Entries in Seafood (21)

Sunday
21Jun2009

Grilled Marlin with Freekeh

Grilled seafood from Dave Utrata.  This dish pairs a meaty, marinated
fish with a unique grain that’s well worth finding.  Freekeh (pronounced free-kuh) is roasted
green wheat, easy to cook and adds a nice dimension.

Grilled marlin with freekeh




 

I’m lucky to live in a college town and
have access to an ethnic grocery.  So I’m
not sure just how readily you may be able to find freekeh, roasted green
wheat.  But it’s worthwhile to find and
simple to cook.  Add enough water to keep it moist; treat it like long
cooking rice.  The marlin?  I just couldn’t pass up a couple of nice, big
steaks of the stuff last time I wanted to show my son the cool things we could
cook up.  I marinated and grilled them.

Grilled Marlin with Freekeh

Ingredients:


  • ½ lb. marlin steaks per person

  • 3 Tblsp teriyaki sauce

  • 1 Tblsp Worcester sauce

  • 1 tsp. hot Chinese-style
    mustard

  • ½ tsp. lime juice

Directions:


  1. Marinate the marlin steaks for
    at least 3 hours; I marinated mine for 6.

  2. Get your grill HOT.  The steaks are wonderful if they are
    just seared on both sides for a total of 4-6 minutes.

  3. Cook the freekeh according to
    directions on the package.  As I
    noted above, it works like long cooking rice.  I used a 4:1 water to grain ration and
    cooked for about 45 minutes.  Drain
    excess water before serving.

  4. When the grilled marlin is
    ready, simply serve with enough freekeh on the side. 

I
served the marlin with pineapple wedges and added fresh chopped cilantro
to the freekeh.  The freekeh has a
wonderful smoky flavor that was perfectly complimented by the cilantro, while the
sweet juiciness of the pineapple nicely accented the marinade used on the
marlin.  Sorry for the blurriness of the
photo; I was too eager to eat to take great pictures!

Wednesday
18Feb2009

Mussels with Shallots, White Wine and Cream

MusselsAn easy recipe for those of you lucky enough to find mussels, by Helen Poore.


We were in Virginia Beach last week and had the best mussels I've had in a long time.  Of course, no one could tell me the recipe, so I came home and made it myself, with only my taste buds as a guide.  What I love so much about this version is the delicate flavor of the mussels is not lost by the overpowering of garlic.  Shallots are now my best friend!  I think this would work with clams too.


Mussels with Shallots, White Wine and Cream




  • 4 pounds of mussels scrubbed and debeard



  • 3 tablespoons butter



  • 1 garlic clove, minced



  • 2 or 3 shallots, finely chopped



  • 1 cup of dry white wine



  • 1/4 cup of heavy cream



  • sprinkle of red pepper, more if you like a bite



  • fresh parsley, about a handful, chopped



In a pan large enough to hold all the mussels (don't fill to top though), sauté garlic and shallots until soft, do not brown.  Add white wine and mussels, cover and steam until all the mussels open (don't over cook, they are meant to be poached).  Discard any mussels that didn't open.  Remove the remaining mussels and set aside.  To the wine sauce, add the parsley, red pepper and cream. Simmer for a few minutes and pour over the mussels.  Serve with lots of crusty French bread for dipping.

Wednesday
04Feb2009

Mediterranean Fish

Med fish 001Recipe by guest author, Heather Forsyth.


Okay, so I got another package of that plain frozen cod from my coop yesterday, and I didn't want to make chowder because I just made mushroom soup.  So this is what I scrounged up mostly from whatever was in my cupboard, plus a super sale on red peppers (3 for $2) at the grocery store.  It was pretty tasty -- between the two of us and two dogs, there was narry a crumb left.  I named it Mediterranean Fish just because it seemed to have those kinds of flavors.


Mediterranean Fish


  • 2 red bell peppers, halved, cored and deseeded
  • 3 T. olive oil (divided use)
  • 1 med. onion, quarter, then thinly slice each quarter crosswise
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press
  • 1 T. vinegar
  • 1T. tomato paste
  • 1 T. dried thyme (divided use)
  • 1 c. vegetable stock
  • 2 celery sticks, sliced thinly (hold onto your celery leaves if you have them)
  • 1 lb. frozen cod steaks
  • 1/2 c. coarse bread crumbs
  • 10-12 black olives, quartered
  • 1 T. capers


