All posts filed under: seafood

Rockfish and Red Grapefruit Ceviche with Quick Pickled Fennel

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I have a good friend whom I love to watch eat.  Ok, that sounds terribly creepy, but let me explain.  She will assemble a bunch of different ingredients, be it on a spoon, a cracker or a crostini, pop it into her mouth and then exclaim, eyes rolling back in her head: “oh my god that is such a Good Bite!!” Then excitedly, she’ll assemble it again, just the way she did it the first time and make sure everyone gets to experience that Good Bite! It’s so funny and such a pleasure when someone gets that excited about a bite of food, and that is exactly how I felt when I assembled this ceviche.  It looked like a wicked-weird combination of ingredients but when I built a little forkful of it: a little bite of fish, a chili pepper, a bit of grapefruit, a sliver of fennel and a lemon balm leaf; and tasted it, I found myself squealing just like my friend!  It was such a Good Bite!  I immediately called Eric into the kitchen …

Cedar Planked Salmon with Sriracha-Ponzu Glaze

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  I am a girl who loves to grill!  For me, grilling season starts early at the first signs of spring. At that point, it’s still a choice whether I cook outside or just turn on the oven.  Then as summer takes hold, grilling becomes an all-out necessity and maybe even a little bit of an obsession! I can honestly tell you that during the summer, if we are eating cooked food, odds are, it was cooked outside on the grill!  And what a grill it is!  I picked out the biggest propane grill I could afford and thanks to the Husband who converted it to natural gas, there’s no more running to the propane exchange in the middle of dinner!  I’ll tell you in one word why I love a gas grill:  convenience!  With the turn of a knob (ok, five knobs), I am cooking. No fuss, no hassle.  I have baked desserts on the grill, pizzas, artisan bread, casseroles and even kale! Whoever said that the grill was the man’s domain never came to my house, …

Seared Black Cod with Meyer Lemon and Caper Relish

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Hello.  My name is Tracey and I have just learned to properly sear seafood.  There, I said it.  It’s a little embarrassing, given the time I’ve been cooking seafood, but that’s what it’s all about, right? Learning new and better ways of doing things!  While watching cooking shows, I would often think, wow, that’s a beautiful sear on that fish! Why doesn’t my fish look like that when I do the same thing?  Well, I finally figured it out.  I simply wasn’t leaving the fish in the pan long enough to get that nice golden sear.  I have since discovered that my sense of timing is very, very off.  For instance, when I think I’m doing something for 2 minutes, it’s actually more like 45 seconds.  I blame the digital age–it’s messing with my attention span!  Or perhaps it has something to do with the way food television is edited!  Whatever the reason, to solve this, I’ve started using the stop-watch feature on my phone to time myself.  I tried this with scallops first because I …

Valentine’s Day Shrimp and Grits with Broccoli Rabe and Pancetta

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Psst…!  I don’t wish to alarm you, but Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!  Now, before you panic and grab your phone to try and make a dinner reservation, allow me give you a better option:  a totally fussy, outright gourmet restaurant-worthy dinner lovingly prepared in your own kitchen!  I don’t know about you, but I think that a home-cooked dinner beats going out to an overpriced, crowded restaurant any day!  First and foremost, I will warn you that this recipe will take some extra time and a few steps.  You will dirty not one, but a few pots and pans. After you’re done, your kitchen will likely look like a tornado hit it, and for this, I apologize. But, this is a special meal, and I promise you, it will be so delicious, your sweetie will happily volunteer to do the dishes for you!  Plus, no long wait times, overwhelmed servers and outrageously priced prix fixe menus! I think it’s a win-win! This recipe is a take on a traditional Southern classic – shrimp …

Mussels with Fennel, Italian Sausage and Créme Fraiche plus Rosemary Lemon Bread!

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I should be telling you about the steaming pot of mussels I cooked up yesterday. I should be telling you about the tender, sweet shellfish swimming in a broth of white wine, tangy créme fraiche and fennel.  I should tell you about the little bits of hot italian sausage hiding in the mussel shells, like little yummy gifts waiting to be discovered.  But, what is currently hijacking my brain right now is the crusty loaf of lemon rosemary bread that I used to dip into that tangy broth, sponging up all that goodness!  That crusty, crackly crunchy shell hid an interior so creamy and custardy (hey that’s a lot of c-words in one sentence!) that I just need to take a moment to reflect on the wonder that is home-baked bread.   Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I can go back to telling you about those mussels!   Cooking mussels in a broth of white wine is as classic as it comes, and this recipe takes that basic dish and …