Triggerfish

Walking Fish has been delivering a great variety of seafood this fall. I've received flounder, spot, shrimp, clams and triggerfish all in the past month.


Triggerfish live throughout the Atlantic and can grow to 13 pounds. They are a tall, narrow fish that hides from predators by fitting into thin crevices.

Triggerfish deliveries are especially exciting, not just for me but for the guy standing behind me in the pickup line last week as well.

"This is the reason I buy Walking Fish shares," he said, admiring the bags of firm, white fillets.

"How do you cook it?" I asked.

"Grilled or broiled, no seasoning. This fish has a rich, buttery flavor that stands on its own."

Inspired by his simplicity, I pan-seared the fillets in olive oil, adding only salt and lemon. Triggerfish have flesh similar to grouper, so they keep their shape as you cook them, even at high temperatures. I seared each side on high heat for 2-3 minutes.

The guy waiting in line behind me was right. This fish needs little to no seasoning. We ate it alongside fresh pepperonata, potatoes and salad.

The green plate was a bad choice.

Pepperonata is a great option this time of year, because nearly all the ingredients are available locally. There are hundreds of ways to prepare it, but this recipe is both substantial and unique because it includes potatoes. This preparation was largely influenced by the recipe in Toni Lydecker's Seafood Alla Siciliana. 

Pepperonata with Potatoes

Serves 4

4 tbs olive oil

4 cloves garlic, diced

1 small onion, chopped

5-6 small sweet bell peppers (or 2-3 large ones), cut into strips or squares

1 pound potatoes (preferably small and red-skinned), cubed

2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped**

crushed red pepper, to taste

salt, to taste

**To peel tomatoes, cut out the core, then immerse them in boiling water for about 30 seconds. As soon as the skin starts to separate, plunge them into a bowl of ice water, then peel them. 

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the garlic.

2. When the garlic is fragrant but not brown (30-60 seconds)

3. Add the anchovies and stir them until they dissolve into the oil.

4. Add the peppers, crushed red pepper (optional), potatoes, tomatoes, salt (Lydecker recommends 1/2 tsp), and 1/2 cup water. 

5. Stir, cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Check the pan regularly and add extra water, if necessary. This side can be served warm or at room temperature. 

Vodka Sauce - a Variation

One way to quickly judge an Italian restaurant's menu is to scan the number of different sauces it pairs with pasta. All too often restaurants will serve a dozen different pasta shapes "tossed in a cream sauce." It's hard to screw up a cream sauce, since large doses of dairy (like heavy cream) can mask even the most horrendous sauces. When I see a menu full of cream sauces, I immediately lower my expectations.

That does not, however, mean that all cream sauces are garbage.

One way to build great flavor into a cream sauce is to add liquor, let the alcohol cook away, then add the cream. This will give you a base of flavors in the sauce that the cream won't overwhelm.

A great example is the brandy cream sauce at Bocci. Its bold flavor includes, but isn't limited to, the cream that thickens it. Plus, it's great with seafood. Bocci's former (Sicilian) chef, Michelle Rizzo, used to offer a dish called "crepes alla Michelle," featuring shrimp and scallops in the brandy cream sauce, served over an egg crepe instead of pasta. It was my favorite meal on the menu.

One of Shefali's favorite sauces is the more traditional vodka sauce. Often served at restaurants with sausage and penne, the vodka, black pepper, and crushed red pepper makes it spicier than most cream sauces. We make it at home regularly and experiment with different ways to serve it.

I've found that crab meat works especially well with vodka sauce. It's a lighter protein source than sausage, which works well because it offsets the heavy cream, and the sweetness of the crab meat compliments the acidity from the tomatoes. In honor of chef Rizzo, we eat it over eggs.

Vodka Sauce with Crab Over Crepes

Serves 4

1 pound (or more) lump crab meat, cooked
4 tbs olive oil

5 cloves garlic, diced

1+ tsp crushed red pepper

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes or 2 cups Christopher Sauce  or 2 pounds fresh tomatoes, cored, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup vodka

1 cup cream

1/2 tsp black pepper

12 fresh basil leaves, chopped or 1 tsp dried basil

salt

1. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan, then add the garlic. 

2. As the garlic begins to brown, add the crushed red pepper and let cook for 30 seconds.

3. Add the tomatoes or Christopher Sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add salt to taste.

4. Add the vodka, stir, and let simmer for another 5 minutes.

5. Add the cream, black pepper and basil. Stir and simmer for 5 more minutes.

6. Transfer the sauce to a blender or food processor and mix until it becomes a rough puree.

7. Return it to the pan, add the crab, simmer for a couple more minutes and serve.

Egg Crepes

8 eggs

1/4 cup milk or cream

2 tbs olive oil or butter

salt

1. Beat eggs together with milk and salt.

2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet, then add 1/4 of the egg batter.

3. Let the batter set. Run a spatula underneath it to keep it from sticking. Flip the egg once, let it cook through, then slide out of the pan.

4. Roll the crepe on a plate and top with the sauce.

5. Repeat.

Meals of the month - September 2011

Each month, Shefali and I stumble upon some fantastic meals. Some of them are out around town, and others we make at home by following someone else's recipe. Here are September's highlights:

- Spaghetti and meatballs, family-style. A group of our friends takes turns hosting dinners each month. Our turn came up in September, so I simmered a pot of Christopher Sauce overnight, rolled meatballs the following morning and threw them in the pot to cook all day. The meatball recipe, to my knowledge, has never been written down. Someday I'll take the time to measure the ingredients and post it. 

- Fresh shrimp from Walking Fish. It's going to be hard to cook with frozen bags of shrimp now that I've eaten the real thing. We received three pounds of them, and grilled them all, tossing the first batch in salmorilgio sauce, topping the second in buffalo sauce and eating them in a sandwich with pea shoots and ranch dressing, and throwing the batch in a seafood risotto.

- Crab Cakes and Fava Bean Salad at Vita: I don't often order crab cakes, but Vita was offering it as a special. They were the best I've had since moving to NC. Vita's one of our favorite restaurants right now. The menu isn't extensive, but what they do (fresh pasta, bread, brunch), they do well. Plus, they do it for a student-friendly price, as entrees start at just $9.

- The "Sicilian Cash Cow" - Francois Xavier's blog hasn't been updated in a couple years, but the multilingual Swiss has a passion for Sicilian food. The "cash cow" is his version of a popular Sicilian dish from a favorite Italian restaurant in Geneva. As the weather cools off, baked pasta becomes relevant again. This one makes great use of fall veggies like eggplant and sweet bell peppers.

- The Durham Farmer's Market Chef Challenge. This celebration of okra was phenomenal. read about it here.