The Cotton Man

For years I used cotton on sticks in arrangements especially in the winter. I love the cotton on its own as well as in arrangements. Often I would use it during the holidays mixed with ilex berries. I have not seen cotton on sticks available for several years. Every once in awhile I ask various suppliers about getting cotton but no one has come through with it.

Last week I met with Maria Cooke of Ritzy Bee, Carin and Julia from Hitched, Seana from Design Cuisine and Kelly Seizert about a display we are collaborating on for this weekends Washingtonian Bride and Groom Event at the Mandarin Oriental. Maria had made some inspiration boards and one of them was full of cotton. I became newly obsessed with finding some.

I once again asked several local sources, none of whom could locate any...then I emailed someone who sells wholesale branches in Brooklyn. He told me he did not have any but that, "the cotton man" would. I called the cotton man and he answered the phone and said, "cotton man here." I giggled!

I discussed my cotton needs and the fact that I was in a hurry. I emailed him about 9:00 at night and by 10:00 pm I had a UPS confirmation that my cotton would be delivered in two days. I am quite excited for the package that should be arriving tomorrow!

Invitation, Jacqulyn Maissoneuve Exhibition

We met Jackie late this summer. She is a senior in photojournalism at the Corcoran and asked if she could photograph our family as part of her senior thesis. Originally the thesis was going to be on a bunch of different people living in D.C. who were conscious of there relationship with the earth in one way or another. The scope of the thesis narrowed and she called one night in early August to ask if we would be willing to be the sole subject of thesis which would entail her photographing us regularly through November. Not really sure what we were getting into we said yes.

We immediately liked Jackie she is hardworking, talented, serious, fun and easy to be around. The fall ended up being a very busy time for us and we became accustomed to having her around lots. Her constant supply of photos was a great addition to our blog and something that we looked forward to receiving.

Today we got an invitation in the mail for her Senior Thesis Exhibition which runs from Wednesday February 3rd to Sunday February 7th with an opening reception on Thursday Feburary 4th from 6-8 at Gallery 31 at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. The invitation is fabulous, great photo, beautiful paper, a pack of sorrel seeds with planting directions and a quote from me that was shocking (but not in a bad way) to see in print...

"Everything I do is interconnected and constantly evolving. This applies not only to human connections but to non human ones as well... making a salad dressing where oil and vinegar emulsify, enhancing the garden soil content so flowers and food grow and sharing a meal with my family. Day to day I find pleasure through my practice, where there is no clear line between work and play, I find energy from the many dynamic, connected yet disparate elements."

A couple nights ago Jackie came by and gave us hundreds of prints which is just a fraction of the thousands of photos that she took. Looking through them we started to talk about pairing the photos with the blog posts that were written at the same time the photographs were being taken which include seasonal menus, recipes, gardening, flower arranging, musings...maybe this is the structure of the book that we have been talking about writing?

Pairing Food with California Red Wines

Photo Jacqulyn Maisonneuve

Tom our wine guy is not a fan of "big" California red wines. He helps us pair wine with our food to enhance the food without ever overpowering. We generally do not use California reds because many are high in alcohol content, lack acidity and can have strong flavors of both vanilla and/or oak. These characteristics do not allow a wine to have a balance between sweetness and acidity which results in overpowering the taste of food.

Tom told me that over the holidays he had three bottles of California red. One of these bottles he really enjoyed. It was a zinfandel from an obscure area in Trinity County, well north of Napa recommended to him by a customer Phil from The Wishing Well in Easton, Maryland. Tom told me this wine had beautiful balance with no discernible excess sugar and some nice acidity. The wine was from R. Merlo Estate Vineyards and he told me he would have consumed the whole bottle had his father not helped him!

The other two wines were not such a pleasure they were big, grapey and sweet syrahs that he did not think would compliment any food. The second two wines had over 16% alcohol content. The high alcohol content is a result of grapes being left on the vine until they are ultra ripe which usually leads to high alcohol and ultimately out of balance wines. Tom's favorite California wines are usually from areas near the cost where fog rolls in at night. This helps cool the vines and helps the grapes develop some acidity as they mature on the vine.

I asked why California winemakers let grapes get so ripe, he explain that it is partially climate and other growing conditions. There is also another factor, the issue of ratings and "points" from critics like Robert Parker. Parker tends to love "big" wines and gives them higher scores. Winemakers know this and many will try to make wines in that style hoping to get such scores for their wines.

