Steelhead with lemon caper butter.

The Sous Chef has been busy and is tired.  So it's all me today.

I've been cooking recently from a cookbook I bought used at a thrift store.  What's for Dinner? by Maryana Volstedt.  It is copyright 1997.  She is from the Pacific Northwest as am I.  I get her sensibility.  Who ever gave up this book was crazy.  I find myself wanting to make everything in it. 

Today, I'm making Steelhead with lemon caper sauce.  It was inspired by a recipe in this book on page 108, Citrus Salmon Steaks.

Steelhead is in the trout family, but larger than our native trout.  It's flesh is orange like Salmon but a little softer and sweet.  It is Steelhead season around here.  Boats are lined up on the Columbia river fishing for it.

I'm starting with a lovely piece of Steelhead with skin on.  The marinade for it is 1 T. canola oil, the juice of one-half an orange, 2 T. of lemon juice, 1 t. Worcestershire sauce, 1 t. salt.  My ever-present Pyrex pie plate is holding the marinade and the fish, which I place in the frig for about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile the most delicious Lemon-Caper Sauce.  I've taken some liberties with Maryana's recipe.  Here is my version.  1/2 c. mayonnaise, 1/4 c. buttermilk, 1 T. lemon juice, 1/2 t. dried dill weed,  1 t. drained capers, chopped, 1/4 t. salt. 

Remove the fish from its marinade and bake the fish in a 350 oven until just done in the middle.  I don't do the partially raw fish thing that some people do these days.  The sauce goes over the fish and vegetable.  It is good over any basic vegetable.  Our current favorite is broccoli with this sauce.  Tonight it is Swiss Chard.  And a popover.  This Swiss chard recipe next.  Remember to find things that inspire you, 'cause life is short and inspiration is everywhere. 

Shared with What's You Making Wednesday

Dungeness Crabs

These beauties are a special present from Daughter in Law.  Thank you, Dear.  They were purchased fully cooked, so don't be expecting any Julia incident in my kitchen, although I would be up to that task. 

  

I've seen Dungeness Crabs cooked in large vats at the beach.  It isn't for the faint of heart or New Yorkers.  No offense, anyone. But no, these have been in my freezer since purchased. 


They are beautiful and amazing, don't you think?

I'm going to steam them to warm them.  Then, serve the legs with melted butter to dip in.  I'm thinking not to serve the bodies at the table.  Cleaning the bodies of these crabs is not a tidy task and I'm not skilled at it.

 

 The gills area can be just peeled away. 

The crab "butter",  which is the intestinal areas, won't hurt you, but I've read that the "butter" sometimes has a concentration of Mercury. 

We'll be discarding anything that isn't clearly crab meat today and not worrying any more about that.  I'm not one who worries about food.

I sometimes feel guilty sucking out their good parts.  But not enough to stop. Remember that it's the simple things, really. 

Stanford's Knife and Fork Crab Sandwich

If you are on the west coast, I recommend Stanford's Restaurant.  Their menu is casual but delicious.  Sea food and meat with well done side dishes and many other treats.  I love their Knife and Fork Crab and Artichoke Sandwich.  It is open face - A creamy mixture of crab, artichoke and Parmesan cheese in an herb mayonnaise.  Additional cheese and a tomato slice is on top.  The whole thing is broiled, melty and bubbly good.  

I've decided to attempt to reproduce it at home.  Since Husband claims not to like artichokes, it's all mine and I'm not attempting a huge batch. 

Open face Crab and Artichoke Sandwich

1 6 oz can of crab meat, well drained.
6.5 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed well
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1T. fresh chives, well chopped
Sourdough Sandwich Bread
about 1/2 grated mozzarella cheese

I put the artichoke hearts in a colander and rinsed the marinade off with water.  Then dry the artichokes with a paper towel.  Make sure the crab meat is well drained so that the sandwich isn't soggy.  Cover and refrigerate this mixture to help firm it up.  

When you are ready to eat, preheat the oven to 350.  This is 2 - 4 servings, depending on how hungry you are.  I put a quarter of it in a separate oven safe dish and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes.  Nice and sizzley and good smelling.  

On one piece of sourdough sandwich bread, I spread my mixture and topped with tomato slices and mozzarella cheese. 

Back in the oven to broil until the cheese and tomatoes were very hot.

Okay, so it doesn't look quite as tidy and beautiful as Stanford's, and I may not make it at home again.  It tastes like Stanford's sandwich and the texture is about right.  Oh, and I know it has a million calories, but...

Remember to be good tomorrow.   

