Bon Appetit Magazine gets me every time.  Print might be dying, but goddammit, every time that magazine comes in the mail I squeal like the happiest stuck pig in the world.  The pictures of the dishes beg you to re-create them.  I love food porn.

Cue the cabbage-wrapped Halibut.

I think the average person gets intimidated by cooking french food. As if you needed to go to the CIA before you could begin to understand what its all about.

Wrong.  It’s all about 3 simple things: fresh ingredients, not being afraid of screwing up, and butter. delicious, delicious butter.

Butter=yum.

Butter=flavor

Butter=Fat CJ.

I picked up the fish from my favorite fishmonger, Dorian’s.  Run by two sisters, it’s one of the saving graces of upper east side food purveyors.

Blanche the cabbage,  mix an obscene amount of butter with capers and parsley.  Wrap the halibut and a tablespoon of the butter mixture in the cabbage, and brown them in a pan (with more butter, duh), 2 minutes per side.

Finish it off in an over preheated to 350 degrees.

While that’s happening, Assemble a Salad.

Jesus tapdancing Christ, don’t you dare grab a bottle of pre-made vinagrette. What are you, some savage open-mouth breather? Learn how to emulsify with a whisk and you’ll know more about cooking than 98 percent of the people in our country.

I served it with a smooth Sauvignon Blanc from Matanzas Creek.  Their vineyard is beautiful and definitely worth the visit if you’re in the Napa Valley area.  There’s a guy there who works the tasting room and looks like Gandalf.

Finish it off with Roasted pears and blackberries topped with Creme Fraiche and Honey. If that doesn’t get you laid, I don’t know what will.