In my youth, when I was more adventurous and blissfully ignorant of the world, I used to eat fish eyeballs. It was my special treat. After there was nothing left of a fish except for the carcass and head, I would dig the eyeballs out with my nimble little fingers and eat them. Like an olive. I'd slurp the outside off and spit out the "pit" (for those of you who don't know, at the very center of a cooked fish eye is this inedible, hard, white ball). It wasn't until my friends and classmates from school told me I was a weirdo that I realized eating fish eyes wasn't exactly considered normal by most western standards. Subsequently, it wasn't until I was much older that I realized, who cares what kids think? They are dumb and reject anything outside of their own narrow range of life experiences; myself included, I thought it was weird other people thought eating fish eyeballs was weird.
Seared Scallops with Pea Purée
If there is one dish that I always order at a restaurant, given it's on the menu, it is scallops. Without fail. Every. Single. Time. They're so sweet, succulent, pretty, and easy to prepare. They also don't need very much embellishment to make them delicious.
Head-On Shrimp Pad Thai
For the past three years of my life, one of my most consistent meals has been Thai take out. Yup, once a week almost every week. Shortly after moving to Chicago, I found my local Thai restaurant. They happened to be a five minute walk from my apartment which was a nice perk. I was making my way through their menu, having gotten more than halfway through, but sadly we had to part ways when I moved to Brooklyn and now I'm still searching for my new place.
Crispy Skin Salmon with Celeriac Kohlrabi Purée
Last year I was a part of what can most aptly be described as a CSA for fish. Instead of picking up a box of vegetables every week, these awesome fishermen mailed me a 5 lb box of sustainably caught fish every month for four months. For those of you who are curious, it was sockeye salmon, coho salmon, halibut, and sablefish in that order. It was without a doubt the most gorgeous and delicious fish I had ever eaten.