Snap-fu

fish night!
the Chef went to the local re-vibed fish market over dere on Broadway. He's trying to get in with the guys and get the scoops on the fishes and such. Chef's selection this trip, a fresh and freshly fileted Red Snapper*. Snapper's got a nice, firm texture and takes to seasoning nicely, ie. not fishy.

Entree: Red Snapper filets pan roasted (in the oven) with salt and pepper. served with lemon wedge.  MAN (!) does fish taste great when it is fresh and like freshly fileted, as in right in front of your eyes! Woo-wee, if you are one of those people who desperately wants to like fish but doesn't, splurge and get something fresh and not frozen. It makes a big diff.

side 1: roasted CSA red potatoes with from our back stoop rosemary.
side 2: sauteed CSA mustard greens with roasted mushrooms. mustard greens = bitter bitter goodness.

And just when I was getting a little sad that the meal had almost been eaten, I glanced down and spied a glorious salad awaiting. We're talkin' that heirloom blend of lettuces, radish, carrots, roasted slices of CSA beets and dollops of goat cheese (i ate them all mooshed together), black eyed peas, and Chef's blend emulsed O&V.

*though the dinner was thoroughly delightful: Chef selected an "Avoid" (in red) rated fish from the sustainable seafood watch. <GASP!!> But that's ok, its a mere opportunity to provide a brief blurb on the Seafood Watch movement. I believe there are several groups out there who have issued Seafood Lists, but I usually refer to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's list. No reason in particular, other than the aquarium is on my "to go to" places - they have a kelp forest!! Back to the subject and to our Red Snapper. And on the seafood watch thing - Fish to Avoid include fish that are just plain ol' overfished, or over-harvested, making their numbers dwindle. Also in consideration for the Avoid category, is the method in which the fish is harvested; for instance, sea floor trawling sort of rakes up the sea floor and also is often guilty of a little "crime" called by-catch.  By-catch is the stuff the fisherman is not targeting during a haul: immature fish (fish not large enough to harvest according to regulations), mammals like dolphins, or even the majestic sea turtle - a sad reality is that it is possible for by-catch to die while entangled in nets or brought on ship. Sorry to get so dark. I highly recommend you look into Monterey's website for more information and neat apps for your phone when you are food shopping! Upon consulting the site, we found a good alternative to Red Snapper is Silk Snapper, from the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico, or U.S. Southern Atlantic, or Red Snapper from Hawaii (ours was from the Gulf of Mexico). Where the fish is harvested is important too: consider that the U.S. has water quality standards and some other places do not. :P (that's a smily with a sick tongue sticking out.)