Category Archives: Seafood

Champagne & Oysters + Solvang, Los Olivos, Los Alamos, Los Angeles Get Away

May 12, 2010 – 8:39 pm

oysters

Our great eating adventure 2010 began at home with champagne and oysters. Oh champagne and oysters! Is anything more celebratory? I suppose you have to like oysters. Champagne is a given. The last time Ben and I had champagne and oysters together was at Balthazar, the morning after we wed, nearly five years ago now … ahhh memories.

Anywho, last Friday, we commenced a little long weekend getaway with a dozen and a half oysters, a bottle of Piper Hiedsieck, a wedge of Tomme de Savoie, Marcona almonds, a beet salad, and grilled flatbread topped with grapes and a wee too much cheese. It was a fun little spread.

The following morning we headed north to Solvang stopping first in Los Angeles for dinner at Ganda, a Thai restaurant reviewed in the March issue of Saveur by James Oseland, the magazine’s editor-in-chief. Apparently Oseland, on a recent visit to LA, went to Ganda five days in a row for the pla duk pad ped, or crispy catfish — catfish dry-braised in galangal, Kaffir lime leaves, and an abundance of spices. He declared the dish his favorite thing to eat in LA. Strong endorsement, si or no? Well, while I can’t see myself going to Ganda five days in a row for pla duk pad ped, the dish was delicious, and Ganda didn’t disappoint. I could eat that food all night long.

Now, where I can see myself going five nights in a row is a little place called Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos, CA. Full of Life Flatbread is not dissimilar to my favorite restaurants, Bar, in New Haven, CT, and Pizzeria Mozza, in Los Angeles. What can I say? Ben and I basically fell in love over a thin-crust white clam pizza, and when a restautant offers this very pie, never are we happier. But FLF offered more than just a delectable white clam, bacon and leek flatbread. Our appetizer — a grilled asparagus and chanterelle salad tossed with prosciutto, wilted frisée and Parmigiano — couldn’t have been more delicious; neither could the wine, a local Grenache, nor our sausage, onion and cheese flatbread. Yum yum yum.

You’ve all seen Sideways, right? Well, if you visit these parts, you can do the whole Sideways tour if you’d like, stopping at the various vineyards, tasting rooms, restaurants, attractions, etc. The only Sideways spot we came close to experiencing was the Los Olivos Cafe — where Miles drunk dials his ex-wife Vicki — located in the heart of Los Olivos, an adorable town with a great lunch spot — Panino — and some great tasting rooms and shops.

Los Olivos, Los Alamos, Buellton — I can’t say enough about the whole Santa Ynez valley. It is a beautiful part of the country. Ben and I have visited the area three times now and discover new must-try spots every time. If you are looking for a wine country get away but can’t fit Napa into your budget, consider this area. It is a blast. Apparently there’s a dude ranch in the area as well. We’ll have to scope that out next time.

By the way, we stayed in a great hotel, Hotel Corque. A little photo tour of our long weekend continues below:

cheese plate

oyster

flatbread

beet salad

Piper

In Los Angeles, we stayed at the Buky House, a wonderful Bed and Breakfast located in the La Brea (maybe?) neighborhood of the city.

buky house

ben and bebeka

Downtown Solvang. We had fun cruising the streets. So did the bebeka.

Solvang

There are a ton of bakeries in Solvang each offering many Danish specialties. We particularly enjoyed the kringle and cheese danish at Olsen’s on Mission Drive.

Solvang

For lunch both days we picked up sandwiches, once at The Chef’s Touch in Solvang and once at Panino in Los Olivos. There are several nice patches of grass in Solvang as well as countless vineyards with rolling hills perfect for picnicking.

bebeka

ben and bebeka

Full of Life Flatbread in Los Olivos. Amazing restaurant. Only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A must-try spot if you are vising this area.

Full of Life Flatbread

Aebleskivers. Another must-try spot is Arne’s Famous Aebleskivers in Solvang. Arne’s is a dine-in restaurant but you can also purchase aebleskivers — pancake like donut holes — drizzled with raspberry jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar right from a walk-up window on the street. They are delicious.

aliskiver

ableskivers

Los Olivos. A beautiful little town with great tasting rooms, shops and restaurants.

