Thanksgiving has come and gone and thoughts are now turning to new years and restaurant week. As a chef, this time always poses a challenge for me as the seasonal produce can be limited, especially in our region (brussel sprouts and turnips can only be eaten so many times a week). The good news is my friends at wild edibles have been making strides towards providing me with beautiful and responsibly sourced fish which is always a source of inspiration. Yesterday we recieved an amazing escolar from ecuador which we grilled and served over a roasted fingerlings, braised fennel, roasted onions and a delicious mediterranean salsa verde with capers and parsley. Here was the test plate:
Grilled Escolar with Salsa Verde
There were a lot of good things about this dish but really what made it stand out was the fish. I have tried this dish in the past with other fish such as wahoo and swordfish but nothing can beat the luscious texture and taste of the escolar in this preparation with the briny salsa verde. We used the smaller pieces of the fish for our ceviche del dia which was composed of black garlic puree, celery, cucumber, lime and ginger with fresh fresno chilies and citrus zest. The great thing about the escolar in this application again was the texture. It was reminiscent of raw scallops; tender and supple with a faint pop that I love.
Escolar Ceviche with black garlic
Today, the exciting bit of news is that we have fresh Hummock Island oysters in from connecticut. These oysters are incredible! They come from Jeff Northrop’s team whose family has been fishing the grounds for generations. They run a sustainable aquaculture operation known as new york oyster company. You can watch a quick video about their farm here. I have been chasing him around for over a month to try and get these things into the restaurant and today all the effort has come to fruition. I was pretty astonished by the size of these guys their anywhere from 3 to 5 inches long and are incredibly clean. Jeff dropped them off personally which was pretty great of him to do and as soon as I saw them I popped one open for taste. This is no mild mannered oyster. salty and briny with a pretty assertive crunch and an overwhelming freshness these guys are definitely a treat. It took me a couple minutes of thinking to figure out a good mignonette recipe to showcase them and what I ended up with was a basil and pink peppercorn mignonette. The basil plays off the little bit of sweetness in the mignonette and rounds out the saltiness of the oyster and its liquor. The pink peppercorns gave a bit of texture and added some depth to the whole experience. I could probably tear through 100 of them myself but since sharing is caring we’re offering them as a special tonight.
Hummock Island Pearl