There are times when cooking is easier for me—the nights my husband is doing it. I am lucky how often he cooks considering he does this for a living and is at work most nights, especially weekends. I will often defer the cooking to him when he’s home. But, I really enjoy cooking with him, because I often learn something and because we enjoy being together and we work well together. There’s a reason or two I married him.
Today we shopped for dinner at Stew Leonard’s and I picked out the Bronzino (Bronzini) as our main. Bronzino is a Mediterranean sea bass and the ones we purchased were sustainably farm-raised in Greece. If you haven’t noticed, I love fish and because I do and cook it often, my kids do as well. I am careful what I buy and try to pick something sustainable that’s also in my budget. Fish is expensive. It was on sale today and looked fresh. Stew’s is one of our favorite places to buy fish, because the turnover is so great, the fish is very fresh. My husband told me to look at the eyes, if they’re clear and not cloudy, it’s fresher. Ok, yes, the eyes. This fish is whole, head and all. Daunting? Maybe, but not necessarily. Off-putting? That’s up to you. 
At least it’s gutted. I grew up on a lake and my brothers often caught trout and bass. We had whole fish fairly regularly. Unfortunately, my sons probably won’t experience that here because the lakes and rivers are now too polluted, I doubt I’ll allow them to eat what they catch. But, still they were fascinated with the whole fish. Wanted to touch it before it was cooked. Must be a boy thing. 
I suggested cooking the fish in foil on the grill. Too hot to start the oven tonight. The fish cavity was stuffed with lemon slices and aromatic herbs. We had dill, Thai basil, chives, thyme, lemongrass and parsley. 
My husband would have liked to put fennel and orange slices inside, but we used up what we had from our CSA share. Olive oil, salt and pepper was then put on the outside, the foil was left open (like a boat) to absorb the smokiness from the grill on which they were placed. Note that they were put on the edges of the grill (indirect heat) and the cover was then closed. 
After 15 minutes we turned them. I tried to get the whole thing but the skin stuck (might try putting oil on first next time!). After another 10-15 minutes they were done.
While the coals were getting hot I boiled the corn on the cob and steamed the broccoli. Both were put in ice baths to stop the cooking. While the fish was cooking I made a local tomato, basil (from our garden patch) and goat cheese salad. After the last time, I was sure the boys would love to see that— the eldest two were so happy their eyes popped out like Bugs Bunny when he sees the girl bunny. I also made a plain Romaine salad with Briannas French Vinaigrette. When the fish was nearly finished my husband put the corn on the grill to reheat and get slightly browned. Broccoli was finished in our traditional way— butter, sea salt and pepper.
When the fish was taken off the grill, my husband took the top layer of the filet and dished it out, then picked up the head and lifted the bones right out of the bottom layer. Be careful to get all the bones, you don’t want anyone stabbing themselves in the mouth — might put them off fish for a while, if they do.
The Bronzino was delicious. The flavors it soaked up were so complementary and absolutely divine. Luckily I adore fish so I can pass this on to my kids. Great dinner we made together and I was happy to clean up—blasting my ipod in the kitchen while my husband pushed the kids on the swings. For the next 4 nights I’ll be on my own cooking and cleaning alone (well, maybe with one or two little helpers).
