Special Dinner for Nathaniel

This was not a simple meal--about 2 hours in the making.

The first part was Cold Curried Yellow Squash Soup from Jane Laties' recipe collection. I made a double batch. The single calls for 1.5 lb. yellow summer squash, 1 med. onion, 1T gingerroot, 3 cl. garlic, 2t curry powder, 6c. veg. broth, 1 med. potatoe. It also includes a cilantro-lime puree as a garnish, but I left this out.

Naturally, I was behind on time and hadn't made the soup ahead (It's supposed to chill for 4 hrs.) so I did an adaptation to fast-forward it. Here's how. . .
I started the oil (3T) heating in the 14-inch All-Clad and sliced then chopped the onion. Put it in and while it was getting soft (high heat) sliced the squash. (I got some beautiful organic yellow summer squash at the market.) Put that it and let it go about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I minced the ginger and garlic. When the squash was soft, put in the garlic, ginger, curry powder. Put in two boxes (8 cups) vegetable broth (Trader Joes--heavy on the carrot). Since I was making a double, I needed 12 c. liquid, but I was going to use less since I'd be adding water and ice to cool it later. Put an aluminum rectangular cake pan in the freezer to cool while it was simmering. After about 10 minutes when the flavors had blended, I took it off. Put it in the blender a few cups at a time. Put this into the cold cake pan (for lots of surface area.) Added 4 cups of mostly ice and some water. Stirred it in and put it back in the freezer. The whole thing was quite cold in about 40 minutes when I served it. (Prep time for the whole soup was near an hour.)

Back to the main meal--I had already gotten the charcoal grill going while making the soup (while the squash was getting soft.) It was pretty well flaming by the time I put the soup to cool. Went out and dumped the coals from the top rack where I started them to the lower rack where they're supposed to be. (I just use newspaper to start up.) I wanted to grill the beautiful Orange Roughy I had gotten at the market that day--enough for 7 (7 fillets--just under 3 lbs. I started the red onion vinaigrette that was going to go on top of the fish.
This is from a great recipe for "Broiled Sole with Red Onion-Herb Vinaigrette from a wonderful cookbook called Great Fish Quick by Leslie Revisin. There are dozens of recipes my family loves in there.
The vinaigrette recipe calls for 5T olive oil, 1 c. finely diced red onion, 2T rice wine vinegar, 1t lemon juice, 2t chives, 2t dill, 1T basil, 1 ½ t tarragon. I chopped the red onion and sautéed it to not quite soft in 2T oil. Removed and added remaining oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Let sit. Chopped herbs for the vinaigrette and about a quarter cup chopped dill for the potatoes.
I went out and smoothed the charcoal and added a new layer of charcoal on top to get it a bit hotter. Put on a big pot of water for boiled potatoes.
I had people helping me so I had them clean the potatoes (skins on, nice organic small brown skinned potatoes—forget what type),prep fresh green beans, just cutting off ends, and prep salad vegetables—red and green peppers with cucumber.
I prepped the fish. Washed and dried it, then folded each fillet over so that narrow end fold under, and it makes a rough rectangle of nearly uniform thickness. Put on s & p and brushed on olive oil—both sides.
Put potatoes in boiling water.
I went out and put on the grilling rack I have that goes on top of the grill’s regular rack. This is a rectangular piece of stainless steel with small holes in it. It makes flipping easier and is great for doing vegetables or other things that would fall between the bars of the regular grill rack.
Went inside and put water on to steam the beans, then prepped the lettuce—red leaf and spring mix—for the salad. Put the beans
Now the grill was just right. Took the fish out in a large pan and put each piece on the grill. Covered it.
Went inside and took potatoes out and drained; added fake butter. Put the salad together and dressed it (regular balsamic and olive oil). This took maybe 4 minutes.
Went out and flipped the fish—still pretty firm. Made sure cooler sections were closer to the fire. Left the top off for hotter heat.
Inside, added the chopped herbs to the vinaigrette and stirred it up.
Went out with a platter. Took the fish off, center pieces first. It was just a bit browned on both sides.
Brought fish in, topped each piece with the vinaigrette, garnished the plate with chives WITH FLOWERS I had seen at the market that day. (Very fragrant—phew!—in the fridge after, even in plastic.) They were perfect for the dish. That’s the photo.

Put the fish platter on the table, salad, put the beans in a dish and on the table, put potatoes in a serving bowl and topped with ¼ cup chopped dill and to table. Had some Spanish white wine to go with.

The fish was a big hit, and it had a subtle smoky flavor from the grill—great complement to the fresh herby flavor of the vinaigrette.

When we had eaten the entree, then salad, I served the soup, garnished with the chive flowers (again) and topped with some yogurt because it was very spicy. (I did add a little extra curry powder—maybe ½ to 1 t). Nice finish though.

For dessert, we I just put out a plate of washed organic local strawberries. Not incredibly sweet, but very flavorful and beautiful.

Nathaniel liked it very much, and everyone ate their fill. My father-in-law said it was the best fish he had had anywhere! Good meal. (About 2 hrs. total prep with help in the kitchen.)