Play With Your Food: A perfect union of local ingredients
I was so happy last week to have my first corn of the season — tender, sweet and delicious! I decided to use it as a base for this recipe, adding local ingredients to make a succotash.
When helpmate saw that I was using beans and zucchini she said, “Why don’t you call it three sisters?”
A demonstration at Sylvester Manor last year showed how Native Americans used to “companion plant” corn, beans and squash, because when it came to getting the most out of mother earth, they were the best!
I think the country as a whole was better off when they were running it, but I digress. Anyway, the corn as it grew provided a natural trellis for the beans, and the squash, with its spiny stems and giant leaves, deterred pests and provided a natural cover or mulch.
Most of this recipe’s time is in the mise en place, but it goes together quickly, and you can use any kind of fish or poultry for a topper. I selected some incredible striped bass sold by Alice’s at the Havens House farmer’s market and made a simple sage-lemon butter to finish it.
I’m a big fan of cast iron pans, and I used them for both the succotash and the fish, but if you’re feeling adventurous you could also try grilling everything! As the summer progresses, you can also add peppers, eggplant, tomatoes or anything else you fancy to the veggies. Play around!
Pan-roasted striped bass with toasted sage-lemon butter and ‘Three Sisters’ succotash
Prep time 45 minutes; Cooking time 15 minutes; Serves 4
For the succotash:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 small spring onions, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, ¼ inch dice
½ pound string beans, cut in ¾ inch pieces
Raw kernels cut from 2 ears of corn
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (optional)
1 dozen basil leaves, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat a large cast iron pan over medium heat, adding the olive oil and butter to the pan. When the butter melts, add the garlic and onions and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until softened and just slightly golden.
Increase the heat slightly and stir in the zucchini, beans and corn. Stir frequently, adding just a bit more olive oil if necessary, and cook until just tender, maybe 7 or 8 minutes. Stir in the optional vinegar, basil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
For the toasted sage-lemon butter:
10 whole sage leaves
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) butter
Juice from one lemon
In a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sage leaves and fry them, turning them once or twice, until crispy. Remove the pan from the heat, then drain the fried leaves on a paper towel.
When the leaves are cool to the touch, crumble them and return them to the butter and stir in the lemon juice. Set aside.
For the striped bass:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ to 2 pounds skin-on striped bass fillet, cut in eight 1 ½ inch thick slices, seasoned on all sides with salt and pepper.
Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil shimmers and is nearly smoking, carefully place the fish slices in the pan. The fish will stick to the pan and this is a good thing!
The cast iron will provide a delicious crust for each side of the fish slices as you cook them, using a metal spatula to scrape them from the pan. By the time you have a crust on all three of the skinless sides, the fish will be nearly done. Reduce the heat to low and let the fish continue to cook until you can pierce the flesh easily with a two-tined fork, meeting no resistance.
Plating:
Reheat the succotash and divide among four plates. Warm the sage-lemon butter slightly. Place two slices of fish on the succotash and drizzle the butter over them. Serve immediately.
To drink? A nice crisp Sauvignon blanc!