As always I appreciated the information I got from Tom and am looking forward to tasting the (Raquillet) Mercurey 1er 'Les Vasees' 2007 that we will be serving with local rockfish at our next Home Restaurant on Friday January 22nd.

Planning a Menu

Photo Jacqulyn Maissoneuve

Planning a menu never starts with a blank piece of paper it begins with conversations...

Last weekend I saw Fadia at the Dupont Market and she told me she expected to be seeing some local wild mushrooms in the next couple of weeks. I emailed Jim at Prime Seafood to confirm that there would be rockfish available next week and that it was looking good. I called Katie at Path Valley to see what vegetables are available. I got her availability list and found out about some new honey that one of the members of the cooperative was selling. After those conversations John and I came up with a preliminary menu for our upcoming Home Restaurant on Friday January 22 (we still have a few seats available). With the menu in hand I called Tom Kiszka the wine importer who helps us match wines with food at our Home Restaurant to get some wine suggestions I shared with him the current version of the menu and he came back with ideas for wine pairings. As we get closer both the food and wines may shift but for now this is what we are thinking... To cook is always a reaching out way beyond our minds as well as our kitchens... we are fortunate to be connected to such a creative network...

Passing
Seared Sea scallops
Roasted Eco Friendly Foods Chicken
Beef Tongue with Capers
Roasted Parsnip
Spaghetti with Micro Greens
Cauliflower Soup

Bay Leaf infused Vodka Martini
(Jean Masson) Savoie Apremont Vielles Vignes 2008

Seated
Egg in the Hole with Beet Ketchup, Path Valley egg fried in whole wheat bread
(Pascal Granger) Chenas 2007 (all gamay...a cru of beaujolais)

Turnip with Wild Mushroom, Black Walnut and Garlic Broth
(Olivier Morin) Chitry BLANC 2007 (all Chard...from the Chablis region)

Roasted Rockfish with Mashed Potatoes...
(Raquillet) Mercurey 1er 'Les Vasees' 2007 (all pinot noir, southern burgundy)

Cabot Farmhouse Cheddar with Olive Oil Cracker

Warm Apple Sauce

Soft Gingerbread with Chocolate and Coconut
(Tissot) Cremant du Jura Brut ROSE NV

Cookies

video blogging

We had a lot of fun experimenting with doing some videos this weekend. If you watch the first one we did last night about garlic you need to know I am not drunk, I just could not stop cracking up. I know that the sound is a bit off but we rectified that on the next one. Our hope is to catalog our practice using a short, about 90 second, format that is hopefully both informative and entertaining. We will be doing cooking, flower and garden tips. The video shorts will show up on the side bar of this blog and can also be accessed through YouTube. We welcome any suggestions about content and presentation.

Sunday Supper January 24, 2010

We are excited to be hosting and cooking a Sunday Supper on January 24 at 1508 to benefit Martha's Table and DC Central Kitchen. This event is a follow up to last years successful Art, Food, Hope fundraising dinners that were initiated by Alice Waters during inauguration last year. Chefs are being paired with other chefs to collaborate on dinners being served in 14 different homes around the city on the same night. We are very excited that we are paired with Joan Nathan for the event. We met with Joan today and discussed menu, ingredients and including some recipes from her soon to be released cookbook.

Tonight John and I are working on the menu details, which are not quite complete, and he made the above sketch of the first three seated courses.

Emerson on Flowers

Photo Jacqulyn Maisonneuve

Reading Emerson last night and found this quote about flowers:

If at any time it comes into my head that a present is due from me to somebody, I am puzzled what to give, until the opportunity is gone. Flowers and fruits are always fit presents; flowers, because they are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world. These gay natures contrast with the somewhat stern countenance of ordinary nature: they are like music heard out of a work-house. Nature does not cocker us; we are children, not pets; she is not fond; everything is dealt to us without fear or favor, after severe universal laws. Yet these delicate flowers look like the frolic and interference of love and beauty.

Flowering Branches

Today I got the first flowering quince branches of the season. Throughout the year I often think...all I need in this spot is a big vase of flowering quince, pear, cherry, dogwood, tulip magnolia...

Although with flowers these days it is possible to get lots of flowers throughout the year that were previously only available in specific seasons flowering branches are only available from now through sometime in May. The availability is completely dependent on the weather and when they open is always a bit of a guessing game. Most springs I sweat over branches opening enough or too much for various weddings and events. You can somewhat control the opening with heat, warm water and sun but despite much trial and error there is a bit of luck...or, lots of branches collected in different stages of openness to ensure that there will be plenty with blossoms at their most beautiful at the time you need them.

