Food Bytes A monthly Page by Prudence Sloane

Mediterranean Roast Fish with Black Olive Sauce

Is September a summer month or a fall month? I think it’s a little bit of both. Here’s a recipe that encompasses both - A light fish dish using the last of the summer tomatoes in a warming black olive, onion and tomato broth. This dish is so easy I gave it to a minister friend of mine who can’t even boil water to make for a church supper. They now think he’s a gourmet cook!

Serves 6

Base Recipe:

2 LB Cod fish fillets

4 -6 medium onions

6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

8-10 plum tomatoes, cut into eighths

4 tablespoons black olive paste or 1/2 cup black pitted olives (Calamata, Niçoise, or other strong black olive)

Preheat oven to 350F

Sauté the onions with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat until well browned. Lightly coat the bottom of an oven proof casserole with some of the olive oil and add the fish fillets (fillets should just cover the bottom of the casserole. Fold in half if fillets are thin). Spread the olive paste (if using) over the fish. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cover the fillets with the cooked onions, tomatoes and black olives (if using.) Season with salt and pepper and drizzle the remaining olive oil on top. Bake for 15-30 minutes or until fish is done. Fish is done when completely opaque and will break easily when pulled apart.

Notes:

•To make this a full meal in one dish add some sliced steamed or sautéed zucchini and quartered boiled potatoes before baking.

•Or serve over stale crusty garlic bread, couscous, rice or pasta.

•This simple recipe works well with cod, pollack, haddock, hake, mackerel or blue fish.

• Delicious served Mediterranean style at room temperature.

Recipe by Prudence Sloane

September 2009

Kitchen Tip

And you thought blow-dryers were used only for drying hair

If you’re having trouble getting a smooth looking frosting on your cake. Try blow drying it. The heat melts the frosting just enough to smooth it out giving it a silky smooth sheen.

Restaurant Deal of the Month

My best kept secret no longer!

Where in West Hartford can you sit outside and just order a glass of wine? All the outdoor tables are reserved for those ordering dinner. And then I stumbled upon a quiet fenced-in shaded patio with comfy chairs, an excellent wine list and killer martinis. They also had excellent food if you wanted. But the best part is I didn’t have to order dinner if I didn’t want to. I only told my closest friends as I feared it would soon be over run. But to this day it still hasn’t been discovered. I’m talking about Flemings Steakhouse in W. Hartford. Now for the best part. Over the summer and continuing into the Fall they offer a bar menu called “5 for $6 till 7”. Let me decipher that for you. They have a menu with 5 cocktails, 5 wines and 5 appetizers, each for $6 anytime before 7 pm. And we’re not talking about smaller portions, these are their regular oversized appetizers and martinis!

Past issues

Lump Crab Cakes with Red Pepper Sauce

“5 for $6 till 7” MENU

Flemings Steakhouse

44 South Main Street, W. Hartford 860 676-9463

Bacon Makes The Dish

My husband was a vegetarian until the smell of cooking bacon brought him to his knees. I'm just as bad. If a restaurant dish has bacon in it, that's the one I order. But it wasn't until a summer's trip to France that I became a major salad eater. The reason? You guessed it: bacon. Not the fatty bacon we all know and love, but thick chunks of lean bacon called "lardons."

Lardons are so popular in France you can buy them cut, prepackaged and ready to be sautéed. They are added to just about anything, including salads, cooked vegetables, pasta, soups and stews. A little goes a long way. Lardons can turn simple side dishes into a main meal and give a main dish that real French country taste. In France we had lardons in salads with a classic mustard vinaigrette.

For the coming Fall add a splash of white wine vinegar to the rendered fat and toss with hearty salad greens such as frisée or even spinach. For a Provencal touch add sautéed lardons during the last 20 minutes to a roast or stewed chicken, along with tomatoes and rosemary. For northern French flavor, add cream, lardons and mushrooms. My favorite is lardons with pan-fried trout. Sauté whole trout in some of the bacon fat. When the trout is done remove it from the pan and place it on a serving platter. Add to the cooking pan some sautéed lardons, a small amount of diced tomatoes, chopped parsley and white wine. Simmer a minute or two and pour over the trout.

Make your own

To make your own lardons, you need to find lean bacon slices of at least 1/2” to 1” ” thick. The thick-sliced bacon in most supermarkets is too thin. I found the perfect bacon at a Polish Deli in Hartford called Baltyk.

Cut a slice 1-inch thick. Then cut that slice into 1/2- inch pieces. Sauté, in one layer, for 5 to 10 minutes over low heat (low heat is used to render fat, while high will burn bacon). The lardons are done when they are lightly browned, the fat is crispy, and the meat is still juicy. Strain out the lardons and save the rendered fat for cooking. Add sautéed lardons to any vegetable dish for great flavor or to make it a main meal.

One word of warning: cover cooked lardons with aluminum foil so you can't see them and be tempted to nibble until there are none left.

731 Wethersfield Ave. Hartford. (860) 296-0600. Directions.