It must be seafood season; these days and nights, I find myself attracted to so many foods that I am eager to combine with my favorite vegetables and grains. As a result you will find my sharing a number of these dishes in my newest blogs.

Mussels with Chorizo

We’ll start with a day in mid-June, for a lunch featuring Portuguese-style Mussels with Chorizo. First, I sautéed chopped onions, shallots, green garlic and chorizo in olive oil. Aliums have an affinity for seafood.

Next, I added the mussels and some white wine, covered, and cooked until the mussels were open.

Then, I shelled the mussels and added the broth, chopped fresh basil, and the cooked seafood and chorizo to a soup bowl.

Served with sourdough bread to mop up the sauce, and Dinamica — an Atlantic coast Portuguese white wine to enhance the salinity — and I was transported to another world.

Acqua Pazza Black Sea Bass

Ever since I first learned about Black Sea Bass, from a recipe by Pierre Franey many years ago, I have always considered it to be one of the tastiest and charming fish we eat. Therefore, when I came across a beautiful example in the case at New Deal Fish Market the day before, dinner that next night was based on Marcella Hazan’s Acqua Pazza (Crazy Water) recipe. Of course, with typical Italian flair, we have a name that’s much more intriguing than “fish cooked in tomato water”.