A Time to Cook

Delicious healthful meals are so important in these crazy times. For many of us, having time to plan meals, leisurely cook and dine together is something that may not have been possible for a long time. Those who love to cook, myself included, have a little gift right now. The pleasure of putting together great ingredients and coming up with some fine meals is fun and satisfying, not to mention it brings us together, nourishes us and is a great escape. It’s a creative process that involves science and art, then you get to eat it. What’s a better pastime than that?

Try your luck in the kitchen. You might really surprise yourself, friends and family. Often the simplest recipes are the best. We have lots of easy recipes in our fish report archives. Whether you’re dining in or dining out the most important aspect of a great meal is great ingredients. The best recipe in the world is nothing without them. Buying fresh fish and seafood can be a little scary especially for beginners. When you walk into a fish market or a fish counter you shouldn’t notice a strong smell of fish. A clean market that’s buying top-notch fish should have a pleasant, light smell of a combination of all that they’re selling (I love the smells at our market, a nice mix of sea fish, lake fish, smoked fish and shellfish).

The displays should be neat and well iced with thought and respect put into the setup. The fish should look moist and vibrantly fresh with eyes on whole fish looking clear, not cloudy and fillets looking moist with no discoloration. Check out these posts from our fish report for more info on freshness and buying: Is it Fresh? What to Look for When Buying Fish & What’s for Dinner? The Right Questions for Your Fishmonger

Now all you have to do is buy some nice fresh fish (probably start with a fillet, no bones, quick and easy), pick out a simple recipe, maybe broiled whitefish, sautéed sole or steamed mussels­– get in the kitchen and give it a whirl.

In the past weeks we’ve been preparing a few of our fish report favorites at home. We put on some good tunes, pour a little liquid refreshment and enjoy great quality time in the kitchen. We’ve prepared simmered flounder “edo style”, our first soft shell crabs of the season, shrimp cakes, crab cakes, skate with lemon caper brown butter and monkfish with rosemary and pancetta.

Last night we tried a recipe that looked healthful and delicious from this month’s Bon Appétit, Soy and Ginger Steamed Fish. We changed it up a bit. The recipe called for black bass (we subbed Alaskan halibut) and we used bok choy instead of Napa cabbage. We also used Monahan’s fish stock instead of water and we scored the halibut fillet to make it cook about the same time as the black bass would have. I also did the little trick of putting the sliced scallions in an ice bath to make them curl for the garnish.

Enjoy the important stuff right now. Eat well and stay well.