What a wonderful day! I walked into class and there was a whole table covered with different species of fish and shellfish. I was in heaven. I love seafood, but I am more fascinated in the variety of species and how to prepare them. Max Harvey from Summer Shack was our instructor of the day and what knowledge and filleting skills he has. As a graduate of the BU Culinary class, Max, understands what the students want and need. He talked through the basics with us and guided us, but he let the class explore and experiment. We made ceviche out of the fresh scallops, snapper, striped bass, and razor clams. Everyones ceviche was unique and very different from each other. I made a scallop ceviche with orange juice, orange zest, lime juice, pinch salt, cilantro, jalapeno and a touch of honey. So good!
I also experimented with Blue Fish, a fish that I normally dislike, but was presently surprised by using the perfect technique the fish became light and not too oily.
I am still a novice when it comes to cooking and preparing seafood, but today's class gave me more confidence and the ability to conquer killing a lobster and shucking a scallop.
Key Concepts:
-blue fish- great to use in chowders
-chowders were first eaten by seamen - an easy one pot meal
-blue fish - saute in canola oil, salt and pepper. Top with dressing - soy, ginger, rice wine vinegar, a little honey, chili sauce, scallions and sesame oil. MMMMmmm
or just pan fry in panko bread crumbs
-Cod, haddock and Pollock are close in texture, color and flavor. Cod is the most delicate. When searing delicate fish always leave skin on.
-a great handle to hold a fish = the eyes
-red fish - rice flour and sparkling water batter, deep fry whole fish - 5 min puffs up
-whole shrimp are yummy. the heads give such great flavor.
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| Fish Chowder |
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| Blue fish with soy dressing |
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| Temupura fried red fish |
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| whole shrimp with tobassco, worchicier (sp), parsley, garlic and covered in butter and black pepper - YUM |
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| striped bass with leeks |
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| Female and Male - Male has skinnier tail |
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| Jasper White's famous lobster recipe |
Hi Nicki! I dig your blog - thanks for sharing your awesome experience! With your blue fish, did your instructor say anything about marinating it in butter milk before preparing it?
ReplyDeleteHi Greg,
DeleteGlad you enjoy my blog. Max mentioned that some people do put mayo on blue fish or soak it in buttermilk to try to mellow out the oily flavor. However, smaller blue fish are less oily and have a better flavor. If you have a large blue fish or a large striped bass, remove the bloodline. This will make the flavor of the fish taste much better. Max was all about keeping it simple and his preference was to pan fry and then add a sauce to balance the flavor. But the most important thing is that it tastes good!
Hope this helps,
Nicki