And Now For Something Completely Different

This is probably the last thing you want to be reading about during Thanksgiving week. I know, I should have posted a picture of a pot of bubbling turkey soup or a leftovers turkey hash. But we didn't have any leftovers this year, and what with the turkey I made last week for the video shoot, if I don't see another piece of that gobbling fowl until next November, well, I can't say I'll be sorry.

Instead, I offer you some fish. A nice clean roasted fish kissed with lemon and sage and dotted with olives that shrivel and crisp around the edges in the oven. It's just the thing to eat this weekend when the leftovers are done. Or when you're done with the leftovers, which ever comes first.

Here's what you do: buy a nice fat piece of blackfish or other thick fillet. This one in the photo weighs nearly a pound and I left it in one gorgeous piece. Salt and pepper your fish on both sides. Drizzle your roasting pan with a little oil, plop in your fish, drizzle with more oil, decorate the top with chopped olives and torn up fresh sage, and roast at 400° F until the flesh is just firm and cooked through (this piece took 10 minutes). When it's done, drizzle with the best olive oil you have in the house (even if you used the cheap stuff for cooking) and sprinkle with a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, salt, and turkish or aleppo red pepper.  It will fix that overstuffed, post TG fowl feeling in the most pleasant way.

Comments

[Gail]

I LOVE this recipe. I've been making your halibut w/lemons, rosemary & olives and it's easy, healthy and scrumptious!

[Joe and Ann Pollack]

Can't find a good spot to put this comment - but have just about finished your new book, and am loving it. Three things:

Gooey butter cake used to occasionally be found with the yeast crust - I did a story on them for a now-defunct magazine and did find one. Yes, the yeast cuts the overwhelming sweetness. (And I speak as one of the authors of Beyond Gooey Butter Cake, a restaurant guide some years ago.)

Have you tried black walnuts in chocolate?

And lastly, I was stunned by your reference to L.I. Wilder's oyster stuffing/dressing. A century ago, my grandmother was a little girl in rural Missouri and her family dressing always had oysters in it. We have kept them, of course, but I have never, ever figured out how they got into such rural cuisine, and I've certainly tried. Do you know where her reference to the dish is? In the cookbook?

Ann

[Rennie]

Sounds delicious! I will definintely try it. I've had cod roasted with olives in a restaurant, but never tried cooking fish with olives at home.

[Andrew Ramallo]

I'm sorry Melissa but this is in regards to my 84 year old grandmother. She is a fan of your article & in many peoples opinion a hidden jewel in the NY Restaurant scene; mainly for her authentic Brittany style Crepes. She works in Times Square at the Cyber Cafe and she is hoping for you to try her famous treats before she puts up the apron early next year.

Articles Written about Her:

From Chow.com:
http://www.chow.com/digest/4767/for-hungry-web-warriors-real-french-crpes/
&
From NYPost.com:
http://www.nypost.com/p/lifestyle/food/item_gMxoAKO7gB3APqERgNK85K

[Michael Marston]

Melissa,

I have not been able to find another way to contact you so I'm asking my question here.
The recipe for Nick's short rib chili does not mention browning the ribs before the braise. Every other short rib braise I have made requires browning.
Could you brown them?

[Melissa]

Michael - absolutely! Go ahead and brown them if you like, I'm sure they will taste terrific. I don't brown them because they do take on a lot of color from the long, slow cook time, so I don't find it necessary. But it can't hurt.

[Melissa]

Ann - That's funny! I don't have the Little House cookbook so I don't know if it's in there, but I remember that they mentioned it in one of the books - it was the one where Pa gets stuck in the snow for 3 days and eats all the girls' Christmas candy. He doesn't eat the canned oysters for the stuffing because he can't open the can. That's what I recall. Sorry I can't remember more, if I can find my old copies when I go back to my folks' place, I'll try and look it up.

[Michael Marston]

Melissa,

Thanks for the prompt answer. On another note the Roasted Carrots with Pomegranate Molasses were a big hit at Thanksgiving.