Another day, another bunch of mint
I have a friend; she is from the North of England. We go walking in the hills with our dogs pretty regularly and in the course of walking and talking we got around to mint.
I told you when I get stuck on these ingredients it’s all I talk about. But this friend is a good sport and was willing to share some of her memories of mint.
It seems her father was a bit of a cook. Maybe not the main cook in the household and maybe not what we might consider a gourmet today. But, evidently he made a heck of a mint sauce. He served it with lamb and it’s one of those wonderful memories from her childhood that we all have of our time growing up.
Well when someone says “North of England”, lamb” and “mint”, all in the same sentence. My mind goes straight to mint jelly.
Click For More On Chateau BonnetThere are very few foods I will ever say this about. But I HATE mint jelly. I HATE the color. I HATE the jar it comes in. But I mostly HATE the way it tastes. All sickly sweet with some strange animal-like texture to it that just makes me wonder what exactly is in the stuff.
So I will admit, as she was talking about her dad’s mint sauce, I was desperately trying to think of a way to change the subject. I just knew she was going to ask me to make it her “ole dad’s way.”
But then I heard her say. “It was the simplest of sauces, I swear there wasn’t much to it but mint, salt, a bit of sugar and malt vinegar”. Now granted she does have a bit of an accent, but I swear I heard her say vinegar. If that were true, I would have to call this sauce pickled mint. I loved the idea of pickled mint!
Sure enough. Low and behold, I had heard her right! A mint sauce I could love. I was ecstatic.
2 problems: I just posted a flatbread recipe with mint and lamb. SippitySup can’t do lamb 2 days in a row. People would think Sup had lost his marbles. I may be an unapologetic carnivore, but I still limit my meat to once or twice a week. Besides, my friend, she does not eat meat at all. What to do? What to do? I could not make her “ole dad’s” sauce and not invite her to dinner.
She does eat fish on occasion and tuna seemed like a good answer. I think tuna works with mint for all the same reasons it works with lamb. So tuna it is. Besides Grilled Tuna with Savory Mint Sauce has a nice ring to it.
I would simply grill the fish. I chose pole-caught Canadian Albacore because it is a Seafood Watch Best Choice for tuna.
Tuna is a very flavorful, fatty fish. So, I certainly want to keep the sauce bright and herby. Which is a wonderful way to highlight the fish’s best qualities. Still I don’t want this fish to be saucy either. So a light hand is in order here.
For the sauce I followed my instincts. My instincts told me not to gussy this up. I want a pure herbal taste from my mint. Balanced and kept from being cloying with vinegar. I chose standard spearmint, which does not contain menthol and has that herbal quality I was seeking.
I put 1/2 cup of chopped spearmint into a medium sized heatproof bowl. Then in a small stainless-steel saucepan, I brought some water to a simmer over moderate heat. Next I added the sugar and stirred until it was completely dissolved.
I added 3/4‑cup malt vinegar, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let the sauce cook for a few minutes until it reduces some and gets a little syrupy.
I then poured the mixture over the mint and let it sit for 15 minutes.
While that was steeping I grilled the fish in a grill pan set over medium heat. 4 minutes on one side and 3 to 4 minutes longer on the other side for medium rare. I did some fancy turns to get the nice grill pattern. That’s optional.
To serve strain the steeped mint sauce through a sieve into a sauceboat or serving bowl. Stir in the remaining 1/4‑cup of mint. Pass the sauce with the fish. Just a swirl and a drizzle is all it needs.
I hope I did my friends “ole dad†proud.
SERIOUS FUN FOOD
Greg Henry
SippitySup
That pretty much sums up where we stand on the spectrum of culinary skills! But this is really more about patience and from the end result shown here, I’m sure it’s worth it.
We are eating less meat than before as we discover similar satisfaction and satiety with ingredients such as beans and mushrooms (and yes, tofu) but I like my animal protein too much to take it all the way to vegetarianism.
…that I almost bought in Taos… A painting that the food looked as though it was dancing off the canvas, and here it is again… Mushrooms moving abut the side of the plate, and here I am wishing it would dance right into my mouth… You are an artist, and I am serious!
I’m very partial to a bit of polenta, me. And to nice vegetarian dishes in general. It’s been part of my food journey to eat vegetarian for about 11 years (I won’t get into how it all started, conversation for another day, and though I’m back eating some fish now, my diet is still predominantly veggie).
