This one is a winner...I love Sundays, especially during the fall. You've got the return of football and your team still has a chance, the air is getting crisp, and ski season is on the horizon. Sundays are also great days to cook. Rather than jjst parking it on the couch with a beer, why not sort yourself out for the week and make some great stuff with NFL Sunday Ticket on in the background? That's what I did Sunday anyway.
So, I hit the farmer's mkt, and picked up some nice looking Opakapaka. Opakapaka is also known as Crimson Snapper or Hawaiian Pink Snapper, and is a mild, white fish -- which is just what I like. Anything that tastes slightly fishy...just can't eat it. On a sustainability level, Opakapaka is okay, depending on where it's caught -- preferably the Northwestern Hawaiian islands where the populations are still healthy. A good alternative to Opakapaka, according to Seafood Watch is Farmed Striped Bass.
Brooke, meanwhile, wanted to make some more fresh pesto, but this time instead of using pine nuts as in traditional pesto, she used pistachios -- which turned out beautiful. The pistachios give the pesto a much richer flavor and thick, hearty texture. As good fortune would have it, both pistachio encusted and pesto are common preparations for Opakapaka, so it seemed like we were in the chips.
We also have a bunch of tomatoes on hand -- our four tomato plants are finally producing, so I decided to make some kind of tomato relish. We made the relish and pesto Sunday, then put it together last night, which was great, because we had a great dinner on a Monday night that took almost no time to get together.
Here's what you'll need:
1/2 lb Opakapaka or Farmed Striped Bass
2 handfuls of various small to med sized tomatoes
2 Fresh Chilis - I used Cherry Bombs and red Jalapenos
1 Sweet Onion
2 cups fresh basil
1/3 cup Pistachios
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
To make the pesto, please see my "Pesto Buccatini with Diver Scallops" post, but subsititute pistachios for pine nuts.
For onion portion if the relish, make sauteed onions ala Jon Waxman, as in my previous bay Scallops post.
Take your tomatoes -- small to medium sized like cherry, roma, and lemon boy, grab a knife and give them some stabs. You want the tomatoes to break open and fall apart, and this will give them a head start. Clean your chilis (slice open, remove seeds and the while spongy stuff inside), cut in half and then into 1-2" strips. Put the chilis into a sauce pan, add some olive oil and sautee for about 5 mins. Give them a good bashing with your wooden spoon as they cook. Add salt and pepper. After 5 mins or so, add a cup of dry white wine, bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for about an hour. The tomatoes and wine should really reduce down to a cutney like consistency. Once the consistency is to you liking, combine the tomatoes with the sweet onions, and simmer for 10 minutes.
After combining the onions with the tomatoes, turn your BBQ on full whack and heat to 400-500 degrees. Then, rinse your Opakapaka and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper and rub both sides with olive oil. Then, coat the fish with your pesto -- you may need to add a little more olove oil to it to get it to spread nice on the fish. Don't be shy, get a nice coating on there.
Grill the fish about 6 minutes a side with the top closed or until your fish is white, but slightly translucent all the way through.
Plate, cover with relish, eat and enjoy!
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