Bouillabaisse Nutritional info per serving

A classic French bouillabaisse recipe is a combination of rich broth and delicate pieces of fresh fish, served with rouille-smeared toasts.

INGREDIENTS

• Drizzle olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 small fennel bulb, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 1 leek, sliced
• 4 salted anchovy fillets, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 3 tbsp tomato pure´e
• 1 strip orange zest
• 3 medium sustainably sourced fish,filleted, bones and head reserved (see food team's tip): 1 firm-fleshed fish such as gurnard; 1 sea bream; and 1 john dory
• 200ml dry white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 600g sustainable mussels
• 1 small tub brown crabmeat
• Pastis, such as Pernod or Ricard
• Juice 1/2 lemon
• Handful fresh parsley, chopped, to serve
  For the rouille
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• Generous pinch sea salt flakes
• 2 medium free-range egg yolks • 35ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 125ml light olive oil
• 2 pinches cayenne pepper
• 2 pinches saffron threads, plus extra to garnish (optional)
• Juice 1/2 lemon to taste
• 1/2 baguette, sliced thinly and toasted

METHOD

1. Put the oil, onion, fennel, carrot, celery, leek, anchovies and garlic in a large stock pot and cook gently, stirring often, for 10 minutes, then stir in the tomato pure´e and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Add the orange zest, fish bones and heads (see tip), white wine, bay and thyme, turn up the heat and bubble away most of the liquid. Add 3 litres cold water, bring to a boil, skim off any scum on the top, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
2. Simmer until reduced by two thirds (about 2 hours), then strain into a large saute´ pan (discard the veg and fish bones).
3. Meanwhile, make the rouille. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic to a paste with the salt flakes. Add the egg yolks and stir vigorously with the pestle until pale and thick. Mix the olive oils in a jug and very slowly trickle into the egg mixture, stirring all the time (it might be easier to get someone to trickle in the oil). You’ll end up with a thick mayonnaise- like paste. If it looks like it’s about to split (you’ll see a sheen of oil on top), stir in a dribble of cold water or lemon juice.
4. Once all the oil has been incorporated, add the cayenne, then rub the saffron between your fingers to release the flavour and stir through. Taste and season with salt and lemon juice. Spoon into a bowl and cover with cling film touching the surface to prevent the rouille from forming a skin.
5. When the broth is ready, tip the mussels into a sink of cold water and scrub them if they’re dirty or barnacled. Pull off any thread-like beards, then set aside – discard any that don’t close when tapped.
6. To skin the filleted fish, hold each fillet by the tail end with a piece of kitchen paper. Using a sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut into the fish in front of your fingers, until you reach the fish skin. Keeping the knife at a slight angle (about 30 degrees), push the blade gently forward – but not pressing down – along the fillet, using a sawing motion to separate the flesh from the skin. Run your fingers over the fillets to feel for bones, removing any with a pair of tweezers. Keeping the types of fish separate, slice into 4cm chunks.
7. Heat the broth until simmering, stir in the brown crabmeat, then drop in the firm fish (gurnard) chunks with the mussels. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the bream and the john dory. Make sure the fish is covered with liquid, then simmer gently for 2 minutes, without stirring, until the chunks are uniformly white but not breaking up. Remove and discard any mussels that remain unopened after cooking.
8. Gently stir in a good glug of pastis, then taste and add lemon juice, salt or pepper as needed. Add a little more pastis if you can’t taste it. Spread the rouille on the baguette slices and scatter with extra saffron (optional), scatter the soup with parsley and serve straightaway.

• A dry but fruity French rose´ from Bandol or Bordeaux – Provencal styles are too delicate here.

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Asia Unites Against Poaching

Representatives from 13 Asian countries committed to immediate action to stamp out poaching at the conclusion of a four-day symposium hosted by the Nepal government in Kathmandu from February 2-6, 2015.

The Symposium: Towards Zero Poaching in Asia adopted five recommendations:

• Swift and decisive action to elevate the importance and effectiveness of antipoaching initiatives and cooperation among all relevant ministries, departments and agencies within their borders, while at the same time strengthening international cooperation in the face of this serious criminal activity.
• Adoption of the Zero Poaching Tool Kit and assessment of current antipoaching responses to determine improvements and close serious gaps.
• Increase and improve collaboration as a successful antipoaching response is critically dependant on effectively engaging a diverse number of shareholders
• Improve standards, training and support for rangers, other frontline staff and prosecutors.
• Commit to identifying a Zero Poaching national contact point to effectively coordinate transboundary efforts to stop poaching.

