Sand dabs

Eastside Road, December 29 —

HAVE I WRITTEN ABOUT this before? It's one of my favorite dinners. One of our favorites, actually. And it's something I developed all by myself, years ago, with no recourse to any printed recipe: I'm so pleased with myself.
What I do is make a sofritto of onion — tonight I used to small-to-medium yellow onions and a couple of good-sized shallots. I slice them thin thin thin and separate the rings, then sweat them s-l-o-w-l-y in olive oil with a little salt until they're transparent. Meanwhile I soak half a handful of raisins, golden by preference, in white wine and a little Balsamic vinegar. Tonight I forgot to put in the pine nuts; they're pretty important. You add the raisins and their liquid, and the pine nuts, and a couple of bay leaves; and then you put the sand dabs on top, cover the pan, and steam-poach the fish until half done, then turn them and finish. Oh boy this is delicious. May I nominate it to the Hundred Plates?
With them, tonight, leeks and carrots — the carrots split lengthwise and cooked in oil, salt, and water; the split leeks added a little later, the combination steam-sautéed. And some leftover tartiflette, warmed in the oven. And green salad.

Chablis, Jacques Bourguignon, 2008