Sea Bass! Spinach! Potato Crisps!

I have been on a big fish kick lately. I went to New Deal fish market in East Cambridge and sea bass was on sale, so I bought two pieces.

The fish was really easy to cook. I lightly oiled and generously seasoned each side with salt and pepper. Then I seared both sides in a hot skillet, and lowered the heat to cook through the fish. It was thick, so I quickly seared the "side" edges, too.

While the fish was cooking, I made seared spinach. So easy and delicious! Just pop a lot of spinach (this stems removed) into an almost smoking hot pan with a small dab of oil and toss. Add a little salt and pepper, and you can finish with vinegar, lemon juice, or butter if desired (I like just s and p myself). This is really fast and easy. Stop and transfer to a plate when the spinach is bright green and almost all wilted, it will keep cooking a little.

Finally I made little oven potato chips. well, actually this is the part to start first. I sliced the potatoes in rounds with a mandolin into a bowl of salt water to leach out a lot of the starch. Let soak for about 15 minutes, then pat dry with a kitchen towel and arrange on a lightly oiled pan (it is important to dry them well). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at about 375 until lightly browned and crisp and pretty.

Enjoy!!

kasha varnishkes

Delicious bowties with buckwheat! I had this dish for the first time a couple of weekends ago. Maybe you were lucky enough to have a Jewish grandma that made kasha varnishkes for you all the time? Not me, so this was my introduction. Literally, it means buckwheat and bowties. I have no idea if this is a traditional recipe or alteration, but it was the closest I could find to recreate what I ate.

I used this recipe from the internet after a lot of searching for one that includes red bell peppers. Be forewarned - If you click "printer friendly recipe" you will end up with a different recipe.

A few changes I recommend:

- use twice as many peppers and onions as called for

- after sauteeing the onion and peppers, remove from heat and set aside to toss in at the end instead of cooking them with the buckwheat. This keeps the veggies tasty with a little crunch

- serve hot with a good dollop of sour cream or yogurt to mix in

I found Arrowhead Mills buckwheat groats at Whole Foods. This picture looks a little rough, but it was the last of my leftovers on day three. Still delicious!