Ugly Food

I made a delicious dinner two nights ago that I wanted to take a picture of, but it was too hideous for words. Everything was brown and sad looking. I was bemoaning the ugliness, but Chris rightly pointed out that taste should be paramount. If it weren't for this blog, then I would have been utterly thrilled.

Chilean Sea Bass, aka Patagonian Toothfish, a prohibitively expensive, super succulent white fish that has been way overfished has been reintroduced to Whole Foods. They claim it's totally sustainable now. But it's even more expensive than it used to be. On a splurgey lark, I bought a little chunk while my mom was visiting. We marinated it in miso, soy, mirin and brown sugar. Then she left before we had a chance to broil it. I managed to heat up a bit with Chris. This fish is amazing, it's almost impossible to overcook because of it's high fat content. I definitely pushed the limit because I got distracted by something pretty on the interweb. So when I pulled it out, it wasn't that pretty and I didn't have high hopes. The flesh looked dry and was beginning to separate. Instead, it was slightly firm. It had an almost crustacean like taste- rich, smooth buttery, each piece distinct.

On the side, I made a pasta with broccoli rabe, home canned tomato confit and home-roasted, home-grown pepper. Lots of garlic, lots of good olive oil and grated parm. YUMMTY. The broccoli rabe had wilted down a lot and got a little brown from the balsamic I put in, and the pasta looked like little worms (forget what it's called).

None of this meal was pretty, all of it was delicious.