a visit to Italy

But first, a note on the kimchee. Holy cow, let that recipe marinade for a week or so in the refrigerator and I'm eating it straight from the jar like it's candy.

Okay, so I fish a lot and I'm often faced with bags of fish in the freezer and only a couple tried and true recipes to cook it. I get bored eating it the same way, so when I heard about this Italian recipe I decided to give it a try. It was so good, wars could be prevented by serving it. The technique is called acqua pazza, or crazy water-- as in it's friggin' crazy that my fish could taste this good by poaching it in water!

There's a ton of different recipes for the actual poaching water, but I'll share the one I used. The fish you use is ultimately up to you, but I'd recommend a white, meaty fleshed fish such as halibut, tilapia, bass, etc. For crying out loud, do NOT use orange roughy or I will hunt you down and beat you with my tiny little fists. Tangent: Orange Roughy is a deeeeeeeep water fish and they don't reach reproductive maturity (ie. they can't get knocked up) until they're about 30-35 years old. When do humans reach reproductive maturity? Eleven? Anyway, there's literally no restrictions on the fishery (which is categorized as deep sea mining, wtf) which means we're catching and eating EVERYONE in the population whether they've been able to pop a couple kids out or not. This is NOT a sustainable fishery. Whew, back to the subject.

So originally, this recipe was used by Neopolitan fishermen who would poach their daily catch of white fish in seawater with tomatoes and olive oil, so as you can imagine the basic ingredients you would use for it today are salt, water, tomatoes, and olive oil. The addition of a few aromatics make this dish one of my top favorites and one I plan to use to seduce Mr. Right (or his mother, for that matter). On to the recipe!

Over medium heat, cook:
1/2 c diced carrot
1/2 c diced fennel bulb
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

After ~5 min add either 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz) or 1 1/2 c diced fresh tomatoes
1 c water
1/2 c dry white wine (like a chardonnay or something)
1/4 c chopped/sliced kalamata olives
2 Tbsp capers
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
salt to taste (probably only about 1/2 tsp or so since lots of the ingredients are salty) and only add the salt once the rest of it has reduced.

Simmer until reduced by about half, then lay your fish in the mixture and cover for 8-10 minutes. Flip your fish halfway through. Serve in a shallow dish and garnish it with some of the pretty fennel fronds. Great when served with mashed potatoes and a simple green salad.

Enjoy your "trip" to Italy!