1. Roasted Artichokes, Carrots, and Fennel with Pan-Roasted Halibut
2. Roasted Beet, Onion,and Orange Salad
3. "Pumpkin" Pastina Served Family Style in a Pumpkin
4. Lamb Shanks with Mushroom Bolognese

This is a great one-pot dish that is more a method than a recipe. I've kept the seasonings simple. For a heartier dish, you could substitute meat or poultry for the fish, use other vegetables such as potatoes, add garlic, and finish the sauce with red wine instead of white. For a spring feast, you could use fat asparagus in place of the artichokes and add English peas at the very end to cook briefly. If you want to stay away from butter, use olive oil to finish the sauce, although I do prefer the taste of butter here. And if you happen to have baby artichokes in your market, use them. Leave them whole and use three per person.
Serves 4

• 2 lemons
• 3 large artichoke hearts, halved instead of quartered
• 16 baby-cut carrots
• 1 small fennel bulb, halved lengthwise, then each half cut into quarters (or use 1/2 large bulb)
• 4 halibut or sea bass steaks, about 6 ounces each
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 1/4 teaspoons herbes de Provence
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup dry white wine, fish or chicken stock, or canned low-salt
• chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fennel leaves
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into the salted water. Drop in the shells. Add the artichoke hearts, carrots, and fennel. Cook until all the vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and spread on a baking sheet to cool.

Season the fish steaks on both sides with salt and pepper and then season each steak with 1/2 teaspoon of the herbs. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the fish and sear for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove the fish to a plate.

Replace the pan over medium-high heat and add the artichokes, carrots, and fennel. Season with salt and pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon herbes de Provence. Sauté until brown, about 3 minutes.

Arrange the fish on top of the vegetables and place the pan, uncovered, in the oven to finish cooking, about 10 minutes.

When cooked, remove the fish and vegetables to a warm platter and keep warm while you make the sauce. Place the sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the wine. Bring to a boil, stirring and scraping all the browned bits from the bottom and sides of the pan. Cook until reduced by about two-thirds (this is a brothy sauce).

Stir in the fennel leaves and the butter, if using. Taste for seasoning and pour over the fish. Serve immediately.

CHEF'S NOTE: Do not make a habit of blanching all vegetables with lemon juice. It is necessary here to prevent the artichokes from darkening and adds a wonderful contrasting tang to fennel's sweetness. Vegetables full of chlorophyll such as asparagus and green beans will immediately turn brown if in contact with lemon juice or vinegar, however. So, if you are planning a pretty green bean or asparagus salad, drizzle the dressing over the vegetables just before serving.

The Tra Vigne Cookbook
Seasons in the California Wine Country
by Michael Chiarello, with Penelope Wisner
Chronicle Books

Publication Date: October 1999

$35.00- Hardcover - Amazon@TKL - Ordering Info

ISBN: 0-8118-1986-8