Monday 3 October
Barbara and Julie took a fun day's excursion out to Jungle Jim's for the first time in what, years. We got lots of essentials (good olive oil and red wine vinegar in bulk) and non-essentials (Demarara sugar, huitlacoche). And just as we'd hoped, we scored a bluefish - but the smallest one they had was over 5 pounds. Julie couldn't stay for dinner, and we'd meant to have Eleni and our new colleague Valeria over, so Holt grabbed them and asked them over to help us eat the fish. And of course, Dora helped set the table.
The weather just got beautiful, so we had mezedes out on the patio: salami, manchego, olives, cherry tomatoes, cornichons, artichokes, cashews, and a nice bottle of red wine that Eleni brought.
We'd roasted some vegetables in advance: peeled and chunked sweet potatoes tossed with ground coriander and cumin, plus sliced half onions, and parsnips.
Usually we like to do bluefish like this. But this was a big buster, so Holt found this recipe and took some hints from it.
We stuffed the fish with fresh rosemary, oregano and thyme, layered its surface with lemon slices, and put it on a bed of coriander seeds and bay leaves on our biggest tray. We set it on the rack in the middle of a cold oven, then turned on the oven to 500°F. It roasted until cooked through, 40 to 45 minutes. Cut into fish along backbone with a small knife to check doneness; the flesh should have turned from translucent to opaque.
While we portioned the fish, the vegetables went back into the oven to reheat. We also served our daikon, carrot, and apple slaw, to add a fresh smack of acid.
For dessert, we introduced Valeria to Graeter's: coconut chip and peach, which Eleni had never had because she's never here in the summer. Luckily we stockpile it, as it's our favorite flavor. And Valeria brought some Rocher chocolates to crunch on too.
We love these unpremeditated dinner parties.
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