Fennel Crusted Bluefish and Faux Panzanella

 Look at that, I start a new job and poof! no time to update the blog for 10 days! It is a sign of the times. Anyway, Marc and I cooked together the other night after I got home. I must say it was quite entertaining.

 This is an easy summer dish that can be thrown together pretty quickly. I also served it with organic, bicolor, summer corn. Yum.

 Fennel Crusted Bluefish

The fennel crusted bluefish recipe is adapted from the Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I recommend this book for learning how to cook the basics. My Aunt Janet gave it to me years ago when I first expressed an interest in cooking in my quasi-adult years. (She works in a test kitchen, so I trust her advice on cookbooks.)

Ingredients:
2- 6-8 oz filets of wild fresh Bluefish
2 t anise (or fennel) seeds
1/2 t whole pepper corns (crushed with a mortar and pestle)
1/2 t fresh sea salt
splash olive oil (just to coat the pan)

1. Rinse fish and pat dry. Set aside.
2. Mix salt, pepper, and anise seeds together.
3. Rub fish (not the skin side) with the spice mixture.
4. Heat pan with oil until just hot. Saute fish over medium high until golden brown on each side.
5. Then cover the fish with a lid and saute over medium until the center of the fish flakes away with a fork. This will probably take about 6-7 minutes but be sure to check periodically as to not overcook the fish.

Faux Panzanella

The Faux Panzanella recipe is adapted from the Martha Stewart Great Food Fast cookbook, which I talked about in one of my earlier posts. It is the perfect side for a summer meat or fish.

Ingredients: 
1 baguette
1/4 c (+ more for bread) extra virgin olive oil
1 large cucumber
3 large vine-ripe tomatoes
1/4 cup loosely packed basil
fresh sea salt
freshly grated pepper
1 T red wine vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to broil. Cut the baguette in half and brush with olive oil. Then broil the bread until toasted and crispy (~3 minutes). Remove the bread and let cool until cold enough to cut up into 1 inch cubes.
2. Peel and cut cucumber into large cubes. Cut tomatoes into large cubes. Chop basil.
3. Mix cucumber, tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar together.
4. Add the bread and mix until the it is just coated with the sauce.
5. Serve immediately with the fish.

**I had some leftovers and brought it to work for lunch the next day. I was wondering if the bread would be soggy and taste grose, but it was good!