The quince I received today came from North Carolina and I will continue to get them from further and further north until they are available locally. After that I will be able to get them from as far north as Upstate New York before the season ends, usually in March. If the weather ever warms up over the next month or so I will start to see buds on my white forsythia in the garden. I will have a choice of leaving them outside to develop blooms naturally or cutting it and bringing it inside to encourage blooms sooner. We bought the white forsythia years ago through a catalog and it is not very common although it is a favorite of mine. Forced yellow forsythia will also be available soon and although I do not use it often I love large bunches of it tightly packed into old urns and metal containers.

Usually around Valentines Day double pink cherry branches are available with absolutely no color showing. It often takes about three weeks of warm indoor temperatures and hot water to get them to open but they are defenitely worth the wait. Usually they are available as well as other cherry varieties in white and single blooms throughout March and into early April. Other favorites that I look forward to that will be fleetingly available depending on both weather and suppliers are pear and tulip magnolia both favorites and both very fragile. Last is the dogwood which generally shows up in late April and is gone by the middle to the end of May...and then we must wait for quince all over again.

February Photo Exhibit

After a very busy last few months we have enjoyed regrouping this week, reading, getting out of town for a quick trip and returning to some projects that we had put on hold. One of these projects is an Opening at our house. We plan to exhibit photos by Abby Greenawalt taken when John and I witnessed the harvesting of cows at Eco Friendly Foods. Returning to this project after a few months it is clear that we need to incorporate text with the photos. This weekend we started working on what we want to say. Below is our work on this to date... Please share any ideas or comments.

In the United States today, the prevailing ideology of choice fuels the “Omnivore’s Dilemma”. If we think of ourselves as just one part of an eco-system, to choose to eat meat is unremarkable. Where it was once thought of as a privileged position to choose meat, it now seems to be a privilege to nourish without consuming animal products. To not eat meat is really not an option for many. Protein must come from somewhere and in most cases low quality, factory farm raised and slaughtered, animal protein is the most affordable and accessible option.

Choice as a reining ideology today maybe our most obstinate obstacle to reforming our food system. For many a vegetarian diet is not an option due to economics, time or nutritional knowledge. Similarly, for most in the United States grass fed animals raised on sustainable farms free from antibiotics that are harvested humanely are not affordable or accessible. So we live under an imperative to choose that produces multiple false choices, such as the many fast food options, yet for many in the United States there is no healthy choice. If factory farming, pesticides, steroids, antibiotics, etc. were eradicated from our food systems then one could actually have the choice to eat meat or not. Of course this would be a radical realignment of economic and health care systems. The economy, environment and health care as political issues cannot be approached without a long look at our food system.

Our food system is a network of practices. These practices include farming, processing and marketing. There are conceivable practices that could make eating meat a viable choice. And although eating meat or the taking of life may not be remarkable within an ecosystem, the senseless systematic over-producing or over-harvesting can have huge ramifications on the behavior of the individuals and the overall ecology of that eco-system.

Eating meat from a factory farm is destructive to both our personal health and the health of the environment. Finding ways of getting acceptable clean food products to people of all economic levels is a goal. This includes meat, fish and animal products that are raised sustainably and processed consciously. One of the obstacles to the production and availability of meat is that most animal processing plants are huge industrialized corporate owned places. Eco Friendly Foods is a rare example in today’s world of an alternative to the factory farm slaughterhouse.

Bev Eggleston of Eco Friendly Foods encourages visitors. He claims one of the major problems as it pertains to our food system is transparency, We were privileged to observe a slaughter day, where 6 cows were harvested for food. Witnessing animals being killed for food in a method where the environment, the animal’s life and death are respected partially informed our thoughts about factory vs. sustainable farming. Hopefully these images convey this intense informative experience.

Kajitsu, Shojin Cuisine

Kajitsu's Simmered Daikon Radish with Yuzu Red Miso

This summer in New York I was looking for a new restaurant to go to and stumbled across a write up about a new restaurant called Kajitsu. Since that first visit I have recommended it to many people all who have enjoyed it and yesterday we went back for a second visit...I look forward to my next dinner there.

