills Mills) that had been seasoned with plenty of local P.E. & D.D. Seafood Company sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, about half a teaspoon of Colman’s ground mustard seed, and a pinch or more of some home-dried darker golden habanada pepper, pan-fried in olive oil about an eighth to a quarter of an inch deep inside a very large well seasoned heavy cast iron pan, turning them over once (cooking about 2 to 2½ minutes on each side), by which time they had turned beautifully golden), drizzled with juice of an organic California lemon from Whole Foods Market, and garnished with micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• twelve ounces of purple Asian long beans (the color remains after cooking) from Lani’s Farm, washed, trimmed, cut into 4 or 5-inch lengths, placed inside a large antique high-sided copper pan/pot in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in which 2 medium cloves of ‘Chesnok Red’ garlic from Alewife Farm and a bit of dried Itria-Sirissi chili, pepperoncino di Sardegna intero from Buon Italia had first been heated over a medium flame, stirring, until the garlic had begun to color, the heat raised to high and cooked, again, stirring, until the beans had become bright purple and begun to sear, 3 to 4 minutes, seasoned with salt and pepper, then most of one can of San Marzano (Italian San Marzano, Italian San Marzano D.O.C.) tomatoes and their juices, the tomatoes themselves first crushed by hand, added to the pan, along with a third of a cup of water that had first been swished around the empty tomato can, the mix brought to a simmer and the heat lowered just enough to maintain that simmer, cooked uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans were very tender and the tomato had reduced to a thick sauce, or about 30 minutes, at which point 2 tablespoons of packed fresh peppermint leaves, also from Lani’s Farm, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil were mixed in [NOTE: this dish could also be served at room temperature, or refrigerated and rewarmed before serving.]
• the wine was a Spanish (Catalonia/Tarragona/Monsant) white, Franck Massard Herbis Verdejo 2018, from Naked Wines
• the music was a recording of two symphonies by Karl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787), Michael Alexander Willens conducting the Cologne Academy

It’s not that each is so photogenic, but that there are always multiples.

 

They’e also simply, literally, delicious.

Here the cleaned blowfish are still in the fishmonger’s tub:

Now home, on the counter, after breading:

And just after being placed in the pan of hot olive oil:

I never deep fry anything, although this recipe comes pretty close, at least for me. Even though the idea is to prepare the pan with only an eighth to a quarter inch of oil, I always regret using even that much oil to prepare any entrée.

But I have to say it works.

• twenty small blowfish tails, or a total of 18 ounces (which was less than half the size of those I cooked the last time) from Pura Vida Seafood Company, dredged in a little less than a third of a cup of a local Union Square Greenmarket-purchased whole wheat flour from The Blew family of Oak Grove Plantation in Pittstown, N.J. that had been seasoned with plenty of sea salt, fresh-ground black pepper, and about half a teaspoon of freshly-ground whole yellow mustard seed (which is very difficult to find; my jar of McCormick brand came from the 7th Avenue Westside Market), pan-fried in olive oil about an eighth to a quarter of an inch deep inside a 13 1/2″ heavy cast iron pan, turning them over once (cooking less than 2 minutes on each side), by which time they had turned golden), served with quarters of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market
• a few small Jamaican burr cucumbers from from Norwich Meadows Farm, sliced into thick disks, sautéed in olive oil until lightly browned, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, the heat turned off, the cucumbers mixed with a some chopped bronze fennel from Quarton Farm, and a large handful of tiny ‘wild’ tomatoes (‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’?) from Stokes Farm tossed in, both cucumbers and tomatoes arranged on the plates enclosed by the ring of blowfish, garnished with more bronze fennel
• a little bit of wonderful red watercress from Dave Harris’s Max Creek Hatchery
• the wine was a California (all over California) white, David Marchesi Provare California Sauvignon Blanc 2017, from Naked Wines
• the music was the album, ‘Musica Nova: Harmonie des Nations, 1500-1700’, with Jordi Savall directing his ensemble Hespèrion XXI

I had a huge variety of seafood to choose from yesterday all at this one Union Square Greenmarket stand, but I knew almost immediately which I would pick.