Tika Ram Adhikari, Director General of Nepal’s Department of Wildlife Conservation and Soil Conservation, said: “Nepal was proud to host this vital conversation in Asia because we recognize that poaching is robbing us of our wildlife wealth, which includes tigers, rhinos and elephants. We cannot allow wildlife crime to continue to wrap its tentacles deeper into the region. Our individual efforts may win us a few battles, but we can only win the war if Asia presents a united front to stop the poaching, end the trafficking and wipe out demand.”

Mike Baltzer, Leader, WWF Tigers Alive Initiative, said: “This is the beginning of the end for poaching across Asia. WWF is proud to have supported this landmark meeting and is committed to be part of the new determined movement for Zero Poaching in Asia.”

Nepal was the natural host for the symposium having achieved zero poaching for two years in the past four years. At the symposium, representatives from local communities, protected areas as well as enforcement agencies shared their lessons lea

At the closing ceremony, Nepal’s legendary Chitwan National Park (CNP) also became the first global site to be accredited as Conservation Assured Tiger Standard (CA|TS).Despite the threats that CNP faces, the protected area has seen an increasingly effective management and protection regime. This further demonstrates the commitment of Nepal towards zero poaching.

Thirteen Asian countries participated in the symposium: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Russia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Lao PDR. Partner NGOs and other organisations included IUCN, TRAFFIC, CITES, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, US Department of Justice, SMART Partnership and Southern African Wildlife College.

WWF co-hosted the symposium with Global Tiger Forum, National Trust for Nature Conservation and the South Asian Wildlife Enforcement Network.

The symposium provides valuable direction on tackling poaching in advance of the Kasane Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade to be hosted by the Botswana government on 25th March 2015. This meeting follows the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade hosted by the UK government in February 2014, where 41 governments committed to taking “decisive and urgent action….” through the agreed declaration.

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Portuguese Salt Cod Stew (Bacalhoada)

The first time my friend and fellow food blogger Fernanda mentioned wanting to make a Portuguese salt cod stew, I was skeptical. (Though given how well Fernanda’s salmon fish stew had turned out what was I thinking?) Salt cod isn’t one of those easily-found-in-the-supermarket items. For hundreds of years codfish preserved in salt may have been a food staple in North America and Europe, but with the advances of modern refrigeration in the last century, it’s been sort of hard to come by actually, for decades. Too bad, as the drying process that preserves salt cod greatly concentrates its flavor.

I apologize in advance, as I know this recipe is a little far out, not exactly a simple midweek meal (actually it’s very easy to make, assuming you can get your hands on the salt cod). But the minute I first tasted Fernanda’s bacalhoada, as it is called in Portuguese, I knew I had to make it. We found the fish at Corti Brothers, a local Italian specialty food market. Fernanda’s instructions came with ingredients and method but not quantities, so for the most part I’m guessing here, based on my memory of the dish and on other bacalhoada recipes I’ve found online. Most recipes I found have salt cod, potatoes, and onions as a base. Many of the recipes also layered in sliced fresh tomatoes, which would be perfect in the summertime. I’ve double-layered this dish in a Dutch oven and cooked it on the stove-top; most recipes I found used a broad casserole dish, only had one layer of fish, and baked it in the oven. The hard boiled eggs, surprisingly, really work with the flavors of this dish.

The first trick is properly adjusting for the salt content. If you’ve changed the soaking water several times, you may end up rinsing away all of the fish’s salt, in which case you’ll have to add some back in. Make sure you taste the fish before you layer it in the casserole so you’ll know if and how much salt to add. The second trick is to be very liberal with the olive oil. If you get the stew on your plate and it tastes a little dry, add more olive oil. The oil is what binds all of the flavors together.

Portuguese Salt Cod Stew (Bacalhoada) Recipe

• Yield: Serves 6 to 8.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1 lb salt cod fillets, preferably skinless and boneless
• 3/4 to 1 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil
• Milk (optional)
• 2 large yellow or sweet Vidalia onions, sliced
• 2 lbs waxy potatoes (Yukon gold work great), peeled
• 4 eggs, hard boiled and sliced
• About 40 pitted black olives (I used Kalamata olives, can also use green olives)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 Salt cod typically comes either in dry fillets, already boned and skinned, or it comes whole. The fillets need to be rinsed, then soaked in water, and kept chilled, for 24 hours, with one or two changings of the water. If you are using a whole fish, not prepared fillets, it needs to be soaked in water for up to 48 hours, also with several changings of water, and the bones and the skin removed and discarded after soaking.

2 Put salt cod in a saucepan. Add enough milk, water, or a mixture of milk and water to just cover. Bring mixture to a simmer. Let simmer for a couple minutes. Remove the fish and set aside.

3 Parboil the potatoes for 20 minutes (you can cook them in the water you used to cook the fish if you want). Slice potatoes into 1/4-inch thick rounds.