The type of cuisine at Kajitsu is Shojin, which I had never heard of before. The restaurant website says, "Shojin cuisine refers to a type of vegetarian cooking that originates in Zen Buddhism. Even though it does not use meat or fish, shojin is regarded as the foundation of all Japanese cuisine, especially kaiseki, the Japanese version of haute cuisine. In its present form kaiseki is a multi-course meal in which fresh, seasonal ingredients are prepared in ways that enhance the flavor of each component, with the finished dishes beautifully arranged on plates. All of these characteristics come from shojin cuisine, which is still prepared in Buddhist temples throughout Japan."

The food appeals for so many reasons starting with the simple fact that it is vegan, clean and Japanese...but it is more than that. There is a thoughtfulness and consideration that goes into the food, the service and the presentation that exceeds most dining experiences. Plates, utensils and beverage napkins are thoughtfully chosen for each item served. Seasonal vegetables are incorporated into the meal. Even produce that is not traditionally used in Asian cuisine finds a way to fit in. At the same time there is nothing fussy about the experience.

One of the central elements of this cuisine is Fu and Nama-Fu which are made from gluten. At Kajitsu they have a beautifully printed small book that they give out upon request explaining the laborious process of making Fu. Fu is basically the gluten element of bread with the starch separated out that is then mixed with rice powder. The process is complicated but the result is smooth, chewy, satisfying and complimentary to a variety of flavors and textures.

The menu changes once a month. This is what we ate last night:

Celery Roots Tempura with Grated Apple

Vegetable Miso Soup Tofu, Shiitake, Burdock Root, Carrots, Turnip, Japanese Taro

Sticky Rice with Tea Tree Mushrooms, Umeboshi and Shiso; Kabocha Pouch with Red Beans; Grilled Sesame Tofu in a Bamboo Leaf

Simmered Daikon Radish with Yuzu Red Miso

Grilled Nama-Fu and Butternut Squash with Black Trumpet Mushroom; Leek and Fig Tempura

Hanamaki Soba Nori, Mitsuba, Wasabi

Snow Ball Mochi Matcha with Rakugan Candies by Shioyoshiken

seasons greetings and egg nog

Not so many blog posts in the last several weeks...we have have busily been cooking and flowering. Taking a moment to reflect this evening about recent projects and what we are looking forward to in the coming year...

Writing this blog and getting feedback is an enjoyable part of our everyday practice. Over the next year we plan to write more and hope to have more interaction through this forum. We encourage both sharing of information and inquiries.

It has been only about six months since we started hosting Home Restaurants... this has been a great addition. Great satisfaction comes from working with farmers that we have known for years and meeting new ones, cooking for small groups and being able to accommodate particular food needs, tasting and learning more about wine, spending time with good friends who we work with and meeting our guests and talking about food and other things. When we had our restaurant we were in the kitchen busily cooking and our interaction was solely through our food, it has been a joy to erase the boundary between the kitchen and dining room.

We are pleased that we already have dinners and a lunch booked for January, the nights of January 22 and 23 still have some spaces available. We are also thrilled that we have been asked to cook and host one of this years Alice Waters, Sunday Night Suppers scheduled for January 24.

The 2010 wedding flower calendar is starting to fill and I am excited about the variety of events that I have scheduled for the coming year. First one is a wedding in early January at 6th and I where I love to work. The anemones, tulips and ranunculus that I got for events this past week make me excited about spring flowers that are just beginning and will be at their best for the next several months. I also have some quince with buds that I hope will be open by January 7th for an event. The Dutch flowers and the recent snow have made me start to think about spring planting and our plans to expand the 1508 garden to the roof this coming year.

On December 23rd we catered a large holiday party and made eggnog. I have a recipe that was my mothers and John has his fathers recipe...we combined the two and the result is decedent and delicious. We used eggs from Path Valley Cooperative, Trickling Springs Dairy heavy cream, Homestead Creamery milk and Sazerac Rye Whiskey...resulting in the best batch ever...

Egg Nog
6 eggs separated
2 cups sugar
2 cups whiskey (we used a good quality rye this year but have also made it with bourbon and Armagnac)
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 gallon whole milk
1/4 cup rum (optional, part of John's dads recipe)

Beat egg yolks until light yellow and then beat in the sugar until dissolved then beat in whiskey. Cover the mixture and let stand at room temperature for at least four hours.
After egg yolk mixture has rested beat egg whites to soft peak and fold into yolk mixture. Then beat heavy cream until stiff and fold into entire mixture. Mix in milk, chill and serve.

