Gute Essen

Deep Down in my Sole, I Know This is Right

Saturday, August 23, 2008 | Leave a comment »

Cornmeal Crusted Sole, Tomato Jam and Ricotta on Toasted Peasant Bread
Filet-o-Fish? Yeah. And Twinkee the Kid is my Son with Mrs. Butterworth. Although, for a syrup bottle, you gotta admit, she's pretty stacked.

Somehow I just made more dishes in the past five hours making only seven things (and really only finishing three of them) than I think I made the past two Thanksgivings put together. My hands are still wrinkled (OMG dishpan hands? DAWN FTW) and I actually ran out of mixing bowls. But what you're looking at up there (for the Flickr title-challenged) is a cornmeal crusted piece of sole on top of some fresh ricotta cheese, homemade tomato jam all stacked on toasted peasant bread.

Tomato jam is something I see on menus all the time, but never really made — it always sounded like it might be a pain in the ass. As usual, it seems, I was right. Oh holy fuck though it is amazing. I'll even write out the recipe in a normal fashion here for you it was that good. But let this be a warning to you -- it takes about two to three hours and gotta watch it a little so it doesn't scorch. Just imagine a more intensely tomato, less acidic/pickle-flavored ketchup. This will go on sandwiches until the last bit has been scraped out with my finger one morning.

Cornmeal Crusted Sole with Jalapeno Corn Relish
Really, the band just gave the vegetable a really bad name.

The corn succotash/relish/whatever was a last minute decision since I'm sort of sick of just plain corn on the cob. I roasted three jalapeños and then cooked them with some red onion and garlic, then added the corn and a little butter. Those chilis were straight up punch you in the crotch hot though. This has been the first time a jalapeño has bested me in a long time. I should have thrown a little sugar in there to balance it out and hit it lime juice at the end, but, eh. It was still fucking awesome.

Which brings us to the fish. A nice fillet of sole fresh from the farmers market this morning, simply dredged in seasoned corn meal and pan fried in a little olive oil.

Tomato Jam

  • 5 or so large ripe tomatoes
  • 1 medium red onion
  • 1 tbls sugar
  • 2 tbls sherry vinegar

  1. Peel the tomatoes by putting them in a large bowl and covering them with boiling water for about 60-90 seconds. Take them out and plunge them into another bowl with ice water in it.
  2. Core and quarter the tomatoes. Remove the seeds over a fine mesh strainer set in a bowl.
  3. Cut the onion into small wedges (it's called "frenching") and in a small non-reactive saucepan over medium heat, start sweating it with a pinch of salt in just a little bit of olive oil.
  4. Let the onion sweat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes sticky, soft and translucent.
  5. Add the strained juice from the seeds (discard the seeds) and any collected juice from the tomatoes and turn the heat to high Reduce the liquid until it forms a thick syrup and then add the tomatoes. When they start to boil, add a little more salt to taste and let simmer until reduced to about 1/8 the original volume.
  6. Stir in the sugar and vinegar (little at time to taste -- you don't want to overpower anything).
  7. Eat with wild abandon.

categories: tomato jam

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