Scott's First Catch (Striped Bass en Papillote)

Tom sees my line tension and yells "you've got Moby Dick on your line!" It was totally awesome. Thanks Tom for teaching me. I'm hooked.

Sea Bass en Papillote
an epicurious.com recipe
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4, 6 oz fillets striped bass* (½ to 1¼ inches thick), with skin
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
8 thin lemon slices (less than ¾ inch thick; from 1 large lemon)
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1½ Tbsp drained bottled capers

* black sea bass may be substituted

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil, then drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil.

Pat fish dry and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Arrange fillets, skin sides down, in 1 layer in center of foil on baking sheet and slide 2 lemon slices under each fillet. Arrange 2 thyme sprigs on top of each fillet.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté garlic, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are softened, about 1 minute. Stir in capers.

Spoon hot tomato mixture over fish, then cover with another sheet of foil, tenting it slightly over fish, and crimp edges together tightly to seal.

Bake until fish is just cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes (depending on thickness of fish); check by removing from oven and carefully lifting up a corner of top sheet of foil, pulling up sides of bottom sheet to keep liquid from running out. If fish is not cooked through, reseal foil and continue to bake, checking every 3 minutes.

Transfer fillets with lemon slices to plates using a spatula (be careful not to tear foil underneath) and spoon tomatoes and juices over top. Serve immediately, discarding thyme before eating.

Butter-Crumb Cod Casserole

Looking for another way to cook a flaky white fish? This Casserole is easy and brings in flavors that make it more that just another breadcrumb fish recipe. We used saltines & panko crumbs, because that's what we had on-hand, and it was very nice. I can see that Ritz would be good (though we're not allowed to have them in the house because they're evil).

1 1/4 cup coarsely crushed cracker crumbs (Ritz or Town House provide the best flavor)
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped green (bell) pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped green or mild onion
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sliced black olives
3 or more drops Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 pound fresh or frozen cod cut into 1 inch cubes


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, adding fish last.

Mix well. Turn into 1 1/2 quart buttered baking dish. Bake 20-30 minutes, or until fish flakes easily and crumbs are golden brown. Can be served with lemon wedges.

Carrot Som Tam (Thai Spicy Carrot Salad)

1 T Raw unsalted peanuts

1/4 c Fresh lime juice

2 T Nam pla (fish sauce)

1 t Light brown sugar

1 lg Clove garlic, peeled

2 Bird or other fresh hot chiles, seeded and finely chopped

1 t Dried shrimp powder (opt)

2 Ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped

4 c Grated carrots

1 Head leaf lettuce, washed dried & torn into approx 2″ pieces

1/2 sm Head green cabbage, cut into thin wedges

Som Tam usually has shredded papaya, and I'm sure it would be awesome that way. Here's a carrot variant that soaks up all those early farm-share carrots and has just the right SomTam taste.

Heat a small heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add peanuts

and dry roast, stirring constantly, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from the skillet, cool slightly and chop. Combine lime

juice, nam pla and brown sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar.

Place the peanuts in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

With the processor blade spinning, add garlic, chiles and dried

shrimp powder, if using. Add the lime-juice mixture and process

until smooth. Transfer the dressing to a bowl; add tomatoes and

a handful of the carrots. Use a large flat spoon to press and

mash the tomatoes and carrots into the dressing. Gradually add

the remaining carrots until the salad is fully blended. (The

salad can be prepared ahead to this point and stored, covered, in

the refrigerator for up to 1 day.) Line a platter with lettuce,

place cabbage wedges around the edge, mound the carrot salad in

the center and serve. 68 calories per serving: 2 g protein, 1 g

fat, 14 g carbohydrate; 265 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol. From

Eating Well Magazine, Apr '95.

Sesame Kale Salad

For more info on Kale (Hint: It's healthy)

1 pound fresh kale (chard, spinach or other greens)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (crush to a powder)
1 clove garlic minced
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
black and red pepper to taste

Seperate kale leaves from stems. chop stems and greens into small pieces. Steam the stems (I have even used just a little water in the bottom of a pot and thrown everything in if you don't have a steamer) a couple of minutes and then add the greens and steam until just tender. let it cool. Squeeze out as much water as possible. Mix the dressing ingredients together and put in fridge until you're ready to toss with dressing and serve. I have done it cold only but you could serve it warm, too.

Recipe originally from this book: http://www.localharvest.org/asparagus-to-zucchini-a-guide-to-farm-fresh-C270