• one 16-ounce Atlantic dolphin (‘coryphaena/dolphinfish‘) fillet, with skin, from Pure Vida Seafood, washed, dried, halved crosswise, rubbed with olive oil on both sides, coated with a mix of one half tablespoon of zest from a Whole Foods Market organic lemon, an equal amount of lemon juice, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, then allowed to sit for about half an hour, removed and the marinade wiped off, pan grilled over a medium to high flame, skin side up, for almost 2 1/2 minutes, turned, and grilled with the flesh side up for almost 4 1/2 minutes longer, the fillets arranged on 2 plates, drizzled with a little more lemon juice, scattered with micro chervil from Two Guys from Woodbridge, a bit of olive oil poured over the top [NOTE: there were no grill marks, unlike the last time I had used this simple recipe, which could mean any of several things: I hadn’t removed enough of the marinade before grilling, they sections were too crowded, and/or the flame was’t high enough]
• 4 ‘mountain magic’ cherry tomatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved, warmed in a little olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with a little fresh oregano from Keith’s Farm
• one small-to-medium head of Treviso radicchio from Tamarack Hollow Farm, washed, the water drained and wiped off, cut lengthwise into four sections, arranged one cut side up on a medium Pampered Chef unglazed ceramic oven pan (after securing the leaves with toothpicks), covered with lots of thyme branches from S. & S.O. Farm, seasoned generously with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, drizzled with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, baked in a pre-heated 400º oven for 10 minutes or so, turned to the other cut side and returned to the oven for around 8 minutes, then turned uncut side up and baked for about 2 minutes more, arranged on the plates, drizzled with a very small amount of balsamic vinegar
• the wine was an Italian (Molise) white, L’Indovino Bianco, Salvatore 2015, from Astor Wines
• the music was André Campra’s 1702  tragédie en musique, ‘Tancrède’, performed by Les Temps Présents, conducted by Olivier Schneebeli

Dolphin.

I love this fish, for its beauty almost as much as its tastiness. This time I was able to see, and photograph, a little bit of the former while it stay lay in the fish monger’s bucket in the Union Square Greenmarket.

• one fairly thick Atlantic dolphin fillet (17 ounces) – with skin! – from Pure Vida Seafood, washed, dried, halved crosswise, rubbed with olive oil on both sides, coated with a mix of one half tablespoon of organic lemon zest from Whole Foods Market, an equal amount of lemon juice, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, then allowed to sit for about half an hour (at first inside the refrigerator, but removed early enough to come to room temperature) while the accompanying vegetable, a corn-husk cherry-tomato-salsa, was assembled, then pan grilled over a medium to high flame, skin side up, for almost 2 1/2 minutes, turned, and grilled with the flesh side up for almost 4 1/2 minutes longer, the fillets arranged on 2 plates, drizzled with a little more lemon juice, scattered with fennel blossom buds, a bit of olive oil poured over the top
• two ears of organic white sweet corn (‘Sugarbuns’) from Alewife Farm, husked, coated with olive oil, rubbed with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, pan-grilled, the kernels cut from the cobs and mixed inside a bowl with a couple handfuls of husked ground cherries from Tamarack Hollow Farm; one red heirloom tomato from Berried Treasures; 2 small Japanese scallions from Norwich Meadows Farm, sliced; part of a fresh medium hot Calabrian cherry pepper from Alewife Farm; 2 tablespoons of torn basil from a living Stokes Farm plant, tossed with a vinaigrette made with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of half of a small organic Whole Foods Market lemon, the zest from that half lemon, salt and pepper, and, finally, a bit of fenugreek powder from Nirmala Gupta’s ‘Bombay Emerald Chutney Company‘ at Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market on 23rd Street

Most of the vegetables and the one fresh herb are lined up below.

• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, Terredora Falanghina 2016, from Garnet Wines & Liquors
• the music was Beethoven, Piano Concertos Nos. 1and 2, Bruno Weil directing the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra from the fortepiano

It’s a wonderful fish; they all are, at least those we’ve figured out make good eating (but, yes, all of the others are wonderful as well).

I had served dolphin 4 times before; each time the fish seemed more delicious than before, and so it was last Wednesday (August 16).

I love cucumbers in any form. This time they were sautéed.

Just about halfway through the meal, there was some unplanned excitement: a stack of 2 large mixing bowls and a sugar bowl came crashing down from the top of the refrigerator. But Barry was saved!  He had been standing directly at the site, fetching cold water, and so he incurred a few minor bruises and cuts on his lower limbs.

After we dressed his wounds, we both recovered and finished a really good meal, waiting until afterwards to clean up the mess.

But dinner really was good.

• two fillets of local dolphinfish, or orata, or dorade [it appears on this list of local ‘exotics’ with the Hawaiian name, ‘Mahi-Mahi’], about 15 ounces altogether, from Blue Moon Fish, dry-marinated for 30 minutes or so with more than half a tablespoon of zest from an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, an equal amount of chopped thyme leaves from Stokes Farm, sea salt, and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, seared inside a hot heavy, oval copper fish pan for about 3 minutes, skin side up, then turned over, the second side seared for about the same length of time, the heat lowered and the pan loosely covered for a very few minutes with aluminum foil, which was then removed and some thin-ish slices of very small French Leeks from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm and a bit of dried golden-orange habanada pepper were introduced and very briefly sautéed along with the fish before it was removed along with the alliums and the pepper onto 2 plates, the now richly-savory pan juices poured over the top of the fish, a sliced small orange-red heirloom tomato from Norwich Meadows Farm placed as a garnish on each side of each of the fillets
• white-fleshed ‘Boothby’ cucumbers from Willow Wisp Farm, cut lengthwise, sautéed inside a large seasoned heavy cast iron pan with a little olive oil, over a medium-high flame, turning the cucumbers twice and adding one sliced small spring red onion from N.J. Jersey Farm Produce, Inc., in the 23rd Street Saturday Greenmarket, near the end, sprinkling the cucumbers with sea salt each time they were turned, removed once the cucumbers had begun to carbonize on each side successively, a pinch of fenugreek added just before they were placed on the plates, where they were sprinkled with lovage from Keith’s Farm
• the wine was a California (Lodi) white, David Akiyoshi Reserve Chardonnay 2015, from Naked Wines
• the music was from the same album enjoyed the night before, the Deutsche Grammophon/DGG album, ‘haydn, “sturm” und “drang”, paris & london symphonies’, the works performed by the  Orchestra Of The Age Of the Enlightenment, and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Frans Brüggen conducting both; this time the works were Haydn’s Symphonies No. 49, 50, and 43