4 In a large pyrex casserole or Dutch oven (use Dutch oven if making on stove-top), generously coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil. Place a layer of onion rings over the bottom of the pan. Place a layer of sliced potatoes over the onions. Breaking up the salt cod with your fingers, place pieces of salt cod in a layer over the potatoes. Taste the fish for saltiness. After a day of soaking and further cooking, there should be just a hint of saltiness in the fish. If most of the salt was soaked out of the fish, and the fish doesn't taste at all salty, you may need to sprinkle some salt back on to the fish as you place the layers down.

Generously pour some olive oil over the fish. Sprinkle with freshly grated black pepper.

Repeat with another layer of onions, potatoes, fish, olive oil, pepper (and more salt if needed). Then finish with layers of onions, potatoes, more olive oil, sliced hard boiled eggs, and olives.

5 Place on stove top on medium heat, and cook, covered, for 30 minutes. Or heat an oven to 350°F and cook, covered, for 30-40 minutes, or until everything is completely through.

Serve with sides of rice and salad.

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Smoked Salmon Bisque

A little trivia here. What makes a bisque a bisque and not a chowder? Both bisques and chowders are made with seafood and vegetables, with a cream base. Chowders tend to be more stew-like or chunky, and bisques puréed. Bisques are traditionally made with shellfish, though these days a puréed tomato, cream-based soup can be called a bisque too. We half-puréed this smoked salmon bisque, which accounts for the photograph. My father made this delicious soup the other day after being inspired by a bisque we had at a local bistro and wine bar. So creamy and good.

Smoked Salmon Bisque Recipe

• Yield: Serves 5-6.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
• 1 cups thinly sliced leeks
• 1/2 chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 quart (32 oz) clam juice
• 3/4 pounds salmon fillet, chopped 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 to 4 ounces smoked salmon (depending on how strong a smoked flavor you want, and how strongly smoked the salmon is), chopped
• 2 cups canned or stewed tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup milk
• Pinch black pepper
• Pinch crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning (optional)
• Salt to taste

Method

1 Melt butter in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, leeks, mushrooms, garlic and cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms have given up their moisture (7 to 10 minutes).

2 Add the clam juice, smoked salmon, tomatoes (break up tomatoes while putting them in the soup), parsley, cilantro, dill, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and Old Bay seasoning; cook until heated through.

3 Put flour into a separate bowl. Slowly add the milk, beating with a wire whisk until smooth. Mix in the cream. Stir cream flour mixture into the soup. Stir in fresh salmon and simmer for 5 more minutes. If you want, use an immersion blender to purée the soup, or pour some or all of the soup into a standing blender and purée. Salt to taste.

Garnish with fresh dill.

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Provencal Seafood Bisque

Hank made this seafood bisque for us the other day and it was so outrageously good I begged him to make it again. I served some of it to a friend from Provence whose eyes lit up upon tasting it, “This is just like we have at home! ‘Bisque de Fruits de Mer'”. The saffron is essential, and even though I usually don’t like saffron, this soup has turned me into a saffron lover. I hope you make it. ~Elise

This is a curious, blended fish soup I’ve been making, in various forms, for many years. I like blended soups, which can seem creamy even without cream – although this one does have a little cream added at the end. They’re just, well, more refined than a typical country soup. And sometimes I feel the need for a touch of elegance, even on a busy midweek night.

One of the things that makes this soup so lovely? It only takes about 30 minutes to make. Yet, eaten with fresh bread and a glass of wine, you feel like you’re sitting at an oceanside bistro in Provence; there is a similar soup made like this in the South of France.

The flavor comes mostly from the stock (shellfish stock or a combination of fish stock and clam juice), the orange zest and saffron. You cannot substitute something else for the saffron; its color and aroma are integral to the soup. A pinch of cayenne adds the faintest zing that brings everything together. For fish I used a Pacific flounder. You can use any mild, white fish: Cod, haddock, any flatfish (flounder, fluke, halibut, sole, turbot, etc), walleye, bluegill, or rock cod.

Blend this soup well. You want a smooth, silky texture, not a grainy one. I puréed the soup first with an immersion blender, then poured it into a regular blender to finish. In the past I’ve even passed it through a fine-meshed drum sieve to make it even smoother. But you need not go to such lengths. The soup will be just fine if it is well blended.

Once its blended and you add the cream in, don’t let the soup boil; it could break. And if you have leftovers, just heat them gently in a pot until warm enough to eat.

Provencal Seafood Bisque Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4-6.

The soup is particularly good served with crusty French or Italian loaf bread for dipping.