They are a great seasonal treat in New York, and after some initial skepticism, I’ve grown fond of them.

There’s also this: I’m still not sure why, but even after my third experience with blowfish, when I’m cooking and eating these little ‘tails’ they still evoke the fresh water panfish that I enjoyed growing up in the Midwest, especially the perch and the bluegills. And that’s a good thing.

The fish we had last night I had picked up that morning at the Greenmarket. They had been caught off the eastern end of Long Island, probably in Rhode Island waters, and it had probably been hauled in the day before.

Kitchen hint #1: there was very little or no fish smell after I had fried this fish, but after we had eaten I automatically reached into the cupboard to bring down and open the small, wide mouth container partially-filled with some plain white vinegar that I keep there, and I set it on the counter. It works wonders with even the most powerful food odors, naturally dissipating any cooking smells by morning, and sometimes within an hour or two (it’s magic, and it’s amazing more people don’t know about this nostrum) 

The asparagus however, having started out a little closer to Manhattan, in Orange County, had been waiting inside the refrigerator, for a full 7 days in fact. There it was waiting its turn while I cooking several of the other, more time-sensitive vegetables I had been collecting last week. I’m a sucker for good greens.

Kitchen hint #2: asparagus can actually keep for weeks, their stems trimmed after been brought home, then placed upright inside a vessel large enough to hold them and small enough to hold them upright, in an inch or so of tap water that had sat uncovered for 24 hours (to let the chemicals evaporate), so if you’re doing triage with an excess of good fresh vegetables on hand, it’s probably best to leave the asparagus until last.

The blowfish tails were in the large iron pan only five minutes. The somewhat unfocused images below testify to the low light above the old gas range, but I like their pinwheel symmetry, so they are here.

• eight blowfish tails (a total of exactly one pound) from American Seafood Company, dredged in about 2 ounces of a local Union Square Greenmarket-purchased whole wheat flour from the Blew family of Oak Grove Mills Mills that had been seasoned with plenty of sea salt, fresh-ground black pepper, and about half a teaspoon of Colman’s ground mustard, pan-fried in olive oil about an eighth to a quarter of an inch deep inside a very large heavy cast iron pan, turning over once (cooking about 2 to 2½ minutes on each side), by which time they had turned golden), drizzled with juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, and garnished with micro fennel from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• slices of an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone
• 18 spears of moderately thick asparagus from Kernan Farms, the tough ends snapped off, and much of the length of the stems on the wider ones peeled, rolled, along with a handful of thyme branches from Stokes Farm, a little more than a tablespoon of olive oil, a little sea salt, and a bit of freshly-ground black pepper, inside a large Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic pan and roasted at 425º for about 20 or 25 minutes, drizzled with a bit of lemon when they were arranged on the plates
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo 2016, from Garnet Wines
• the music was an album of chamber music by Gloria Coates which included ‘String Quartet No. 9’, ‘Solo Violin Sonata’, and ‘Lyric Suite, “Split the Lark – and you’ll find the Music”‘

I used to be puzzled by the people who get so excited about the arrival of blowfish in the local fish market (in the big piscivore picture, their numbers may not be large, but it always seemed like I was the only one who didn’t get it).

I get it now.

As I wrote last September, they taste at least a bit “like fried perch”, and so evoke one of the best foods I remember from the midwest where I grew up.

And then there was a (cool) salsa.

The side dish was put together mixing some oddments, a few herbs, and several vegetables, each in a quantity not sufficient to use by itself. As such it was something of a mongrel, but like most mixed breeds, it turned out to be a very good mix. And the colors made a great presentation.

