STEAMED CLAMS IN SPICY BRODETTO

            Brodetto is Italy's version of Bouillabaisse. Most of these stews contain different types of fish and shellfish but I saw Mario Batali make this with only clams so I gave it a try. It's a spicy tomato based broth made only more delicious with the addition of Manila Clams and fresh herbs. Serve with crusty warm bread to soak up the broth.

MARIO BATALI'S STEAMED CLAMS IN SPICY BRODETTO

·  Extra Virgin Olive Oil

·  1 Red Onion (thinly sliced)

·  4 Garlic cloves (thinly sliced)

·  4 Scallions (thinly sliced)

·  2 teaspoons Salt

·  4 pounds Manila Clam, Littleneck Clams or Small Razor Clams

·  1 cup Tomato Puree

·  1 cup Dry White Wine

·  2 teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes

·  1 cup chopped fresh Basil

·  1/2 cup chopped fresh Chives

·  1/2 cup fresh Oregano leaves

 Heat a few tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add red onion and cook one minute. Add sliced garlic, scallions and salt, stirring occasionally, until scallions and garlic color slightly, about 5 minutes. 

Add clams, tomato puree, wine and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until clams open, about 3-4 minutes. (Discard any clams that don't open.) Uncover pan and add herbs; toss to combine.

Divide clams evenly among bowls and spoon broth over them.

Serve with warm, crusty French bread.

Recipe by Mario Batali

PAN FRIED SEA BASS WITH HARISSA AND ROSES

I took a leap of faith and went exotic with this recipe. It started with spreading spicy African harissa paste and cumin on my sea bass. I let it marinate for a few hours. With a quick dusting of flour on my fish I pan fried it. This was really tasty right out of the pan.The harissa gave it a nice kick and paired perfectly with my bass. It was hard not to devour it. Now, back to the exotic....a sauce made with onions, vinegar, cinnamon, honey, currants, and rose water, spooned on the fish and then topped with cilantro and dried rose petals. It was sweet and sour, a little bit spicy and had a beautiful aroma of roses. Eating dried rose petals is just.... so....sexy!

PAN FRIED SEA BASS WITH HARISSA AND ROSE

3 tbsp harissa paste (store-bought...)
1 tsp ground cumin
4 sea bass fillets, about 1 lb / 450 g in total, skinned and with pin bones removed
all-purpose flour, for dusting
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
6 tbsp / 100 ml red wine vinegar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
scant 1 cup / 200 ml water
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp rose water
scant cup / 60 g currants (optional)
2 tbsp coarsely chopped cilantro (optional)
2 tsp small dried edible rose petals
salt and freshly ground black pepper

First marinate the fish. Mix together half the harissa paste, the ground cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Rub the paste all over the fish fillets and leave them to marinate for 2 hours in the fridge.

Dust the fillets with a little flour and shake off the excess. Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the fillets for 2 minutes on each side. You may need to do this in two batches. Set the fish aside, leave the oil in the pan, and add the onions. Stir as you cook for about 8 minutes, until the onions are golden.

Add the remaining harissa, the vinegar, the cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and plenty of black pepper. Pour in the water, lower the heat, and let the sauce simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, until quite thick.

Add the honey and rose water to the pan along with the currants, if using, and simmer gently for a couple more minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning and then return the fish fillets to the pan; you can slightly overlap them if they don’t quite fit. Spoon the sauce over the fish and leave them to warm up in the simmering sauce for 3 minutes; you may need to add a few tablespoons of water if the sauce is very thick.

Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with the cilantro, if using, and the rose petals.

Recipe from Jerusalem a Cookbook

HALIBUT PACKAGES WITH TOMATOES, CAPERS AND OLIVES

What a nice little package this was! Our weekly Food Matters Project recipe was chosen by our newest member Nancy of Funkytown Foodies. Nancy chose Mark Bittman's recipe- Provencal Vegetables and Chicken in Packages. It is a great sounding recipe and you can find it here. I was in the mood for fish and the Alaskan Halibut at the harbor looked fantastic!

Each package contained a piece of halibut, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, thyme, and sliced browned garlic. Right before closing the package you add a pat of butter and some white wine. A quick 10 minute blast in the oven and dinner is on the table. Super healthy, really quick and hardly any clean up! I served it over a bed of Armenian Rice Pilaf.

You can check out what our other members made here.

HALIBUT PACKAGES WITH TOMATOES, CAPERS, AND OLIVES

Four 15" x 15" pieces of foil

4 halibut fillets (6 oz each)

1 TBSP. plus 4 tsp. olive oil, divided

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (I left mine whole)

2 TBSP. capers, drained

8 large kalamata olives, quartered (mine were small so I cut them in half)

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

8 TBSP. dry white wine

4 tsp. unsalted butter

8 fresh thyme springs

Heat oven to 450~.