Yum

Ingredients

• 3 slices of bacon, roughly chopped (can substitute olive oil or butter, 3 Tbsp)
• 1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1 pound white fish fillets, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon of orange zest
• A pinch of cayenne
• A large pinch of saffron
• 1 quart of shellfish stock, OR 16 ounces of clam juice plus 16 ounces of fish stock or water
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Salt to taste

Method

1 Cook the bacon on medium heat in a 6 to 8 quart pot until it is crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon. Set aside on a paper towel to use for garnish later.

2 Increase the heat to medium high and add the onions, celery and carrot. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are translucent. Do not brown. Sprinkle some salt over everything as it cooks.

3 Add the fish, tomatoes and the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring often.

4 Add the orange zest, cayenne and saffron, then pour in the shellfish stock or whatever stock you are using. In a pinch you could even use chicken or vegetable stock, but the flavor of the soup will be different. Simmer this gently – do not let it get to a rolling boil – for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5 Get another pot ready. Fill a blender a third of the way with the soup and blend it on high (starting on low then increasing to high) for 1 minute, or until it is well puréed. Work in batches to purée the rest of the soup. Pour the puréed soup into the clean pot.

6 Put the soup on medium-low heat and add the cream. Stir well and taste for salt, adding if needed. Do not let this boil! Or it might break.

Serve garnished with bacon bits or dill fronds, and alongside some crusty bread. A dry rose or light red wine would go well with this; I’d suggest a Beaujolais or a Pinot Noir.

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Smoky Paprika Shrimp Skewers

My dear friend, the ebullient, smiley, and somewhat wacky Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites has a new “schtick”, namely, food on a stick. On a Stick! is Matt’s new cookbook, aimed at the party crowd, and filled with every conceivable food one could put on a stick. There are the expected—kebabs, corn dogs and popsicles—and the whimsical—jello shots, potato chips, and my visual favorite, spaghetti and meatballs. All on a stick. It’s a seriously fun book, and even if you don’t ever try to make some of the more unusual stick foods, just the idea of them may make you smile.

At my last somewhat larger than normal gathering at my house, I decided to try out a few recipes from Matt’s book. This paprika marinated shrimp skewer recipe is the one that we all decided we liked the most. Spicy, smokey, garlicky, with sprinkle of lime. Best part? It was dead easy to make. Cooking for groups larger than say, 2 or 4, tends to fluster me, so when it comes to party food, for me the simpler the better. But those days of just putting out some salsa and chips are long gone. People have higher expectations! Even my parents. If I don’t tempt them with something good, they’ll just stay at home, where they know the food is good. They loved Matt’s shrimp, and went back for seconds.

Smoky Paprika Shrimp Skewers Recipe

• Prep time: 40 minutes
• Cook time: 8 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4.

If you are using frozen shrimp, defrost them safely by putting them in to a bowl of ice water.

Yum

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp sweet paprika
• 2 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 lb of large shrimp, cleaned and peeled, tails on

• Bamboo skewers

Method

1 Soak the skewers in water for at least a half an hour before grilling.

2 In a large bowl whisk together the spices—the paprikas, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper—and the lime juice and olive oil. Add the shrimp and toss to coat with the marinade. Keep chilled for half an hour to an hour.

3 Prepare grill for medium-high direct heat, or heat a grill pan. Thread the shrimp onto skewers (it helps to double thread with two skewers at a time to make it easier to turn over on the grill). Baste the grill grates with some olive oil so that the shrimp don't stick to the grill. Grill or cook a few minutes per side (2-4, depending on the size of the shrimp), until the shrimp are just cooked through. Remove from grill and serve immediately.

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Tilapia with Olives, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes

Tilapia, a tasty farm-raised fish originally from Africa, has become more and more popular here in the states. I recently brought home a whole tilapia from our local Asian fish market and made quite a mess of trying to fillet it myself. Dad pitched in, with no more luck than I, and we ended up throwing the pieces (you couldn’t quite call them fillets anymore) into a fish stew. Now we know better. Just buy the straight fillets.

Tilapia are mild tasting, and relatively inexpensive compared to other fish. Here is a quick and easy, one-pan way of preparing this versatile fish that we found years ago from Better Homes and Gardens. The preparation is similar to Veracruz-style, shallow poached on top of a bed of sliced onions, tomatoes, green olives and mushrooms. It’s fresh, easy, and delicious.

Tilapia with Olives, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4

Feel free to use any tender white fish fillet with this recipe, for example cod or red snapper.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, 1/4 inch slices, sliced lengthwise
• 1 clove garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
• 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup sliced cremini or button mushrooms
• 3/4 cup green pimento-stuffed olives, coarsely chopped
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 6-8 ounce tilapia fillets

Method

1 Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the canned tomatoes and their juices. Add the sliced mushrooms, chopped olives, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.

