Excuses - Excuses

(Alder-Smoked Sea Scallops)




Okay, I have been wanting to write this post for quite some time. And let me start by telling you where this comes from. I get new folks through my doors several times day who are "Just browsing," or "Just curious to see what you have." And as they are walking out the doors without buying anything or talking with any of the mongers, I always make it point to ask what brought them in today. Almost every single time, it is simple curiosity. And most say they think fish is too complicated to cook, takes too much time, it stinks up the house for a week, or the number one excuse is, it is just too damn expensive. I am going to try to help these folks out and hopefully some of you as well. To the curious ones...

Fish is easy. I wont blow smoke here, it can be made difficult. There are some outstanding recipe's out there that can take hours to prepare, and you will be well rewarded when you are finished. But, the fundamentals of preparing fish is what I am talking about here.
Anyway that you can prepare chicken, you can do the same with fish. Bake, grill, poach, pan fry, deep fry, plank, soup, stew, smoke, braise, roast, and can. There are even some things that you can do with fish that I would never suggest you do with chicken like; raw, rare, pickled, salted, cured, and open-air-dried (recipe coming soon).

Just a few things to remember when cooking fish: 1) Most fish likes to cook hot and fast. 380-400 degrees in your oven or grill. 8-10 minutes per inch of thickness. 2) Most fish takes to simple seasoning. Salt, pepper, and some sort of citrus will take you a long ways. 3) Do NOT portion your fish before you cook it. 4) The fresher the better.

Talk to your fishmonger. If you are scared or just don't want to do it yourself, have them trim, skin, and/or steak it for you. If you are looking for special cut or trim, ask them to do it for you. That is why they are there and they (well, I do anyways) like to show off my skills as a cutter. Furthermore, I want you to come back.

You do NOT have to buy a whole pound of anything. If you want 8oz, make them cut you 8oz. If the customer asks me questions about a particular fish that they have never tried, I will tell them to get something they know they like, and I will cut a small portion of the curious fish and tell them how to prepare it for free. I would much rather a customer have a great experience than to try to sell them something that they may not care for.

Sorry, I got nothing for the stink. Even in my house, almost all my fish is cooked outside. Anything that can be cooked on the grill or gas burner is done outside. Other than that, ummmm, well...........I got nothing. Any suggestions here I would be happy to hear and share them.

Most definitely, some fish can be outrageous in cost. There are more variables for this than I wish to get into here. Shop around. Spend your time on the phone calling around asking what is fresh today and how much it is. You will find a huge difference in price from store to store. And when you find the cheapest price in town, call your favorite fishmonger and ask if he/she will match price. I do it all the time.

With all this said, I am looking for questions from you. Ask them. I am sure that you are not the only one wanting answers to that question that has been nagging at you.

Oh, I almost forgot.... That picture is of Alder Smoked Sea Scallops. These are the most fantastic scallops to experiment with. Try them on top of your salad, or layered on top of your pasta. Fantastic! A must try.

Hawaiian Poke

(I thank www.discovernikkei.org for the photo)

Here is a recipe that is a Hawaiian staple. And for every family, there is their own special twist that makes it unique. The only MUST HAVE is to use the absolute freshest fish available.



1 lb of one of the following: Tuna (Ahi or Albacore), Bonito (Aku), Marlin (Nairaga (Striped) Hebi (Spearfish) or Kajiki (Blue)), Salmon, Opah, (prepared) Squid or Octopus (tako). You can also use Tofu.
1 Tbs Red Hawaiian Rock Salt (I can find it at Trader Joes and most oriental stores). You can substitute it with Kosher Salt just cut it back by about a third
1 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flake (I also use a couple of drops of Rooster Suace to kick up the heat a little)
1 Tbs Red Ogo (seaweed) Kind of hard to ogo. You can sub crushed dried Nori but you may want to cut it back a bit for it is quite a bit stronger in flavor
1 to 2 Tsp Sesame Oil (enough to coat all the fish)

Cut fish into 3/4 inch cubes and set aside at room temperature. Prepare your dried Ogo or Nori by placing it in a cup of water, covering it completely. Let it stand for about 5 minutes. Remove from water and squeeze out the excess. Chop it into 1/2 inch pieces. Add it to the fish. Add Salt and Sesame oil to the fish and mix well by hand.
For best results let it stand for about an hour at room temperature and then serve.
If you have any left overs the next day, throw them in a hot pan and fry fast until the fish lightly cooked and serve over rice.

