fancy fish.

food. bookstore shelves are saturated with memoirs and history books on the topic. cookbooks take up their own aisle. newsstand shelves boast at least ten magazines dedicated to the topic and there's a whole television network...just about food. chefs are celebrities. accounts of artisanal foods purchases and fancy restaurant visits are juicy material.

i'm decidedly one of those people who is quite beset with all things food. i like to mention that the apples in my pie are local and heirloom or that the sugar i used was fair trade certified and organic and unrefined. when i receive notice in the mail to pay for a parking ticket that's nearly due and another notice that my yearly Saveur subscription is running out, i'll let you guess which bill i tend to first. i cook and bake things just so i can take pictures of them on my handmade maple cutting board in the mid-morning light that filters through the herbs i grow on my windowsill. i visit farmers' markets religiously and coo at tiny mandarins and gasp in escstasy each time i stop at the afghani food stand and taste the locally made spinach bolani with garlic mint cheese and cilantro pesto...

although this reverence for food may qualify me for the unfortunate, i think, title of 'foodie,' i assert that there is quite a difference between those who delight in food for purely consumptive reasons and those who delight in the entire process of food, from seed to harvest to plate to mouth to soul.  i believe that the latter describes our primal relationship to food, while the first describes our more common current adulterated connection to it.  

i'll save my soapboxing for another time. for now, i'd love to share this recipe (praise the lard) that i created a few years back. it's rather simple and deeply nourishing. i'm planning to make it as soon as i can save enough pennies to get myself some good halibut at the store. 
 

*creamy garlic mashed potatoes*

1.5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

1/4 cup milk

salt and pepper

6 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/3 cup heavy cream

half a stick of butter, sliced into 4 pieces

quarter the potatoes. cover with water. add the milk, a dash of salt, and the crushed garlic. bring to a boil and simmer until the taters are super tender. drain off the liquid, reserving a quarter cup. using a mashing device, get in there and mash the potatoes up. add a few patches of butter and a the heavy cream. salt and pepper, to taste. if the taters are too dry, add some of that reserved liquid. voila! the creamiest, richest, most decadent and smooth garlic mashed potatoes this side of idaho.

***

these went deliciously with the following recipe that i made for a friend who has generously hired to have me chef for him for a few weeks. i can't wait for summer and fresh tomatoes and basil! this week i used canned tomatoes and bolted basil which came to me via the shelf of my local whole foods. picking up the wilted bouquet made my heart ache for the perky bouquets that i used to snip at green fire farm summers ago, redbird playing from the old cd player in the kitchen, my mouth watering for the steelhead extra pale ale that was promised as soon as harvest was complete...

*oven roasted halibut on a bed of basil-flecked tomatoes in a creamy white wine sauce*

///creamy white wine tomato sauce

1/2 cup finely chopped shallots

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 stick chilled butter, cut into pieces

2 cups of canned, chopped tomatoes

8 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil (try and get local greenhouse basil if you can or use 2T dried)

combine the shallots and vinegar in heavy small saucepan. boil it all up until most of liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes. add the wine and boil until most of liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. whisk in the  cream and set aside and let cool while you move on with baking the fish and sauteeing the veggies.

while the fish is baking, bring the white wine sauce to a simmer. reduce the heat and add the butter and whisk 'til melted. remove from heat. mix in tomatoes and basil. season to taste with salt and pepper.

///the rest

2 Tablespoons butter

12 ounces wild mixed mushrooms, chopped

a touch of chopped fresh (or dried) thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 bunch of broccolini, washed, very bottoms chopped off

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 pound of wild pacific halibut fillets

1/4 cup dry white wine

preheat oven to 400°F. 

heat the butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. add the mushrooms and crushed red pepper. cook until mushrooms are deep golden brown, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. sprinkle in some thyme because mushrooms and thyme are like bonnie and clyde. add broccolini, cover, and steam/sauté for three minutes. season to taste with salt and pepper. set aside.

lightly oil a baking sheet. place the halibut on the sheet and brush the poisson with some olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper (both sides, now!). pour the vino in the bottom of the pan. bake until fish is opaque in center, about 10 minutes. 

while the fish is baking, finish up the sauce (above).

spoon the mashed potatoes onto the center of two plates. place the halibut atop the potatoes. arrange the mushroom mixture around potatoes. spoon the sauce over the fish...and sprinkle a tiny little bit of basil chiffonade atop it all and serve. 

makes four servings.