Another day, another Feast of the Seven Fishes

I had my first two fishes at breakfast on Christmas Day with a steaming portion of Jamaican ackee and salted codfish, accented with Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce and served with Korean seaweed-and-fish-cake roll, above.

I'm never without Valentina Salsa Picante (Black Label).

BY VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

The traditional Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes is usually served on Christmas Eve, but why should I limit myself?

On Christmas Day, when the meat eaters in the family prepared a big meal of goat, oxtail and rice and peas with coconut milk, I improvised a Feast of the Seven Fishes from leftovers and what I had on hand.

I ate dishes with salted codfish, fresh Atlantic cod, yellowfin tuna, pink salmon, smoked wild salmon, wild jumbo shrimp, sardines and anchovies.

My first dish was at breakfast and my last was at dinner, and for a snack I had a forkful of canned fish salad with crunchy celery (yellowfin tuna, pink salmon and sardines dressed with Dijon mustard, lime juice and ground cumin).

For lunch, I had an appetizer portion of leftover wild shrimp cooked in spicy green salsa, both from Mexico.

A second lunch appetizer was leftover fresh Atlantic cod that I prepared Tuesday night with basil-and-tomato pasta sauce and added extra-virgin olive oil, onions, garlic, capers and olives. I used a recipe for a monkfish dish I helped prepared on Dec. 16 at a Chef Central workshop in Paramus, where I was among a dozen customers preparing a Feast of the Seven Fishes under the guidance of three chefs.

After lunch, I had roasted salt-free almonds dusted with cinnamon and Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, and drank a glass of Nebbiola D'Alba, a red wine from Italy.

Eventually, I got to the salad course, adding more Parmigiano Reggiano and smoked wild salmon from Costco Wholesale to organic spring mix, and dressing them simply in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

A few hours later, I used leftover sauce with a couple of small pieces of Atlantic cod to prepare organic whole-wheat pasta shells from Whole Foods Market with a can of drained and rinsed anchovies, another of Moroccan sardines and a half-bottle of leftover Dress Italian tomato-and-basil pasta sauce in the refrigerator.

On Tuesday, the snowy fresh cod fillets from Iceland needed nothing more than fresh lime juice before I put them in the bubbling sauce, covered the pan, turned up the heat and cooked them for about 10 minutes. The fish was firm and flaky.

Eating out or eating in: Close-up on more good food

From the Vegetarian Menu at Wondee's Fine Thai Food and Noodles, 296 Main St. in Hackensack (closed Mondays): Tofu Kratiam or sauteed tofu with garlic, onion and black pepper ($12), garnished with orange slices and fresh cilantro.

Wild Copper River Sockeye Salmon with Basil Pesto, both from Costco Wholesale, served with TraderJoe's Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta made with sardines and salted cod.

A freshy baked 18-inch Pepperoni Pizza from Costco Wholesale, a bargain at $9.95.

Som Thum, a crunchy salad of fresh green papaya dressed with lemon juice, chili, peanuts, green beans, tomato, and ground dried shrimp, is $8 at Wondee's.

Koong Lard Prig, steamed large shrimp with sweet and sour chili, broccoli and pickled cabbage, is $17 at Wondee's, a BYO with parking in the rear.

A breakfast frittata made with smoked wild salmon, tomato, capers and egg whites, all from Costco Wholesale, and served with sauteed cabbage and mashed sweet potatoes with extra-virgin olive oil.

A midday roll-up snack of smoked wild salmon on thin-sliced, reduced-fat Swiss cheese with organic spring mix, pesto and Dijon mustard, all from Costco Wholesale.

Thome Yum Hedt, a combination mushroom soup, is $3.50 at Wondee's.

Cabbage Delight -- pickled cabbage, ginger, carrot and peppers -- is $3 at Wondee's.

Costco Wholesale's organic brown eggs with Trader Joe's pasta is real comfort food for breakfast. You can't beat the pleasure of eating the yolks broken over the pasta.

My wife found fresh wild-caught porgy for $1.79 a pound at H Mart in Englewood.