| Teach a Man to Fish '09 - the Recipe Roundup |
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| Thursday, 12 November 2009 00:00 | |
Teach a Man to Fish Wraps up a Third Year
In many ways this sustainable seafood event, Teach a Man to Fish, reflects a maturation in the movement toward more sustainable seafood choices. Not only do we have a broad cross-section of contributors, as in prior years. We also have a small school of contributors who have been recognized specifically for their sustainability efforts. The second annual Flying Fish Award - "for going above and beyond" goes to Casson Trenor. As I write this, my buddy is on a Greenpeace vessel, somewhere in the Pacific on his way to document and challenge the purse seine skipjack tuna fishing that's going on there in violation of International agreements. Before jetting off to Tahiti, Casson was recognized by Time Magazine. Yup - that Time Magazine. Along with his partners, Chefs Kin Lui and Raymond Ho, he started the Sustainable Sushi trend. Barton Seaver won Esquire's Chef of the Year award for making sustainability center of the plate. He also became a fellow at the Blue Ocean Institute which co-developed the new chef tutorial along with our own Chefs Collaborative. We've got a recipe from a Top Chef, too with Radhika Desai (Season 5) contributing her 10 Spice Barramundi. Buddy Rick Moonen brought the message to this season's Top Chef panel and also spoke to groups like Google about the issue. A couple of recipes from photographers who cook, cooks who are authors and of course, bloggers. Teach a Chef to Fish BeginsThe focus on chefs this year was intentional on my part. I launched chefs' workshops to introduce new sourcing tools (FishChoice.com), tutorials (Green Chefs, Blue Ocean), and resources geared toward professional kitchens. With more buying power and the ability to educate a wide swath of the dining public, I figured reaching out to chefs would be a way to have broader impact. I held Teach a Chef to Fish workshops in Boston and Chicago this year and will be hosting a third in Toronto in January (never mind, I like the cold.) I'm grateful to the folks who developed these tools and who let me build my workshops around taking the message to chefs in these cities. I discovered great new fish to add to my repertoire, like Barramundi, thanks to The Better Fish, Australis Barramundi. I learned of new blogs focussed on sustainable seafood, new books, new videos, new friends. As I always say, none of the rest of it would matter, if I don't want to put it in my mouth. And now, here are close to three dozen recipes (with links to many more) using sustainable seafood to create wonderful meals. Some resources are linked within the posts, others follow at the end. Enjoy! Ten things you can do today to make a difference:
The Recipe RoundupSeared Halibut recipe with flageolet beans, sofrito, garlic confit, kale and anchovy (serves 2)
Matthew Wright publishes a gorgeous blog, full of sustainable seafood recipes and home charcuterie. Please visit WRIGHTFOOD Sofrito (adapted from Bouchon Cookbook):
Put the oil and onions in a medium sized saute pan. Bring up to a low simmer, and add a pinch of salt. Put the pan over a very low heat - just enough for the oil to very gently fizz around the onions, perhaps even less. Let this cook for a couple of hours. Stir every 20 minutes or so, just to make sure no pieces on onion are sticking to the sides of the pan. Slice the tomatoes in half, and push out all the seeds. Grate these on the large holes of a box grater - cut side to the grater. This will grate in the tomato pulp, but leave the skins in your hand. After the onions have cooked for a couple of hours in the oil they should be deeply colored. Add in the tomato to the pan, and another pinch of salt. Let this cook for a further 2 hours. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Store the sofrito, covered in the oil in a fridge. Garlic Confit:
Put the garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Pour in enough oil to completely cover the cloves. Cook over a gentle heat for 40 minutes. If the cloves start to brown, the oil is too hot. Allow to cool, then store the garlic in the fridge, covered with its oil. Flageolet beans:
The night before making the dish, soak the flageolet beans in a bowl of water. In a rush? you can use the quick soak method: Put the beans in a saucepan of water. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Let them sit for 1 hour before using. Preheat oven to 400F Tie the leek, thyme and parsley together with some kitchen twine. In a large saucepan put the onion, beans, tied up leek/thyme/parsley, bay leaf and carrot. Cover completely with water - make sure the water is a couple of inches above all the beans and veg. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 40 minutes, until the beans are tender. Skim off any scum that might rise to the surface. Beans can be cooked the day before, and stored in the fridge for use the next day. Setup a steamer. Personally I like the traditional bamboo steamer - they are large, steam fast, and, er, look rather nice. Steam the kale leaves until just tender. Cool in an ice bath, drain, dry and roughly chop. In a large saute pan add in the sofrito, garlic confit, and a couple of tablespoons of the sofrito oil. Heat gently over a medium flame until hot. Add in the anchovy fillet, and mix until amalgamated with the sofrito. Add in the beans. Cover the pan, and let this cook for about 15 minutes, until the beans are hot, and have taken on the flavor from the sofrito mixture. Whilst the beans are cooking here, heat up a non-stick pan over a high heat, and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Put the halibut in flesh side down, and sear until nicely golden brown - about 6 minutes. Transfer to a roasting pan, and finish cooking in the oven - another 5 minutes or so. The fish is done when it is flaky, and just opaque all the way the through. To finish the dish add the kale into the bean mixture. Gently mix to heat through the kale. Spoon this mixture onto two plates. Drissle with any of the oil left in the pan, or a teaspoon or so of the sofrito oil. Top with the pan roasted halibut. Serve immediately.
