One of the things you learn when taking part in a virtual cooking club is that there’s no such thing as universal. I don’t just mean time zones or even seasons, though our southern hemisphere friends have had to put up a valiant effort in the face of a schedule based on North American food cycles. Whether or not you’re able to complete the week’s assignment as written can depend on whether you’re urban or rural, on the coast or in the interior, near the equator or near the permafrost line.
We’ve had lively discussions about whether or not certain vegetables would be available when we wanted them and the substitutions we’ve seen give us insight into the personalities of our fellow cooks as often as they teach us about the regions where they live.
I’ve been pretty lucky in finding the ingredients I need, but it seems in the fish category there are a lot of Atlantic choices that don’t appear regularly in West Coast markets. This week’s dish called for monkfish, a fish that needs to clock a lot of food miles to find its way to Vancouver. I decided to look for a sustainable alternative and asked for some advice.
There was some nice BC sablefish at the fishmonger, so I went with that. It was a good choice for this dish – the flesh is rich and stands up well against the intensity of the carrots. Carrots cooked in carrot juice sounds a little strange, but the result is tender medallions in a sauce boosted with butter and fresh rosemary. This would have been nice with mashed potatoes or celery root purée, and that’s what I’d serve it with for a dinner party. Tonight, though, I was more than satisfied with the fish and carrots. I suspect the bits of bacon added at the end were what made me feel I had a well-rounded meal.
Back-of-the-Card Cheese and Olive Bread
This quick bread is the reason this week’s post became a French Saturday entry. After dinner, I really wanted to bake something. Baking is an excellent antidote to a busy week for me. So, I took a look at my catch up list and got to work on this one. I had some Asiago cheese in the fridge to use up and I made a vegan tapenade (for what it’s worth in a loaf full of milk and cheese), but those were my only deviations from the recipe.
There’s so much Asiago packed into this bread that I’d nearly classify it as a bread-studded olive cheese, rather than a cheese and olive loaf. It’s full of Mediterranean flavours, with the tapenade and lemon zest providing bright notes against the sharpness of the Asiago.
My only regret is that I don’t have any bubbly wine to accompany this loaf. I urge you to pick some up before you attempt this recipe, which you can find on Dorie’s website.
Here are the links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts on this week’s recipe: Monkfish and Double Carrots. And go way back to June of last year for a look at everyone’s Back-of-the-Card Cheese and Olive Bread.
One Wet Foot 
Sablefishy looks good! The picture was not showing up but after double clicking the placeholder icon the image opened in a separate browser window. 🙂
One of the supermarkets here just added an olive bar to its deli and that is a recipe I still need to catch up with. I’m thinking kalamata tapenade. 🙂
I’m not sure what’s up with that photo. I may have to go in and take it out of the post and then re-upload.
Kalamata tapenade sounds great for this!
Clicking on that spot opens up a plate of gold! Totally awesome! I see myself using double carrot sauce again, soon!
Yeah, the double carrots would be good with any number of meals.
The double carrot sauce was a revelation! And I remember that bread – so so good!
A revelation, indeed. And the bread is so good I don’t think I’ll bother finding anyone to share it with…
It really is interesting, I’m always facinated to learn which ingredients cause troubles where. Lucky for me, monk fish is easy to find in Germany but plain carrot juice was not to be found. Who would have thought.
We have a juicer, so I didn’t buy the carrot juice, but I’ve seen it in the supermarket here, as well.
Yes, monkfish is not a common fish here either. Glad you were able to find a great sustainable alternative. You have me hankering over olive and cheese loaf and bubbles …
Give in! It’s a great weekend treat. 🙂
Hi Teresa, there are heaps of uses for your vege juice pulp – see this Pinterest site:
Thanks, Gaye! I never want to waste it.
