All the fishes in the sea.

The Friday Fish Special

This is the Friday special. 

No, this isn’t another pandemic case of “wait, I thought it was Tuesday. Do I really not know what day it is?”  though it’s possible that’s true as well.  This is the Friday special because one of the features of having grown up in the industrial Midwest is that nearly every restaurant had a Friday fish special – no matter the time of year. Of course, in the spring, as a large number of our neighbors changed their eating habits for Lent, that grew to pretty much every restaurant – even if fish wasn’t always their thing.

That’s why this is the Friday special.  Fish isn’t my thing. I enjoy seafood, but it’s not entirely in my comfort zone when it comes to cooking. I’ll take on almost any vegetable or land animal, but fish? It can be fussy, hard to source, fragile, and to be completely honest, while I love almost all shellfish, there’s some fin fish I just don’t enjoy – unless it’s battered, fried, served with chips and a proper pint.  Then I’m all in.

I actually did consider making fish and chips for this week’s menu. I didn’t.  It may still turn up in the near future – probably with a long screed about how that dish is best enjoyed while watching the rugby, and an impassioned argument about why you should watch too – but that’s not this week. Instead of a visit to the pub, this week’s menu features two favorites building on Mediterranean traditions.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

German Village Baguette

Good bread is … good.  Good bread is almost a necessity for two of the other dishes you’ll find in this newsletter.  If you’re lucky enough to have a great bakery, a crusty baguette or bâtard will do wonders. There are a couple of great bakeries in our area, but none within walking distance (and I don’t drive.)  So, if like me, you’re not so lucky, this recipe is a way to turn out a perfectly serviceable baguette at home. 

This is probably the most involved bread recipe I’ve posted with this newsletter. It’s more complex and requires more time than a lot of the more homestyle breads I’ve posted, but there are a couple things to keep in mind.  One, most of the time and effort in baking is in the waiting.  As long as you plan ahead a little, the time you’ll actually spend working on it is minimal.  Two, and this is the most important thing.  Even ugly mishappen fresh homemade bread tastes great.  Seriously.  It doesn’t have to look like your friend’s neighbor’s college roommate’s Instagram influencer’s perfectly lit loaf to do a great job of soaking up the sauce.  Have at it.  If you’re struggling, google and YouTube and probably friend’s neighbor’s college roommate’s Instagram influencer have tips and tricks that will help.

475 g Bread Flour
300 g filtered water
100 g 100% hydration sourdough starter
-or-
50 g water, 47 g bread flour, and 3 g yeast
11 g kosher salt

If using yeast, mix 50 g water, 47 g bread flour, and 3g yeast in a bowl.  Allow to rest for ten minutes.  Call this your starter.  Proceed as below.

Measure out 50 g of starter.

Add 300 g water to the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Add 50 g starter to the water and stir to dissolve.

Add 300 g of the bread flour to the water and mix on low speed until completely combined.

Transfer to a covered container and allow to ferment at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.

The next day, probably, unless you’re up all night baking like some people I know who are definitely not. No really.

Transfer the dough to the bowl of the mixer.

Add the remaining 175 g flour and 11 g of salt.

Process with a dough hook until a smooth dough has formed.

Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size – about 2 – 2 ½ hours.

Removed from the container and stretch into a large rectangle.

Letter fold into thirds.

Repeat until you can no longer stretch the dough without tearing – usually 2-3 turns.

Return to covered container and rest for 30 minutes.

Repeat the stretching and resting 2 more times for a total of ~90 minutes – plus whatever time it takes you to stretch the dough.

After the last stretch and fold, allow to rest for 10 minutes on the counter.

Divide into 3 even pieces.

Shape into baguettes (see instructions here)

Preheat your oven to 425°F.

Allow to proof supported by a basket, a couche, or a well-floured towel for 35-40 minutes or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves a mark but still bounces back a little.

Sprinkle or spray your loaves with water.

Holding a knife or a bread lame at a 30° angle, slash 3-5 cuts into the loaves – at the center and just barely off the centerline of the loaf.

Bake at 425°F for 40 minutes or until dark and crusty.

Squid Salad

I could have come up with a more elegant name. I could have pasted a fancy moniker on this that would make it seem like the headline in a glossy food magazine.  It’s a salad. It’s made out of squid. Squid salad.

This dish borrows from a lot of eastern Mediterranean traditions, but it doesn’t belong to one, or any. The snappy, sometimes slightly chewy texture of the fish is balanced by a little spice, a lot of lemon, and touch of herb – and while the fish is delicious, possibly the best part of the whole dish is the mixture of juices and dressing at the bottom of the plate.  It’s the perfect dipping sauce for good crusty bread, like the one above, so have at it.

1 lb. squid mantle and tentacles
4 cloves garlic
1 medium lemon
½ cup assorted cherry tomatoes
¼ cup kalamata or other similar olives
¼ cup loosely packed parsley leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flake
1 tsp kosher salt
Additional salt and black pepper to taste

Peel, trim, and mince the garlic.

Mince the parsley leaves.

Slice the olives into small rounds.

Quarter the tomatoes.

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon and cut into long julienne slices.

Juice the lemon and strain the juice into a non-reactive bowl.

Add the tomatoes, olives, minced garlic, pepper flake, parsley, salt and olive oil.

Set the dressing aside to meld while you cook the fish.

Clean the squid, discarding the pen (if included) and cutting the mantle (the tube or body) into ¼ inch rings.

Rinse the squid in cold water.

Bring ~4 cups of heavily salted water to a boil.