Halibut Ceviche on Watermelon Executive Chef Greg Griffie of the Renaissance Hotel Boston and 606 Congress Street Restaurant Offers us Chef Dan's Halibut Ceviche on Watermelon. Greg was one of our Boston participants and I recently ran into him at another New England Aquarium luncheon where we learned about very interesting efforts underway to restore the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Greg's long been a supporter of local, sustainable cuisine and introduced me to a new aquacultured Halibut I'd never heard of: Giga Halibut. Chef Dan's Ceviche on Watermelon
Rebecca Katz, author of The Cancer Fighting Kitchen and One Bite at a Time shares this recipe using Wild Alaskan salmon. Rebecca's a wonderful mentor, friend and chef. Her energy and enthusiasm for helping people heal and be well through food is positively infectious.
Oregon Pink Shrimp Cocktail with Organic Tequila and Lime Kefir Sauce Chef Peter Pahk - has been a contributor each year. He introduced me to Abalone at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Cooking for Solutions event. I later learned what a leader he is in the sustainability field. The Silverado Resort where he is Executive Chef is noted for their leadership and they never stop pushing themselves to do more. Here he uses Oregon Pink Shrimp (MSC Certified and a "best choice") to make a sophisticated re-do of the classic shrimp cocktail. Maybe we should call it a "Mulligan" Shrimp Cocktail, eh chef? Shrimp is a very popular and very problematic choice. Imported shrimp, most often from Asia are often farmed in ways that wreak havoc on the local environments and the local economies as well. In many cases, shrimp from China has been found to be laden with toxins. That'll put a damper on your dim sum. Sorry, but it's true. Luckily, there are some alternatives. Spot prawns from BC, Pink Shrimp from Oregon are two of the best ones. CleanFish is promoting a farmed shrimp from Belize and there are a couple of US based shrimpers in the gulf that are using by-catch reduction to alleviate that issue. In many conventional shrimping operations, 7-10 lbs of by-catch can be wasted (that's dead fish you didn't mean to catch) for every single lb of shrimp harvested. Is it any wonder why the oceans are running out of fish? Here's a shrimp cocktail you can feel good about. Oregon Pink Shrimp Cocktail with Organic Tequila and Lime Kefir Sauce Serves 6 as an appetizer Spoon about 2 ounces of Kefir Sauce on top of the lettuce and then add about 3 ounces of the Oregon Pink Shrimp on top.. Garnish with the Dill and Parsley Sprigs and Lime Wedge
This recipe is a wonderful example of using a sustainable seafood item and adding a little flair, Kian uses fermented tofu and cilantro to turn mussels into a Chinese delicacy. Leave it to Kian Lam to weave the history including Clementine in the Kitchen into this story that precedes this gorgeous dish. It looks so good I might even have to try fermented tofu! Steamed Mussels with Fermented Tofu and Cilantro
Braddock Spear a Marine Biologist from Baltimore began the Sustainable Ocean Project and highlights our efforts on his blog. It's always exciting to meet a kindred spirit and the oceans need all our voices. Please check out Brad's blog and see what he's writing about. Brad says: Maine shrimp are brilliantly sweet and tender, but are often overlooked by the market because their meat is small. I think it's totally worth the extra 10 minutes of prep work. For the past four or five years, population abundance has been high and fishing pressure is low (mainly because of the market). Also called the Northern Shrimp, Monterey Bay Aquarium gives it a 'good alternative' rating.
