Meal Description
Its 4am and your alarm
sounds. You can’t remember at first why
you would be waking at this hour…and then you remember. Memorial Day is the day of the annual fishing
trip on the Chesapeake. You head out
after grabbing the cooler full of deli sandwiches, chips, and of course, a case
of the cheapest beer you could find to remind you of those glorious college
years. You’re the last one to arrive at
the boat and the captain is anxious to leave….they are always anxious whatever time
you get there. He fires up the twin
diesel engines and the boat trembles. The
exhaust immediately makes you a little nauseous until the boat moves forward
leaving it and the dock behind. Once out
of the harbor, the engines throttle up launching the boat off each small wave
and smacking it back down into the surf, making it hard to keep your
footing. The spray of the brackish
Chesapeake comes over the side, and that
familiar taste gets into your mouth, the same taste when you were a child and
allowed to come on your first fishing trip.
As the sun rises over water the sky illuminates with every color of the
spectrum. You cast out the lines and
crack open a beer, the only day of the year when it is acceptable to drink
before 7am, and wait for the first catch of the day. ….To be on the Chesapeake
at sunrise in early spring with the taste of the bay in your mouth and the
rumble of the diesel in the background….
We have sourced some unbelievably
fresh Chesapeake Rockfish. While there
are so many ways to prepare fresh Rockfish, such as Ceviche, Beer-Battered,
Smoked Whole, baked in a salt oven, our favorite remains the classic French preparation
à la Meunière. This consists of a
light dusting of flour and sautéing the filet in clarified butter (won’t burn)
with a few drops of lemon. It is light,
simple, and elegant and places the focus solely on the taste and tenderness of
the fresh fish.
This dish is
traditionally served with Chateaux Potatoes (the ones carved into little olive
shapes) and Haricot Vert…but since we just did that last week with the Mother’s
Day Châteaubriand, we are going to serve it with European Jerusalem
Artichokes (a little nuttier tasting) and Broccoli Di Ciccio (an heirloom
variety, similar to Broccoli Di Rabe, but smaller with a slightly milder
flavor).
Cook de Cuisine Chairman’s
Uncle charters a fishing boat every year out of Deale, MD. And while the Golden Hook, the award given to
the fisherman that catches the largest fish, has remained elusive for the
Chairman, she still considers this trip a Right of Spring Passage.
Bon Appetit!
Time to Cook: 30
min.
Cook by Day:
Wednesday *Let us know at checkout if you are not cooking on the day of delivery
and certain items will be left unprepped.
Items included (serves 2)
*Menu items subject to slight variation based on the
availability of fresh ingredients; Picture is not necessarily representative of
final dish
Meal Contains (including add-ons): Wheat, Fish.
We store, portion, and package various meal kits containing all eight (8)
major allergens (milk, wheat, egg, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, and tree
nuts) and cannot guarantee that cross-contamination will not occur between
kits.
Add-on Checkout Items