The best vegetarian food for me is exactly what you’ve got there with your polenta. It’s not something with a gaping hole where the meat was meant to be but rather a dish that stands in its own right as good food, that just *happens* to be vegetarian. It’s the polar opposite of the meat-and-two-veg-minus-the-meat mentality, which is still a pretty commonly held view of what people think of as a vegetarian diet (even among some vegetarians!). As for the vegan thing, well that’s just too damn hard and I never wanted to go there. Dairy is my best friend (well, after potatoes, that is!).
I am not a vegetarian, but do keep Kosher, so when I go out to eat I turn into a vegetarian. (Plus, I am not much of a meat eater in the first place.) Many years ago, oddly enough, grilled cheese was one of the few things that I could eat out. However, as vegetarianism has grown, the creativeness of non-meat dishes has definitely increased. Now when I can find something to eat, that isn’t necessarily fish based, I am excited but not 100% surprised. Thankfully, a lot more options are beginning to sprout up, that just isn’t something as boring as a veggie burger.
Now on the recipe at hand, this looks delish. I have never experimented with polenta but this seems to be a great place to start!
I need to make more polenta, this looks so good.
I also agree that those pretend ingredients that vegans and vegetarians use are strange. If you believe you can survive without eating meat, then why do you need some weird meat substitute to make yourself fake meatballs and fake roasts, etc.
I haven’t cooked much with polenta, but I bet it was good with the mushrooms. I could never be vegetarian or vegan, but like you, once in a while I enjoy taking myself off the meat and dairy train.
LOVE polenta with wild mushrooms. Something about the corn meal and the mushroom and the love…oh, the love!
Just made grilled polenta this weekend and threw some mango and cilantro in it. Yummy. Wonder how it would taste with a big ole honkin porta slathered in coriander and all spice???????
(Michelle)
We did a vegetarian and a vegan iron chef in the classroom a while back. My daughter doesn’t eat meat so the vegetarian was fairly easy, however the vegan was difficult!!! I agree with you on the desserts, it is near impossible to make a fantastic dessert without butter, eggs, cream ect. 🙂 With the exception of strawberry sorbet with a balsamic reduction, yum!!! ( but it’s even better with a rosemary shortbread cookie on the side 😉
The polenta looks delicious and is one of my favorites,especially with the mushrooms.
This looks really great! I always use the long-cooking polenta, the extra cook time is worth every minute. I eat vegetarian a few times a week, too. I love vegetarian dishes and it’s so good for us!!!!
better than anyone! I thought of you the whole time I made this. GREG
Polenta and I have crossed paths only a few times, but each time I kiss that golden ground corn, I fail to remember why it’s been so long since my last bite. Your 1st picture resurrected my wonder!
Polenta.…isn’t that what people who aren’t Southern eat instead of grits? (ha ha ha)
I’m going to have to give making true polenta a shot, because this looks amazing!
How many people does this recipe serve as a main course? It looks delicious!
This serves 4 as a main and 6 as a first course. I corrected that on the recipe page. Thanks GREG
Greg, your dinner looks so delicious! I’m so glad you used real polenta. I’m not a pretentious purist of Italian cuisine, more like a mutt who appreciates the value of traditional recipes, so i always cringe when people take shortcuts that murder the quality of a lovely home-cooked typical dish. Quick-cook polenta makes my heart bleed. Dramatic? Yes, that’s how I feel!
I understand your whole rationale on the vegetarian thing. I pretty much eat like a vegetarian, but calling myself that would imply too much and place too many restrictions on my eating. I enjoy chicken about one a week, and I adore fish! Vegan, I have no interest in being, I enjoy eggs and cheese way too much! But I respect people’s choices… I just may not invited them over for dinner so often 😉 (have you ever entretained for vegans? it is HARD!)
I live in So California. I have MANY vegan friends. I have done dozens of vegan dinner parties. If I have a vegan to dinner I generally make the entire meal vegan. Though the appetizer I will set out before with cocktails would not be vegan. I also choose courses and foods that are naturally vegan. Those super “creative” dishes that force some lovely recipe into a vegan pigeon hole bug me. All those “pretend” ingredients make me think they know they are missing something.
Vegan soups are easy, so are vegan salads. I also do vegan pasta dishes with dried pasta. I figure we can have grated cheese at the table and the vegans can pass on the cheese.
Desserts, of course, are the hardest part. That is when I just feel sorry for them, and the main reason I cannot understand. GREG
I thought you said you were going to take the day off (i.e. your tweet from today, er…yesterday. Depending when you read this. lol. )
i veg a few times a week as well. Good looking dish you got there. That reminds me I have some mushrooms chillin’ in the fridge waiting to be dealt with.
I had no posts on the 5th…GREG