Enjoy and Happy 2010!
Sidra, John and Martin-Lane

Black Walnuts at 1508 Last Night

Photo Jacqulyn Maisonneuve
For years we have gotten Black Walnuts for the Path Valley Cooperative. The unique earthiness and slightly fermented flavor in is something we look forward to cooking with every winter. This year we have been making a black walnut "cheese" that we have used in several different dishes over the last several weeks. For the second seated course last night we layered thinly sliced scarlet turnips, small white beans, wilted chard, spaghetti squash and the black walnut cheese in a baking pan and cooked it slowly until the flavors melded. Just before serving we roasted some Oregon Chanterelles to finish off the dish. The nut cheese is made by soaking raw black walnuts for a few hours and then pureeing them in a food processor with a bit of the soaking water, some olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh herbs.

We served this dish last night for a small office holiday celebration at 1508. As guests thanked us for the evening we could not help but thank them for being such enthusiastic diners. At our Home Restaurant the interaction with our guests is less mediated than in a traditional restaurant setting. I present each course and talk about the food, where it comes from, the wine that we are pairing and the collaborative effort that results in the food. Guests wander in and out of the kitchen during the night, see us at work, and often ask questions about specific preparations and ingredients.

Our guests last night were engaged in each other, the food and the wine...it was a joy.

Below is the entire menu:

Passing
Cauliflower Puree with Oregon Black Truffle
Roasted Parsnip and Sweet Potatoes with Pumpkin Seed Puree
Seared Sea Scallop on Corncake with Chives
Roasted Chicken and Celeriac
Beef Tongue with Watermelon Radish
Grilled Brussel Sprout

Scented Geranium Infused Vodka Martini
(Abymes)Vin de Savoie 2008

Seated
Egg in the Hole with Beet Broth and Arugula Sprouts
(Vissoux) Fleurie "Les Garants" 2007

Chanterelle Cassoulet with Spaghetti Squash, Turnip, White Beans, Black Walnut and Chard
Roasted Garlic Bread
(Tissot) Arbois Chardonnay "Classique" 2007

Wreckfish with Leek, Carrot, Saffron Mashed Potatoes and Kale
Rosemary Spelt Bread
(Rossignol-Trapet) Gevrey-Chabertin 2006

Warm Applesauce
(Tissot) Cremant du Jura NV (Chard/Pinot Noir)

Orange Cake with Black Truffle Sorbet and Candied Pecans

Cookies:
Sesame Semolina, Chocolate Coconut, Gingersnap, Oatmeal Spice

Vegan Paradox

Photo Jacqulyn Maisonneuve

I am fairly certain that our style of cooking is informed by our eating. Taken as a whole our household's eating should be considered paradoxical. I am vegan. Martin Lane, my ten year old, has been vegan since birth. John is an omnivore some days however, unless we are cooking for others he is mostly vegan. We serve Omnivore dinners however we use no butter and cream And do serve a cheese course. Martin Lane and I will always taste an exceptional raw cheese from France. Fundamentalism is not our guide

I have been Vegetarian since I was twelve and as the years passed slowly moved toward eliminating dairy. While pregnant I read Dr. Spock's fairly mainstream "Baby and Childcare". Spock confirmed a vegan diet as the healthiest for children, John and I decided to raise Martin Lane vegan while allowing her the choice to eat what she wants whenever she wants. This is NOT religion for us. Nor is it a temporary political shift to some sort of enlightened ethics. We have no fidelity to events as such.

The issue for us more than ethics, amounts to health and our barometer for health is how we feel. This is not to say that we do not condemn factory farming or the treatment of animals as machines. It is only to say that if we let our senses guide us in a sort of 'care of the self', then we move towards family farms away from concepts like factory farming and senseless treatment of animals. Simply because the food is of higher quality, more efficient and satisfying; we eat less with a higher return.

To take this one step further: the same would go for the experience of dining with us. We could make statement upon statement about how ethically our chicken we serve at our dinners is treated, but that would make no difference if the chicken did not taste good (like chicken used to). This is only to say that the aesthetic experience does not end and begin with someone sitting down to eat. The event of eating speculates as well as lingers. How we feel the day after we eat is as important as the act of eating as well as the day before.

Aesthetics is our guide, not independent of reason, but informed by rational decision, an encounter with nutrition. To proselytize a vegan diet without the ground work of nutrition is unconscionable. To decide an ethics for others requiring rigid and dogmatic elimination of most sources of protein is inconceivable. There is theory and there is practice. We hope to share our practice with you through our blog–By no means do we mean to propose a theory for a lifestyle to anyone.