This is a very basic recipe and lends itself to so many variations. Experiment and have fun with it. Leave a comment and let us know what you did make it uniquely yours.

Grilled Mahi-Mahi in Citrus Sauce

A little more complicated than you are used to seeing in my blog, but I'll tell you what, this one is well worth it.

(Marinade)
1 cup Orange Juice
2 tbs Soy sauce
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 cloves Minced Garlic
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs Melted Butter

2 lbs Fresh Mahi-Mahi (you can portion it at this time, but I prefer not to)
salt and pepper
fresh cilantro for garnish
sliced orange for garnish

Combine marinade ingredients and blend well. Place fish in zip-lock type bag with marinade and refrigerate for about an hour (no more than that).

Oil your grill rack and heat to a medium heat (I like it little hot: About 385 or so). Grill your fish 3-4 minutes per side until fish almost cooked through. Let stand for about 3 minutes. Serve with orange slices and cilantro over a bed of rice (I am Hawaiian and I eat everything over rice. lol)

Cooking with a Cedar Plank

(this photo is from the website www.thenibble.com )

(I am re-posting this from the archives due to so many folks asking me about it. Thanks for the interest!)

This is one of my most favorite ways to cook salmon, halibut, mahimahi, and Opah. There are a couple of reasons why I like this method so much: 1) So easy with a serious WOW affect on the guests; 2) Fantastic flavor. Not only the fish, but anything you grill or cook with it gets that wonderful smoky flavor; 3) Leaves my clothes smelling like I was sitting around a campfire all night.

I am only going to speak about Cedar Planks today. I have not tried the Alder, Oak, or any other type of plank and I am not comfortable talking about things that I have not tried.

Here in the Northwest, finding a cedar grilling plank is as easy as going to your local fresh fish stand. That could be at your local grocer or fish market. I should think that should be true wherever you may live. I hope.

Soak your plank. At least 4 hours is what most recipe's say. I don't think that is quite enough. I soak them for at least 8 hours and over night in most instances. The more saturation your plank gets, the less it will actually flame up. As for what you can soak your plank in, you have choices. One of my favorites is soaking it in apple cider. You may also consider white wine (the cheaper and sweeter the better), Saki (rice wine), beer, and of course, water. No, you do not need a 5 gallon bucker to soak your planks. I use a 11 x 17 roasting pan (irks my wife, haha). All you will need is about 2 cups of liquid to completely soak your plank. Find a way to sink your plank. Cedar floats. I use a tall glass filled with water. Sometimes I will even use a bottle of beer.

Gilling: Get your grill up to temperature. I like to cook my fish hot and fast, so my grill temp is around 400 deg/f when I set my plank on the rack. Pre-heat your plank for about 5 minutes before you place your fish on it. Once your plank is pre-heated, use some olive oil to cover the surface of the plank. Place your fillet or steak on the plank.
This is where you can get a little creative as well. I like to lay some fresh dill (and I mean I cover the entire fillet or steak with whole dill)on the fillet and then top it with fresh lemon slices. I may or may not season the fillet first with lemon pepper or Lemon Garli Garni.
Once you have your fillet on the plank, close the lid. DON'T PANIC! The board is supposed to char and smoke. It may even flame it up. If it does flame (didn't soak long enough), simply spray the flame down. Again, I like to cook mine hot and fast. I get the temp back up to 400 and keep it there as best I can. A 2 to 3 pound fillet should take about 15 minutes. When you push down on the fish, it should start to flake. I like it a little rare in the middle when I pull it off the heat. It will continue to cook as it rest. I let mine rest for about 3 to 5 minutes before I cut into it to serve.
In the OVEN. Yes. You can cook it in the oven this way too. If you soaked your plank in the roasting pan, simply remove about half of the liquid in the pan. You should have just enough in there to go about a 1/4 of the way up the board. Oil the plank and put into pre-heated (385-400deg/f) oven without the fish on it. Like grilling, bring the board up to temperature before putting the fillet on it. After about 5 minutes pre-heating the plank, add your fish. Season how you like and cook for about 15 minutes. Let stand for 3-5 minutes and then serve. Doing it in the oven, you may get 3 or 4 uses out of each plank as opposed to once on the grill. You will not get the smoke that you get when you grill. However, you will get the wonderful aromatics from the cedar and whatever you soaked the board in.
If you give this a try, or have other methods that you like, leave a comment and I will be happy to post it.

