The Early Birds Missed the Rains
Though I love few things more than sleeping in on a Saturday, shopping at the Portland farmers’ market on a perfect fall morning is one of them. I grab a banana and, shockingly, skip the coffee until I return. Often, my husband will ride his bike to the market while I will drive, and we meet up there. After all, there are more purchases than can fit in the saddle bags on a bike. This past Saturday, the early risers were basking in the autumnal morning glow, crunching on the dry fallen leaves, and enjoying the quiet of the market as it opens. By mid-morning, just as I arrived home and was unpacking the bags, the skies darkened and a downpour followed. I don’t just mean a steady rain; I mean a roof pounding, gutter-overflowing, gush of rain that would have drenched us to the core. I know I shouldn’t write this but, honestly, I felt a little smug. I was warm and dry, my purchases and bags were dry, and I had a bounty of produce, cheese, fish, eggs, and smoked lamb sausages.
We had four guests for dinner Saturday night, along with our son, Eric, who was home for a visit. I made a mushroom risotto using the gorgeous golden chanterelles from the market. For the salad, I cut thin wedges of the tomato-shaped Fuyu persimmons and tossed them with field greens and treviso, adding slivers of sweet banana peppers. We followed with a sliced baguette accompanied by three types of goat cheese—a pyramid of Oregon’s Juniper Grove, a Spanish aged one, and an ash-coated log of French cheese. Dessert was a selection of small sweet bites—“experiments” for the cookbook I am writing.
Sunday supper was another gathering of friends and family around the table. We started with delicata squash soup, an easy and favorite recipe from my first Thanksgiving cookbook (check the recipe page of my website for the recipe). For the main course, I sautéed broccoli rabe, cooked Bhutan red rice which I tossed with minced green onions and parsley, and prepared the Oregon black cod I bought at the market. My friend, Priscilla, offered to make dessert and brought an amazing seasonal pear crisp.
She asked for the recipe for the fish, so I wrote it up, and thought I would share it with all my readers. It is easy and spectacular, and that’s a winning set of attributes!
Make the following marinade by combining 1/4 cup sake, 1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine), 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 cup white (shiro) miso in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Whisk to dissolve the sugar and smooth out the miso. Set aside and cool completely.
Generously coat fish fillets (cod, halibut, sablefish) on both sides with the marinade, sloshing the fish in the pan until thoroughly covered. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour or refrigerate for up to 2 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 20 minutes before broiling. Pat the fish with paper towel to remove most of the marinade. Set the fillets on a rimmed sheet pan. Set an oven rack 6 to 8 inches from the broiler. Heat the broiler and then broil the fish until bronzed and caramelized on top and just beginning to flake, 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
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