Place the squid in a heat proof bowl and pour the hot water over the squid.

Allow to cook slowly for ~5 minutes. 

Remove the squid and shock it in ice water to halt the cooking.

Drain the squid.

Toss with the dressing mixture and refrigerate at least two hours before serving.

Don’t Call it That Fish Stew

This recipe isn’t really a recipe as much as a rough plan with a good start.  It’s also not bouillabaisse.

The instructions below produce a rich, layered seafood broth.  You can choose to dress it up with fish, mussels, clams, lobster, shrimp, crab, squid, or just about any fish of shellfish you want – or really even just enjoy the soup on its own.

You’ll notice that all of the fish here is listed optional.  That’s because you can make this with pretty much any combination of fish that you’d like – though you should avoid salmonids like trout and artic char and …well, salmon as their flavor may overwhelm some this stew’s subtle flavors.  Kate went out in search of clams or mussels in the neighborhood, but struck out.  She did bring back some lovely small lobster tails.  I had shrimp, scallops, and halibut in the freezer – and leftover squid from the salad recipe.  That’s what ended up in our bowls.  You can make yours however you like.

6 cups seafood stock or a mixture of water and stock
2 cups loosely packed shrimp, lobster, or crayfish shells
12 peeled shrimp, tail on or 1 cup lobster or crayfish meat (opt)
Assorted fish and shellfish (optional see note)
1 bulb fennel
1 medium carrot
1 medium onion
1 medium shallot
4 tbsp tomato paste
½ cup red wine
2 sprigs thyme
2 dried or one fresh bay leaf
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
4 saffron threads

Remove the fronds and green stems from the fennel, reserving the fronds for garnish.

Coarsely chop the fennel bulb.

Peel, trim, and coarsely chop the onion.

Clean, trim and coarsely chop the carrot.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to the bottom of a thick bottomed pan or Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add the shrimp, lobster, or crayfish shells.

Add the onion, fennel, and carrot and cook until the fennel and onion are translucent and just beginning to brown.

Add the tomato paste, mix and cook until a dark – but not burnt – fond (the stuck to the pan delicious browned bits) of tomato has formed on the bottom of the pan.

Deglaze with the white wine, scrapping the bottom to fee up the good bits of cooked tomato paste.

Add the seafood stock, and bring to a simmer.

Peel, trim, and half the shallot.

Sink the shallot, bay leave/s and thyme in the pot.

Simmer uncovered for 2 hours, adding additional liquid if needed.

Strain and discard the solids.

Add saffron strands to 2 tablespoons very hot water, and allow to infuse for 10 minutes. 

Strain saffron infusion into soup. 

Reduce until a little more than 4 cups remain.

Taste for seasoning and season with salt and white pepper.

In a separate pan, add a few cups of water and season heavily with salt.  Optionally, toss in a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme, but it’s not really necessary.  The fish will speak for itself.

Depending on the seafood you’re using, poach each type separately until just barely cooked. Remove the seafood and set aside until just before service.

To serve, briefly add the seafood to the soup and allow to warm though. 

Distribute the fish and shellfish between 4 warmed bowls, and ladle in 1 cup of stock per bowl. Garnish with fennel fronds and serve with good crusty bread.

Orange Panna Cotta with Fennel Orange Syrup

I have to google desert vs dessert pretty much every time I write this newsletter – or at least every time I’m including a dessert or writing about a desert, which has happened at least once.

As I developed this week’s menu, I ignored the desert ideas and tossed around a lot of different dessert ideas.  I thought about cakes, pies, bread puddings and … well, I ran out of time.  That happens.  I needed something that was fast, worked with what I had in the house, and went well with the flavors of this week’s other items.

Panna cotta is always an answer for “well, I’ve gotta come up with a desert and…” because it uses ingredients you may already have and it is obscenely easy and quick to put together (even if it does require a couple or more hours in the fridge to set up).  This orange panna cotta ends up tasting like a more sophisticated creamsicle – but not so much more sophisticated that it’s not creamsicle awesome.  I dress it up with a little fennel infused orange syrup, which both tempers the sweetness a little, and ties it together with the other flavors I’ve used this week.

1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1 large navel orange
1 packet, 1 tbsp or 4 leaves unflavored gelatin
½ cup loosely packed fennel fronds.

Add the milk, cream, and sugar to a thick bottomed pot over low heat. 

Zest the orange with a microplane, and stir the zest into the milk, cream, and sugar mixture.

Add 2 tbsp water to a bowl and sprinkle or dip the gelatin into the water to bloom. 

Once the dairy mixture has reached a simmer, carefully squeeze the water from the bloomed gelatin and add the only the bloomed sheets to the pot, or if using powder, simply add the bloomed gelatin to the pot. 

Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. 

Remove from the heat and allow to cool/infuse for 10 minutes.

Stir in the vanilla extract.

Strain through a very fine strainer and pour into 4-6 small ramekins or other molds (I use silicone molds)

Refrigerate until set – 2-4 hours.

Orange Fennel Syrup

Add 4 tbsp sugar to a bowl with most of the fennel fronds – reserving a few for garnish.

Use the back of a spoon to crush the fronds into the sugar.

Allow to rest 10-15 minutes.

Juice the previously zested orange into the mixture and stir well.  Allow the mixture to rest, stirring occasionally, until most or all of the sugar has dissolved.

Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove the pulp and fennel.

To finish, unmold the panna cotta by immersing in hot water or using a warm table knife to release the sides.

Place the panna cotta bottom side up on a plate and spoon fennel-orange syrup over it. 

Garnish with a fennel frond.