Cooking a salad: red snapper fillet with fennel and orange

Yesterday, Annalena wrote of using the cupboard to come up with what was, ultimately, a pretty good meal.  Today, she visits another situation:  when what you go out expecting to buy... ain't there.  And what you do thereafter.  In this case, a little research uncovered a recipe that Annalena plans to return to. And she plans to teach it.  It is THAT kind of a recipe.

Annalena and the Guyman have a routine for dinners on Monday and  Tuesday.  Since Guyman rehearses on Monday,  and they eat late, a simple roast chicken and a salad is Monday dinner.  Tuesday follows with fish.  ALWAYS.  The variety of fish will change, depending upon what Shakyamuni Karlin and Bodhisattva Morris have at the market.

Well, hopefully Annalena does not have to tell you this, but fishermen are at the whims of nature.  Bad weather?  Bad seas?  No fish.  Period.  Especially if you are not part of one of the huge fishing fleets that are depleting our waters.  So, ragazzi, Annalena could not go shopping for fish, because the intrepid folks from Long Island had advised her,  she would be wetting her petticoats coming to market, for nothing:  they would not be there.

So, she set out, searching for fish.  During bad weather, carini, this is not so easy to do.  Distribution chains are disrupted, deliveries are not made, and to quote the Rolling Stones  "you can't always get what you want."  Annalena set out on Monday, hoping to find some halibut.  She and the Guyman ONLY eat this when they can't get local fish, because if you are being served halibut on the  Atlantic coast and are told it is local, you are breaking the law.  PERIOD.  So, she went looking at the two fish markets in Grand Central on Monday, for halibut, and came back without it.  There was no halibut to be had.  (As it turns out, this is probably a good thing, because today, when it was available, it was 36.00 a pound.  Annalena was wincing at the 25.00 a pound she paid for red snapper, but at 36, she would have had a temper tantrum in the store). She came home with the snapper fillets and begin thinking  "what the hell am I going to do with this stuff?"  So her research started, keeping in mind what she had in the fridge.

In the fridge were a couple of bulbs of fennel, one of Annalena's favorite vegetables.  They were destined for use in a classic salad of fennel and blood orange.  BUT.... the mysteries of the internet being what they are, Annalena found a recipe for COOKED fennel with oranges, and....RED SNAPPER.  The reviews were good, the recipe seemed easy, and the dish is tasty.

Annalena will NOT lie to you, however, and say this is a very easy dish to make.  You need to have some patience in the kitchen, ragazzi.  It will be rewarded.  She promises.

Here we go.  First, take a look at your bulb of fennel, and if need be, cut away the fronds and the stalks, so that you have only the bare bulb.  Now, cut that into quarters, by first making a longitudinal cut, and then cutting the halves again, longitudinally.  There will be a small piece of what seems to be embryonic fennel in the center of each piece.  Cut that out and discard it, and then cut your fennel quarters into 1/2-3/4 inch strips.  Put them aside for now.

You will also need some fennel seeds.  A healthy teaspoon (rather than the wimpy half teaspoon the recipe originally called for).  Put them on a flat surface, get a strong knife, and chop them up.  It really will not be difficult to do.  Then, get yourself one large, and one small orange.  Ideally, the small orange is a blood orange, but if you don't have one, don't worry.  A regular one will do.  Squeeze the juice from the small orange.  Then, cut the peel and white away from the larger one,  slice it into circles, and then cut the circles into smaller segments.  The original recipe called upon the cook to supreme the orange.  Annalena ain't got no time for that.

Finally, let's look at our fish.  You need to decide how much fish is enough fish for your people.  For Annalena and the Guyman, it's about a pound.  You may need less.  The veggies here, will serve to work with about a pound and a half of fish in total.  Proceed accordingly.   Pat your fish fillets dry - and you do not need red snapper here, ragazzi - and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper.  Put them aside too, because now, we're going to begin to cook.

Get a big pan out and add a tablespoon and a half of olive oil.  When it's hot, add the fennel, and the fennel seeds.  You will be assaulted by the wonderful fragrance of the fennel seeds.  Keep the heat at medium high, and move the fennel slices around, until you see it beginning to brown. This won't take long - not nearly as long as the ten minutes the recipe called for.    When you get the brown edges, lower the heat, cover the pan, and let the fennel cook and steam until it softens.  All in all, it took Annalena ten minutes to get here, not the 20 the recipe called for.   Sample a piece of the fennel, and add salt and pepper as you see fit.   Take this off the heat, and stir in your chopped oranges.

To the fish!  Very easy here.  Use a NON STICK pan, and add a hefty tablespoon of olive oil. When this is hot, put the fillets, skin side up, into the pan, and leave them be for about 3-5 minutes.  Then, with a pancake flipper or other equivalent tool, flip them, skin side down, for another two minutes.

As Nadia G says, "let's plate this dish."    Put a mound of the fennel and oranges on each plate, and then put a fillet of fish, skin side up, on each mound.  Remember that juice we made?  Well, now pour a bit of it over each fillet.

Y'all have some good eating here.  The taste of the fennel is a little muted, so Annalena would not fear for the "I hate fennel" crowd.

This is good, hearty, seasonal eating, ragazzi.  The Guyman and Annalena had it with oven roasted potatoes, and carrots with ginger and butter.  Make up your own menu, and again, please tell us all what you did.  Annalena thinks you're gonna LOVE this one.