Los Olivos

Panino

Tasting Room

Bridlewood Winery. Bridlewood is located in Santa Ynez. It is beautiful — a perfect spot to picnic. They only have one rule: If you picnic on their grounds, you have to drink their wine. Fair enough. We bought a bottle of Grenache to enjoy with our sandwiches from Panino. It was a beautiful afternoon.

Vineyard

root 246. On Monday evening, we ate at root 246. We kept it simple, splitting a caesar salad topped with a poached egg to start and sharing the burger and a Mexican flatbread as our entrées. Everything was fabulous. root 246 is a must-try spot as well.

root 246

Finally, we headed home, stopping in Los Angeles to meet a dear friend for lunch at Cafe Midi and dessert — some amazing cookies — at Milk. Isn’t Harry adorable?

Harry

Comments (13)

Breakfast Eating Locally Fish Seafood Travel

Breakfast Burritos and Fish Tacos

January 10, 2008 – 6:36 pm

Pipes Cafe, San Clemente, CA
So, since arriving in California, we have been dying to get to Kono’s, a cafe in Pacific Beach that, according to a local source (the same source presently living in Philly), serves “the best breakfast burritos ever!” Though my friend strongly encouraged us to try Kono’s first, she also recommended Pipes Cafe, a breakfast and lunch spot opened in 1995 by the owners of Kono’s.

This morning, we pulled into the San Clemente Pipes Cafe location, read the menu, boldly assuring, “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem,” and ordered our breakfast. We sat outside — why wouldn’t we sit outside in January? — sipped our coffee and waited for our food, a breakfast burrito filled with scrambled eggs, cilantro, green chile, cheese and pica sauce rolled in a flour tortilla, for me, and a breakfast burrito filled with eggs, ham, bell pepper, onion, cheese and pica sauce, for Ben. When these massive wraps arrived, we tucked in. If the breakfast concoctions at Kono’s even resemble the fare we savored this morning, we’re in for a real treat. Thanks Chu!

A shot of the ocean in San Clemente. I still cannot believe it is January.

Pedro’s Tacos, San Clemente, CA
I wonder if I’ll ever get sick of the Mexican food here. So far, I can’t get enough of it, especially the fish tacos. Though we’ve only tried one location, Pedro’s in San Clemente has set the bar quite high. These tacos, filled with deep-fried cod, cabbage and some sort of remoulade sauce barely need hot sauce, though a small dash gives them a nice kick. This morning on our way to Pipes Cafe, a small line of customers stretched from the window of Pedro’s and the drive-thru lane, where patrons shout orders into a surf board, already had several cars passing through. I could definitely get used to eating fish tacos for breakfast.

Comment (1)

Entrees Fish Seafood

Cornmeal-Crusted Soft Shell Crabs

July 10, 2007 – 4:23 am

A few weeks ago, my friend Lisa called me wanting an idea for a simple meal to cook for her boyfriend, Clark. The last time she had cooked for Clark, she proudly called me to report: “I made salad,” she said, “and I even cut the cherry tomatoes.”

“Good Lis,” I said, and we both laughed.

While I thought she might dismiss the idea of soft shell crabs, she believed me when I promised her how easy these crustaceans are to prepare. We decided on a simple side — a baby arugula and shaved parmesan salad — and some fresh bread. Lisa left for the store and called me with an update as she left the fish market. After the fishmonger handed Lisa her cleaned crabs, she had asked, “these will still be dead when I get home, right?” He assured her they would be.

The next I heard from Lisa was much later that evening, a happy text message exclaiming the success of her delectable dinner.

Truly, soft shell crabs take no time to prepare and make a wonderful summer meal. While the aioli nicely complements the crab, a simple squeeze of lemon suffices. Watch Mark Bittman prepare the crabs in this video.

Soft shell crab season, running from early May through August, happens fleetingly. Soft shells are not a separate species of crab, but ones, typically blue crabs, that have molted their shells in order to grow. Because these blue crustaceans grow rapidly, commercial crabbers place the peelers (crabs in the process of shedding) in holding tanks, where they closely monitor the molting process. The crabbers remove the peelers from the water immediately after the crabs shed, to prevent the new, paper-thin shells from hardening, rendering them undesirable.