Preheat oven to 400.  Place the peppers on an oiled pan, cut side down and roast for about 10-12 minutes until skins start to look brown and wrinkly.  Meanwhile, heat 1 T. of the olive oil in a large frying pan or casserole (I used my 10" cast iron skillet), and saute the onion for about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, vinegar, tomato paste and about half of the thyme, stir around for a minute, then add broth.  Put the heat on low and return to those peppers.  Take the peppers out, but leave the oven on.  Remove the icky skins, and roughly chop the peppers.  Add to the pan along with the celery and the cod.  Bring it just to a sturdy simmer, cover (you can just use foil if you don't have a ovenproof lid) and put the pan in the oven for about 30 minutes.  While the fish is baking, combine the remaining 2 T. olive oil, remaining thyme, salt and pepper, olives, capers and bread crumbs in a small bowl.  After 30 minutes, sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the fish, turn your oven to broil and let it brown, about 5 minutes.  Pull it from the oven and if you have any celery leaves, sprinkle them on top.  Should serve 4, depends on if there are dogs at your house.







Wednesday
10Dec2008

Linguine and White Clam Sauce

Food 001 A very basic, very Italian simple recipe by Guest Author Helen Kenney Poore.


I wasn't able to post last week since I was busy entertaining guests for the last several weeks.  The good news is most of my guests are chefs, 3 of them professional ones, so I was able to enjoy some very good cooking and get some very easy recipes to share here with you (although, since I was not cooking I had dish duty and my hands are a mess). 


I've made linguine with clams many times, but never have I had it as good as this recipe which comes from our friend Enrico who is here visiting from Rome.  The secret?  Drizzle olive oil over the dish just before serving.  Who would have thought?  Enrico says that olive oil loses it's flavor if brought to a high heat for a long period of time, so this dish has little olive oil in the main sauce.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


Linguine and White Clam Sauce - Enrico Style!




  • 1 can of baby clams (not minced)



  • 20 to 30 fresh little neck clams



  • 2 cloves of garlic (minced)



  • 1 cup of dry white wine



  • 1/4 cup olive oil for sauce, more for drizzling over finished dish



  • parsley (fresh if possible)



  • pepper



  • grated Parmesan cheese (optional)



  • 3/4 box of linguine (cooked al dente)



heat olive oil in large sauté pan (not too hot though) and add garlic.  Lightly "blond" garlic, not browned. Add can of clams with juice, parsley and fresh pepper.  Simmer for a few minutes and add white wine. Meanwhile, prepare linguine in boiling water.  Wash fresh clams very well and add them on top of the sauce, cover until clams open. Once clams open, remove and set aside.  Add cooked pasta to the sauce and sauté for one minute to blend.   Serve pasta in shallow bowls and add 6 to 8 fresh clams on top.  Drizzle with olive oil, add cheese and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Monday
10Nov2008

Fish Chowder

Fish chowder A fast, easy seafood dinner that works for landlocked cooks, by Heather Forsyth.


This soup is one of my favorites because it's simple, economical and delicious, even if you don't have fresh fish.  It's the product of moving inland from the east coast to a place where the only fresh fish I've seen looks like some sort of prehistoric monster.  So, although I usually avoid frozen anything, in this case I've come to appreciate a nice clean piece of frozen cod fish.  It doesn't need to be thawed ahead of time, so you don't have to think ahead, but do make sure you have the celery. It's what holds the flavors together.  If you're a quick hand with a knife, you can have this on the table 30 minutes after you walk in the door.


Fishy Chowder



  • 1 T. butter
  • 3-4 slices bacon
  • 1/4 c. onion, diced
  • 1/2 c. celery, diced (add some celery leaves, too, if you have them)
  • 1 large potato (the floury kind are best), chopped small, peeled if you're inclined to
  • 3 c. stock, fish stock if you have it, but vegetable stock is fine
  • 12-16 oz. firm white fish such as cod or haddock, frozen usually
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1 t. salt, or more to taste
  • 1/2 t. tarragon (optional)
  • fresh parsely, chopped (optional, for garnish)


In the bottom of a pot large enough to hold the soup, fry bacon until crisp.  Cool, crumble and set aside.  Add butter to the bacon drippings in the bottom of the pot, then saute the onion, celery and potato for a few minutes, stirring up the brown bits, until the vegetables are well-coated and relaxed.  Add the stock and, if you happen to be drinking white wine while you're cooking, you can throw a splash of that into the pot, as well.  Stir in the tarragon if you're using it.  Simmer gently until the potato is tender, about 10 minutes.  Add the fish (you can cut the frozen fish into pieces ahead of time if you want to, but I usually throw the whole chunk in and then break it up as it cooks) and simmer a few more minutes until the fish is just cooked through.  Stir in the milk and salt, and heat until hot, but not boiling.  Serve with crumbled bacon and chopped fresh parsely on top, and pass the pepper grinder.  This should serve 4, but in our house we usually eat it in 2 piggy servings.