Fresh Al-Fresco

This evening's version of surf-and-turf involved a vegetable stifado created almost entirely from our Colchester Neighborhood farm-box share and seafood that is as local as possible here in Bridgewater.

First, the seafood: James spent much of the day as a spectator at a regatta on Clark's Cove in New Bedford. The Azorean Maritime Society had brought together -- for the first time ever, as far as anyone knows -- Azorean and Yankee replica whaleboats for rowing and sailing races (these boats do both). Only rowing nerds know the differences, but this was a great day to be a rower, if only from the sidelines, and cheer on folks representing Whaling City Rowing and the New Bedford Whaling Museum, as well as meeting Azoreans from both sides of the Atlantic and media from as far away as South Korea.

Although no seafood was caught in all of this nautical activity, it seemed an ideal day to pick up some local fare, so a stop at Kyler's Fresh Catch was essential on the way home. James got just one large filet of cod (for which we have some local real estate named, as well as a ceremonial carving in the State House). Once Pam prepared the stifado (see below), we were hoping to get the fish plated as quickly as possible, so James did his simplest preparation yet (regular readers will know that seafood has been a sort of final culinary frontier, so it has taken some time to get to this point). He simply heated the stove-top griddle, added perhaps two tablespoons of Lebherz lime-infused olive oil, and heated until the edges were opaque. Meanwhile, the upside was brushed with a bit more oil and Old Bay seasoning (more a Maryland thing than a local tradition) was liberally applied. The fish was then turned and cooked until fully opaque, but not a bit more!

The fish was prepared in addition to an old favorite from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home Cookbook, Vegetable Stifado, a vegetarian stew/soup which Pam took the lead in preparing. The recipe calls for several vegetables that are in season at this time of year in New England including eggplant, squash (yellow or zucchini), peppers, tomatoes and onions. also included some greens - everything came from our CSA farm box, although the dish was topped with some store bought feta.

Sacred Cod