Salmon with minted cucumbers is an easy, subtle dish, although some might argue that the fatty succulence suspended in salmon is underserved by poaching. Cucumbers make a crisp foil; still, next time, I might roast the salmon for crisper skin and sweeter flesh.
Tilapia with lemon brown butter looks like many textbook fish entrees you’ve seen - fillets sauteed until golden, served with a lustrous butter sauce. It’s delectable, but you have to watch out. The fish wants a wide, generous pan so it’ll form a nice crust, while the sauce wants to come together in a small, cozy pan. If you use one pan, as the recipe suggests, be judicious with the heat and don’t let the sauce bubble away from you.
Much more low-rent but every bit as good is fried catfish coated with Ritz cracker crumbs, served with tart buttermilk sauce. Ritz crackers have more flavor than ordinary bread crumbs, and a bit of cornmeal gives the crust some grip and texture.
Billed as an appetizer, but really a meal in itself, is crab and corn toast with fennel dice, corn kernels, and claw meat married together with no-holds-barred heavy cream.
I was slightly surprised by the technique Seaver recommends in squid with green beans, potatoes, and basil pesto. You blanch green beans and potatoes separately (will someone else wash up?), and then warm them under the broiler after you grill squid. Broiler, grill, does it make so much of a difference? I don’t see why you couldn’t just broil the squid atop the vegetables in the first place - they cook in a flash anyway - and save yourself a lot of fiddly work with grill tongs. Maybe I’m missing something.
For those of us who adore beer-steamed mussels, mussels with IPA and roasted garlic holds few surprises. The roasted garlic gives the broth a mellow undertone, a touch that’s welcome, if not altogether new.
