In my last blog entry I looked into what wines pair well with spicy food. This time I’m taking a different approach. I’m going to describe a meal I made recently and let Carolyn pick the wines.
The Meal: I went to our local great fish shop in search of a simple nice piece of salmon. But they know me well and know my fondness for experimenting a bit. I left with two 1.5 pound Branzino. Gutted, scaled heads on.
On the way home I picked up cauliflower, red and yellow sweet cherry tomatoes, lemons and some fresh Mozzerella. From my garden came rosemary and basil.
I rinsed the fish and left it out while making the other preparations (ideally at least 45 mins.) With about 20 mins to spare I heated the oven to 450. During that time I halved the tomatoes, tore the basil, diced the mozerella and added some home-roasted red peppers I had in the fridge. All this went into a bowl with salt, pepper and olive oil mixed gently and left on the counter. Decided to reduce some balsamic in a little pot over a low flame to drizzle over the tomatoes at the table.
Rinsed the cauliflower, dried it off and rubbed it hard with a couple heads of garlic. The garlic should shred a bit as you rub. Then I stemmed the cauliflower and broke it into large florets and put them in a roasting pan. I seasoned the cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper and tossed well to coat. The cauliflower should be spread in a single layer in a roasting pan
I seasoned the fish inside and out with salt and pepper and put some lemon slices and rosemary in the body cavities. Then I put the cauliflower and fish in the 450 oven for about 20/25 mins. They both seem to take about the same amount of time. Each should be slightly charred before you take the out. Here’s the end result:
The fish had crispy skin and was moist and flaky inside. The cauliflower sweet, dense and a little crunchy. The tomatoes, peppers, mozzarella amd basil tasted of summer with some sweetness from the reduced balsamic.
Ok: Carolyn, the wines are up to you!