When buying soft shells, look for a market selling live ones. At Wan’s Seafood in Reading Terminal Market, where active crustaceans lay supine on the countertop, the fishmongers will happily clean the crabs and pack them on ice.

Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches
Serves 4

1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 egg
½ cup flour
½ cup cornmeal
½ teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup neutral oil, canola or grapeseed
4 soft shell crabs, cleaned
8 slices white bread
1 beef steak tomato, sliced
I bunch watercress
Lemon-Caper Aioli (see below)

Whisk buttermilk and egg together and place in a wide-mouth shallow bowl. Whisk flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper together and place on a large plate.

Place oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile prepare crabs: dip one crab into buttermilk mixture, then lightly dredge in cornmeal mixture on both sides and place on a clean plate. Repeat with all.

Drop a pinch of flour into oil. If it sizzles, the oil is ready. Carefully place the crabs in the pan and leave undisturbed for 1 minute. Gently shake pan and let crabs cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer or until bottom is nicely browned. Flip crabs and cook for 3 minutes more, or again until browned.

Meanwhile toast the bread. Spread the lemon-caper aioli on four of the slices, top with a handful of watercress and a tomato slice. Top each with a soft shell crab, and finally the top slice of bread. Serve with more aioli or lemon on the side.

Lemon-Caper Aioli
Yield = 1½ cups

2 egg yolks
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup grapeseed oil
3 T. capers
1 bunch basil, finely chopped

Combine yolks, mustard, garlic, lemon juice and salt in a blender or food processor. With motor running, slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil — drop by drop at first, then more quickly once you see the mixture begin to emulsify. Transfer to bowl, fold in capers and basil. Taste, adjust seasoning with more salt if necessary, and chill until ready to use. Will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Comment (0)

Appetizers Eating Locally Fish Hors d'oeuvres Seafood

Wild American Shrimp

July 5, 2007 – 8:57 pm

From tainted pet food to lead paint-coated toys, China is taking heat for a numer of its potentially dangerous products. Most recently, activists warn consumers to be wary of China’s farm-raised fish and specifically its farm-raised shrimp. While America currently imports 90 percent of its shrimp from farm-raised fisheries in Asia, this reality may change as more people learn about the the foreign industry.

The environmentally irresponsible practices employed in many of these Asian facilities have been widely documented. An estimated 3.7 million acres of tropical mangrove forests have been cleared to create multi-acre shrimp farms, destroying important habitats for fish, birds and humans. Untreated wastewaters pass freely from the shrimp cages to the surrounding ocean, polluting the water and aquatic life. And the liberal use of antibiotics, needed to prevent and treat rampant diseases, creates strains of drug-resistant bacteria, potentially compromising our health. These farms, many now abandoned after years of land exploitation, litter the coastlines of China, Vietnam and other big fish-exporting countries.

For these reasons, Seafood Watch, an organization devoted to ocean conservation, ranks wild-caught shrimp from the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico as the best choice among warm-water or tropical shrimp and a “good alternative” to its best overall shrimp choice: wild-caught shrimp from Oregon. Seafood Watch recommends these pink, cold-water crustaceans for shrimp cocktail or salad, and praises Oregon shrimpers for achieving low levels of bycatch. This watchdog organization places imported farm-raised shrimp on the “avoid” list.

Catching shrimp in their natural habitat, however, is not a perfect alternative to farming. Seafood Watch estimates that shrimp trawling — the dragging of a trawl net along the seafloor — accidentally catches and kills more than 1.8 million tons of marine life (bycatch) each year, including many turtles and sharks, accounting for more than 25 percent of the world’s wasted catch.

By creating turtle excluder devices (TEDs) and various bycatch reduction devices (BRDs), however, some fishermen have reduced the number of turtles trapped by 97 percent and reduced bycatch of some fish species by as much as 50 percent.

