I'm on a major seafood kick right now - I can't seem to get enough of it. Tuna, salmon, red snapper...it's all good and I'm loving it. Sushi is awesome though not especially filling. Crab, lobster, mussels, scallops...as long as they're prepared right, they're great. Not sure I like squid though....but that could change.
With that said...does anyone else here enjoy eating fish and seafood? Care to offer good recipes?
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I'm picky with my seafood. Friends don't let friends eat low quality fish. We have access to really good seafood here, so it is pretty easy to get good seafood.
I'm trying to make sure at least one or two meals a week are seafood. Salmon (baked in foil with lemon, butter, and fresh herbs) is a favorite.
I've also made scallops in scampi sauce with linguini (make pasta first because the scallops cook fast. Pat of butter hot pan, fry big scallops until they just get a tiny golden bit on each side, small scallops just until they turn opaque, then dump in scampi sauce and heat just until sauce is hot, then pour on pasta).
Smoked salmon added to alfredo is good.
Other than that I don't have much for recipes, its just to get good quality stuff, and not cook it too much. Even a really nice piece of fish can be tasteless if you over cook it.
Squid is a funny food, you eithe have cook it really fast so it doesn't get tough, or you have to cook it for a really long time to soften it up. Anything in between those two is going to be bleh. There's an episode of Good Eats about it if you want to try cooking it yourself. I prefer mine deep fried by someone else.
I would like to eat more fish, but Mrs. Bullitt isn't a fan.
I grew up in Nova Scotia, so there was always cod or haddock on our table for dinner. It's rare that I'll order fish at a restaurant, but I make a nice pan-fried cod at home.
At home, I bake salmon topped with Durkee's "Chicken and Fish" seasoning, then coat with oil (I use rice bran oil, but olive oil or whatever is fine.) About 25 minutes at 350 degrees should do it (assuming fish is cut to individual servings). No need to wrap in foil or anything.
I also bake halibut. That's a tricky fish because it has a high water content and it's so easy to overcook. I use the same seasoning, but no oil. Just 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
I tend to stock up on wild salmon and halibut at Costco in the Spring, cut individual servings up and freeze it for use through the Summer and Fall.
Penzey's Shrimp & Crab Boil seasoning does wonderful things to king crab.
Restaurant-wise, PF Chang's does amazing things with scallops. Their Kung Pao scallops are wonderful, but they have at least three other options too. Their lemon scallops are almost like candy.
I like having fish at least once or twice a week. My favorite seafood would be salmon, shrimp, and calamari. I also like catfish, scallops, clams, lobster, and tilapia (sp.?). Canned tuna I like because I grew up on the stuff, but ahi tuna (thanks to numberous sushi restaurants around the area) has become a must have for me recently. What I don't like is whole fish, which is what my family loves to eat. Like red snapper, for instance: I don't like to have to pick out all the bones and the taste is a bit gamey for me. On the flip side, I like smoked salmon on a bagel with cream cheese, but my mom and sister can't stand eating it.
My mom would like me to eat more seafood, but like I said, what she and the others like and what I like are two different things. As far as recipes go, I really don't know any special ones for seafood. But like Lise said, Good Eats has several epiodes devoted to different seafood. The episodes I remember in particular liking were the one about poaching seafood, the clam chowder one, and the more recent one about wild salmon caught in the ocean. Delicious looking recipes on all those shows.
With the family being based on the gulf of mexico as a child, I grew up fishing for red snapper, flounder and speckled trout. All three are great coated with cornmeal and fried in a cast iron skillet. We also used to shrimp quite a bit and go crabbing, however at the age or 13 or so I developed a shellfish allergy and haven't been able to eat crabs, shrimp, etc since. I especially miss oyseters. Nothing like a fried oyster po' boy!
Now, living in the middle of the coutry, it's either catfish, or small mouth bass (when/if you can get one big enough to keep). Its not as good as the fish from the gulf, but it's good enough.
Spending 5 years in Michigan, I found that fish out of that region were particularly bland and I didn't much care for them.
These days I count down the days after christmas until the Catholic Churches start their fish fry fundraisers, just to get some hot, fresh fried fish.
I don't cook it at home, because my SO doesn't like it. But, I love to stuff a fish with lemons, pepper and white wine, wrap in foil and throw it on the grill.
No shellfish due to a mild allergy and a vaguely Jewish upbringing, but I have salmon or mahi mahi once or twice a week. I usually roast it in the oven or grill it outside.
My wife is from Maine and spent a lot of time on the coast growing up and thus her family gatherings are always centered around big lobster dinners. I try not to look around at others' plates too much.
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Most of the time cod is so bland and boring I don't bother, but that one is good.
And maybe my favorite fish recipe is this one, that I know probably sounds like an odd combo but really tastes great with the tarragon:
Tilapia With Cucumber-Radish-Tarragon
2/3 cup chopped, seeded cucumber 1/2 cup chopped radish 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar 1/4 teaspoon crushed dried tarragon 1/8 teaspoon sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 4 (6-oz.) tilapia fillets 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Combine cucumber, radish, oil, vinegar, tarragon, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Let stand at room temperature while preparing fish. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add fish and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until fish just begins to flake easily when tested with a fork. Transfer to serving plates. Spoon relish over each serving.
Originally posted by supersalvadoran but ahi tuna (thanks to numberous sushi restaurants around the area) has become a must have for me recently.
Pretty sure ahi means tuna.
What I meant was red tuna fresh from the ocean, not the albacore tuna I eat from the can like with Satrkist and others. Wikipedia has it labeled as yellowfin tuna, but most of the restaurants I go to that serve it have it listed as 'ahi tuna', so maybe that's where the confusion lies.
I love the fish which are just LOADED with mercury, so I try to limit my consumption so as to keep it nontoxic. On the other hand, I also like "all you can eat" sushi places.
Love seafood!! About the only thing I won't eat is oysters.... A nice trick for grilling salmon is make up a marinade of olive oil, lots of fresh lemon juice, salt and lots of pepper. Let the salmon sit for 15 mins (no longer because the lemon will start to cook it) and then grill. You can also use a half of one of the lemons as your "brush" and use the lemon to dab on more marinade while grilling. Yum!!!
Originally posted by Karlos the JackalThe "fishier" it is, the less I like it.
Doesn't that mean you're being served old fish? I remember hearing from alot of cooking shows that the fish shouldn't have a fishy smell at all if it's fresh.
Originally posted by Karlos the JackalThe "fishier" it is, the less I like it.
Doesn't that mean you're being served old fish? I remember hearing from alot of cooking shows that the fish shouldn't have a fishy smell at all if it's fresh.
Yes, I remember on many Food Network shows that fish, when served fresh, should have no real smell at all. If it smells 'fishy', it's probably been sitting out above the danger zone for too long.
EDIT: Just to explain the danger zone here in NY, it's the zone in which food possibly becomes dangerous to eat if left over or under a certain temperature for a certain period of time, usually about 4 hours. The danger zone here is between 40° & 140° F, where bacteria and viruses can still be alive and grow. So to have your food stay safe, you either have to freeze it below 40° or cook it over 140°, though different meats have sometimes different temps. to kill any remaining bacteria.
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DirecTV sent out an email today saying that had Channel 352 set up for 8 channels at once: ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Fox, CNN, FoxNews and Comedy Channel. I think that's where I will watch. You can switch from one to the other without ever leaving 352!