2 Lay the fish fillets gently on top of the onion tomato olive mixture and spread a little sauce over the fish. Return to a simmer (it's just the juices from the tomatoes that are simmering). Lower the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook or 8 to 10 minutes or until the fish easily flakes when tested with a fork. Use a wide spatula to lift the fillets from the pan to a serving plate. Spoon sauce over fish. Serve with rice, and/or crusty bread.

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Shrimp with Orange Beurre Blanc

At a recent cooking class at Scott’s Seafood (Folsom, CA), Chef David Lamonica set us to work preparing shrimp with orange beurre blanc (a French butter and shallot sauce). Chef David says the best shrimp to get are fresh, Gulf of Mexico White shrimp, still in the shell. Gulf white shrimp are firm and sweet. For this particular dish I used Gulf of Mexico Pink shrimp, which are pink even when they are not yet cooked. The are also sweet, but a little more delicate than the Gulf white. By the way, if you are processing a lot of shrimp, the shells can be saved and used to make bisque or stock.

When choosing shrimp, they should be firm and smell sweet. If you see any yellowing at all, pass on them.

Shrimp with Orange Beurre Blanc Recipe

Yum

Ingredients

Shrimp Ingredients

• Fresh Gulf of Mexico shrimp - 6 per person, or about 1/4 pound per person
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Sauce ingredients (Sauce also posted here. Makes 1 cup, enough for 4-6 servings. Divide or multiply to needs.)

• 2 oranges
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 teaspoons minced shallots
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• Salt and white pepper

Method

1. Peel and de-vein the shrimp. Work with the shrimp one at a time, leaving the rest in a bowl of ice water. Holding on to the body of the shrimp, use your fingers to pull off head if it is still attached, and then the legs. Starting with the head end, gently peel back the shell. Use your fingernails or a knife to cut into the base shell segment. Remove the shrimp from its shell entirely. Place shrimp down flat on a cutting board and use a small sharp knife to make a shallow cut down the back of the shrimp. You may see a dark, vein-like intestinal tract running through the meat. Use your fingers, or the sharp tip of a knife to remove. As you complete each shrimp, put into a bowl of ice water to keep cool. Set aside while you prepare the sauce.

2 Zest half of one orange (about 2 teaspoons) and juice the two oranges (about 3/4 cup). Put the juice, zest, wine and shallots in a sauce pan on medium high heat. Cook until it is syrupy and almost gone.

3 On low heat, whisk in the butter continuously and vigorously, 1 tablespoon at a time. Butter is the only emulsifier for this sauce, and if you slowly add it, continuously stirring, the sauce will achieve a silky smooth texture. Do not let the sauce boil. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm while you continue with the shrimp.

4 Heat a skillet on medium high heat. Drain the shrimp and coat with olive oil. When the pan is hot, add the shrimp and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp about 45 seconds on each side. Add some more olive oil if necessary to keep the shrimp from sticking to the pan. Do not overcook or the shrimp will be tough and rubbery.

Drizzle Beurre Blanc sauce over shrimp, or serve in a separate small container for dipping. Excellent accompanied by brown rice.

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Seared Scallops with Asparagus Sauce

A few years ago my father discovered scallops, not that he didn’t know about them before, it’s just that some light bulb went off in his head one day and he decided that he had to cook them. So for a time he would madly attack any scallop recipe that seemed half-way interesting. The problem was that he just couldn’t get them right. He had a hard time getting them browned, and more often than not, they were overcooked.

So when the-man-who-knows-more-about-seafood-than-I-ever-hope-to Hank Shaw was here the other day cooking scallops, both dad and I circled Hank like hawks, watching to see how he did it. Here’s what we learned.

You need a screaming hot pan. Scallops have a lot of moisture in them, which means you have to get the pan really hot to dry the outer edge of that moist scallop so that it can actually get hot enough to brown. When the scallops brown, the meat pulls back a bit (contracting proteins) making them easier to turn. Now theory doesn’t always translate to practice, you might still have some sticking. But when the scallop is seared enough, it should move more easily.

An asparagus sauce is an excellent way to complement the scallops. While it looks fancy, it’s really just boiled asparagus, chopped then tossed in a blender with some chicken stock and then reheated with butter and salt. Any leftovers can be used as a sauce for pasta.

Seared Scallops with Asparagus Sauce Recipe

• Yield: Serves 2

Plan on 3 sea scallops per person for a light dinner or appetizer, 5 scallops for a full main course. Many sea scallops come with a tough flap of meat attached to them. Just pull it off and either discard or use in a seafood stock. The asparagus sauce is a great way to use the spears of asparagus in case you’ve chopped off the tips for use in another recipe. You’re just puréeing them here, so you’ll never see the tips.

