Paula Jones’ Grouper Hemingway

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2020/05 - May

Furniture designer Paula Jones strolls through the grocery store with a smile so magnetic that it seems to set the whole place aglow.  

On her wrist she brandishes a woven wood peach “shopping basket.”  Yet there’s more to know about her – for the woman that appears and is so approachable is also a deeply talented artist and a passionate business woman.     

Her calling began in the modest woodworking studio of her childhood home in Alabama.  Then there were years of study and teaching at Atlanta’s famed Art Institute.  

Today, Jones and her husband Barry own the eponymous Highlands Summer House store. The business that started as a small woodworking shop in Scaly Mountain in 1990, the place where they popularized the aesthetic of rustic handcrafted twig furniture design, is now a sprawling multi-faceted, complete home furnishing complex.

Jones is too modest to lay claim to any prowess in the kitchen, yet she clearly knows how to navigate a stove.  Her recipe for Grouper Hemingway  – an oasis of delightful deliciousness – displays a knack for making a main course that is easy while being anything but boring.  

Grouper Hemingway

From Paula Jones:  “I had a version of this years ago at a restaurant in High Point while at the furniture show. Theirs was served over pasta.  I wanted a lighter taste so I have used spinach Instead. Chopped artichokes are also a tasty addition. Try this and I’ll be there for dinner about 7!   Remember, I am not a great cook.  I just get by with the basics.”  

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

4 5-oz Grouper Filets

1 small Onion, diced

½ cup White Wine

Juice of half a Lemon

1-cup Fresh or Canned Tomatoes 

2 tablespoons Capers

2 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter, divided

2 cups packed Fresh Spinach Leaves

Salt and Pepper

Step 1: In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat. Add fish and cook until opaque in the center, about 2 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer the fish to a platter and tent with foil to keep the fish warm.

Step 2: Add the tomatoes to the skillet and break them up with a fork. Cook over low heat until most of the liquid has evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the wine, lemon juice and capers and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir the butter into the sauce. 

Step 3: While the sauce is cooking, melt 1-tablespoon butter over medium heat.  Add the spinach and toss to coat.  Cover the pan and cook until the spinach is wilted – about 2 minutes.  Drain any excess liquid and season with salt and pepper.

Step 4:: Spoon the spinach onto a large deep platter, set the fillets on the spinach and top with the sauce. Serve immediately.

by Marlene Osteen