Voice of the Coast

by Rosemary Malvey

Growing up on the East Coast and as the previously described Irish Catholic “food preparer”, the no-meat-on-Friday era required a deviation from the meat, starch and canned vegetable standard. Although some tried to be creative, most of us noncooks took the easy way out with canned tuna, canned salmon or good old Mrs. Paul’s Frozen Fish Sticks. After all, this is what we were brought up on. In my neighborhood, we kids thought eating fresh fish was a penance of sorts and most of us gagged at the mere thought of it. About the age of ten I found fish sticks to be something of a treat, and my own kids loved dipping them in ketchup and gobbling them down. Cooking fresh fish didn’t have this appeal.

Now I know better. Fish is primarily a healthy gift, full of nutrition for body and mind. The American Heart Association recommends that we eat fish (particularly fatty fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon) often to benefit from omega-3 fatty acids for the good health of our hearts and cardiovascular systems.

Although it’s true that we humans have polluted our food sources in many ways and there has been much in the news about fish contamination, we can safely consume wild salmon and moderate amounts of other local fish. (For dietary caveats see more online at www.oehha.ca.gov/fish/hg/.)

Aren’t we the luckiest people! We can get wonderful local fish at our hometown markets. I’ve enjoyed the best fish dishes of my life since I moved to California almost nine years ago, and many of them have come right out of my own kitchen. Who would have guessed it could happen to me – from fish sticks to trendy fish dishes!

Here’s an unusual recipe from one of the Suzanne Somers’ healthy eating books. Ms. Somers suggests serving it over sautéed spinach, which I like. My family and friends enjoy this dish, and I am sure you will too.

Herb-Crusted Halibut Steaks with Tomato Basil Sauce

Halibut

2 halibut steaks
Salt & freshly-ground pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

Tomato Basil Sauce

1 cup dry white wine
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut julienne
1 tablespoon butter

Rinse the halibut steaks and pat dry.

Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper. Combine the parsley and chopped basil in a small bowl. Make an herb crust on the halibut steaks by pressing the herbs onto both sides of the fish.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, then the fish, and cook for about three minutes on each side. Remove the fish and set aside to keep warm.

Add the white wine to the hot pan, scraping the bits of the bottom of the pan to release the flavor. When the wine has reduced by about one-third, add the tomatoes and julienne basil and stir until just heated through. Turn off the heat and add the butter, swirling until combined. Serve the halibut steaks with the tomato basil sauce poured over the top.

Notes from the cook:
• I found that to make a great herb crust you need much more than two tablespoons each of the parsley and fresh basil. I use a lot more than called for and I really pack it onto the fish steaks.
• For those of us who don’t want to cook with alcohol there are non-alcoholic wines available. Cunha’s Country Store carries Ariel brand white and red dealcoholized wine at $4.99 a bottle.
• Every once in a while, I’ve forgotten to add the tablespoon of butter to the sauce before pouring it over the fish. It makes a big difference in taste. Don’t forget the butter.

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by Rosemary Malvey

A few months ago my husband and I wandered into Café Mare in Santa Cruz. I had a meal that I thoroughly enjoyed. Once home, I got online and went to the restaurant’s web-site. After finding the correct name of the dish, Salmone Alli Agrumo (Salmon With Grapefruit) , and jotting down the description — fresh filet of salmon sautéed & baked in a shitake mushroom, grapefruit & white wine sauce — I went back online and searched for a comparable recipe.

The closest thing I found was Baked Fish With Mushroom Wine Sauce on cooks.com. Once I doctored it up a bit I had a successful version of the dish I had enjoyed in Santa Cruz. It’s easier than it sounds and, trust me, you and your dinner guests will love it. I served it to my husband’s former boss, who unlike me is a real and long-time cook, and I knocked her socks off. This cooking thing is so much fun!

Last Saturday afternoon I walked into one of my favorite places, the Half Moon Bay Fish Market at Hwy. 92 and Main Street. John, the owner, was busy with a customer but Philippe spotted me and sang out, “Hi there, how are you today?” How great it feels to shop locally and to know and be known by the merchants! Not only can I get melt-in-your-mouth, just-caught-this-morning salmon, but also I get to chat with John and Philippe. This is a gift of small town living and it reminds me of corner grocery stores in my intimate (crowded) neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

From Philippe I ordered my usual — one pound of salmon fillet “skin off” — and headed home to cook this now favorite healthy meal. I hope you enjoy it.

Salmon with Mushrooms & Grapefruit
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup (or more) of chopped shitake mushrooms
1 clove of garlic minced
Salt and pepper
1 lb. salmon fillet – cut into four pieces
1/4 cup scallions
1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine
Grapefruit sections

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sauté mushrooms, garlic, lemon juice and seasonings in the butter and olive oil over high heat. Once the mushrooms are soft, add the wine and heat until most of the liquid is evaporated. Rinse and pat dry the fish pieces and place them in a one quart casserole dish or an 8 inch square non-stick baking pan. Top with the mushroom mixture and scallions. Bake until the fish is done – 12 to 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the pieces.

During the last 5 to 8 minutes top the dish with as many grapefruit slices as you want. Return the pan to the oven to finish baking. Serves 2.

Notes from the cook:

• I buy the 3.5 oz. container of shitake mushrooms at Safeway and use all of them.