Yum

Ingredients

• 6 sea scallops*
• Salt
• 1 pound asparagus
• 1/2 cup warm chicken broth (if cooking gluten-free use gluten-free stock)
• 2-3 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp canola or grapeseed oil or other high smoke-point oil

*Sea scallops are the big scallops, about 1 1/2-inches wide, as opposed to bay scallops which are small, about 1/2-inch wide. Look for “dry pack” scallops, as they are not treated with chemicals to keep them fresh; the chemicals are not overly harmful, but they change the texture of the scallop and make them harder to sear properly.

Method

1 Salt the scallops well and set aside at room temperature while you make the asparagus sauce.

2 Steam the asparagus for the sauce. Use a potato peeler to shave the outer layer off the asparagus spears, up to about three-quarters of the way up the spear. This part is more fibrous and will not break down as well in the blender. Chop into 2-inch pieces. Boil the asparagus in a pot of salted water for 5-8 minutes. This is longer than you’d normally cook asparagus, but you want the spears to blend well later.

 

3 Remove the asparagus from the pot. If you want to retain that vibrant green color, shock them in an ice bath. Put them in a food processor or blender. Add half the chicken stock and purée until smooth. (If you want an even smoother texture you can push the purée through a fine mesh sieve or a food mill.) Pour the sauce into a small pot and add the butter. Heat over very low heat until the butter melts, but do not let it boil, or even simmer. The sauce should be warm, not hot. If the sauce is too thick you can add more chicken stock. Add salt to taste.

4 Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel. Heat a sauté pan on high heat. Add a high smoke point oil like canola or grapeseed oil, and let it heat up for 2 minutes. The pan should be very hot. If it starts to smoke, move the pan off the heat. Lay in the scallops in the pan, well separated from each other. You might need to sear in batches.

If your scallops are thicker than 1 inch, turn the heat down to medium-high. Most sea scallops are about an inch. Let them sear without moving for at least 3-4 minutes. Keep an eye on them. You will see a crust beginning to form on the outside edge of the scallop, and the meat will begin to whiten upward. A good time to check the scallop is when you see a golden brown ring at the edge of the scallop. Try picking it up with tongs, and if it comes cleanly, check it – you should see a deep golden sear. If not, let it back down and keep searing.

 

5 When the scallops are well seared on one side, turn them over and sear on high heat for 1 minute (give or take). Then turn off the heat. The residual heat will continue to cook the scallops for a few minutes. Let the scallops cook for at least another minute, or more if you like your scallops well-done.

To serve pour a little sauce in the middle of the plate, top with the scallops, the more browned side up.

Serve at once. Garnish with a little chopped parsley if you want, and maybe with a wedge of lemon.

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Shrimp and Avocado Salad

What better way to cool down in the heat of summer than with a delicious cold salad? Freshly cooked shrimp and creamy avocado are a perfect match, especially with a crisp vinaigrette. The best news? It only takes a few minutes to prepare.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad Recipe

• Yield: Serves 4.

Preparation time: 10-15 minutes.

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Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb small or extra small shrimp, cooked, peeled, and de-veined
• 2 ripe avocados
• Lettuce - preferably butter lettuce or red leaf lettuce

• Optional - 2 Tbsp chopped roasted walnuts or pistachios
• 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• Lemon slices for garnish

Method

1 Combine oil, vinegar, and green onions in a bowl. Chop shrimp into 1/2 inch pieces and add to oil mixture.

2 Arrange leaves of lettuce on individual plates. Cut avocados in half and remove pits. Remove some of the avocado around the pit area and mix in with the shrimp. With a spoon, carefully scoop out avocado halves from their skins in one piece. Place avocado half on plate with lettuce.

3 Spoon shrimp mixture on to avocado. Sprinkle with walnuts and cilantro (optional).

Serve with lemon slices for garnish.

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Tempura Squid

Do you like fried calamari? If so, just imagine the lightest, crispiest, melt-in-your-mouth-iest coating over the most tender squid, and this would be it. The tempura version. I love fried calamari, but you know what? After this tempura, I’m not going back. This is just too good. Eat the whole batch good. And oddly enough, it’s light, or at least a lot lighter than the heavy cornmeal coating you usually find on its Italian cousin.

Tempura is a Japanese preparation of batter-dipped, deep fried foods, usually vegetables and seafood. Apparently the method was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in the 1500s. When I lived in Japan we ate it frequently, and tempura can usually be found on practically every menu in typical Japanese restaurants here in the states. The batter is quite light, and fries up to a gossamer-like crispy crust. The tricks are 1) keeping the oil at the right temperature—too hot and the food will burn, too cool and the result will be greasy, and 2) working quickly while keeping the batter cold. Another nifty trick for keeping the batter light, taught to me by Hank, is to use bubbly soda water instead of flat water.

