A Carolina Supper Menu

This dinner came together from assorted corners of North Carolina and ended up in a friend’s kitchen in the mountains near Blowing Rock. Our niece Sarah arrived with the good stuff from Durham: vegetables from the Durham Co-op and a properly crusty baguette from Loaf Bakery. From Wilmington, I brought a North Carolina gag grouper from Zora’s Seafood Market, where I’m currently learning the ropes as a rookie fishmonger, which meant, naturally, I had to cut the grouper down myself – filleting, pin-boning, and removing the skin.

(Author Vic Roberts shown above with a snowy grouper.)

Sarah took charge of the Romesco sauce. Peppers charred straight over the flame, tomatoes blackened under the grill, toasted almonds, garlic, olive oil, and a chunk of that Loaf baguette blitzed together but left with plenty of texture. Smoky, nutty, garlicky, and the sort of sauce that makes you keep finding excuses to stick a piece of bread into it.

I baked the grouper in parchment with plenty of Sarah’s Romesco and some very finely sliced red onion. Fold it up, put it in the oven and let the parcel do the work. The fish gently steams in there, picking up all that roasted pepper, garlic and olive oil while staying beautifully moist.

Paired with an impressive but simple leek tarte tatin (recipe online at WILMAmag.com), and a fall mountain supper was ready.

Also making the journey from Wilmington was a bottle of Famille Ogereau En Chenin 2024, Anjou, picked up from Red Bank Wine. Bright, fresh Chenin with enough texture for the Grouper, enough acidity for the Romesco, and just right with those sweet, caramelized leeks.

Gag grouper is one of those fish that doesn’t need much messing about with. The flesh is firm, meaty, and beautifully moist when you cook it gently.

The lovely thing about cooking fish in parchment is that it looks like you’ve done something rather clever when actually you’ve made life easier for yourself. The parcel creates its own little cooking environment, gently steaming the grouper in its own juices, while the Romesco, olive oil, and red onion mingle underneath. Gag grouper is particularly good cooked this way. It has enough structure to stay beautifully chunky rather than falling apart, but the parchment keeps all that lovely moisture where you want it.

Then you open the parcel at the table and get that first hit of roasted pepper, garlic, almonds, and fish. Very little washing up too, which never hurts.

At Zora’s, we’ll cut your fish exactly how you like it, but we won’t just send you home wondering what to do with it. Tell us what you fancy cooking, and we’ll talk you through some of our favorite ways to prepare it. Better still, join The Fish List email. Every week we’ll share what’s looking particularly good at the market, along with simple recipe ideas, and a bit of inspiration for getting the best out of your fish.

Vic Roberts is a fishmonger at Zora’s Seafood Market and Kitchen, 1411 Castle Street. zorasmarket.com @zorasmarketandkitchen

Gag Grouper with Romesco Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. gag grouper fillet
Romesco sauce (recipe below)
Olive oil
½ small red onion, very finely sliced
Salt and black pepper
Parchment paper

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Center the grouper fillet in the center of a large piece of parchment paper. Season with salt and black pepper and spoon a generous amount of Romesco over the top. Scatter finely sliced red onion on top and finish with a little olive oil. Fold the parchment over the fish and crimp the edges together so you have a properly sealed parcel. You want to keep all that steam, moisture, and flavor trapped inside.

Put the parcel onto a baking tray and bake for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish. Open the parchment carefully and check the center. You want the grouper just cooked and beginning to flake but still beautifully moist.

Romesco Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 red bell pepper
3 plum tomatoes
A good handful of almonds
2 cloves garlic

DIRECTIONS
Put the bell pepper directly over a stove flame and let it blacken all over to char the skin.

Pop it into a plastic bag, close it up, and leave it to sweat for about 15-20 minutes to make the blackened skin easy to peel away. Remove the skin, stalk, and seeds. Put the tomatoes under a hot grill and let them blacken and blister. Once they are cool enough to handle, pull away the skins, cut them open, and remove the seeds.

Blanch the almonds to loosen their skins, peel them, and toast them until golden and fragrant.

Blitz together garlic and almonds in a food processor until roughly ground. Tear in a chunk of crispy baguette and blitz again. Add the pepper, tomatoes, and paprika and pulse everything together.

Slowly pour in a glug of olive oil until you have a thick, spoonable sauce. Don’t make it completely smooth. Romesco should have a bit of texture to it.

Season generously with salt and black pepper, taste, then add a little more olive oil if it needs loosening.

Leek Tarte Tatin

This looks far more complicated than it actually is. Six fat leeks, plenty of butter, a little garlic, a touch of honey, and a sheet of puff pastry. The trick is giving the leeks enough time in the pan to become properly golden and caramelized before the pastry goes anywhere near them.

INGREDIENTS
6 leeks
Knob of butter
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Drizzle of honey
Salt and black pepper
1 sheet puff pastry

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the lower white and pale green parts of the leeks into roughly 1-inch discs (the darker green tops are good for making stock). Wash thoroughly to get dirt out of the layers while keeping the rounds as intact as possible. Drain and dry them well.

Heat a knob of butter and olive oil in a skillet over a medium heat. Add the garlic first and let it cook gently for a minute or two. You’re not looking to brown it. You just want the garlic to soften and flavor the butter and oil.

Arrange the leek discs in the pan with the rings facing down. Keep them fairly snug together because this will eventually become the top of your tart. Season with salt and black pepper and let them caramelize without moving them around too much. Carefully turn them and color the other side. Give them about 15 minutes in total. You want them beautifully golden on both sides and starting to soften.

Drizzle over a little honey – not loads – just enough to bring out the natural sweetness of the leeks and help everything become sticky and caramelized. Take the pan off the heat.

Lay the puff pastry over the whole thing, trimming it if necessary and carefully tucking the edges down around the leeks. Put the skillet into the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deeply golden.

Take it out and leave it alone for a few minutes. You want it to cool slightly and settle but not become cold. Now for the fun bit. Put a large plate over the skillet, hold everything firmly, and flip the whole thing over in one confident movement. Lift the skillet away and there it is: golden pastry underneath, buttery caramelized leeks on top, and all those beautiful little rings still showing.

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