Our Daily Dinner

Our Daily Dinner

September 16, 2010

Dinner without George: Skate

Yesterday was George’s birthday. His brother and sister-in-law had planned a party. Alas, George is still in the hospital and we observed the day according to the ICU rules: no flowers, no food, no champagne.

A friend invited me for dinner, but I needed to be home. I cooked skate--
a fish I love-- dressed with my favorite condiments. At first, I thought
I would have Prosecco, but dismissed that as being too pretentious. Besides, as much as I like champagne or sparkling wine for an aperitif, I don’t think it pairs well with food. I decided on Wilm’s Alsatian 2009 Riesling instead.

Menu

Skate Mayonnaise
Peas
Yellow baby tomatoes
Wine: Wilm Riesling 2009
Dessert: Biscotti

Jane Grigson’s paper bag "Fish Cookery" came out in 1973. Rediscovering it among my cookbooks, I became a new devotee. Those were the days
when butter and cream reigned high and the pleasures of the table were
not measured by counting calories. Grigson gives five recipes for skate.
The one I liked best was skate mayonnaise. It also fitted into my
schedule. I prepped everything in the morning and assembled the rest
in the evening.

Recipe Skate Mayonnaise

Instead of poaching the fish in court-bouillon, I poached it in white wine, spiked with bay leaves and a bouquet garni. As suggested, I dressed the poached fish with a little vinaigrette, made with lemon juice and olive oil.

In the evening, I seasoned Kiwi mayonnaise with lemon and added a lot of
capers. I put some lettuce leaves on the place, arranged the skate on top
and poured the mayonnaise over it.

I lapped it all up. At the end I made little mayo and lettuce sandwiches. The Riesling did the rest. Only George was missing.

1 comment:

Robert said...

I was curious to cook skate after your post and realize now I have never had it. It was a surprise to discover the flesh of the fish rests on a fan-like structure of bones. I am also not familiar with kiwi mayonnaise, if you buy it prepared or make it yourself. I stuck with your capers -another recipe suggested a cauliflower, bacon, croutons, and caper dish to accompany skate. That pungent dish went well with the sweet skate, but I'm still not sure about its texture, which I scraped off the bone structure and, it was...well, weird. I'll have to do some more research.
Peggy