Tilapia with Coconut, Mint, and Chive Relish

We caught a sale on tilapia at the Co-Op the other day and took a swing at a recipe Meg had clipped years ago but that we had never made. It looked easy and fresh which is especially appealing as spring arrives (early this year) in New England.

The recipe is delightfully simple creating a fresh wet rub - based on lime juice - for the tilapia which you then broil quickly in the oven. Alongside this you make a wonderfully fresh relish with cucumber, mint, chives, coconut, and - of course - jalepeno peppers. This too is laced with lime juice while both the relish and the rub contain a good dose of cumin. All in all flavorful and fresh!!

We didn't have the full three quarters of a cup of fresh chives so substituted some green onions which worked wonderfully. The tilapia is appealing for a number of reasons including the price; it's hard to justify a halibut recipe when it goes on sale for $17/lb!

As we served up the first portion, we knew instantly it had passed the "if we had this in a restaurant we would be delighted" test! This is a keeper for sure.

Our first duck egg frittata...

Our friend Chris and his family have, along with a full contingent of happy dogs, a number of pet ducks, several of whom produce eggs. Last laying season, Chris brought in a hard boiled duck egg which Tyler tried and really liked. Last week he brought in 10 fresh eggs for us to try so the questions was, what to do with fresh duck eggs?

I looked in the fridge to see what else we could use with the duck eggs. Peppers, lettuce, baby carrots, celery, asparagus. Asparagus - yes! And I should use up the rest of the button mushrooms too. I decided to make a frittata so I checked The Joy of Cooking for reference. There was a recipe for a zucchini frittata but with a couple of changes you could substitute asparagus. Here's what I did:

First, I braised the asparagus for two or three minutes, then drained and sliced them diagonally. I sliced the mushrooms and cooked them in butter for a few minutes and then removed them to a plate. Then I cracked five duck eggs in a bowl - they were beautiful! Very large orangey yolks and not as much white as a chicken egg. I whisked them together, added salt and fresh ground pepper and then the mushrooms, asparagus and about a half cup of parmesan cheese. The Joy recipe called for shredded parmesan but all I had was grated. It would have to do. Then I added about a tablespoon of fresh parsley.  I whisked all those things together and then poured it into a non-stick pan. I let the concoction cook slowly and as it firmed up, I checked the bottom for color and doneness. I had turned on the broiler/convection oven earlier so when the eggs looked mostly firm, I finished the frittata in the broiler, placing the entire pan in the oven for two or three minutes. When it was lightly browned on the top, I pulled the pan, cut the frittata into quarters and served with fresh parsley on top. 

Our first duck egg frittata and it was fantastic. I think it was a bit more savory than a chicken egg frittata, probably due to the proportion of yolk vs. white. And it was more filling - we could barely finish it, but of course, we somehow managed. Tyler paired his with a Long Trail IPA  and I had a glass of Woodbridge Chardonnay.

We now have two more light turquoise and three beige duck eggs left. We want to figure out a way to compare the flavor of the two varieties but haven't come up with anything yet - stay tuned! Thanks Chris!