Stir Fried Shrimp

I'm on a quest to be more organized and less reactive with our food needs.  I've got a half a beef coming from a local rancher, so I'm busy cleaning out the freezer.  I'm thinking a lot about how I can do a better job of supplying a good dinner and lunch every day with local meats and local fruits and vegetables.  I'm reading every label.  Husband is a little worried with the changes, but there really aren't that many.  Although I know where my shrimp came from now, I bought them anyway. 

I'm thinking about Annettes guest blogger, Jess, over at SustainableEats, who wants to eat more local food and make more conscious decisions but has trouble. 

http://www.sustainableeats.com/2010/04/15/guest-post-jess-aspires-to-conscious-eating/

And he is right.  You just have to pick a direction and start, knowing that you'll certainly be less than perfect. 

This is another original recipe.  I started making it with a package of stir fry sauce mix powder stuff, but banned that from my life some while back.  Powder is not food.  My regular stir fry sauce is good for this.  Or use your favorite Asian stir fry sauce.  Add more vegetables if you like.  Use the left overs for lunches or additional meals.  




LeAnn's original stir fry sauce
1/4 t. fresh minced ginger
3 T soy sauce
1 c. water or broth
1 1/2 t. hoisen sauce
1 1/2 t. corn starch
1/2 Asian sweet chili sauce, optional

Fried Rice with Shrimp
1 lb frozen shrimp, thawed, shelled and deviened
2 T. oil
1 t. minced garlic
3 c. cooked rice
original stir fry sauce above or your own
1 cup. frozen peas

Put oil in a large flat skillet.  Add garlic and shrimp.  Cook on Medium hight until shrimp are turning pink.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cook an additional few minutes, until peas are hot and sauce thickens.

We'll eat this for dinner and the rest for lunch the next day.

Remember to eat real food and make consious choices. 

Easy Baked Shrimp

I just love all kinds of shell fish.  My favorite is crab, but I like any thing that swam or crawled on the ocean floor and will unashamedly suck out any bits of goodness I can get shortly after dunking them in melted butter.  Shell fish, "seafood" as he called it, was a special treat for my Father, also.  As a special occasion, we would go to a Chinese restaurant called the Bamboo Terrace where he would eat batter fried shrimp.  We would blissfully chomp away at pork chow mein while he ate his shrimp.  Sometimes, we got a Shirley Temple. 

I think that the most memorable times in child hood for most of us are times when our parents were happy.  So many young parents I know think they are giving quality times to their children by giving them "things".  My parents gave us very little that was material, but they created people who could do things for themselves and felt secure and safe, because that was who they were themselves.  Somehow that sounds better, myself.

I buy medium shrimp, several pounds at a time when it is on a good sale.  They package it for me in 1 lb packages which I immediately put in the freezer.   For what I do, I see no reason to pay extra for the large shrimp or prawns.  If you feel otherwise, go ahead.   

When I'm getting ready to cook them, I take off the wrapping and put the frozen chunk in my best colander in my sink.  I turn on the faucet and run warm water through, turning them with my fingers from time to time.  They thaw in about 10 minutes. 


I'm, oh, just a little compulsive about cleaning shrimp.  For each one, I pull off the shell.  Then I go after the little black vein that runs on its back from head to tail with a small knife.  You can buy them cleaned already if you prefer. 


Like most recipes I make, this is original, but started out as a combination of several other recipes I've seen and evolved into this. 


Easy Baked Shrimp
2 T. Olive oil 
1 T. Butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. white wine 
1 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined. 
1/4 t. dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 t. dried sage
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 c. parmesan chees
1/2 c. panko bread crumbs or standard commercial bread crumbs.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In an oven proof pan combine oil, butter, garlic and wine.  I love my porcelain coated cast iron skillet, but any type of pan that takes the heat will do.


Lay the cleaned shrimp in the pan so that they cover the bottom as one layer, tossing them slightly to coat them with the liquid.  

Combine the herbs.  Crush the rosemary between your fingers to break it into smaller bits.  If you must use another method to break up the rosemary, an herb grinder, or whatever, go ahead.  But you are missing the pleasure of having rosemary hands.  You deserve pleasure, don't you? 

Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the shrimp. 

Combine the cheese and bread crumbs and sprinkle evenly over  top of the shrimp. 

Place the pan in preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes.  Take out the pan and turn each shrimp gently.  We'll disturb the bread crumbs, but that's okay.  Return it to the oven and bake an additional 5 minutes or until shrimp are pink and bread crumbs have browned just a bit. 


This is a nice thing to toss with pasta.  My husband likes it over rice.  Big surprise, I like to pick each one up and dump it in cocktail sauce, but if you know me, you knew that.

Here it is with brocolli and a cornmeal muffin. 

Remember to have fun.