Recipe: Roasted steelhead trout and succotash
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“Indian summer” usually comes later in October, one last heat wave before our weather turns cool.
But if these first warm days of autumn are any indicator, we could be in for one long Indian summer right into winter.
Succotash is the perfect Indian summer dish, combing late fresh corn with freshly harvested shell beans.
“Succotash” comes from the Narragansett word “msickquatash,” described as a “simmering pot of corn to which other ingredients were added.”
Sometime in the 1700s, colonists settled on a combination of corn and shell beans, preferably limas.
This version makes succotash part of a one-pan meal, roasting the corn and beans alongside steelhead trout fillets – another early fall favorite.
This succotash also can be made without the fish; roast it in the oven for the same 30 minutes. Or substitute close-cousin salmon for the steelhead.
Roasted steelhead and succotash
Makes 2 to 3 servings
Ingredients:
For the succotash:
1 cup fresh lima beans, shelled
1 cup fresh corn kernels
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
For the fish:
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound steelhead fillets
1 to 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay or similar seasoning mix
Two sprigs of fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
Instructions:
In a heavy saucepan, bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil. Add lima beans. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until beans are fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain.
In a large bowl, mix together cooked limas, fresh corn kernels and cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and toss lightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large (8- by 12-inch or 9- by 13-inch) baking dish, put butter. Place in oven to melt (about 2 minutes).
Rinse and pat dry fish fillets. Carefully remove baking dish from oven and swirl melted butter around so it covers the bottom of the dish. Add fillets to pan, turning to cover both sides with melted butter, then arrange skin side down.
Cut and squeeze 1 lime over the fish fillets. Sprinkle liberally with Old Bay or similar fish seasoning. Top with fresh dill or sprinkle with dried dill.
Spoon the succotash around the fillets. Put baking dish in 375-degree oven and roast for 30 minutes, or until fish flakes easily.
Serve immediately with lime wedges.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
July 1: How to grow summer salad greens
June 24: Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
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May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
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April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
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Garden Checklist for week of June 29
We're into our typical summer weather pattern now. Get chores, especially watering, done early in the morning while it's cool.
* It’s not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers. Plant Halloween pumpkins now.
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.
* Don’t let tomato plants wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.
* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.
* Harvest tomatoes, squash, peppers and eggplant. Prompt picking will help keep plants producing.
* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.
* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
* Give vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.