Dining With Miss Lil: Make It Fresh, Fruit And Fish This Fall

By Lil Nickelson

Fall is one of my favorite seasons because I enjoy the changing leaves, as well as the change in my cooking patterns.  It’s also time to do an inventory of what I have in my kitchen.  What items have passed its expiration date and need to be thrown out, and what items are missing and need to be purchased.  I’m even thinking about purchasing a crock pot so that I can cook one pot meals.

I started eating organic fruits and vegetables, grass-fed meats and wild caught seafood this past spring, and I shop at the farmer’s market each Saturday morning.  Shopping at your local farmer’s market gets you into eating healthy, and “in season” for your geographical region.  You also helped your local economy by patronizing local small farmers and other locally owned businesses, which provide the most jobs to residents.

I write down the items I need and out of stock of, and items I’d like to eat this week.  My list is a rough sketch, and I doubt I will find everything on it.  I do know that I will purchase some items that aren’t on my list as well.  You never know what “new finds” you will come upon at the farmer’s market.

I get there early so that my choices are more abundant than if I waited to later in the day.  I purchase wild caught fish and seafood from Suffolk County NY from one of the fish vendors at farmer’s market.  Whole black sea bass and porgies, mussels and fresh tuna are some of my purchases.  I also purchase some of their cooked items as well like whole lobster and crab cakes.

For breakfast I fry the porgies when I get home and make some scrambled eggs and cheese to round out my meal.

For lunch I grill the fresh tuna with a stove top grill and make the best tuna fish salad some of my friends have ever tasted.  For dinner I sauté some broccoli rabe, onions and garlic in a stockpot with some seafood seasonings and stock with the mussels I purchased, and it was fantastic.  Here are my recipes for the not fried fish dishes:

Tuna Fish Salad

 6 ounces of fresh tuna fillet
2 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Lawry’s seasoning salt or kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ cup diced onion
2 eggs, boiled and diced
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sweet relish

Coat the fresh tuna with the olive oil on all sides while stove top grill pan is heating up on the stove on a medium high flame.  Place the piece of tuna fillet on the grill pan until the flesh is cooked 1/4^th of the way through.  Turn the piece of tuna fillet a quarter of the way to the right so that you can make cris-crossed grill marks on the side cooking.  When it looks like it is cooked 1/2 of the way through turn the piece of tuna fillet over.  Repeat these steps on the other side.

Cut through to make sure the tuna fillet is cooked totally through.  Take the tuna fillet off and put it into a bowl.  Take a fork and break the tuna fillet up into pieces.  Season it with salt, and pepper to taste.  Let the tuna cool off.  In another bowl combine the diced onions and eggs with the mustard and sweet relish.  Add the mixture to the cooled tuna pieces and mix well.  Add the mayonnaise until it is the consistency that you desire.  Taste, and add additional salt and pepper to your taste if desired.

Serve the tuna fish salad on bread, crackers or a bed of lettuce.

Steamed Mussels with Broccoli Rabe

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, diced
4 cloves fresh garlic, smashed and small dice
2 lbs. of roughly chopped fresh broccoli rabe
2 teaspoons seafood seasoning salt or kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 lbs. of fresh mussels , cleaned and de-bearded
8 ounces of liquid (chicken stock, or vegetable stock or water)
2 tablespoons good dry white wine (optional)
½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Fresh French bread, cut it diagonal slices

Cooking Directions:

Cook the shallots in the oil in a large stock pot on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until they are soft. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chopped broccoli rabe, plus the salt and pepper and the red pepper flakes if desired. Cook for 15 minutes. Turn up the flame to a medium/high and add the chicken stock and white wine along with the mussels and steam for 10 more minutes until the shells open.

Pour the mussels, broccoli rabe and cooking liquid into a serving bowl, sprinkle with the fresh parsley.  Serve immediately dipping the bread slices into the cooking liquid.

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