Homemade Fish and Chips

Fresh Gulf of Maine, beer-battered haddock and scallops served with homemade slaw (our own carrots; cabbages from Barker's Farm) and chips (heirloom spuds from Barker's).  The only way to fly.  Peanut oil is best.

Not all batters are created equal.  Too much flour, you wind up with pasty fish.  Too much liquid, and you wind up with a thin, baseless crust.  For the best crust and flavor, use good beer, a couple o' good secrets, and pay heed to process.

Sustainable Seafood on my mind. Again.

What does sustainability mean for seafood?

Visit www.FoodandWaterWatch.org for lots more on important food and water topics

"A certification program should be transparent and should represent a clearly defined set of standards that are publicly vetted and easily accessible to everyone.  Its primary motivation should be providing neutral and straightforward guidance to consumers.  A label that makes vague claims of 'sustainability' or being 'ecofriendly' should not do so without being able to clearly define and support those assertions."

I bumped into the above publication while searching for info on fish hatchery use of antibiotics.  Went searching for that info as a result of obsessively watching the Decorah, IA, eagles who hunt regularly from the fish hatchery right next door to their nest.  Anyway, while I would love to get into an engaging discussion on the eagles, it's best that I keep to the subject matter for this blog and post on this provocative sustainable seafood info I just found.

Don't have time for a 22-page read?  Jump to page 3 of the document (page 7 on the pdf toolbar).

Paella Again!

Fresh, local lobster warmed in saffron butter, center; Maine shrimpies, PEI mussels and MA littlenecks intertwined with roasted red bell pepper strips, and served over pea-dotted paella with local sausage and chicken!

Special friends from Colorado visited a couple of nights ago. After having taken part in a paella party last weekend--which was lots of fun--such delicious food and a great bonfire--I just had to make paella in a nod!

THE paella party to beat any perigee moon!

Friends and party extraordinaires, Alix and Colin, pulled off a fab Vernal Equinox paella party on the night of the perigee full moon.  Great friends, red wine galore, bonfire in the back...It left all of us with visions of paella dancing in our heads for sure!

Sustainable Seafood Choices

I've been dealing with brain chatter since posting the Encrusted Cod recipe, and for several reasons. But rather than go into a rant about the various potential issues surrounding Cod, I'm going to post additional information (I posted a couple of links under the Encrusted Cod recipe) on ways you can make smart choices when purchasing seafood.

Here are a few of my favorite sustainable seafood pocket guides, but first just one quick point worth mentioning- there's a lot of info packed onto these types of 'pocket guides', so keep in mind that complicated information has been somewhat simplified for the sake of the consumer.  Please take time to understand the issues! 

Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program provides ALL KINDS of pocket guides!  Choose one for your region!

Environmental Defense Fund's Oceans program has a Seafood Selector pocket guide that is easy to read at a glance.  Print  your own copy here.

I also appreciate Blue Ocean Institute's Seafood program. Their Seafood Guide (image file is HUGE, so I used their site logo only) can be downloaded for printing. You can opt for their online guide, or request free pocket guides by mail, or utilize their iPhone service called 'FishPhone' (text messaging for all other cell users).  Visit their website today!

Lastly, last fall I completed the online Green Chefs, Blue Ocean sustainable seafood training program (~2 hours). It's still available for free, but word is it won't be for much longer. I highly recommend it; I learned several new things about fish/shellfish farming, but more importantly learned how to effectively promote sustainable seafood.

Littlenecks and Shrimp with Pasta

Came across some gorgeous local littlenecks this afternoon... just couldn't resist! (Nor could I resist a slab of triple cream brie, but that's another weakness I'll get into some other time.) The last of the Maine shrimp are still in local fish delis, so I grabbed a pound of those, too.  What to make?  Well, I intended on sauteeing them in wine and garlic and serving them with some crusty bread (a super fast and easy meal), but the bag of whole wheat pasta I spotted in my pantry sort of called out to me, so into pasta they went.  I wish I had used conventional linguini; I hate that damn healthy stuff.  But in the end, it was a tasty dish!

Scrub your clams well (I used 2lbs for this recipe), and I highly suggest you allow for some soaking/purging time in case they're sandy.  Unwind with a cold beer while you're waiting, or prep your aromatics (leeks, garlic, parsley...).  Either way, you'll not want to risk mouthfuls of sand and grit in a dish like this, so do the following:

Succulent Fresh Maine Shrimp!

Right now in the Maine and New Hampshire Seacoast region we are enjoying these scrumptious little shrimpies, brought to us straight from the local fishermen and women who catch them. You can find them for sale at local fishmongers' counters, on the curb in various seaside towns, at the farmers' markets still taking place, and even through CSFs ("Community Supported Fisheries" - a complement to CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture).


These loves don't need but 30 seconds to cook, honest and truly, so choose your recipe(s) wisely. I add them, and a bit of chopped parsley, at the very last moment to a pan of sizzling-hot scampied butter (finely chopped garlic, a little white wine and lemon juice already sauteed into the butter), toss them for one or two flicks of the pan, and then pour then over a bowl of hot, tender fettucini ribbons.


A bit more chopped parsley to finish, and maybe a wedge of lemon, and you've got a delicious, hot dinner in the amount of time it takes to boil pasta! Don't overcook! If they feel mushy in your mouth, you've overcooked them. They should have a texture that pops when you bite down on 'em.

Why choose Maine shrimp over the commonly seen tiger shrimp in our supermarkets? There are lots of reasons, and an article in the Concord Monitor states them succinctly.

For general info on what CSAs and CSFs are all about, check out Local Harvest's site here. For info on CSFs and CSAs in the ME / NH areas, Seacoast Eat Local has a listing here. Elsewhere, ask your local fishmonger or farmers' market organization!