No Reservations

Make the Chef Happy

I'm standing in line at the grocery store, jotting down menu ideas for the week.  Tonight: Filet of sole meuniere, zucchini fritters and an argula salad with sauteed mushrooms, toasted pine nuts and shaved Parmesan.  Organized and relaxed I assemble ingredients.  I rinse the filets and put them in a bowl of milk to tenderize and sweeten the fish.  I throw some flour, salt and papper and a little paprika for color into a bowl and mix it with a fork.  I pull out a lemon and some butter from the 'fridge and grab the jar of capers, just for added zing.  Ok.  We're set for the meuniere.

Zucchini Fritters Aren't That Fattening

Now it's time to make the fritters.  Grate the zucchini, toss it with kosher salt and let it drain in a colander.  Go outside and snip some mint from the potted herb garden, sniff it and realize that it's grown too rangy and skunky, no good for use any more this season, except maybe to dress a dessert plate.  (Mental note: pull it out to give room for the basil and chives; replant next year with peppermint, no more of the spearmint.)  Mince some parsley, green onion and basil, set aside.  Whisk an egg.  Pull out the flour again.  Rinse the zucchini, put in an old dishtowel and wring the zucchini dry.  Put it in a bowl and add the herbs, egg, flour, salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne. Toss in a bit of mixed, grated cheeses and stir.  It's all gloppy and ready for frying by the tablespoonful. Little, pretty golden zucchini rounds.

It's all coming together in record time but I'm in no hurry, just enjoying the feel of the food in my hands, how silky salted and rinsed grated zucchini can feel.  The cheeses smell strong, especially the Romano, and I know they will mesh nicely with the herbs.

Even Frogs Taste Better With Butter

In the meantime, I'm sauteing sliced mushrooms in a little butter and olive oil, until they are golden toasty and have rendered their moisture to the pan's even heat.  I love the smell of mushrooms and butter cooking.  It's earthy and French and in this moment I forgive the French--at least temporarily--for being such pompous cultural and food snobs.  I'm reminded too of a line from No Reservations, a pretty bad remake of a French film about love and trust and cooking, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart.  She's the head chef, has drunk too much red wine and asks him, her sous-chef, in a sort-of test, "What are the three secret ingredients of French cooking?"  Helping her up the stairs to her apartment he says, "That's easy.  Butter.  Butter.  And butter."

Arugula Is Italian for "Downy-Stemmed Plant"

Mushrooms done, I add them to several handfuls of arugula--and let me say right now what a boon to food prep bagged, pre-washed salad greens have become.  I sprinkle in a tablespoon or so of toasted pine nuts and finish it by using my potato peeler to shave a few thin pieces of Grana Padano Parmesan.  What's nice about this cheese is how it's drier than many Parmesans but still holds together for smooth, uncrumbled shavings.  Then, as I was instructed by Dr. and Mrs. Marco Missaglia, while a guest in their home in the lovely town of Mandello del Lario on enchanted Lago di Como, Italy all you need here is a tablespoon of good balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of your best olive oil, some kosher salt and pepper grindings and you've got a simple, fantastic salad dressing that holds up well to the arugula.  I think even George Clooney, vacationing and shooting it with his salonista pals at his nearby villa in Bellagio would approve.

With all the elements assembled and ready for execution, I saute the flour-dipped sole quickly in butter, pull the filets out and add lemon juice and capers, swirling everything in the pan to a nice, glossy finish.  What a wonderful smell comes wafting up as I pour this tangy glaze onto the fish!  There.  It's all done.  I assemble it on the plate, add a little garnish for color, and Voila!  As Stimpy might say to Ren: "Dinner is sah-erved."