Maine Shrimp Fra Diavolo
This "Po'Boy" comes from Cooking for the Week, published by Mary Reilly of The Savory Kitchen. Disclaimer: I have never eaten a real po'boy, so I make no claims to the authenticity of my sandwich. All I can say is that it was delicious.
This looks like a lot of components, but don't worry: this all came together really fast. Also, there's nothing wrong with using regular tartar sauce, plain butter, skipping the salad, etc.
![]() Makes enough for two servings:
For fish
For fennel-lemon tartar sauce
For mustard butter
To finish sandwich
For salad
Make tartar sauce: Mix all ingredients together and adjust salt, heat and acid to your taste.
Make mustard butter: Blend butter and mustard together.
Make salad: Thinly slice fennel bulb (a mandoline is great for this). Peel and section the tangerine into segments. Toss fennel and tangerine segments with chicory. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of sherry vinegar over the salad and then a few tablespoons of olive oil. Toss to combine, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Fry the fish: Heat 1/2" oil in frying pan. Dredge the smelts in Wondra flour. When oil is hot (sprinkle a little flour into oil - it should sizzle up and brown quickly), fry the fish in batches until lightly browned. Remove fish from pan and drain on paper towels. Let the oil come up to heat again before frying more fish. (I fried mine in two batches.)
Assemble sandwich: heat the baguettes in a 300 oven until warm and crusty. Spread the inside of the bread with mustard butter. Fill each sandwich with fish (leave some tails poking out the ends, for fun). Sprinkle fish with salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Top with tartar sauce. Serve with salad alongside or stuffed into the sandwich as you prefer. (We kept our salad on the side and stuffed a little in every now and then.)
Arctic Char over Lentils de Puy
Mary is a great cook and a good sport, who let me boss her around the very first time I met her, sent me bacon brittle after the second time we dined together, and came to my Boston workshop and helped me staff the sign in table! All this while selling her goodies at the farmers market and catering and planning her own restaurant. Even if she's an over achiever who makes me look like a slug, you gotta love her!
Pepes Ikan Woku
This recipe comes from Laurant Tourandel courtesy of the Alaska Seafood Marketing website. Ingredients: Method: Combine honey, soy sauce, grapeseed oil, and vinegar in a bowl. Stir and place black cod fillets in the bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Remove fish from marinade and season with salt and black pepper. Place fillets on a cookie sheet and cook in the oven until they have a golden/dark-brown hue and are cooked through, about 7 to 8 minutes. To serve: Spoon wilted spinach or pea leaves equally between 6 plates, top with fillet and spoon some marinade over and around the fish. Recipe By:
This was my first experience with MSC certified frozen halibut.
While reasonable people can debate the overall impact of flying frozen fish across the country, I believe it can be a sustainable alternative. Sometimes supporting well-managed fisheries means not buying locally. It's not an either/or dilemma however. I can support Alaska's well managed fisheries while also advocating for my local fisheries to be better managed. You know that cous cous was probably also not made from wheat grown in Massachusetts. I'm sure the wine I had with this dinner was also not local. I'm not trying to be perfect, just to be better.
This halibut was my riff on a recipe in Rick Moonen's Fish without a Doubt. Check the blog post for more information or better, buy Rick's book. This is THE fish cookery bible. One of the best things about this book is its simpicity for most of us, its free offering of substitutes, and gives you challenging recipes if you want to there.
