I met Gael Greene, restaurant critic extraordinaire, about 15 years ago when my partner and I were invited to a small pot luck dinner that she gave in the Hamptons. I made a dish for the potlock, I think it was a filet of beef…but either way I was extremely nervous to cook for her back then.  Luckily she loved my dish, and we quickly became good friends.

I loved the idea of a pot luck dinner with fellow food lovers alike; so the following year, my boyfriend and I invited many of my favorite foodie friends…. Alfred Portale,( Gotham Bar and Grill) , Michael Romano, ( Union Square Café), Tom Colicchio ( Top Chef) ,  Karine Bakhoum( KB Network News) and or course, Gael and her road warrior, Steven Richter.   Everyone brought a dish and it was truly one of the best dinner parties/food fests I have ever been to (if I do say so myself!

The idea of a pot luck dinner ended up getting bigger every year.  It seemed like everybody who I knew in the food business wanted to come and eat each others food, dance, drink and generally have a great time with one another.  We started calling it the “Chef and Foodies Pot Luck Dinner” and we held it annually for years until it just became too big for me to handle.  The last year we did it.. there were 150 people!!!

Gael and I have remained friends since then and I so enjoy her intelligence, wit and company…especially when we go out to new restaurants.  I admire how she spearheaded City Meals on Wheels and I have been a contributor for many years.  It is a charity dear to my heart.

Gael and her partner Steven stayed with me this weekend in the Hamptons.  Though we both had busy schedules, she a glamorous wedding and me, other events, we had a chance to cook some lunch together on Saturday.

A quick bit about Gael:

“In her role as restaurant critic of New York Magazine (1968 to
January 2002) Detroit-born Gael Greene helped change the way New
Yorkers (and many Americans) think about food. A scholarly
anthropologist could trace the evolution of New York restaurants on a
timeline that would reflect her passions and taste over 30 years from
Le Pavillon to nouvelle cuisine to couturier pizzas, pastas and hot
fudge sundaes, to more healthful eating.

As co-founder with James Beard and a continuing force behind
Citymeals-on-Wheels as board chair, Ms. Greene has made a significant
impact on the city of New York. Rallying food world peers to make a
commitment to help feed the city’s homebound elderly, she has devoted
as many hours to fund-raising in recent years as she does to writing.
Citymeals, the largest public/private partnership in the country, has
raised $150 million in its twenty-four-year history to help feed the
city’s frail elderly shut-ins.. For her work with Citymeals, Greene
has received numerous awards and was honored as the Humanitarian of
the Year (l992) by the James Beard Foundation..”

SO….

Was I intimidated to cook for such a food celebrity?  Considering the fact that she is a good friend of mine and I have cooked with her a number of times, I, unlike most chefs in the business, was not nervous
to make a casual lunch with Gael.  (If she was reviewing the opening of a new restaurant and I was the chef…that might be another story!)

Though I love shopping at the local markets in the Hamptons, I am very pleased with the new Citarella that just opened right in Bridgehampton as the fish department is nothing less than inspiring.  Though we had many choices of fish, we ended up deciding on a beautiful wild caught sea bass for our main course.

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my favorite summer time appetizers is my fava bean spread, and even though I make it a LOT over the summer I made it again for Gael.  I served it first as an appetizer and then grilled the SeaBass with fresh cumin. The distinct flavor of cumin is so delicious when combined with the sauce that has the Middle Eastern Flavors of cardamom and cinammon.

In my cookbook, Pamela Morgan’s Flavors, I make this seabass with preserved lemons. Since I didn’t have any, I grilled the lemons instead and I loved the way they looked and tasted combined with the fish and sauce.

The herbs in our garden were looking very fresh as well and so I decided to make Garden Herb Potato Salad with parsley, tarragon, dill and chives. This particular potato salad tastes so much better when it is served warm.

Although I was satisfied cooking the whole meal myself  , Gael wanted to keep busy so we talked about her new favorite restaurants and her upcoming trip to Brazil as she helped me chop celery, set the table  and brush olive oil on the sourdough bread used for the fava bean
spread.

The lunch, to both our satisfaction turned out not only delicious, but also full of wonderful and enlightening conversation with this renowned food critic.  It’s a pleasure for a foodie/chef like me to spend time  with somebody who knows such a great deal about the art of cooking. See http://www.insatiable-critic.com/

Here is the menu:

Fava Bean Spread  ( see blog post “Who Doesn’t Love The Start of Spring)

Cumin-Grilled Sea Bass with Grilled Lemons

Garden Herb Potato Salad

Cucumber and Tomatoes with Feta and Mint

We were too full for dessert!!

So we ate healthy chocolate instead   ( www.flavorsinlove-chocolate.com)

Here are the recipes!

Cumin-Grilled Sea Bass with Grilled Lemons

Serves 8

5 lemons cut in half

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

4 cups chopped fresh plum tomatoes

Salt

1/3 cup halved pitted black Greek olives(Kalamatas)

About 4 pounds sea bass, filleted into 8 pieces

4 teaspoons ground cumin, preferably from toasted seeds

Preheat the grill.  Brush the halved lemons with olive oil and agave nectar.

When the fire is hot, lay the lemons on the grill.  Grill on both sides until

caramelized about 15 minutes.  Remove from the grill but keep the grill lit.

In a medium nonreactive saucepan over low heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the oil.

Add the shallots, garlic, cinnamon, cardamom and crushed red pepper.  Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, for 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and ¾ teaspoon of the salt and bring to a simmer.  Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced and no longer watery… about 15 minutes.  Cut up one of the lemons into small strips and add it and its juice to the sauce.

Reserve the rest of the lemons.

Rub the flesh side of the bass fillets with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle the flesh side with the cumin, using it all and patting it to encourage it to adhere.

Lay the fillets on the rack.  Cover and cook, carefully, turning once until the flesh is just cooked through but still moist and barely flaking, 12-15 minutes.

Transfer to a dish.  Garnish with the grilled lemons.  Spoon the sauce around the fish and serve immediately.

Adapted from Pamela Morgan’s Flavors