[local eating] Fish (1/12) and veg (2/20)

[magid]

Yesterday I picked up the first fish share (CSF) from Cape Ann Fresh Catch at the Harvard farmers' market (The share is already featured in the Wall Street Journal! As the article points out, this share is currently about local, not necessarily about best fishing practices/sustainability. I'm hoping that will change in the next season or two.) . They had a truck with already-bagged full or half shares in bins (barrels? large containers of some sort) of ice. I got checked off their pages-long list of shareholders, handed a newsletter and two pamphlets about fish handling and preparation, then a double-bagged fish was put in my cooler (I now own a cooler!) with extra ice. The tail stuck out of the bag, and I asked what kind. I made happy sounds when the fish-handler said cod; apparently this is unusual :-). But cod is so lovely. I think of it as a much larger fish, though I'm glad it's not (or I wouldn't have had room to deal with it easily).

I stayed by the truck until the next demonstration of how to fillet a fish, which was rather like the YouTube video a couple of kind friends sent me. He made it look easy, doable by mere humans, which was nice.

Then it was home to attempt it myself. This is a before shot of the cod (plus a bunch of kitchen clutter; ah, well); I took no after shots. Given the species, I nicknamed him Rod the Cod.


Unsurprisingly, it was not as easy as it looked, and took significantly longer to get much less pretty pieces. However, I did manage something approximating a filleted fish... with a lot of little extra bits. Since the demo had included how to skin the fillets, I did that rather than try to descale the pieces, and amazingly, that went fairly well.

In the end, there were a few bits that went into the trash (fins, mostly; I probably should have put these in with some plant instead, with the other leftovers), a bunch of unpretty and somewhat irregular fillets, and the carcass with too much fish left on it compared to what it should be. I cooked the fillets simply, with some onions, and put the carcass into a soup pot to make fish stock. Well, sort of: I didn't have most of the suggested vegetables. And I couldn't find the cheesecloth to wrap it all in, so I'm going to have a fine time skimming and deboning it. Given the lack of other stuff in it, I suspect this will turn into fish chowder.
Note to self: invest in more cheesecloth, or make a muslin bag, or something.

And today was the second farm share pickup.

• a head of what looks like read-leafed Boston lettuce
  
• a third of a pound of mesclun
  
• a half pound of spinach
  
• a pair of purple kohlrabi with greens
  
• a bunch of Hakurei turnips or radishes, both with greens (I chose turnips)
  
• a pound and a quarter of zucchini and/or summer squash (I went for the green)
  
• a stalk of broccoli
  
• three-quarters of a pound of (hothouse) carrots
  
• a bunch of the thinnest scallions ever
  
• a third of a pound of garlic scapes
  
• a bunch of dill

Comments

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the update on the fish share! I was curious about this program, and I hope you keep sending more updates ... and photos!

[magid.livejournal.com]

I know that those who got a full share got another kind of fish as well, but I don't remember which, other than it was an incredibly flat fish, which I was glad not to have to attempt to fillet.

I was thinking of trying to photograph each week's fish share, with the hope that I'll get better at recognizing them. (And hopefully, I'll get better at taking their pictures, too.)

[gingicat]

Ah, we must have gotten cod as well, then; Wolf forgot to ask, and the pictures in Joy of Cooking caused us to think it was a pollock. Wolf and B cut off head, tail and fins for fish stock, and B roasted the rest with herbs, and it was quite yummy if a slight bit undercooked. We ate about half, the rest will go to fish chowder.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I think the only fish this week were cod and the very flat fish that were part of a whole share, not at all pollock-like.

Sounds like Wolf and B made some yumminess; I should consider roasting the whole fish the next time I can't face trying filleting. (This week I didn't have so many nice things to put into the cavity; I rather wish I got fish the day after my farm share delivery, rather than the day before...).

Mmmmm... fish chowder!

[cellio]

I enjoyed reading about the fish, and look forward to more.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm hoping over the 12-week share I'll be able to get a bit better at filleting. And perhaps get to the point of buying whole fish at the fishmonger's, to keep practicing :-).

I've also gotten some nice ideas of other things to try in coming weeks from other shareholders, which I'm very much looking forward to.

[magid.livejournal.com]

What Hrafn did with her fish.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Rod's fate:
Fillets cooked with onions, eaten straight the first night, in green salad the second night, then the rest put into the not-vichyssoise.
Frame used to make kinda-stock. After chilling, got some meat off the bones, which went into the not-vichyssoise, and the carcass went in bits into the pots of the various tomato plants.