Squid is a perfect food for making tempura because it cooks up so fast. Squid you either have to cook very quickly, or slow and low. Anything in between and it’s chewy and rubbery. So the quick frying in tempura batter is ideal for squid. Of course if you would rather use other seafood, you can use this batter with shrimp, pieces of lobster, oysters, clams, small fish, or pieces of larger fish. Or you can skip the seafood altogether and just tempura fry some vegetables, like strips of carrot or broccoli florets.

Tempura Squid Recipe

• Prep time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4-6 as an appetizer.

The squid rings cut from the body are easier to fry than the tentacles, which tend to clump. If you have both, fry the rings first, then the tentacles. Do not double the recipe. The batter needs to be kept cold and used immediately after making. So it's better to work with small batches. If you want to make more, mix a second batch together after you've gone through the first batch.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1 pound cleaned squid
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup ice cold sparkling water (the colder the better)
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 3/4 cup rice or regular flour
• Canola oil or peanut oil for frying (high smoke point vegetable oil)

Special equipment recommended:

• A deep fryer

Method

1 Slice the squid tubes into rings about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch wide. Leave the tentacles whole.

2 This recipe was designed for a deep-fryer, but you can also fill a large, heavy-bottomed pot (keep a lid nearby, for safety reasons) halfway with oil, about 3 inches deep. Heat the oil to 360-370°F.

3 While the oil is heating, mix all the dry ingredients together well.

4 Once the oil has reached 360°F, take the sparkling water out of the refrigerator and mix it with the egg yolk. Immediately mix it in with the dry ingredients. Mix quickly. Do not worry if there are clumps or lumps. Over-mixing may cause the batter to become chewy when cooked.

5 Working in small batches at a time (about 8 pieces), dip the squid pieces in the batter. Pick them up one by one and gently put them in the hot oil. (Note if your fingers are coated with the batter, it will help protect them from splatter.) When the squid pieces are in the oil, use a chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon to dislodge any squid pieces that may have become stuck from the bottom of the pot or fryer. Fry for 45 seconds to 1 minute, and remove to paper towels to drain. Note that when done, they will NOT be golden brown, but more of a pale yellow or tan. Repeat with the rest of the squid. Working in batches will help keep the oil temperature from falling too far while you are frying the squid.

Serve immediately with lime or lemon wedges, soy sauce, ponzu sauce, Tabasco or another hot sauce.

Once the cooking oil has completely cooled (after about 2 hours), strain it through a paper towel-lined sieve, and save it to reuse the next time you want to deep fry seafood.

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Seared Tuna with Avocado

Recipe and photo updated July 25th, 2011

One of the benefits of having your own cooking website is that your friends and relatives start sending you recipes to try. The basis for this recipe comes by way of my cousin Laurie in Maryland (thanks Laurie!) and we’ve played with it a little. It’s hard to go wrong when the ingredients include cilantro, avocado, jalapeños, lime, garlic, and sushi-grade tuna. The recipe calls for lightly searing raw tuna on each side and then serving. I love tuna done this way, but the tuna has to be very high quality. My parents, on the other hand, have no intention of ever eating raw fish, sushi-grade or not. They cook their fish all the way through, so it is a little translucent in the middle, but definitely cooked. They loved it.

Seared Tuna with Avocado Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 6 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded, de-ribbed, minced (if very hot, use only 1 chile)
• 2 tablespoons of peeled and minced fresh ginger
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2 to 4 limes, depending on how juicy your limes are)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce if you need to avoid gluten)
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
• 4 (6 ounce) blocks sashimi-quality tuna
• 2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and sliced

Method

1 In a bowl, combine the cilantro, jalapeno, ginger, garlic, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil and olive oil. If you want, you can purée the sauce in a blender or food processor.

2 Heat a large skillet on high heat for one minute. Coat the pan with the grapeseed or canola oil and let heat up for 30 to 45 seconds. Sprinkle the tuna pieces with salt. Sear the tuna for a minute on each side.

3 Transfer the seared tuna to a bowl and coat with some of the sauce. Pour some sauce on the plates, top with the tuna and serve with the sliced avocado and a wedge of lime.

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Tuna Patties

Tuna patties! All you have to do is say these two words and I’m flooded with childhood memories. We kids are only a few feet high, have tiny feet, scabbed knees, and boundless energy. In between chasing each other around the dining room table we are squealing to our mother, “We’re having tuna patties!”

We were enthusiastic about food, to say the least. And always hungry. Back then, this was one of my mother’s go-to dishes. No idea what her recipe was, and it’s been so long since she’s made them, it’s long forgotten. This recipe is as close as I can come to what I remember, probably with a few added flourishes.

