Rethinking Some Fish Dishes

Just some quick thoughts on last week’s dinners. We’re off on a well deserved (we think) break in the far southern reaches of Argentina after a very busy end of year.

Combining the idea of a classic tuna causa with our roasted beet causa, and I popped up at some point in my musings with the idea of laying out a little bed of our guacamole mousse, putting a couple of spheres of potato causa on it and surrounding it with roasted beets, tuna – which I decided to preserve in a marinade of ginger, soy and mirin, and a tapenade and tomato gel. I wasn’t so sure about the spheres because everything else was squared off, so I tried it with a larger cube of potato causa and put the tuna on top. Decisions, decisions. I’m still not sure. But all the flavors worked!

Then it was on to a chilled carrot soup flavored with orange, coconut and garam masala. Several guests have asked for the recipe, one describing it as “quite possibly the best soup I’ve ever had” – and it’s pretty easy to make. Into a pot with some chopped up vegetables – a couple stalks of celery, a large onion, six or seven carrots, a medium hot chili (I used a red jalapeño), a couple of garlic cloves, then I add the juice of four oranges, a can of coconut milk, and just enough water to top it off and submerge the vegetables. About a tablespoon of salt, teaspoon of white pepper, some blades of mace (or half teaspoon of ground), and two teaspoons of garam masala (we make our own, but a store bought mixture is fine). Simmer it all together until the carrots are soft, puree it, strain it, chill it. I garnished it with some deep-fried eggplant cubes as croutons and a little parsley.

This one may not have been so much a matter of rethinking as it was necessity. Brought back a favorite – green tea fettucine with a mixed herb (cilantro, basil, mint, parsley) pesto, topped with sauteed smoked salmon and some crumbled nori. Second day, no smoked salmon to be found – tried four neighborhood fishmongers and all three major supermarkets. Decided to go with some fresh mussels instead, and in the end, I actually like it better, though I missed the slight smokiness from the salmon. So hmmm, next time, smoke the mussels.

It’s been years since I made a little fish “veracruzano”, a spicy mixture of tomatoes, capers, green olives, onions, garlic, oregano and wine, and I was just in the mood to give it another go. Much better this time around, and served up with mildly spicy white beans and a “mexicali” rice.