Not all albacore fisheries use ocean-friendly methods. Look for albacore tuna certified as sustainable to the standard of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Albacore is caught with a variety of gear, including troll, pole-and-line and longline. There is little or no bycatch This Wild Pacific brand is one you can count on as lower in mercury and safer for the environment. Albacore and Corn Chowder
Barton Seaver was one of the first chefs I met who had achieved sort of rock star status among conservation minded chefs and cooks. We first met in Greenville, NC at the Southern Exposure festival of food and music. Seaver has been lauded as a leader in sustainability by Seafood Choices Alliance and was recently named a Fellow with the Blue Ocean Institute, in order to help link the environmental community with real-life, delicious applications of an eco-friendly ethic. He also works with the Ocean Now program at the National Geographic Society, to influence the practices of large corporations and consumers alike toward a more responsible and sustainable sourcing ethic. Locally, Barton is an appointed member of the Mayor's Council on Nutrition in Washington, DC where he is helping to craft a wellness policy for District residents. Okay that's from his foundation website. What that doesn't tell you is that while all that is going on, and even in the midst of getting married, he's the kind of guy who still returns my calls and says "thanks for what you do, how can I help?" That, to me, is a rock star. Oh yeah, and he does it while devoting so much of his time to the issues of sustainability. Barton was named Chef of the Year by Esquire. While restaurant business and wedding plans prevented him from getting too involved with my workshops, he was excited to hear about the tools and resources I'm trying to bring to the chef community. As a fellow of Blue Ocean Institute, he's also contributed to the Ocean Friendly Chefs site. See his page here: Barton Seaver - Green Chefs/Blue Ocean for Clams with Chorizo and Pine Nuts.
Ed Sullivan calls himself "a blogger NOT a writer. Check his blog and decide for yourself, DrinkingLatte. What no one would argue with is Ed's excellent presence on Twitter. He is located in Australia, and given the hours that I work, we're often on overlapping, if opposite ends of our days. With thousands of followers (almost three thousand) he still finds a way to remember when you've had a bad day or share a little personal moment that makes you feel very connected.
I'm very excited to bring you his Barramundi with an Asian Twist! =a delightful dish to share as main for 4 person=
INGREDIENTS:
1 whole cleaned Barramundi (approximately1 kg, the one I used on this recipe)
Dressing: 1/3 cup fresh lemon/lime juice 1 tablespoon of brown sugar 2 tablespoon of water 2 tablespoon of fish sauce 1 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce 2 hot red chillies - chopped 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste – dissolved in just enough boiling water (40ml appx')
Salad: 3 cups of fresh green mango thinly sliced 1 cup of Spanish onion thinly sliced 2 cups of seedless sliced Lebanese cucumber ¼ cup of chopped coriander 6 cherry tomatoes – cut into halves 2 tablespoon of thinly sliced ginger ¼ cup of chopped spring onions
Oil for frying:
Preparation: 1. To prepare the dressing, combine all in a bowl, stir well with a whisk. 2. For salad, combine all in a separate bowl.
3. Sprinkle both sides of the fish with salt and pepper. Heat enough oil to fry in a suitable pan over medium heat. Fry the fish and turn once until golden brown, and flesh is easily flaked with a fork. 4. Serve on a platter, garnish the salad on top and pour the sauce over salad and fish.
* It’s best to drain the fried fish for excess oil before serving on a platter. ** I used half portion of the fish for photo purposes only. The proper way of serving is the whole fish on a big platter to share.
Ed, this Barramundi looks as delightful as you are, thanks!
Fried Catfish with Spicy Aioli and Andouille Jambalaya David Dadekian, is a photographer friend I met through Facebook and often "Tweet" with. He's one of those rare folks that is creative in more than one way (he photographs! he cooks! he writes!) and is also a hell of a nice guy. He even shared a roasted suckling pig head with me, shooting him straight to the top of the best friends for life list. In addition to being able to quote Marvin the Martian, David shares my new respect for recipe development as a skill. Sure you can cook, but actually compose a recipe that will be reliable for the next cook to use? Well, I guess we can add that to his list....
Andouille Jambalaya
1 lb andouille sausage, diced 1 Tbs vegetable oil 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped, seeded 1/2 cup celery, chopped 1 cup yellow onions, chopped kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste 1 cup tomato, chopped and seeded 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 bay leaf 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried chervil 1 tsp dried parsley 1 tsp paprika 2 1/2 cups chicken stock Tabasco 1 cup rice
In a large pot over medium heat render diced andouille sausage. Remove sausage and reserve rendered andouille "oil" for aioli (see below). Add vegetable oil to pot, once hot cook the onions, pepper & celery with kosher salt, black pepper and cayenne until softened. Add tomato, garlic and all the herbs, cook for minute more. Add chicken stock, cooked andouille sausage and Tabasco. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add rice. Simmer until done.