This fish doesn’t get much respect. This has been true even after some people decided it would go over better if it were called ‘mahi -mahi,’ rather than the traditional, ‘dolphin’, or ‘dolphinfish’, important in both western cuisine and art for 4 millennia (long before Hawaii turned up). I came close to exhausting the topic, once before, at least as it relates to home food preparation. I posited what appears to be one of the reasons for its lack of popularity. I’m not willing to go into that again now, other than to point out that I’m talking about the water-breathing fish, and not the air-breathing mammal.

My own experience with it in the kitchen is that I liked it the very first time I had it, and I’ve liked it even more each time I’ve been able to bring it home.

The dolphin we had Wednesday evening was the best yet.

Some very special fresh onions played supporting roles in the preparation of both the fish

..and the vegetable.

• one dolphin fillet, about 13 ounces, from Blue Moon Seafood, halved lengthwise, dry-marinated with more than half a tablespoon of organic lemon zest, an equal amount of chopped thyme leaves from Stokes Farm, salt, and pepper, set aside for 30 minutes or so, divided lengthwise into 2 pieces, and seared inside a hot heavy, oval copper fish pan for about 3 minutes, former skin side up, turned over, and that side seared for the same length of time, the heat lowered and the pan loosely covered for a very few minutes with aluminum foil just before some thin-ish slices of very small French Leeks from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm and one small red pearl onion from Paffenroth Farms, sliced, were introduced and briefly sautéed along with the fish before the fish was removed and put onto plates, after which a bit of leftover black olive tapenade (Gaeta olives, brined wild capers, one salted anchovy, all from Buon Italia, some chopped fresh thyme from Stokes Farm) after it had first been mixed with a tiny amount of Rioja wine vinegar, was added to the pan and stirred, the now richly-savory pan juices poured over the top of the fish
• four small green and yellow summer squash from Berried Treasures Farm, sliced into thick disks and sautéed with 2 garlic cloves from Norwich Meadows farm, halved, until they had begun to caramelize, while halfway through their cooking 2 fresh ‘green onions’ from Berried Treasures, sliced fairly thinly, were added, and a little later, parts of one ‘cherry bomb’ (or ‘red bomb’) pepper from Norwich Meadows Farm, and everything continued to cook until both squash and onions had begun to caramelize, the pan removed from the flame and fresh chopped fennel fronds from Willow Wisp Farm were mixed into the vegetables (I had intended to sprinkle the beautiful fennel flowers themselves on the top once the vegetables had been served, but became distracted by the process with the dolphin and totally forgot to do so)
• one yellow-orange heirloom tomato from Down Home Acres and 4 of ‘the best cherry tomatoes’ from Stokes Farm, sliced, tossed together, dressed with a good Campania olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, some chopped lovage from Keith’s Farm, and served in low bowls on the side
• the wine was an Italian (Campania) white, Falanghina Feudi di San Gregorio 2014
• the music was Mozart’s Symphonies Nos. 32, 35, and 36, performed by John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists

When I saw ‘Mahi-mahi‘ posted on the board of Paul’s stand in the Greenmarket I immediately knew what we were going to have for dinner.  When it came to my turn in line, I stepped right up and asked for ‘Dolphin’.  Paul registered a little mock horror, since there were probably people within earshot of my voice, and even today many associate the word, ‘dolphin’ with Flipper.

I had already come to appreciate the flavor of this fish, and last night it was pretty extraordinary, with flavors and textures far more complex than I had reason to expect, and yet still retaining the character of the fish itself.  To the skeptical:  No, all white-flesh fish do not taste the same.

Also, and not at all incidentally, the Greenmarket vegetables were totally up to the challenge of accompanying a good fish.

 

 

• one Dolphin fillet, about 13 ounces, from Pura Vida Fisheries, dry-marinated with more than half a tablespoon of organic lemon zest, an equal amount of chopped thyme leaves from Bodhitree Farm, salt, and pepper, set aside for 20 minutes or so, after which it was seared in a hot copper fish pan for about 3 minutes, skin side up, then turned over and that side seared for the same length of time, the heat lowered and the pan loosely covered for a very few minutes with aluminum foil, during which time some thin-ish slices of stems one stem of a young red onion from Bodhitree Farm were introduced and briefly sautéed with the fish before it itself was divided into 2 pieces, removed and put onto plates, alliums and pan juices poured over the top
• small organic Butterball potatoes from Norwich Meadows Farm boiled in salted water until just tender, drained, halved, dried in the pan, rolled in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, some chopped lovage added before they were served (I added more after taking the picture above)
• small ‘Royal Snow Peas’ from Alewife Farm, the stems removed, sautéed in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, sprinkled with chopped summer savory from Stokes Farm
• the wine was an Oregon (Willamette) white, Montinore Estate Pinot Gris 2015
• the music was Q2 Music, streaming