How to cook Halibut Quick and Easy with Blow-Your-Mind results

Do you want a sure-fire way to impress your friends or spouse? Here is a simple-as-it-gets way to prepare Halibut (0r any flaky white fish)....

1 lb Halibut skinned and portioned into 8oz portions
1 cup Panko
2/3 cups fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup tempura powder (or flour will work just fine)
your favorite seasoning to flavor (I use dill, tarragon, lemon zest, lime zest or simple salt and pepper with a little crushed red pepper)

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Mix the Panko, Cheese, and seasoning thoroughly. Dredge your fish in the tempura powder then into the egg. Shake off excess egg making sure that the entire surface is moist with egg. Now, roll the pieces in the Panko mix. Place on a cookie sheet and place into the oven on the middle rack. Depending on the thickness of the fish, it should only take about 10 minutes to cook (remember the general rule: 10 minutes cook time for each inch of fish). I start checking mine after about 8 minutes. Should be sorta firm to the touch. I like to pull mine out of the oven slightly undercooked and let it stand for about 3 minutes before I serve it.

Every time one of my customers tries this way of cooking their halibut, they always come back with rave reviews. The Panko and Parmesan Cheese really keep the fish moist and traps all those wonderfully flavorful oils in the fish.

Enjoy and feel free to leave a comment or your favorite fish recipe.

Miso-Glazed Black Cod (Sable fish)

-6 (6-oz each) black cod or regular cod fillets
-1/2 cup white miso
-1/4 cup dark brown sugar
-1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
-2 tablespoons mirin

1. Rinse the fish fillets and pat dry with paper towels

2. Combine the miso, brown sugar, sesame oil, and mirin in a small bowl until the brown sugar is fully dissolved
3. Brush about 2 tablespoons of the miso glaze on ech fillet
4. Let marinate on a plate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to an hour
5. Place the fish on a baking sheet, then set under the broiler until the glaze has caramelized, 3 to 4 minutes
6. Remove the fish from the oven and brush with the remaining glaze
7. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and cook until the fish is flaky but moist, another 5 minutes

Simple Grilled Swordfish

This is one of the easiest ways way to prepare Swordfish that will WOW your spouse and your guests.

Go to your local fishmonger and have him cut a few Swordfish Steaks about an inch to an inch and a quarter thick. Make sure you ask them to let you smell the fish before they package it up for you. Ensure it smells like the sea with just a hint of fish. If it smells overly "Fishy," ask them if they have something fresher. If you let your fishmonger know that you are not a naive shopper, he will appreciate it and always make sure that you get the best of what he has.

When you get the steaks unwrapped, place them on a cookie sheet. I can usually get enough juice and zest off from one lime to cover 2 - 3 steaks.
Take your lime and cut it in half. Squeeze juice of one half of the lime over the steaks. Before flipping the Swordfish over, take your zester or fine grater and grate just the green off of the lime over the flesh of the fish. Now, crush some coarse black pepper over the top. I use quite a bit. I love fresh pepper.
Flip Steaks over and do it all over again.
Grill them HOT HOT HOT! I pre-heat the grill to around 400 degrees. Before I put my steaks down, I oil the cooking surface with Canola oil to keep anything from sticking.
I like a little crust on mine, that is why I cook them so hot and fast. I love the way the grill marks look, so after about 2 minutes, I will turn them a quarter turn and continue cooking for another 2 minutes or so.
Flip them and do same as above.
Swordfish is very firm. Take a fork and stick one of the steaks right in the middle. Give the fork a little twist. It should (not always, though) flake. If not, pry it open a little and check for doneness (should be white all the way through). Remember though, it will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat. It will continue to cool for about 3 minutes off the heat.
Serve and enjoy!
Let me know how this works out for you. Furthermore, let me know you like to cook Swordfish, and I will be happy to post it for everyone to try.