A recent advertsing campaign beginnig, “You’ve been bamboozled. Snooped. Hoodwinked,” stars Southern shrimpers promoting their domestic wild-caught prawns. The shrimpers hope to rebuild an industry severely damaged not only by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but also by the increasing infiltration of cheap imported shrimp in the market.

For more information about where to find wild American shrimp visit wildamericanshrimp.com. Whole Foods Market sells 16-20 count wild shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. While it may be a little harder to find, wild shrimp does exist at the market. This summer, search for this environmentally responsible and tasty product — go wild for American shrimp!

Grilled Basil-Garlic Shrimp
Serves 6

2 lbs. large, 16-20 count shrimp
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
½ cup finely chopped basil
4 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt
pepper

Peel shrimp, leaving the tails on. Run a pairing knife down the backside of each shrimp, removing the vein, while butterflying the shrimp. Place in a bowl with the oil, lime juice basil and garlic. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Preheat the grill to high. Remove shrimp from bowl, discarding excess marinade and place on a large plate. Season evenly with kosher salt and pepper. When grill is hot, place shrimp onto grates and let cook for 2 minutes, leaving the cover open. Flip shrimp and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from grill, pile on platter, and serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Chili-Lime Dipping Sauce
Yield = 2 cups

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
½ cup thinly sliced shallots
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled
1 chili, such as Thai bird, Serrano or jalapeno

Combine lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, shallots, sugar, pepper flakes and garlic in a small bowl. Using a mandoline, vegetable peeler or a knife, cut the carrot into 8 to 10 thin slices. Then with a knife, cut into very fine strips. Add to the bowl. Cut the chili into thin cross sections, leaving the seeds intact, and add to the bowl. Stir all and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.

Comment (0)

Asian Entrees Pasta Seafood Travel

Rad Na Thai Shrimp

December 9, 2006 – 7:14 am

Every so often I find myself craving Continental’s Rad Na Thai Chicken. I was first introduced to this warm bowl of fresh rice noodles, bean sprouts, scallions, peanuts, chicken and slightly wilted romaine by a friend who described it as “a big bowl of goodness.” And that it is. You can imagine my excitement when I came across a recipe for this Continental staple in Aliza Green’s new cookbook, Starting with Ingredients. More exciting was discovering how easy the dish is to prepare—the sauce only has four ingredients—and once all of the ingredients are prepped, the dish takes fewer than ten minutes to complete. Here I’ve prepared the dish with shrimp but any cut of meat that can be quickly sautéed—thinly sliced chicken, pork or beef—can be easily substituted for the shrimp. Some of the ingredients, such as the fresh rice noodles, will have to be purchased at an Asian grocery store. My favorite is Hung Vuong Market at 11th and Washington (there is a link to the market in the sidebar). Look for the uncut fresh rice noodles that are packaged in clear plastic with red writing in the non-refrigerated section of the market.

Rad Na Thai Shrimp
Serves 3-4

Sauce:
6 tablespoons Chinese oyster sauce
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a small pot and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Cool before storing.
Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Rad Na:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound shrimp 16/20 count, peeled and deveined, tails left intact
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 pound fresh rice noodles, cut into 3/4-inch wide strips
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Rad Na Sauce (see recipe above)
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 pound fresh mung bean sprouts
1 cup roasted salted peanuts
1 head romaine, outer leaves removed, cut into squares

Heat a skillet or wok until smoking hot. Add the oil and heat again until smoking. Add the shrimp and let cook on one side for about a minute and a half. Flip the shrimp, cook for another minute, and then transfer to a plate–the shrimp should still look slightly raw (they’ll continue cooking as they sit and they’ll finish cooking at the end when they are tossed with all of the hot ingredients). Let the oil heat up again, another 20 seconds or so, then add the eggs. Stir vigorously to break up the egg as they cook.

Add the noodles, crushed pepper, and Rad Na Sauce. Stir to combine and coat noodles. When noodles are hot and coated with the sauce, add most of the scallions, most of the sprouts, and most of the peanuts. Return the shrimp to the pan, stir well to combine and coat all of the ingredients with the sauce and remove from heat.

Divide the lettuce between 4 bowls. Top with the hot noodle mixture and garnish with the remaining scallions, bean sprouts, and peanuts. Serve immediately.