It's hard to believe that a full year has passed from the start of this blog until now. That's right, Babbo At Home is celebrating its first birthday. It's amazing at how quickly time passes.
I can remember the excitement as I rolled out and cut the pappardelle from the first post. It seemed like a really daunting project at the time to dive into, and to a certain degree it still does, but now with roughly a third of the recipes in the cookbook finished I am filled with a tremendous sense of accomplishment, knowledge, and enrichment. Oh, and don't forget excitement, because there is still a ton of cool stuff to do from this cookbook.
I regret that as of lately I have not been able to give this blog as much of my attention as I would prefer. Work has been just murder lately. Long days have turned into even longer weeks which leaves less free time to pursue my orange-clogged kitchen debauchery.
Regardless of when I am finished, it's all about quality versus quantity and enjoying the whole process while learning a little something along the way. And learning is exactly what I've done this year.
Blogging this past year has allowed me to build upon my culinary foundation, as I learn different approaches to my chosen craft, under the guidance of a master chef within the familiar confines of my home kitchen. I am really starting to get a feel for how Mario creates an amazing dining experience at Babbo in NYC and how that can be recreated, at least at a micro level, in our home.
Babbo is rated at one Michelin star. Quite an accomplishment for any restaurant. And when I think of dishes that represent Michelin quality, the subject of this post is what comes to mind. Why? Probably because this is a dish that is meant to be shared between two people, finished table-side, and carefully plated with a snooty looking well-dressed server who carefully removes the fish from the bone using a spoon and fork in one hand and placing it ever so delicately on your dinner plate as the rest of the patrons in the restaurant gawk at you like you're Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Making this Branzino was a first for me not only because I have never tried this variety of fish but I have never roasted and served a whole fish before. In the recipe note, Mario mentions that this is the way that Italians cook their fish most often. Again, knowing that fish have bones they are not freaked out by them when they cook their fish this way. And doing so helps to give the fish the best flavor possible. Mario has us roasting this in the oven but in a coastal town in Italy we would very likely cook it whole like this on a grill. Let's get started.
First we need to make the lemon oregano jam. I take a bunch of lemons, remove the seeds, and cut them into eight pieces. The pieces then go into the bowl of a food processor along with salt, pepper, sugar, oregano leaves, and marjoram leaves.
This mixture is pulsed in the processor and then extra-virgin olive oil is slowly drizzled in to emulsify the jam into a honey-like consistency.
Next, the oven gets preheated to 450° and I start prepping the Branzino. As you can see from this picture below, I found some beautiful looking Branzino at my local Whole Foods Market. The fish needs to have the fins and gills removed.
In a mixing bowl I combined some shaved fennel, thyme, oregano, olives, and salt-and-pepper.
This mixture is then going to be stuffed inside the seasoned cavity of the fish. Once this is done I can let my fish hang out in the refrigerator for a little bit as I am not quite ready for it.
Next up on the list is to prep the fennel. I take some fennel that has been quartered and lay it in a single layer in an ovenproof pan. I add some white wine to cover, season it with salt pepper, and braise it in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. It gets removed and then is allowed to cool.
I then heat up a sauté pan with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil until nearly smoking. I add the braised fennel quarters with a little bit of sugar and cook making sure to stir it until the fennel is a light golden brown.
While this is going on I drizzle the fish with a little bit of olive oil and put it in the oven to roast until the fish is just cooked through. In my oven it took me about 20 minutes to get a perfect result.
All of my components for this dish are now finished. The picture of the plating that Mario published with this recipe leaves much to be desired in my opinion. And considering that it would need to be broken down to be served for dinner anyway, I decided to go for a more formal plating. I carefully removed the Branzino fillet off the bone and placed a few of the braised fennel quarters on the plate with a spoonful of the lemon oregano jam.
Wow. Another home run.
The fish was perfectly moist and had a really wonderful mild flavor. The fennel had just enough sweetness from the caramelization in the sauté pan. But what really sold the dish for me was the jam. It packed a very powerful lemony punch that when combined with the fish, was just a naturally perfect accompaniment. Totally making this again. What a perfect way to say Happy Birthday.
Until next time...
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