Serves four
Note: in all honesty, I've been making this for years and don't measure much of it. It's about 1 bell pepper, 1 stalk of celery, 1 onion, some salt & pepper, 1 tomato, and some herbs to taste. I'm estimating the teaspoons of the dried herbs, it's probably more like heaping teaspoons in some cases and scant teaspoons in others. Just make it with love. :)
Garlic Andouile Aioli
1 egg 1/2 Tbs Dijon mustard 4 cloves garlic, crushed Juice of 1/2 lemon kosher salt ground white pepper reserved andouille "oil" olive oil
In the bowl of a food processor, fitted with a metal blade, combine the egg, mustard, garlic and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. With the machine running, stream in the andouille "oil" until aioli is pale in color and thickened. You may need to supplement the andouille "oil" with some olive oil if there isn't enough and the aioli is crazy thick. Remove from the processor and refrigerate.
Fried Catfish
4 catfish filets kosher salt ground black pepper Old Bay 2 cups AP flour 2 large whole eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon water 2 cups panko bread crumbs Vegetable oil, for frying
Season filets with salt and ground black pepper. In the three small pans place the following: flour seasoned with Old Bay, egg and water mixture, panko bread crumbs also seasoned with Old Bay. Heat about 1/4-inch of vegetable oil in a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat. Dip each filet in the flour, then the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs. Gently place each filet in oil and cook until golden brown, flipping once, approximately 4 minutes on each side. Remove to a cooling rack set in sheet pan and allow to drain for a few minutes before serving.
Serves four
SippitySup is another new surprise for me! Greg writes this blog and is a Foodbuzz publisher who participated in the Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 Sustainability event. Look over his blog and you'll find several posts about sustainable seafood, good information and great recipes. Here's a recipe for Tilapia Sautéed with Jalapeños.
How beautiful is that? Check his Holiday Catfish, too!
If you are interested in foraging, in fishing, in the Pacific Northwest, in good writing, in sustainability issues...or any combination of these...you will love Langdon Cook's blog. Read this post on the Fat of the Land blog: The Herding of the Pinks. Let me also put a plug in for the fantastic book. Fat of the Land is a wonderful example of solid information shared in gently told stories that convey a deep respect for the natural world. Nothing preachy, just the sort of recipes and stories that make you want to dig your hiking boots out of the back of the closet and go outside.
Langdon says: We had an epic run of pink salmon this year in Puget Sound. Something like 5 million fish returned to natal rivers--but not quite all of 'em made it... A group of us fly-fishermen have dialed in this urban fishery right in the heart of Seattle's industrial district. We call it "herding the pinks," rowing our kickboats out into the Duwamish River's estuary to lasso pink salmon as they school past barges, container ships, and the sprawling Boeing complex. And here's the recipe. I took a simple citrus cure and added the leftover must from blackberry winemaking:
A new surprise to me is this blog features videos shot, narrated and edited by Michael Gebert. He was co-nominated for a James Beard Award and loves my two favorite things pigs and fish. The blog is a an annotated index of video podcasts on various topics. SKY FULL OF BACON 11: A BETTER FISH This one features Supreme Lobster's Carl Galvan who was one of our participants at Teach a Chef to Fish in Chicago. There's an interesting array of sustainable fish issues here. See what you can pick out. Which fish are sustainable choices? Which are not? Who's buying and selling what? Why? Discuss...
In this, the first of two podcasts devoted to fish, Sky Full of Bacon looks at the way people look at fish today. We tour Supreme Lobster, one of the nation's largest fish distributors, and listen to sales rep Carl Galvan as he talks passionately about getting high-end chefs interested in more unusual, local and sustainable choices. We hear from chefs Paul Virant and Cary Taylor on how their customers look at fish, talk to the Shedd Aquarium about their Right Bite sustainability program, and meet with Alisha Lumea, "evangelist" for the all-sustainable fish co. Cleanfish, who tells us about some new ways of raising and harvesting fish that hold out hope we'll still have fish in another 40 years.