First, Teresa, I loved, loved, loved that bread. May I repeat one more time, at the risk of being boorish, that back-of-the-box or can recipes are some of the best and under used recipes I’ve found. Companies spend so much money on R&D and creating menus using their products. Okay, off my box! I look at the Monterey site to get fish updates but have never gone the e-mail route. That’s neat. Your sablefish sounds like a good sub. Everyone loved the carrot sauce. Because of your e-mail, I think I will use Pacific cod and make this recipe for next week. Cannot find Jerusalem artichoke from anyone, even Whole Foods. Nice Post. Loved the framing of the fish pix.
I don’t think you can repeat that too often, Mary. My favourite cake recipe (sadly lost) was from one of those recipe booklets companies used to mail out. And I’ve found all sorts of good recipes on the back of boxes or the inside of labels.
I tweeted to Ocean Wise because some of their suggestions on the site seemed a bit contradictory. I was glad that they got back to me so quickly.
I may be doing a catch up next week, too, unless the sunchokes show up in the market.
I was very surprised to find that Monk was an Atlantic fish (and was relieved to have found it). The sable sounds delicious – I am sure this dish would have gone great with a lot of different types of fish.
The sunchokes were tough – I have only seen them a couple of times in the four years we have been doing FFwD.
The sablefish was wonderful! I do see them here every year, but it’s later. I should have gone with my instinct last winter and made/photographed the two dishes when I started seeing the sunchokes in the market. The food co-op has red kuri squash in now, so I know what I’ll be making this weekend…
I think the star of this one was the double carrots, and the fish itself is secondary. A local fish is always the best choice, so your instinct was the right one. We’re both lucky to live near the coast, though with different native choices. I remember that bread being really rich, probably because of the way your characterized it, more cheese than bread.
I agree, the carrots were the centre of this dish – so good! I love seeing everyone’s regional choices and how the seasons work across this continent and in the other places Doristas live. And yes, the bread is SO rich. It’s quite a treat, but one I won’t have very often.
Yeah, if I actually found monkfish around here, I’d have worried it wasn’t fresh. I’m glad the cod worked well. And I love seeing the catch up posts…I need to start making some of these dishes more than once 🙂
Yes, that is a worry. Your scallops looked so wonderful, I almost wish I’d chosen those. The catch ups are fun, though it’s embarrassing how far behind I’ve gotten.
Glad you liked this one too. Now we will see what we can do for next week. I have not found the elusive Jerusalem artichokes yet.
I haven’t seen them yet, either. I didn’t have a chance to visit the Farmers’ Market this weekend, so if they don’t show up in the markets this week, I’ll be doing a catch up post.
I do have to chuckle because I am getting to the point where I don’t even recall some of these prior recipes that I have made myself. Though there is also a good chance I have that on my make up list too – either way that bread sounds great. I enjoyed reading how you addressed the fish issue. I also thought you really captured the interaction of our global participant list really, really beautifully. Yes, it has become much more than a rote following of directions when we try Dorie’s recipes each week 🙂 – Tricia
Thanks so much, Tricia! I’ve hit that point, too, with some of the recipes. And sometimes when I see one of Emily’s catch up posts, I’m reminded of recipes I loved, but have neglected to make again.
What a great photo!
I think we are lucky with seafood down here and monkfish was readily available at my local seafood store. I thought the carrots would be hard enough to sell to the kids so I played it safe and went with the blue eye cod!
I totally get the baking thing 🙂
Sometimes I’m exhausted at the end of the day however pulling out the baking pans helps me unwind and soothes me. Beautiful bread!
Thanks so much! Your cod looked delicious, too. It’s funny how baking does that, isn’t it?
Teresa, Loved your post..you are so right about all the problems we experience finding the ingredients for each weeks pick! I was quite happy with my scallop choice…it was delicious! Your bread and sablefish with double carrots look mouthwatering! The carrots were definitely the star!
Sablefish is my FAVE. Except when it’s one of those 1 in 1000 that turns to mush (have you ever bought one of those? It’s SO sad.) I will admit that I almost always do the same old same old boring miso recipe with it, so this is a great idea for a change!!! Looks delish!
Thanks, Sarah! I’ve been really lucky with sablefish – no mush so far. Miso sounds wonderful for it, too.