What I love about the recipe is that I almost always have the necessary ingredients in the pantry and fridge, the patties are incredibly easy and quick to make, and they’re budget friendly too. Oh yes, and they taste great! (At least to us. Big fans of canned tuna here.)

Tuna Patties Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes
• Yield: Makes 4 patties.

Yum

Ingredients

• 2 6-ounce cans tuna
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup white bread torn into small pieces
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp water (or liquid from the cans of tuna)
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives, green onions, or shallots
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A couple squirts of Crystal hot sauce or tabasco
• 1 raw egg
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon butter

Method

1 Drain the liquid from the tuna cans. If you are using tuna packed in water, reserve a tablespoon of the tuna water, and add a teaspoon of olive oil to the tuna mixture in the next step.

2 In a medium bowl, mix together the tuna, mustard, torn white bread, lemon zest, lemon juice, water, parsley, chives, and hot sauce. Sprinkle on salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste the mixture before adding the egg to see if it needs more seasoning to your taste. Mix in the egg.

3 Divide the mixture into 4 parts. With each part, form into a ball and then flatten into a patty. Place onto a wax paper lined tray and chill for an hour. (You can skip the chilling if you want, chilling just helps the patties stay together when you cook them.)

 

4 Heat the olive oil and a little butter (for taste) in a cast iron or stick-free skillet on medium high. Gently place the patties in the pan, and cook until nicely browned, 3-4 minutes on each side.

Serve with wedges of lemon. You can also serve with tartar sauce on slider buns for a tuna burger.

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Shrimp Risotto

Have you ever had a food epiphany? Years ago I had a seafood risotto at a restaurant on the Grand Canal of Venice (back in the cushy days of business trips with expense accounts) that was so silky, so luscious, so creamy yet still light, I didn’t know what hit me. I ate every grain with a stunned and happy look on my face and still remember that risotto more than what was inside St. Mark’s. Although I had no idea at the time, according to my friend Hank, seafood risottos are a specialty of Venice. There they are typically served all’onda, or “wave” risotto, which means a looser and almost soupy risotto best eaten with a spoon.

Hank and I spent the day cooking together and he showed me in great detail how he makes this Venetian-style shrimp risotto. My father happened by in time for lunch and ate his bowl completely, proclaiming, “Hank, I don’t like shrimp, and I don’t like rice, but I love this.” So there you have it.

Shrimp Risotto Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Yield: Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish or appetizer.

Use the smallest shrimp you can find. Try to find tiny pink shrimp in the supermarket’s freezer section. These “boreal” shrimp or Maine shrimp are uncommonly sweet and come pre-shelled and pre-cooked. Any shrimp you find larger than the last digit on your little finger should be cut in half. Risotto recipes require risotto rice, an Italian rice that has enough starch to help make the risotto's creamy sauce. Arborio rice works for this purpose, but if you can get it, use a Carnaroli rice or even better a rice called Vialone Nano, which is more delicate and creamy than the other risotto rices and is well suited for this seafood risotto.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1 cup risotto rice (Arborio or if you can get it, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine (Sauvignon Blanc)
• 8 ounces clam juice or fresh seafood stock
• 2 cups of the smallest pink shrimp you can find
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• Salt

Method

1 Add the clam juice to 4 cups of water in a pot, heat until steamy. Do not let it boil.

2 In separate pot (thick-bottomed), heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat, and sauté the minced shallots for 2-3 minutes, until just translucent.

3 Add the rice to the pot. Stir-fry the rice for 2-3 minutes, until all the grains are well coated in butter and are beginning to toast.

4 Increase the heat to high and add the white wine. With a wooden spoon, stir the rice vigorously. Once the wine boils, turn the heat down until the wine is just simmering gently. Stir almost constantly. You are doing this to agitate the rice, which releases its starch and creates the creamy sauce you want in a risotto.

5 When the wine is almost cooked away – under no circumstances should you let the rice sizzle on the bottom of the pot – pour in two ladles of the hot clam broth-water mixture. Stir well to combine, and add a healthy pinch of salt.

6 Stirring almost constantly, let this liquid reduce until it is almost gone, then add another ladle of broth. Continue this until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Taste the spoon and see if the risotto needs salt. If so, add a small pinch.

This much risotto rice should need about 4-5 cups of liquid total (including the wine) to come together, so start tasting the rice at the 3rd cup. If it is almost there – firm in the center but translucent on the outside, and fully surrounded with a creamy sauce – add one more cup of broth, stir well, and taste one more time for salt. (If not, you have old rice and you’ll need to go one more cup and let it cook away.)

7 Now add in the shrimp, the parsley, and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Stir constantly until this last cup of broth is about half gone: Remember you want this risotto to be loose and creamy.

Right before you serve, add in the lemon zest and serve at once. Best served with bowls and spoons rather than plates and forks.

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