Sesame Crusted Grilled Ahi Tuna in Ginger Soy

2 Ahi Tuna Steaks (I like them big. 12-16 oz each)
1 cup soy sauce (I prefer Aloha brand, a little milder than Kikkoman)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs Grated fresh Ginger
5 cloves Garlic (minced or crushed)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
sesame seeds

Put all ingredients except the Ahi and sesame seeds in a bowl and mix well.
Place the Ahi steaks in the bowl with the marinade and let it sit for no more than a half hour. Remove Ahi Steaks from marinade and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Oil your grill with canola oil (or whatever you are used to). Grill over high heat for 3 minutes per side, or until it is seared to your liking. I love mine rare. I stays on the grill for only about 2 minutes per side depending on thickness.
Enjoy!
Let me know how it goes. Post a comment.

Cedar Plank Cooking

(this photo is from the website www.thenibble.com )

(I am re-posting this from the archives due to so many folks asking me about it. Thanks for interest!)

This is one of my most favorite ways to cook salmon, halibut, mahimahi, and Opah. There are a couple of reasons why I like this method so much: 1) So easy with a serious WOW affect on the guests; 2) Fantastic flavor. Not only the fish, but anything you grill or cook with it gets that wonderful smoky flavor; 3) Leaves my clothes smelling like I was sitting around a campfire all night.

I am only going to speak about Cedar Planks today. I have not tried the Alder, Oak, or any other type of plank and I am not comfortable talking about things that I have not tried.

Here in the Northwest, finding a cedar grilling plank is as easy as going to your local fresh fish stand. That could be at your local grocer or fish market. I should think that should be true wherever you may live. I hope.

Soak your plank. At least 4 hours is what most recipe's say. I don't think that is quite enough. I soak them for at least 8 hours and over night in most instances. The more saturation your plank gets, the less it will actually flame up. As for what you can soak your plank in, you have choices. One of my favorites is soaking it in apple cider. You may also consider white wine (the cheaper and sweeter the better), Saki (rice wine), beer, and of course, water. No, you do not need a 5 gallon bucker to soak your planks. I use a 11 x 17 roasting pan (irks my wife, haha). All you will need is about 2 cups of liquid to completely soak your plank. Find a way to sink your plank. Cedar floats. I use a tall glass filled with water. Sometimes I will even use a bottle of beer.

Gilling: Get your grill up to temperature. I like to cook my fish hot and fast, so my grill temp is around 400 deg/f when I set my plank on the rack. Pre-heat your plank for about 5 minutes before you place your fish on it. Once your plank is pre-heated, use some olive oil to cover the surface of the plank. Place your fillet or steak on the plank.
This is where you can get a little creative as well. I like to lay some fresh dill (and I mean I cover the entire fillet or steak with whole dill)on the fillet and then top it with fresh lemon slices. I may or may not season the fillet first with lemon pepper or Lemon Garli Garni.
Once you have your fillet on the plank, close the lid. DON'T PANIC! The board is supposed to char and smoke. It may even flame it up. If it does flame (didn't soak long enough), simply spray the flame down. Again, I like to cook mine hot and fast. I get the temp back up to 400 and keep it there as best I can. A 2 to 3 pound fillet should take about 15 minutes. When you push down on the fish, it should start to flake. I like it a little rare in the middle when I pull it off the heat. It will continue to cook as it rest. I let mine rest for about 3 to 5 minutes before I cut into it to serve.
In the OVEN. Yes. You can cook it in the oven this way too. If you soaked your plank in the roasting pan, simply remove about half of the liquid in the pan. You should have just enough in there to go about a 1/4 of the way up the board. Oil the plank and put into pre-heated (385-400deg/f) oven without the fish on it. Like grilling, bring the board up to temperature before putting the fillet on it. After about 5 minutes pre-heating the plank, add your fish. Season how you like and cook for about 15 minutes. Let stand for 3-5 minutes and then serve. Doing it in the oven, you may get 3 or 4 uses out of each plank as opposed to once on the grill. You will not get the smoke that you get when you grill. However, you will get the wonderful aromatics from the cedar and whatever you soaked the board in.
If you give this a try, or have other methods that you like, leave a comment and I will be happy to post it.

Pan Seared Halibut with Avocado Mango Salsa

Here is a customer favorite:

2 lbs Fresh Halibut

1 tbs butter

Salt and Pepper

SALSA:

2 avocados—peeled and diced

1 mango—Peeled and Diced

1/2 cup Chopped cilantro

1/3 cup red onion diced

Juice of one lime

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine salsa ingredients in medium bowl. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour to incorporate flavors.
Heat butter in non-stick skillet. Season halibut with salt and pepper. Sear on medium high heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve halibut with avocado mango salsa.

