ArcaMax

The Alarmist...

I forgot to tell you about one special creature “in” my Chicago garden. I originally called him The Alarmist.

The building next door, on the south side, is very old. In fact, it’s two buildings built one in front of the other. In modern day, they’ve taken care to use every bit of the lot. In the front building lives the uncle. In the back lives the nephew. He’s on the first floor. Above him lives the niece. And outside live several birds.

The back building was built right after the turn the century. The old brick gives a nice backdrop to that side of the garage roof garden and since it’s only about four feet away from the edge of my patio, it’s almost like I put the wall there myself. The brick looks nice, but most of the rest of the building has not faired so well. The windows are not insulated, so you can see the plastic behind them, held on with duct tape, and behind that a layer of blinds. The roof is shingles (probably the asbestos kind) and they are not in very good shape. There are gaps in the roof where the squirrels used to run in and out. (Those are the now “missing” squirrels). The gutters have become a major condo area for small birds. Several of the birds have set up house in the gaps in the roof too. It’s a very busy place.

Whenever we go out on the patio there’s one bird, in particular, that sets himself on the exact same spot on the gutter and he begins to scold us. I think he’s also warning the bird condo community of our presence. He’s a male chickadee. He’s really quite cute. I started to notice his regular behavior and I decided his title was The Alarmist. I call him that because he and his little bird family, and the other bird families, have nothing to fear from us, but he seems to think it’s his duty, on behalf of all of the birds in the bird condo community to announce our arrival. He continues to announce that “arrival” for about 15 minutes each time, before he calms down and moves farther down the gutter rail and just sits there; with a watchful eye. He must be a good bird father. He’s very loyal to his self-assigned calling.

So we decided to give him a name too. We call him Siren. Or Si for short.

Middle-Eastern Sea Bass with Cucumber Salad-Light and Lively

This is a wonderful, healthy meal. It’s fit for a king, and for guests too. Sea bass is a wonderfully, flavorful fish. It is, however, expensive. You can substitute just about any other white fish in this dish and still have a great meal. Sea bass is just worth those extra dollars for the buttery smooth finish it has when cooked.

This is simple food. So easy to cook, a novice can handle it.

Middle-Eastern Sea Bass with Cucumber Salad -- Light and Lively
Serves 4, can be doubled for a dinner party

4 pieces of sea bass fillets. 5 to 7 oz each. Ask your fish monger to cut them horizontally across the fish. They’ll be about 1.5 inches wide. Ask that person NOT to give you the thinner ends. You want your pieces cut from the center of the fish. If you buy them at Whole Foods they won’t give you a peep of conflict or even roll their eyes.
Cajun seasoning or blackening seasoning to taste
Cumin to taste
Olive oil spray
For the Cucumber Salad
This is a dietetic version of a traditional cucumber salad. Don’t worry. This one tastes great.
2 smallish (6-inch) cucumbers, peeled and cut into large dice or slices. Or use one long, English cucumber. I prefer the English ones.
1 small onion cut into thin slices. Use your mandolin slicer if you have one and put it on level 1. Otherwise just get them as thin as you can. They’ll be fine.
2 Tbl of apple cider vinegar
4 Tbl of water
1 tsp of Stevia. This is a natural sweetener with no calories.
Salt and pepper to taste

For the fish:

Check the fish for bones by running your fingers along the edge. A great fish monger will have removed them for you, but sometimes they miss a few. Pull them out if you can do it without pulling apart the fish. If not, you can pull them out as you are eating the fish. There will not be too many either way.

Spray the fish on top with olive oil spray. Lightly. Then dust on the Cajun seasoning. You want to coat it but not douse it. Then dust the cumin on top of that. The cumin is what gives it the true Middle-Eastern flavor. If you are not used to cumin, go easy the first time. Either way you are just dusting the top to bring out that flavor.

Spray your oven-proof (cast iron is good) cooking pan with another quick spray of olive oil. Put the fish in, flesh-side down. Cook on medium-high, just to give it a bit of a crust. Then carefully flip it over onto the skin side. Put in your oven at 400 degrees. Roast it until done. This will take about 10-13 minutes more. It depends on how thick your fillets are. To check if it’s done, if it has started to separate at all, it’s done. It will shrink slightly too. Otherwise you can put a sharp knife in and see if the fish starts to easily pull away or apart. If it does, it’s finished.

While the fish is roasting you can make your cucumber salad

Place the sliced cucumber and onion in a bowl. Mix them up. In a small bowl pour in your cider vinegar, water and Stevia. Then blend. You can use a whisk. Or I put it in my tiny blender and whiz it that way. You just want it fully mixed and the Stevia will dissolve.

Pour this over your cucumber salad and grate sea salt and pepper to taste. I love the salty addition to this dish. Now, it’s ready to serve. Or you can chill it.

Back to the fish. When the fish is fully cooked you might be able to carefully remove the fish from the pan and leave the skin behind. If you are worried about it breaking apart, just take the spatula and remove the whole thing. When your guests are eating the fish it will slide right off the skin and they can leave that on their plate. Don’t eat the skin.

Serve the cucumber salad on the side.

For most, this is too light a meal. To add a carbohydrate I suggest couscous. You can find Middle-Eastern couscous in a box-mix in most grocery stores. They will come flavored. There’s one with broccoli bits that would look nice with this meal and there’s also a parmesan one or garlic. You can add some red bell pepper bits to it for more color. Another authentic addition would be to warm up some naan. That’s a Middle-Eastern flat bread. Hot naan with a bit of butter spread across the top is heaven. Many stores have garlic naan now too. Yum.

If you have colorful dinner plates I suggest serving this dish on those because the sea bass is predominantly white when it comes out of the oven, with the light-colored crust. The cucumber salad is a light green and the couscous is pretty beige. You can always garnish with some fresh parsley to highlight it or sprinkle minced parsley over the whole dish like some fancy restaurants do.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.