Lamb chops/Mediterranean Whitefish with Rosemary Vegetables

Easter Sunday, 23 March

H: We follow the sect of Ali ben Buddha ("All is kosher in Ali ben Buddha") and celebrate all of the feasts and none of the fasts. Easter is thus a pretty big deal and so is Orthodox Easter, Passover, St. Swithin's Day, the Birthday of the Báb (damn, we forgot to get him anything this year) and any other excuse we can lay our hands on.
So I roasted some asparagus in the oven (500º), and pulled them out. While they were cooling a bit, tossed in the last of the fingerling potatoes. Wrapped the geese in prosciutto. Then 4 lovely lamb chops (from the fish place. . . go figure) went into the pan, about 3 minutes on each side. Joy had a great sauce: sautéed shallots in the fat, deglaze with a splash of white wine and orange juice! plus some rosemary. Just delicious. Plus a slice of Kathy's apple cake for ecumenical dessert.

B: Apparently the Pope has now placed limits on Easter falling this early; certainly anyone wearing a fancy flowered hat instead of a sensible "toque" had her ears frostbitten today. Noah enjoyed an Easter basket brimming with chocolate bunnies and peeps, but Barbara and Ehud had their doubts about the hot cross buns - was eating one like being christened?

As the larder was basically bare, we were lucky that the P&C grocery store was not just open, but actually had a sale on fresh whitefish fillets - we got two nice big ones, suitable for Ehud, Kathy and Barbara, or the only people who would eat fish (the unnamable others had chicken sandwiches, the softies).

Whitefish is fairly bland, so the preparation needed some spice. The inspiration came from our recipe for tilapia fillets with wasabi mayonnaise.
In this case, the mayonnaise was loosened with oil and liberally seasoned with Italian spices and garlic salt, both of which Jeff had in the spice rack. Barbara spread this on one side of each (skinless) fillet, sprinkled on some fresh breadcrumbs she'd just ground up out of yesterday's rosemary bread, and patted them down. The fillets then were flipped, breaded side down, on a foil-covered baking pan, and the top surfaces thus exposed were themselves spread with mayonnaise mixture and crumbed. Then the panful went into a 400-degree oven for about 10-12 minutes. When the fillets were just done (flaked in the thickest part, but were still moist), the broiler went on for a minute or three to brown the top crumbs - no need for flipping. Results: moist, flavorful fish with crispy crumbs on top.

Ehud is the vegetable king, so he sautéed up some chopped onion, then steamed it up with chopped baby carrots, Yukon gold potatoes, and asparagus, liberally seasoned with rosemary and salt. A savory stew.

We forgot to get any wine before all the liquor stores closed for Easter, so we had beer from the local Ithaca brewery instead: nice hoppy Cascazilla red ale (for all the Godzilla movies we've been watching), and smoky porter in a "growler," or big bottle. It's a good thing that Jeff buys his beer in bulk. And the porter actually went very well with Easter chocolates for dessert.