• twelve blowfish tails (a total of 13 ounces) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood, dredged in about a quarter to a third of a cup of local North Country Farms Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour seasoned with plenty of sea salt and fresh-ground Tellicherry pepper, pan-fried in olive oil (in depth, about an eighth to a quarter of an inch) inside a very large heavy cast iron pan, turning over once (cooking about 2 minutes on each side, or until they had turned golden), served with wedges of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, and garnished with micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge,  [NOTE: the next time I make this dish I may try adding some ground mustard seed to the flour, since it had been such a great addition to this monkfish preparation]
• a bright and refreshing salsa composed of yellow tomatillo from from Oak Grove Plantation, sliced several times horizontally, one green heirloom, chopped roughly, and 6 miniature orange plum-shaped tomatoes, halved, both the heirloom and ‘cherry’ fruits from Eckerton Hill Farm, several chopped stems of a young fennel bulb – and some of the chopped fronds – from Alewife Farm, 3 small chopped spring shallots, also from Alewife Farm, chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm, a little olive oil, sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, lemon juice, a big pinch of dried fenugreek that I had obtained Nirmala Gupta’s ‘Bombay Emerald Chutney Company‘ at Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street, the mix arranged on the plates and garnished with nasturtium blossoms from Windfall Farms
• the wine was an American (New Mexico) sparkling, Gruet Brut
• the music was the last act of Handel’s 1724 opera (the 1731 version),’Tamerlano’, Riccardo Minasi conducting Il Pomo d’Oro, with Xavier Sabata in the title role (we had listened to only the first two acts during a meal last week)

For some reason I can no longer remember, I had persuaded myself long ago that I had no interest in blowfish. In any event, after last night’s meal, that’s changed.

I had seen recently on Twitter that these little guys were back in town (thanks to our hard-working Long Island fishermen and the Union Square Greenmarket). Thinking it was probably timer to give them another chance, I looked for a simple recipe.

I found it, and I think it would probably be a mistake to stray far from its austerity, the fish itself is so tasty.

Blowfish is a bit like fried perch, and, since I grew up in the midwest, I’ve had a lot of fried perch (even caught some), and I also miss it a lot. The texture is like perch as well, especially when lightly batter-fried. Where it differs most from [Perca flavescens] is in its reputation for danger (undeserved, at least as respects fish caught in our waters). There’s also the popular enthusiasm about consuming it as finger food, probably because of their size and shape, and the absence of any substantive bone but the spine (we passed on the finger thing).

We used forks and fish knives (less messy, and for a leisurely pace much more suitable for enjoying the wine).

• 12 blowfish tails from Blue Moon Fish Company, dredged in seasoned coarse stone-ground flour, pan-fried in olive oil (about an eighth to a quarter inches in depth) inside a very large cast iron pan, turning once, for about 2 minutes to each side (or until golden), served with lemon wedges

• 2 Sicilian (heirloom) eggplants, from Phillips Farm, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds, brushed with olive oil, pan-grilled, turning 3 times, removed to a platter, brushed with a mixture of olive oil, finely-chopped garlic from Berried Treasures, chopped marjoram from Stokes Farm, lemon zest, and pepper, drizzled with a little olive oil and kept at room temperature, for a short while while the fish was fried.
• slices of an ‘olive demi baguette’ from Hot Bread Kitchen in the Greenmarket

• two small ripe red heirloom tomatoes from Lani’s Farm, sliced, mixed with a very good Campania olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper, and torn New York City basil from Gotham Greens via Whole Foods, served in bowls on the side of the entrée.

There was a small cheese course, and it gave me the opportunity to pull out my other favorite toaster, the trusty ‘Camp-A-Toaster‘, to get maximum crustiness from some odd slices of bread.

• small bits of Consider Bardwell ‘Barden’ blue cow cheese, via the Greenmarket, and ‘Bergflichte’ a washed rind cow cheese from Thurgau, northern Switzerland, via Eataly
• micro scallion from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• toasts from a 3-day-old loaf of Bien Cuit baguette from Foragers Market

 

• The wine was a California (grapes from the Sacramento River Delta with a small amount of Viognier from Lodi) white, Miriam Alexandra Chenin Blanc California 2015
• the music was Q2 Music, streaming, including Jörg Widmann’s violin concerto, and Eight Etudes and a Fantasy by Elliott Carter