In a small skillet, warm 1 TBSP. olive oil over medium heat. Saute sliced garlic and pepper flakes until garlic turns golden, about 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat and stir in tomatoes, capers and olives.

Place one piece of halibut in center of each foil square. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Divide tomato mixture among fish. Top each fillet with 2 TBSP. wine, 1 tsp. butter and 2 thyme sprigs. Fold edges of foil to make a tight package.

Place packages on a large rimmed baking sheet; roast 10 minutes. Slit open with a knife and gently open.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

SEAFOOD PAELLA

This amazing dinner was inspired by Meg from Fledgling Foodie. Meg chose Mark Bittman's recipe for Pared-Down Paella with Peas, Clams, and Chorizo. This is all part of our Food Matters Project.

Mark Bittman takes the fear out of creating this dish and after making this once I can't wait to experiment with it more. Mark's recipe called for only clams for the seafood. I was lucky enough to find live Manilla clams at the market but I also added shrimp and scallops.

You can find the recipe on Meg's blog here and for all the other members take on this recipe click here.

SEARED AHI WITH PONZU SAUCE

It's Monday and that means another recipe project from the Food Matters Cookbook. This week our host is Sara from Pidge's Pantry. Sara chose Mark Bittman's recipe for Sesame Noodles with Spinach and Salmon. His recipe uses the flavors of oshitashi (a Japanese spinach salad) and pairs it with salmon and noodles. I went down to the harbor with this recipe in mind but when I saw the fresh ahi being prepped for the finest restaurants in town my plans changed and I snagged a piece. I deconstructed the recipe and made a cold oshitashi salad by cooking the spinach until slightly wilted. After squeezing out the water I rolled it in a sushi mat.

Then cut it in to small serving pieces, topped with ponzu sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

The pasta was a whole wheat fettuccine tossed with a spicy peanut sauce.

For my ahi, I lightly brushed the fish with grapeseed oil. Heated a cast iron skillet until smoking hot and then seared the ahi for about 1 minute per side. I served the ahi on a bed of Kaffir lime leaves and a drizzle of Ponzu sauce. The Kaffir leaves infused the hot ahi with a wonderful citrusy flavor. I grow this lime tree just for the leaves. You can read more about it here.

You can find Mark Bittman's recipe on Sara's blog here. For all the other members creative takes on this recipe click here.

CEVICHE

It's another week of cooking from Mark Bittman's The Food Matters Cookbook. This week our recipe was chosen by Jen of Vanilla Lemon. Jen chose Corn-Avocado Salad (with a Little Something Seared on Top.) You can find the orginal recipe here . We follow the recipe as written or use it as inspiration for our own creation. This week while I was reading the ingredients Ceviche came to mind. Ceviche, pronounced "seh-BEE-chay" is a popular South American dish where raw fish is marinated in the juice of an acidic fruit. The juice basically "cooks" the fish. With the warm summer weather outside you can stay out of the kitchen while the fish cooks in the marinade.

I started off down at the harbor to see what looked good. Using Mark's recipe as a guide I checked out the scallops and they looked great. You can use bay scallops ( the small scallops) but I prefer diver scallops.

I cut each scallop in half (to make two round scallops) and each scallop into quarters. Covered it with lemon, lime, and orange juice and let it marinate for three hours. Then I added avocado, onion, cucumber, serrano peppers, and cilantro. You let it sit another hour and it is ready to serve. The perfect appetizer for a warm summer day.

 CEVICHE

Makes 4 servings

1 pound scallops (bay or diver, if using diver scallops cut them into bite size pieces)
or 1 pound white fish, cut into bite size pieces

1 cup lime juice (about 10 limes) or any other citrus

1/3 cup minced red onion

1/3 cup seeded and diced tomato

1/2 cup peeled, seeded and diced cucumber

1 avocado cut into bite sized pieced

1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced

3/4 cup chopped cilantro

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a glass bowl or dish cover the scallops or fish with the lime juice and marinate in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Toss gently about every hour.

Add the onion, tomato, cucumber, avocado, serrano, salt and pepper to taste, and chopped cilantro. Let sit in the refrigerator one more hour. Drain out most of the juice before serving.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Notes- We prefer the flavor of white fish in this recipe because we like the texture better than the scallops. After marinating overnight the texture of the scallops were much better.

For all of the Food Project Members creative takes on this recipe click here.

LEMON BASIL PESTO

There was something different about the basil at the Farmer's Market this week. It drew a crowd. Everyone was grabbing a bunch and smelling it. It was lemon basil. You could actually smell the lemon scent from a few feet away. I've used lemon basil before but it always had a subtle lemon smell and flavor. This was vibrant. I bought a couple of bunches and knew I had to make pesto. This was so delicious I was eating it by the spoonful.

LEMON BASIL PESTO

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves (I used lemon basil)

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the olive oil and process until fully incorporated and to the consistency you like. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the cheese.

