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4 rockfish fillets, about 5 ounces each (rockfish is usually labeled “rock cod” in the grocery store; see Part 6 for alternatives)

2 tablespoons preserved garlic

1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon minced chives

1 whole scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup dry white wine

½ cup chicken stock

¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Serves 4

One hour before you start baking, adjust the oven rack to the lower position, place a baking stone on it, and preheat the oven to 450ºF.

Generously dust the surface of a pizza peel (a flat wooden or metal shovel with a long handle) with bread flour. Lightly flour a work surface.

Working with one ball of dough, dip your hands and the dough in the bread flour to make them less sticky, and pat the dough down into a disk shape with the tips of your fingers. Once the disk is large enough, drape the dough over your fists and carefully start stretching and expanding the dough from underneath to form a round that is about 14 inches in diameter. (If you’re feeling lucky, try tossing the dough over your head in a circular motion to stretch the dough.)

Place the dough on the floured peel and make a rectangle by cutting off the edge with a pizza cutter or a sharp knife. (You can bake the edge into breadsticks.) With the tip of a sharp knife, prick the dough all over to prevent it from bubbling. Then slide the dough directly onto the baking stone and bake it for 7 minutes, checking on it after 5 minutes and rotating it if necessary to ensure that it’s baking evenly. When the flatbread is golden, use the peel to remove it from the oven and place it on a cutting board. Brush it with half of the olive oil, and season it with salt and pepper. Let it cool for 1 minute. Then slice it into chip-size pieces and keep them covered in a warm area of the kitchen.

Prepare the second flatbread the same way.

When you are ready to cook the fish, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and drizzle the rice bran oil or canola oil into it. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and sweat until the vegetables are soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a separate plate to cool.

Cut the rockfish into 1-inch cubes. Place the fish in a medium bowl, add the cooked vegetables and the preserved garlic, parsley, chives, and scallions. Mix to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture into a cast-iron skillet, and add the white wine, chicken stock, and butter. Bake until the fish is opaque, 10 to 12 minutes.

To serve, leave the “scampi” in the cast-iron skillet. Bring it out to the table along with the flatbread chips to scoop it up.

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Whole Rockfish, Scored and Charred

We pull these rockfish right out of the waters of Big Sur. There are many ways to prepare rockfish (which is called “rock cod” in the grocery store), but this is our favorite: seasoned simply with lemon and thyme and roasted in the wood-fired oven. If your kitchen doesn’t have a wood-fired oven, use your broiler to char the fish (be careful not to totally burn it!). If rockfish is not available in your area, try using any two-pound whole whitefish—just make sure that it’s sustainably caught. Check the Monterey Bay Aquarium in the Resources for a list of recommended fish.

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INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

4 whole rockfish (or alternative), about 2 pounds each, scaled, gutted, fins removed

Coarse sea salt

12 thyme sprigs

1 lemon, halved lengthwise and then sliced into half-moons

4 garlic cloves, sliced

¼ to ½ cup olive oil

Serves 4

Preheat the broiler.

Crack the peppercorns by placing them on a flat surface, like a cutting board, and pressing them with the flat bottom of a heavy pan until they split into pieces.

Season the gut cavity of each fish generously with sea salt and cracked pepper, and stuff them with 3 thyme sprigs each. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of the fish with