The moment my hand pulled back from the plate, it was besieged by a swarm of chopsticks as the girls descended on the fish like wolves. Before long, content moans and groans filled the intimate dining space, a chef's favorite sound. Though there was one voice in particular from the choir, and I wasn't the only one to notice.
"What's wrong, Red? Not a fan of raw fish?" Ashe asked, referring to Lois by her newly appointed nickname.
"Y-yes, I'm not a big fan of the…texture," Lois replied after a quick pause, trying to come up with an excuse for why she wasn't eating the sashimi. Besides Megan and Patty, no one else knew about Lois' pregnancy, at her own insistence, and I was more than happy to respect her decision. Which was why, before anyone could question Lois' slight hesitancy, I put down another dish in front of her, "Don't worry, I didn't forget, try this, Seared Bass with a Ponzu Glaze, fully cooked with a much firmer texture."
The dish was very simple, just a decent-sized piece of fish grilled over a charcoal grill on high, branding the flesh with the signature grill marks on both sides. The cooked piece was then glazed with a mixture of ponzu, sugar, and sesame oil and served on a bed of crisp butterleaf lettuce. Nothing flashy, but the simple flavors paired well to create a very palatable, light appetizer.
Looking up from the dish, Lois stared at me with a grateful look in her eyes as she picked up her fork, "It look's delicious, thank you."
"You are oh so welcome," I replied, with a satisfied smile, before leaving the girls to enjoy their first course and resuming my cooking.
Having bought myself a bit of time, I could now begin my usual prep work instead of focusing on just one dish. The first thing I did was butcher the rest of the fish, at the very least removing the organs and cleaning out the body cavities. Though for most of them, I went ahead and processed the meat as well, cutting out filets with surgical precision, leaving nothing but bones and skin.
Though they didn't go to waste either, as I managed to find a stock pot and wasted no time putting together a stock base, In addition to the fish bones, skins, and heads, two whole white onions, a handful of pepper corns, thyme, parsley, garlic and ginger were added to the pot before the whole thing was topped off with water and set on the back burner to slowly simmer.
"Hmm, that smells good already," Tricia sat up and leaned forward, her nose in the air as she inhaled deeply, "I'm starting to get hungry again."
"Already?" Summer asked judgmentally as she shot Tricia a sideways glance.
"You guys hogged all the sushi!" Tricia cried out in outrage.
"It's sashimi, not sushi, and you actually took more pieces, Summer. I kept track," Patty corrected with a sly smile, making Tricia's cheeks flush from embarrassment.
"No need to worry, I've got your next course coming right up," I interjected while keeping my eyes trained on my knife as I diced up a small assortment of vegetables and herbs, a small red onion, several tomatoes, cucumbers, a jalapeno for a bit of spice, and a bunch of finely chopped up cilantro.
Once the herbaceous melady was combined in a bowl, I took out the cubed bass I had diced earlier and left it to soak in a mixture of freshly squeezed lime and lemon juice, essentially cooking the fish, causing its texture to firm up and its flesh to turn opaque.
The fish and acidic citrus juice were added to the bowl and thoroughly mixed before I added the final ingredient, diced avocado, which I hadn't added earlier to avoid mashing the soft flesh while mixing.
"Here we are," I set down the bowl along with a side of tortilla chips, "Stripped Bass Ceviche."
"So is it like a dip?" Ashe questioned as she stared at the ceviche, "Haven't seen something like this before."
"It's a Peruvian dish," I explained while wiping off my hands with a towel, "If you're a fan of Latin flavors, then I strongly encourage you to try it."
"Oh…It's really good!" Megan declared as she held up her hand in front of her mouth, still mid-chew from her first bite, "Everyone's gotta try this."
With Meagan's seal of approval, everyone quickly picked up a chip of their own to scoop up the mixture of fish, herbs, and vegetables.
Soon, my favorite sound was playing once more, and I was moving on to my next dish. The first step was to make a wet rub with onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, honey, lime juice, salt, pepper, and a dab of whole-grain mustard.
Then, taking a hake I had left whole after removing the guts, I washed out the body cavity one last time, then patted it dry and coated the fish with the wet rub, inside and out. Once the fish was fully coated, I stuffed the body cavity with aromatics, stitched it closed with wooden stakes, and threw it into the oven to bake.
"Alright, Ashe, I think I've kept you waiting long enough," I announced as I took out a heavy cast-iron Dutch oven and filled it with frying oil, "About damn time!"
Setting the burner to high, I left the oil heating as I prepared my fish and spuds. The potatoes were easy. I peeled them, sliced them into spears, then par-boiled them before throwing the half-cooked fries into the refrigerator to chill and firm up.
For the fish, I used the rest of the hake to form three-inch filets before making my wet and dry batters. Deciding to keep things classic, I did a simple mixture of cornstarch, salt, and pepper for the dry batter, and for the wet, I used the same ingredients with the critical addition of paprika, flour, and a pale IPA.
Checking the oil, I found it bubbling, meaning it was the perfect temperature to fry. Before I finished the fish fry, I took out the baked hake, which had taken on a beautiful reddish-golden hue.
I took out the wooden stakes and the aromatics before serving the fish on a platter, leaving the girls to pick at the fish's flaky, marinated meat with their forks while I got back to frying.
The fries went into the oil first, and five minutes later came out as perfectly golden spears that only needed a sprinkle of salt to finish them off as they cooled on a wire rack. The fish was next, a dip in the dry batter, followed by the wet, and then into the oil before coming out covered in flaky goodness.
With the fry jobs over, the food was almost ready, but it wouldn't be a proper fish fry without the proper condiments. Mayo, cappers, dill, dijon mustard, sweet relish, onion powder, garlic powder, and a squeeze of lemon juice were thrown into a bowl and mixed together to make a tarter sauce. Next came the cocktail sauce, a base of ketchup, combined with Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, lemon, garlic, and a dash of hot sauce.
After that, there was nothing to do but plate. Silver ramekins were filled with their respective sauces, while each plate received four pieces of perfectly battered fish, a generous helping of fries, and two lemon wedges for added acidity, if one so desired.
"Yes, finally!" Ashe celebrated with a broad grin as I set down the parchment-lined basket in front of her and could barely get my hand out of the way before she reached for a piece of fish.
"Final verdict?" I asked and received an enthusiastic nod along with a thumbs-up, 'Perfect streak so far, now let's see if I can bring this home with a bang.'
Grabbing the biggest pot I could find in the kitchen, I filled it with water before dropping in the equivalent of a bath bomb. Instead of essential oils and colorful dyes, the double layer of cheesecloth was filled with mustard, celery, dill, coriander, allspice, cloves, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and paprika, turning the water a deep red as it began to bubble.
Once the boil was ready, I grabbed a small pointed knife and got to work. One by one, I reached into the bucket of crabs, pulled the unfortunate individual out, and drove the knife into the slot right beneath its eye stalks, instantly destroying the nervous system center and killing the crustacean. Before long, all of them were in the pot cooking and soaking up the boil's flavors for at least fifteen minutes, which gave me enough time to serve a palate cleanser, a small saucer of the fish stock that had been cooking throughout the entire meal.
But when the fifteen minutes were up, I grabbed the pot and poured out most of the boiling liquid before dumping the rest onto the countertop, covering it with bright red, perfectly boiled crabs.
.