I spread the pesto on a piece of Scottish salmon and baked in the oven at 375~ for 20 minutes.

 

HALIBUT GRILLED IN BANANA LEAVES WITH ORANGE-PINEAPPLE SALSA

It's Food Matters Project Monday. Week 16 as we cook our way through Mark Bittmans Book. This week our host is Sara of food & frederick. Sara chose Mexican-Style Fruit Salad with Grilled or Broiled Fish. This was right up my alley, as I love seafood and we have a early morning Saturday fisherman's market down at the harbor. The boats pull in with their catch and you buy it right off the boat.

I woke up at the crack of yawn to check out the fresh fish.

Somebody else had the same idea.

There were only two boats in and the catch of the day?

Urchins

and crabs.

She was handing out uni samples at 7:00AM ???????????

Not going to work for my Food Matters Project meal.

Not far from the harbor is a very ethnic Market. I haven't ventured in there in years. Wow! It was fun. All the Mexican specialties you could want. Check out the happy meat case.

I spotted some fresh banana leaves and I instantly knew what I was going to do. Grill some halibut in the leaves with a salsa made from oranges and pineapples.

I bought a package of leaves but I ended up with a boat load of leaves. This is only part of them. At least they freeze well. By now the Harbor Fish Market had opened and I loved the look of the Alaskan Halibut. I bought a pound and cut it in half.

The halibut was seasoned with salt and pepper, a little olive oil and a drizzle of juice from the orange-pineapple salsa. Then you wrap it up like a burrito. You can skewer the ends, tie it up in a little bundle, or put them in a basket like I did.

They were grilled for about 5 minutes per side. The banana leaves seal in the moisture and add a delicious mellow, smoky sweet flavor to the fish. You can wrap other types of fish in the leaves and even grill vegetables this way.

Right off the grill, then served with an Orange-Pineapple Salsa.

ORANGE-PINEAPPLE SALSA

2 limes,  juiced

2 TBSP. freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 tsp chile de arbol powder (or chile powder if you like it mild)

2 tsp. honey

2 TBSP. extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into small dice

2 oranges, peeled and cut into small dice

3 green onions, thinly sliced

3 TBSP. chopped fresh mint leaves

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk together the lime juice, orange, chile powder, honey, and oil in a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Salsa adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe.

HALIBUT GRILLED IN BANANA LEAVES

Banana leaves cut into squares, washed and soaked in water for at least 30 minutes.

4- 8oz. halibut fillets, skinned

Salt and pepper

olive oil

juice from the salsa

Cut each banana leaf into a 14 x 14 inch square. Place halibut fillet in center of leaf, drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour 1 tsp. of the salsa juice on top and wrap the leaves around the halibut like a burrito. Tie together or skewer the ends closed and grill for about 5 minutes per side. You can also use a grill rack to grill the halibut like the picture above.

Remove from banana leaves and serve topped with the salsa.

For the original recipe as Mark Bittman wrote it please check it out on Sara's blog food & frederick. Then go here for all our groups amazing takes on his recipe.

HALIBUT VERACRUZ

Red Snapper Veracruz is the signature dish of the major port city Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico.

Veracruz is known for it's abundance of seafood and a rich culinary history which was heavily influenced by the Spanish. The tomatoes, garlic, and onions (and sometimes jalapeno) marry Mexico with the olives, olive oil, and capers of Spain.  And I must say, this is a marriage made in heaven.

It's very low fat, healthy, and a dish that comes together in about 30 minutes. You can use a variety of fish in this recipe. I'm not a fan of Red Snapper which is the more traditional fish used in Mexico, so I use Halibut, Swordfish and Chilean Sea Bass (although the Chilean Sea Bass is now on the avoid list of the Sea Food Watch Guide). My favorite is Alaskan Halibut and that is what I used this time. I didn't use any jalapenos in my sauce because I wanted to taste the halibut in it's pure, delicate state.

This is a perfect dish to make in the summertime when tomatoes are at their peak.

HALIBUT VERACRUZ

3 TBSP. Olive oil

1 medium brown onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

5 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped

10 Spanish style green olives, pitted and chopped (stuffed with pimiento are fine)

2 TBSP. capers

3 Bay leaves

A couple of grinds of pepper

Salt to taste

2 pounds Halibut or other white fish

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic. Cook until tender but not browned. Add tomatoes,  olives, capers, bay leaves, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer gently uncovered for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle fish with salt and place in skillet with sauce. Cover fish with the sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover skillet. Simmer for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Serves 6

RIDGEBACK SHRIMP OVER ANGEL HAIR PASTA

I wandered around the Farmer's Market on Saturday looking for inspiration for dinner. The ridgeback shrimp stand was there. Ridgeback shrimp are really prawns and they taste better than any shrimp I have had in a long time. They are tender and juicy and melt in your mouth. You can buy them fresh off the boat for about 5.00 per pound. They don't keep long so I use them right away.

