Whole

I know that over the time I've been writing this blog I've been a bit more adventurous in the kitchen than some people think is sane.  I've done frog legs and pigeon and even chopped up a rabbit.  However there are still some things that intimidate me.  Tonight I conquered one of these and roasted a whole fish. 

You see, it started out such an innocent little trip to Whole Foods to pick up some more milk (grass fed whole milk.....it's delicious and we drank a whole half gallon in days).  While walking towards the milk section we stopped at the fresh fish section.  There he was, Fred the whole, wild, fresh caught local rockfish.  He was glossy eyed, all bright and clear looking and he smelled like the ocean rather than fishy.  I asked the lad who works there what to do with him, it sounded simple enough and wouldn't require buying any extra ingredients.  So I had him descaled and wrapped him up to go.

I laid him on aluminum foil, stuffed him with beautiful lemons (even slicing into his flesh to put some there), onion slices, butter and thyme.  I forgot to salt and pepper him, but that's easily added at the end.  Wrapped him up and stuck him in a 350F oven. 

He smelled delicious as he roasted.  I made smashed balsamic red potatoes to go with, and some green beans.  Simple meal.  Time to just enjoy natural tastes and textures.  I now want to try other whole fish, like red mullet.  (it's used in a lot of my french recipes.)