SKY FULL OF BACON 12: IN THE LAND OF WHITEFISH
We often overlook some of the non-oceanic species. This is a reminder of a freshwater fish that's been a staple in Jewish households forever. Great Lakes whitefish was once THE fish of midwestern dining-- and it's a more sustainable and local choice than the ubiquitous tilapia flown in from Latin America. I talk to chefs Jean Joho and Paul Virant about the challenge of getting modern diners to pick Great Lakes freshwater fish over more exotic choices, visit an old school Jewish fish market and talk to its 93-year-old founder, and finally go out on a Lake Michigan whitefish boat with a family that's been fishing the lake for 130 years.
Broiled Halibut Veracruz is one of his own recipes he's developed since deciding it was time to lower his weight and cholesterol. (I feel you, David.) Now that I've found your site, I'll have an easier time of it! Thanks for this. When choosing Halibut, be sure to check the Seafood Watch guide for tips on how to choose sustainable Halibut. Wild Alaksan is a best choice, and California Hook and line caught is a good alternative. Halibut is a bottom-dwelling fish so the old bottom trawlers which wreck the habitat is a chief concern with this fish. ![]()
Dale Cruse's "Guy Food" Seared Scallops
Scallops are one example of a farmed product being preferred over a wild caught. While farmed scallops are becoming more available every day, the vast majority of scallops are wild caught with great potential to the ocean habitat caused by dredging. Read more about scallops here. Tropical Scallops ½ cup minced shallot Over medium heat, heat olive oil and sauté shallots, red pepper and carrot until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add scallops and sear on each side, 1 minute each side. Remove scallops. Raise heat to high and add balsamic vinegar. Boil and reduce to medium-low heat and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes, until sauce is syrupy. Add lemon juice, pineapple, cilantro and combine. Add scallops and stir. Season with salt. Serves 3 Alona Martinez, is a vivacious "Venezuela hybrid" (Venezuela/American/Israeli) who publishes the lovely Culinary Compulsion blog. I first met her at IACP in Denver and liked her instantly. She's published pieces in Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine, The Sun-Sentinel, The Miami Herald, The Dallas Morning News and The Oregonian and was a finalist for the 2009 James Peterson Food Writing Passion Scholarship at The Greenbrier Symposium for Professional Food Writers. In addition to food writing, she develops recipes and photographs food. Her recipes and images have appeared on James Beard Award-winning websites such as Nat Decants and Leite’s Culinaria.
Oysters Guest post by Claire Walter author of books, travel guides and publisher of the food blog: Culinary Colorado. When my son, Andrew, was very young -- the summer before he turned three – he went to a fancy restaurant with his dad and his stepmom for her birthday dinner. She ordered Oysters Rockefeller and gave him one. He liked it so much that she gave him a second and then a third. He finally asked what was in them, so she explained, “Oysters, breadcrumbs and spinach.”
Here's a recipe for the classic Oysters Rockefeller from Galatoire's Restaurant on Bourbon Street. 1/3 cup Italian parsley?; 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened?; 1/3 cup scallions (including green) 1/2 lb fresh spinach, finely chopped*. ?Salt and pepper to taste?; 1/3 cup fresh celery leaves?; Tabasco sauce; ?1/2 tablespoon chervil?; 2 tablespoon Pernod?; 1/2 tablespoon tarragon?; rock salt?. 1/2 cup dried homemade bread crumbs?; 24 oysters, liquor reserved; on the 1/2 shell Instructions Mince all the greens together as finely as possible. Scrape into a mortar, and work into a smooth paste with the breadcrumbs and butter. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Tabasco, plus, if desired, Pernod (Herbsaint preferred). Preheat broiler. Spread enough salt in a large baking tin to keep the shells from tipping. Dampen salt slightly. Embed shells, open side up, in the salt and put an oyster in each, along with some of its liquor. Spoon an equal amount of the prepared herb butter onto each of the oysters. Put in the middle shelf of the oven and broil the oysters until their edges have curled and the topping is bubbling hot, about 4-5 minutes.?? Serves 4 - 6. * Galatoire's has two recipes, one with spinach and one without. I think of this as a classic ingredient and discerning diners, like Claire's son would, too. If you have non-spinach lovers, you can make them without it and still know it's an authentic Galatoire's recipe. Claire reminds me of the Gulf Coast oyster -FDA battle ongoing. (click on link to get to petition) Apparently, fewer people die of vibrio each year in the region than die from lightening strikes, but FDA wants to impose irradiation or other methods to essentially cook oysters sold in many months. Here's a site called Be Oyster Aware. Seems to me it's the same advice for any raw seafood: if you're immune-compromised, probably best to stick to Drago's Grilled or Acme's. Or you could have barbecued oysters like these at Cafe Desire, and that's a Sazerac, yes.