I brought home 2 lbs. of them. I was thinking about how I would cook them and then I found the pasta lady. They make fresh pasta early in the morning before the market opens so it is REALLY fresh.

I decided on  fresh angel hair pasta.

 I took the heads off the shrimp (throw them in a bag and then in the freezer. Save them for your favorite fisherman to use as bait). Then I peeled the shells off and deveined them. This took a while but it was well worth the effort. Sometimes I just steam them whole and serve them as a peel and eat like I did here.

The pasta only takes about 2 minutes to cook so I put some water on the stove and then sauteed some chopped shallots in olive oil and butter. Added some garlic for just a minute and then tossed in the ridgeback tails.

The tails cook in just a minute so I drained the pasta and tossed the pasta with the tails. 

Top the pasta with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh dill, salt and pepper. This was so good. If you can find fresh ridgebacks give this a try. They are harvested right here in the Santa Barbara Channel and are in season October through May or June.

RIDGEBACK SHRIMP OVER ANGEL HAIR PASTA

1 Shallot, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBSP. butter

2 TBSP. olive oil

1 lb. shrimp or 2 lbs. whole ridgeback shrimp

1 lb. angel hair pasta 

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh dill, chopped

Lemon slices

Cook pasta according to directions on package or boil for 2 minutes if using fresh pasta.

In a large saute pan melt butter and oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft (about 3 minutes). Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes and then add the shrimp tails. Cook for two minutes or until the shrimp changes color. Drain pasta and add to the pan. Toss for just a minute or so and then turn into a serving dish. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped dill. Add a splash or two of olive on top before serving.

Serve with a lemon slice.

BRAISED HALIBUT WITH LEEKS, PANCETTA, AND CLAMS

Yes...there's a party going on in this bowl.

Delicate Alaskan halibut is braised in a broth of  leeks, lemons, garlic, and thyme. Manila clams gently steam in the broth. The halibut is placed in the center of the bowl, the clams around it, the flavored broth is poured on top and the whole dish is garnished with cooked pancetta and chopped parsley.

My kind of party.

BRAISED HALIBUT WITH LEEKS, PANCETTA, AND CLAMS

3 TBSP. butter

1 large leek, white and green part thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cups chicken broth

4 oz. thinly sliced pancetta

6 springs fresh thyme

6 thin slices lemon

lemon zest

1 pound fresh halibut (skin removed)

1 pound Manila clams

1 TBSP. freshly chopped parsley

sea salt and pepper

Cook pancetta in skillet until brown and crispy. Remove, crumble into large pieces and set aside.

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large straight-sided saute skillet with a lid. Add the leeks and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes and then add the broth, thyme, and lemon slices. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

Bring broth to a boil on medium high heat. 

Season the halibut with salt and pepper and put in the center of the pan with the broth. Cover, return to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook halibut for 5 minutes. Add the clams around the outside of the pan, cover and cook for 5 more minutes or until clams are open and halibut is cooked through.

Discard any clams that have not opened.

Put a serving of halibut in a bowl, surround it with some clams and pour broth over. Sprinkle with lemon zest, pancetta, and chopped parsley.

Serve with garlic bread.

Recipe inspired by www.relishingit.com and Tyler Florence

SMOKED SALMON DEVILED EGGS

 For New Years Day we had the World's Best smoked Salmon, Cambridge House. The New York Times agrees with me.

We had some leftover so I made Deviled Eggs. They were delish! 

Cambridge House uses premium quality fresh Scottish Salmon, hand cured and smoked right here in Santa Barbara. Treat yourself to some Cambridge House Smoked Salmon or Santa Barbara Smoke House Salmon. You can find it at Whole Foods or Lazy acres in Santa Barbara.

SMOKED SALMON DEVILED EGGS

 8 extra large eggs

1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

1 TBSP. mayonnaise

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 TBSP. freshly squeezed lemon juice (or more to taste)

2 TBSP. minced fresh chives

4 ounces smoked salmon, minced

Freshly ground pepper to taste


Garnish with capers and chopped chives 


Place the eggs in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring the water to a boil, cook for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow the eggs to rest in the water for 10 minutes. Drain the eggs and cover with cold water; set aside to cool.

Peel the eggs and slice them in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks and place them in the bowl of a food processor or blend with a hand blender.


Place the whites on a serving platter. To the yolks, add the creme fraiche or sour cream, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Dijon, and lemon juice; process until smooth and completely combined. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and fold in the salmon and chopped chives. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.

Using a spoon or a piping bag, fill the whites generously with the yolk mixture. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to blend.


When ready to serve, sprinkle with optional garnishes.


Recipe adapted slightly from www.thegalleygourmet.net