Salt Crusted Fish (a recipe)

Here is a recipe that I keep getting emails about. And please, go ahead and use the post feature on this blog to ask questions. Make it look like there are actually people that read my blog. Any and all questions are welcome. I will do my best to answer them in a timely manor.
This recipe is also one of my absolute favorite ways to cook whole small fish.

I will start off with this: All measurements are approximate. I rarely measure anything and for me to post this, I cooked this tonight and measured as I went.

1 or 2 whole Thai Snapper (happens to be my favorite. You could also use any small fish. Really. ANY small fish will work with this)
3 - 4 cups Hawaiian gray Rock Salt (coarse kosher salt will also work)
2 cups Orange Juice with a squeeze of fresh lemon
3 egg whites
Fresh tarragon
Olive Oil

You will need to make enough paste to completely cover the fish including the bottom.
Starting with the salt in a large bowl, add about 3/4 of the orange juice and egg whites and mix using your hands. Keep adding the orange juice until you get a thick-paste consistency. It should hold together while forming it. Set the mix aside.
Remove all fins from your fish using kitchen shears (of course your fishmonger would not mind doing this for you). If you are lucky enough to be using fresh fish you caught, make sure it is gutted. Remove the scales (your fish monger would be happy to do this as well) by running your knife across the grain of the scales, tail to head. WARNING! This makes a huge mess! Make three or four slices in both sides of the fish about 1 inch apart. Using the olive oil, rub the entire fish liberally. This helps keep the salt from sticking. Coat the bottom of your 9 x 13 pan with a thin layer of the salt paste. Lay fish on top of the paste. Lay your fresh tarragon on top of the fish and then finish coating the entire fish with the salt paste. Make it kind of thick. About 1/4 inch thick or more.
Throw it in a hot oven. I like to cook this way at about 450 degrees. Depending on the thickness of the fish, it takes from around 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Unfortunately, you will not be able to get a thermometer through the crust. You are just gonna have to use your best judgment for this. It is hard to over cook this way. The fish will come out amazingly moist.
Let it stand for about 5 minutes.
Using a hammer or the back of a heavy spoon, whack the salt crust. It should crack like ice. Peal away the layer of salt on the top side.
Pull the skin off. Using a thin spatula, you should be able to lift the flesh from the back and rib bones. Be careful not to get too much of the salt on the flesh.
Pull the back bone with all the bones attached right off the rest of the fish.
Here is the tricky part. Doing your best not to lift the salt off the bottom, use your spatula to lift the remaining flesh from the pan.
Enjoy!
Please, post your comments on this so everyone can see them. Let me know if this did not turn out right for you. It is the only way that I will know I need to revise the written recipe. Let me know if it did turn out for you.

Copper River Salmon now in stores

Copper River King and Sockeye Salmon are available in store now. Looks like the average price from the Pike Place Market is $40 /lb for the King and $32 /lb for the Sockeye. I called around to some of my other competitors such as Whole Foods, QFC, and Safeway and they are all within that same ballpark.
As the season progresses, look for the prices to drop slowly at first and then they should level out in the mid teens in a few weeks. If you get your fish now, you know it will only be less than 24 hours off the boat. Any longer, and may be as long as 36-72 hours off the boat. That is still super fresh, just not as fresh as when you get it this weekend.
Season opened to blustery conditions that kept most boats from seeing any significant amount fish in their nets. We should see about 20,000 lbs coming into Seattle today if the weather calmed down and the boats were able to fish effectively.
Tip: Cook this fish hot and fast. Do not smother it in anything but a dash of dill and a squeeze of lemon. Anything more and it will take away from this magnificent fish. Don't forget, like beef, Salmon (and most fish) continue to cook after you take it off the heat. Pull it off the grill right when it starts to flake easily (may be still a little raw in the middle and that's okay) and let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving. Watch your side dishes! Make sure they are not over powering in flavor. Grill some asparagus for your vegie and some Basmati rice for your starch. Or if you want to do it all on the grill, grill some root vegetables with a little coarse salt and olive oil.
Do not miss out on this very special fish. Even if you have to dig into your gas budget to do it. It is worth it.