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in hot water for 10 minutes

and strained

2 tablespoons chopped fresh

mint

1 tablespoon orange zest (from

½ orange)

3 tablespoons seasoned rice

wine vinegar

1½ tablespoons toasted

sesame oil

1 teaspoon chile oil51

Salt

SERVES 4

In a large bowl, combine the cucumber, hijiki, and mint. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the orange zest, rice wine vinegar, and oils; toss with the salad. Let the salad sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

char with roasted cauliflower and apple-vanilla vinaigrette

For the vegetables:

1 head cauliflower, stemmed

1 cup medium-diced apple,

peel left on

½ small red onion, cut into half

moons (about ½ cup)

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground

pepper

¼ cup chopped fresh Italian

parsley

For the cauliflower purée:

Reserved cauliflower half

2 tablespoons milk

Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the apple-vanilla vinaigrette:

¼ cup apple juice

¼ cup clam juice

½ vanilla bean, sliced length-

wise down the middle, seeds

scraped

¼ cup dry white vermouth

2 tablespoons apple cider

vinegar

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive

oil

For the arctic char:

1 pound arctic char fillet, skin

on, cut into 4 equal portions

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon high-heat

vegetable oil

One night at a restaurant, I was served a single scallop with a butter sauce made with vanilla bean. I remember staring at the little flecks of vanilla seed and secretly dragging my finger through the sauce, thinking that I would have never thought vanilla would pair so well with seafood. But it really worked. When developing recipes for this book, I found that the sweetness of the vanilla needs to hang on something to keep the dish from becoming cloying—and that is where an earthy hook comes in here with the cauliflower. This dish demands a chilly fall evening when cauliflower is in season and you have a bowl of local apples to pick from.

SERVES 4

To prepare the vegetables, preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Cut the head of cauliflower in half. Cut one of the halves into ¼-inch slices (reserving the other half for the purée). Spread the cauliflower slices, apple, and onion on the sheet pan. Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle the salt and pepper over the top. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower browns on one side. Remove from the oven and toss with the parsley. Set aside and keep warm.

To prepare the cauliflower purée, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Salt the water generously and then cook the reserved cauliflower half until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the cauliflower, chop it coarsely, and purée it and the milk in a food processor or blender until very smooth. Season the purée to taste with salt and pepper, starting with ¼ teaspoon salt and adding more if necessary. Transfer the purée to a bowl, cover with foil, and keep warm.

To prepare the vinaigrette, add the apple juice, clam juice, vanilla bean and seeds, vermouth, and apple cider vinegar to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer until the liquid reduces to 3 tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Discard the vanilla bean. Transfer the liquid to a blender and, with the motor running, stream in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer the vinaigrette to a squeeze bottle.52

To prepare the char, season both sides of the fillets with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetable oil and, when it is hot, carefully place the fillets skin side down in the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until the skin crisps. Carefully flip the fish over and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat.

Place a large spoonful of cauliflower purée on each of 4 plates, and top with a piece of char, skin side up. Distribute the roasted vegetables over and around the fish, then drizzle the vinaigrette all around the plate.

PAIRING: A pinot gris, such as Paul Kubler “K” 2007, Alsace, France, or