Roughing it
By Jeremy Goodwin, May 25, 2007


As I get older I find that my comfort has become increasingly important and a large part of that is to do with the quality of my food. I have recently returned from an extended vacation that included both bay and deep-sea fishing based in a fairly isolated cottage. Packing for the trip revealed how much has changed over the 30 odd years since I left home.

I used to think nothing of throwing a random assortment of clothes into a rucksack and hiking across Europe for three or four months, making sure I had an army mess kit, small knife and a toothbrush in my possession, anticipating the easy availability of everything else.

This latest trip I found my knees going red with embarrassment, for in my haste to depart I neglected to take any long trousers. However I did remember to pack six bags of fresh herbs from my garden, my favorite fillet knife along with my Japanese chef’s knife, two different homemade spice mixes, saffron, two kinds of dried pepper, a four-liter can of olive oil, two pounds of high cream butter, bouillon cubes, sea salt, a bottle of sweet white vermouth, a couple of jars of assorted dried herbs, a pound of Cuban coffee, a hunk of Belgian chocolate, teapot with my favorite loose tea, one cast iron skillet and an apron. I am inordinately glad of the apron with the adjustable length as I barely recognized the source of the hoot that escaped from my mouth the first time spatterings of hot olive oil contacted purple, sunburned knees.

In retrospect, I went under-prepared, as the cutting board in the cottage was painted pine; there was no kettle and the ubiquitous skinny aluminum, Teflon coated cookware was in abundance. The few attempts to eat out were studies in contrasts. At one restaurant I had plump, fragrant oyster shooters followed by a prime rib so salty that I had to take most of it home and wash it: With a couple of eggs, it made a fine breakfast. At a Chinese (run by Vietnamese) restaurant I had probably the most delicately balanced, subtly flavored hot and sour soup I have tasted, followed by a Hunan chicken dish containing so much MSG that the ensuing headache lasted two days.

Given the limited facilities and the fact that it was meant to be a holiday, I had not intended to spend much time cooking, so every dish was based on the original premise of “The Single Man’s Kitchen.” The emphasis on speedy preparation was intended never to obscure the emphasis on nutrition or flavor, and having to throw together something tasty after a long day on the water encouraged either the set and forget or ready in five minutes mentality.

Combining pot usage helped a lot and when it came to cooking a couple of filleted fish with green beans and quick-roast potatoes, I used the water for boiling the potatoes to blanche the beans first and then just gave them the beans a quick sauté while the fish was cooking. The potatoes were simmering while I took a shower and then drained, seasoned and stuck in the oven for five minutes to brown. The results were a plain, simple dish designed not to overwhelm the very delicate taste of the spotted weakfish (speckled trout to Texans) It probably took me more time to fillet and scale the fish and peel the potatoes than it took me time at the stove cooking. Done this way the fish will flake and melt in your mouth.

With a spring mix salad containing some hard-boiled pullet eggs sliced on top, the entire meal occupied probably less than ten minutes of my attention at the end of a long, tiring and windblown day. 


This is a quick dish for two people; just increase the ingredients proportionally if you need to serve more.



For the beans

¾ lb green beans, topped and tailed

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 fluid ounces sweet white vermouth

pinch of black pepper

salt to taste



For the potatoes

1 lb potatoes, peeled or just well washed

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon black pepper


Fish

4 fillets of trout (speckled, sea, sand brown or rainbow)

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon dried thyme



Heat 4 quarts of water in a large saucepan until boiling. Throw in the beans and blanche for 3 minutes or less. Meanwhile cut the potato into eight pieces all about the same size and preheat the oven to 500°. Remove the beans and replace them with the potato. Run the beans under cold water or place in an ice bath to stop the cooking. You now have about 10 minutes until the potatoes begin to soften. Check them with a fork or skewer and when they are easily penetrated, drain them, add the olive oil and pepper and toss them until coated. Immediately spread them on a baking sheet or in a skillet and put them in the oven to brown.


Heat the olive oil up for the beans until almost smoking. Add the beans and toss to coat them thoroughly. Cook at high heat for about two minutes then add the vermouth, turn the heat down to low and cover. Heat the oil for the fish in a cast iron or stainless skillet until almost smoking. Meanwhile barely cut the skin in diagonal stripes about an inch apart to prevent curling. Add the fish carefully to the oil and sprinkle with the thyme. Weak fish like trout will cook in three to five minutes so this step should be left until the potatoes are nearly brown enough to serve.