The Omnivorous Fish

Back too quickly from the mountains. There are many fantastic photos to share, but I am in the last moments of battery life, and I want to save them for dinner tonight, so you may have to wait until Monday to see them. Like the nimrod I am, I brought the connection cable for the camera, but not the battery charger.

Sheesh.

Anyway, we’re back and as well fed as can be. We hung around watching Steller’s Jays that we had set peanuts out for, learning from the neighbors that if you put out mixed bird seed, the connoisseur Jays would pick the peanuts out. I can’t blame them, they are far superior to the sunflower seeds, chaff and gravel that constitutes the rest of it. That and a hike into the woods, where we met the edge of the recent fires (a chilling fifty yards from their home) rounded out most of the afternoon, so we went inside to scrabble together some dinner.

I put out a tray of cantaloupe with fresh mint and recently dried black mission figs, with which we discovered that Columbia Crest’s gewuertztraminer is much too sweet for our taste, and so switched to a white bordelais wine of little distinction but adequate drinkability. Equipped with something to snack on while cooking, I made a caponata (ratatouille via sicily) augmented with some fantastic green beans from Lancaster, CA, and seared and roasted a pork tenderloin that had been marinted in white wine, garlic and thyme. We had bought watercress to make a salad with, but it just ended up being two of us, so we skipped it and went right to some baked caramelized Last Chance Peaches with almonds. Those would have been excellent with vanilla ice cream, but we were really roughing it. I mean, we even drank Cotes du Rhone with the pork.

Caponata Siciliana

String beans aren’t necessarily traditional, but on the other hand, the only thing really traditional is having a variety of vegetables. Eggplant is de rigeur, the word caponata being used synonymously with eggplant in some circles. Onions and peppers are almost universal, but tomatoes are sacred to some, blasphemous to others, usually being replaced by water or stock, pine nuts and raisins. Some use all of the above. It’s all about what you like and what you have on hand. Here’s what we made last night.

4 tabelspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
1 large red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3 asian eggplants, cut into 3/4” chunks (about 2 pounds)
1 pasillo pepper (poblano) or bell pepper, cut into 1/2” pieces
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 small tomatoes, quartered or 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (about 3/4 lb)
6 thyme sprigs tied in a bundle
3 tablespoons shredded mint
1 handful string beans, cut into 1/2 inch lengths (about 1-1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed (the smaller the better)

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a 12” saute pan, or divide between a smaller pan and a wide dutch oven. When oil is very hot, add onions and saute for several minutes until softened, reduce heat if onions begin browning. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Do not allow garlic to brown. Add eggplant pieces, season with salt, pepper and oregano and stir to combine and coat eggplant pieces with oil.

When eggplant pieces are beginning to soften, add poblano or bell pepper and saute. When vegetables are beginning to brown and soften, add white wine and scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. If using a pan and a dutch oven, increase the heat under the dutch oven to high and add the vegetables and liquid from the pan to it.

Add tomatoes, thyme, mint and string beans, season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Lower heat, partially cover and allow tomatoes to stew. After 7-10 minutes, when the tomatoes are more or less liquid, add the capers and simmer another 5-10 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. If mixture beocomes too thick or begins to stick, add water or wine as needed. If using wine, be sure to cook for several more minutes to evaporate alcohol, or your caponata will taste like cheap wine (no matter what wine you use).

Serve hot with roasted meats or cold, seasoned with vinegar, as an antipasto. (Use quality red-wine vingar, not that bullshit with caramel coloring that says “Aceto Balsamico di Cleveland.)

Serves 4