Even if we were to attempt to do so, that theory would be absolutely particular to our needs and it would be always moving, growing, aging, conflicting into a theory of parts that could only make up a paradoxical whole.

Last Night, 12/12/09 at 1508

Had a fun open night at 1508 last night. We celebrated two birthdays, one with candle the other opted for no candle. For the second time a Snuggie was gifted here at 1508. Some guests were people that we met for the first time, others close old friends, a talented photographer and party planner I often collaborate with and an old colleague we had not seen in years joined. A couple of non red meat eaters swayed us towards a rockfish main. We also served a beautiful piece of rare beef from Bev at Eco Friendly Farms as the first seated course (a sprouted quinoa salad replaced the beef for the non meat eaters). I knew I wanted to serve a black truffle sorbet for dessert and after some back and forth decided to pair it with oranges. The menu...

Passing
Seared Scallop with Roasted Beet
Roasted Chicken with Celery Root
Cauliflower Soup with Oregon Black Truffle
Roasted Sweet Potato
Saffron Mashed Potato
Roasted Parsnip with Pumpkin Seed Dip

Scented Geranium Vodka Martini

Seated
Beef Striploin with Brussel Sprouts, Sunchokes, Chives, Ginger and Garlic
(Le Roc Des Anges), Les Vielles Vignes, 2006

Chantarelle Cassoulet with Fall Squash, Chard, Turnips and Black Walnuts
(Arbois), Chardonnay Tissot, 2007

Roasted Rockfish with Corn Grits, Turnip Greens, Leeks and Carrots
(Julienas), Millesime 2006

Warm Apple Sauce
(Le Roc Des Anges), Passerille

Black Truffle Ice with Vanilla Cake and Light Chocolate Sauce
(Domaine des Aubuisieres), Vouvray Brut

Cookies:
Chocolate Coconut, Gingersnap, Clove Oatmeal, Sesame Semolina

Rockfish Season

We have been serving rockfish for the last couple of weeks. Choosing seafood is always complicated because both environmental and health factors have to be considered when deciding what fish to eat. We rely heavily on two websites, Monterey Bay Aquarium and Oceans Alive to help stay current. Luckily we also have additional help from our fish purveyor, Jim of Prime Seafood. Jim's passion is healthy waterways and fish. He only sells fish that pass his stringent, well informed test which means that some days Jim will have only one variety of fish for sale. This is fine with us because we know that any fish we get from him is incredibly fresh, has not caused a negative environmental impact and is healthful. We are very happy to be in the middle of local rockfish season. For much of the year it is impossible to get healthful and sustainable fish that is also local. Not so long ago rockfish were over fished and their population was in danger. Fishing regulations have helped to restore the population to healthy levels.

I asked Jim to send me some additional information about the rockfish we have been enjoying this is what I got...

"Striped bass (known locally as rockfish) are available from November through March. We get ours in the lower Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, they are caught just hours before delivery to DC. After rockfish spawn (during March) the adults move out of the Bay and progressively farther up the coast each year as they get older with the largest spending the summer through fall off Long Island, Cape Cod and the inshore part of the Gulf of Maine. As winter comes on the colder waters push the rockfish back down the coast and they re-enter the Bay's major rivers such as the James, York, Rappahannock, Potomac and Susquehanna. The Chesapeake produces about 90% of the east coast's striped bass.

Rockfish spawn in the parts of these rivers just below the "fall line" (for example, Chain Bridge is at the Potomac River's fall line). They are not good jumpers like salmon so they can't get up above the fall line in each river. Their eggs need a strong current to keep them from falling to the bottom where they would be covered with sediment and where they would suffocate from lack of oxygen and die. Young rockfish spend the first 3 years of their lives in local rivers feeding on progressively larger fish (like anchovies) and invertebrates (like blue crabs) as they get older..

Rockfish are ambush predators. The adults eat squid, herring, butterfish, menhaden, eels, sand eels, blue crabs and any other small fish or invertebrates they can fit in their mouths. They taste best if they have fed primarily on squid and herring, which are abundant off New England (where the adults spend much of the year). Maximum weight is probably about 100 lbs. The ones we get weigh about 10 - 30 lbs.

The commercial and recreational fisheries are closely monitored to promote healthy population. The striped bass recovery is one of the only success stories in US fishery management."

Last week we cured rockfish and served it with a salad of brussel sprouts, jerusalem artichokes and radishes. Saturday night we plan to roast the rockfish which will result in a delicious crispy skin and moist bouncy flesh. We will serve it with corn grits, turnip greens, leeks and carrots.