• For those of us who don’t want to cook with alcohol there are non-alcoholic wines available. Cunhas’s carries Ariel brand white and red dealcoholized wine at $4.99 a bottle.

• I buy Del Monte’s one half cup “Fruit Naturals” Red Grapefruit – found in the fresh cut fruit section of the produce aisle at Safeway.

• There will be some juice from the cooking process. Brown rice or couscous is a great side dish to soak up the sauce.

Posted by Voice of the Coast at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you can read, you can cook.

Rosemary Malvey

I come from a line of women who prepared meals. For years my lame joke was, “I don’t cook, I’m Irish.”

Living in a city on the East Coast, where fresh fruits and vegetables were available for only a few months, my mother fed a large family in a similar way each evening – meat, a starch and a canned vegetable. In the summer months a “salad” would be added - iceberg lettuce, a “Jersey” tomato and some cucumber. It didn’t inspire my mother when my father would frequently proclaim at the dinner table, “I don’t live to eat. I only eat to live.”

With my own family (three kids and a spouse), I mimicked my mother for years. Driven by finicky appetites along with work, school and activity schedules, I chose food for speed and acceptability so that the family would sit at the table together at least once each hectic day. Everyone was appreciative enough. The kids left the table full and developed healthily, but there was nothing exciting about the meals I served. It was just food.

With kids grown and gone and the luxury of more time, I have an appreciative eater in my (second) husband and the delights of Northern California produce. Voila, I’m becoming a cook. I find myself searching for unusual recipes with uncommon ingredients. I’ve dared to attempt dishes from different cultures and I’ve perfected a few “signature” items which have wowed family and friends. When I get raves I’m quick to let my audience know that I cook from cookbooks. My theory is, if you can read and you don’t mind making and cleaning up a mess, you too can cook.

I’ve fallen in love with fruits and vegetables--they suddenly seem sacred. It’s a pleasure slicing into a luscious vegetable, then holding it up to the light to carefully examine the color, texture and arrangement of the inside. Each one is beautifully and uniquely different. Why had I never noticed this exquisiteness before? Too young and busy I suppose. What I “discover” pleases me to no end. Last Sunday, while cooking a pair of eggplant dishes, the first eggplant I sliced into revealed two perfect side-by-side seed “hearts.” I blinked, gawked and laughed out loud, then searched in vain for more hearts with each succeeding slice of the purple beauties.

I offer you a recipe from my favorite cookbook – The Flavor-Principle Cookbook. Published in 1973 but now out of print (and seemingly a collector’s item), the author Elizabeth Rozin, created an interesting, easy-to-use book that presents dishes from around the world. She categorized them based on combinations of ingredients (principles) that make them uniquely representative of their geographical region. Not only was my first attempt a success, the book has enabled me (me!) to cook Greek, Mexican, Middle Eastern and Indian dishes with no big fuss. I hope you and the people at your table enjoy this wonderful dish. It appears verbatim from the cookbook, followed by my notes from having cooked it a number of times.

Middle Eastern Stuffed Chicken

(Honey – Nut + Tomato + Cinnamon-Lemon)

This is a particularly successful combination, the skin of the chicken richly glazed with honey and sesame seeds, the stuffing fragrant with cinnamon and fruit. The apricots are a characteristic Persian touch.

1/4 cup butter
1 small white onion, minced
1/2 cup bulgar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chicken stock
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 4 to 4 1/2 -pound roasting chicken
1/4 cup honey
3 – 4 tablespoons sesame seeds

1. In a medium saucepan heat 2 tablespoons butter over moderate heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add bulgar and sauté, stirring, 5 minutes.

2. Add cinnamon, stock, tomato sauce, apricots, raisins, 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low, cover, and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 1 hour.

3. Wash chicken, then dry inside and out with paper towels.

4. In a small saucepan heat honey, 2 more tablespoons butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt over low heat until butter melts.

5. Stuff chicken with the bulgar-fruit mixture. Place in roasting pan, then brush chicken thoroughly with the honey-butter mixture. Roast in a preheated 350 degree oven 1 hour and 15 minutes. Brush frequently with reserved honey-butter mixture while roasting.

6. After 1 hour, baste chicken for the last time with the honey-butter mixture and drippings from pan. Carefully sprinkle sesame seeds all over the surface of the chicken. Return to oven for 15 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

Notes from the cook:

• You can buy bulgar (cracked whole grain that is cooked and dried) at Cunha’s, or in bulk at Whole Foods or Berkeley Bowl.

• I use Safeway’s no-salt-added canned chicken broth.

• After making the recipe “by the book” the first time, I never again stuffed a whole chicken. It was too difficult and messy to cut it apart for serving. I use chicken pieces and serve the bulgar-fruit mixture as a side dish directly from the saucepan it was cooked in on the range – the same great tastes with less mess and frustration.

• I use Trader Joe’s Blenheim Variety Unsulfured Apricots, but first pour boiling water over them and let them soften for five minutes or more before draining, blotting dry and then dicing. Much easier than attacking them dry..

• I use golden raisins.

• As cooked by me, this recipe has never served six. My eaters are real eaters. It more likely serves four as written.

To all of you seasoned and accomplished cooks who may think my observations are of the “duh, of course” variety, thanks for allowing an old (but enthusiastic) novice to share some tricks I learned through trial and error – just in case there are others like me who are coming to the joy of cooking at a later time in life. Happy cooking and enjoy the eating as well!

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