Crab Imperial
Just the name of this dish makes me smile. It seems to hearken back to a simpler time, when a dish like this made a holiday special. There's something about baked creamy things like mac and cheese, lasagna with bechamel, artichoke and spinach dip...just makes me happy. The casserole craze may be a hip, retro thing for some but "baked and gooey" never left my kitchen long enough to stage a "comeback." The addition of an expensive, luxury item like crab of course does improve the dish. Hell, it improves a lot of things if you ask me. Stuffed mushrooms, for one. Crab dishes like these are the opposite of the summertime crab pickin' where you spread out newspaper and pass the beers. Whack and pick, nibble and catch up. Mini crab balls, crab cakes, crab stuffed mushrooms and of course, Crab Imperial are all fancy dishes to add a tough of elegance to the holiday table. According to the Blue Ocean Institute, "blue crabs mature early and carry their eggs for a short period, making them more resilient to fishing pressure than other crab species.” Thanks to Rebecca Bent of CrabPlace.com for this beautiful blog post, recipe and photo. Crab Imperial
See Gabe Bremer Chef and Co-Owner of Salts Restaurant in Cambridge prepare Crab Cannelloni with Heirloom Tomatoes and Edible Flowers in this H2H video. (I make a cameo appearance at the beginning of Gabe's introduction.)
Top Chef Contestant Radhika Desai was a great sport and volunteered to cook for our Chicago Teach a Chef to Fish Workshop, see A Radhika-ly Good Meal of Sustainable Barramundi. This was a fantastic dish. The key is the spice blend, the accompanying vegetables you can do as you please, in fact, ours included pasta. 10 Spice Rubbed Barramundi , Butter Braised Corn, Mushrooms & Spinach
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. In a hot pan, add canola oil. Season both sides of the fish with spice mix. Add fish to pan and sear both sides. In a plate, mushroom and spinach mixture, then corn, then fish on top. Garnish with chives or cilantro.
None other than Time Magazine honored one of our favorite FoF's (friend of fish): Casson Trenor along with his partners, Chefs Kin Lui and Raymond Ho. These guys are the ones who started the sustainable sushi restaurant trend with Tataki in San Francisco. I'm so proud of these guys I'm busting buttons! I first met them at the FCI for the Blue Ocean Institute, Seafood Watch and EDF joint sushi wallet card launch. Here's the Heroes of the Environment Award article. Don't forget to check out Casson's site, SustainableSushi.net, which includes posts from his Twitter feed which he's keeping up from Tahiti where he's on a most interesting Greenpeace mission to challenge and document illegal purse seine Skipjack tuna fishing. Read about that, here. Go Casson! Be safe! Be fearless! Tweet when you can! I think I can say "Gokurosama!" This year's Flying Fish Award - for going above and beyond - goes to Casson Trenor!
You can read my interview with Casson who I happened to be IM'g with as he found out the news (about the Time Magazine Award, not the Flying Fish Award.)
Raghavan Iyer to whom I will be forever grateful for showing me a world of curries, shares this recipe on local Minneapolis television. Konkan Wild Salmon Balchao Muchee. This year Raghavan also opened Om Minneapolis, a restaurant getting rave reviews as we would expect. For my review of his wonderful book, see Ghee & Gratitude. ![]() ![]() ![]() RESOURCES
Find books mentioned here on my Powell's Bookshelf! A Good Catch: a great collection of Canadian Chefs' Sustainable Seafood; Rick Moonen's Fish Without a Doubt, Fat of the Land and many more.
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Fish
written by Chez Us , November 14, 2009
Great write up & the response with recipes was fantastic! There are definitely a few I plan to try out. Great job, Jacqueline!
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Langdon's photo of his Blackberry Must & Citrus Cured Salmon






















