lentil sky, ghostly fish:

ghostly fish in black lentil night sky 
(braised black cod on Beluga lentils with fresh thyme)

Prepping whole Dover soles for a fish class involved, among other things, removing the large, flat, flesh-colored heads (with both eyes on one side of their head) from their flat bodies. Fillets to be used for the class; the heads and bones for fish stock. 

Call me whimsical, but I see everything in terms of food and everything around me leads to culinary inspiration or at least a food analogy. Perhaps it was the Halloween decor, the Halloween-themed fair at my childrens’ school, or the monster movie we recently enjoyed, but the dozen separated fish heads lying on white parchment paper resembled human ears which then reminded me of the painter Vincent van Gogh (who offered his own severed ear to a prostitute). Thinking of his painting Starry Night, I became inspired to turn his masterpiece on canvas into an edible Halloween-themed meal. Food-obsessed, I am. Instead of swirling stars that we reach through death (as he believed) I thought of a Halloween “scary” sky made of creamy, earthy black lentils with contrasting flying ghosts made of white fish and flowing trees of fresh woodsy thyme sprigs. It was at that ghoulish moment, surrounded by fish heads and thinking of van Gogh, this week’s (spooky) simple pleasure was born: ghostly fish in black lentil night sky (a/k/a braised black cod on Beluga lentils with fresh thyme sprigs). 

This week savory. Next week sweet. “Bon(e)” appétit !

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