Sunday Suppers*; Roasted Trout with Blood Orange and Fennel

It's cold here in Wisconsin, like really cold. It's just snowed again overnight. I'm counting the weeks until DST starts (8, exactly) and getting ready to start seeds indoors, just to see something green.

This is the time of year when I get really heartsick for San Francisco. I can't say homesick- I've never lived there, but when I visited with my Mom and Grandmother a couple years ago I was blindsided by how much I loved that city. I loved the Ferry Plaza market, the ease of the Muni, the light, the trees in bloom in February, Chinatown, Japantown, the Noe Valley, that bookstore I want to live in, the Bay, the ocean. I went back less than a year later for my birthday weekend with a guy I was dating. I woke up the morning of my 26th birthday, a beautiful Sunday morning, and took a run through Mission Dolores park, stopped into the Starbucks at 18th and Castro and walked back to the apartment we were renting. All I could think was "Good lord, I love it here" and "Good lord, I'm 26, dating a guy I can't marry and want to have some babies. I need to get my act together." 

Until I met Brian, San Francisco was my back-up plan. "If I don't meet someone here in Milwaukee in a couple years or so, I'm moving. I'll save and move to San Francisco." I meet Brian two months after that trip, thankfully. I wouldn't trade him for an apartment with a view and an unlimited account at the Farmers' Market.

But I still get heartsick, so I cook. I cook food that makes me think of California and this past week I caught the article on blood oranges in the New York Times. They run pieces on blood oranges and Meyer lemons and grapefruit every year, the good citrus is only in season for a couple short months. But this year, as California tugged on my heartstrings, the roasted fish with blood orange and fennel caught my eye. The flavors reminded me of a meals at the Zuni Cafe. Plus I've never cooked whole fish before, and it was on my cooking challenge list, a running list I keep in my of head "I've never done before, have to try it sometime."

We had this roasted trout with fennel with brown rice and braised leeks (another NYTimes recipe). I'm not sure the expense of the whole fish versus a fillet was worth it, but it's nice to have crossed that goal off my list. Also from that article? Blood Orange Upside Down Cake. Yum!

Recipes: Blood Oranges Add a Ruby Hue to Dishes and Desserts.

*Every Sunday I make a big Sunday Supper, it's the first of our family traditions. I'll be keeping up with those family meals every week. Sunday Suppers involve an awesome meal, dessert, proper dishes and candles.