Culinaria: recipes, memories ...

Topics include: Cooking (recipes, techniques & equipment); Beverages (appreciating & making your favorites); Food Philosophy, and various books, articles, blogs, and related discussions.

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Darb
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Post by Darb »

I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment - i'll post it tomorrow or tuesday :thumb:

/me pauses to mentally sacrifice a bullock to the Gods of BBQ ... in exchange for good weather. :worship:
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Post by Aunflin »

Good luck on the weather...we've been getting drenched down here it St. Louis. Hopefully, it clears up before Memorial Day...but oh well, grilling during a thunderstorm can't be any worse that grilling during an ice storm, as I've done before... :crazy: :roll:
"A writer's chosen task is to write well and professionally. If you can't keep doing it, then you're no longer a professional, but a gifted amateur." L. E. Modessit, jr.
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Post by Darb »

I came up with a nice improvement to the scallop recipe quoted further below, which I posted last november:

LEMON ZEST REMOULADE:
* This is a tasty dressing to use, because the oils in the zest combine nicely with the oils in the mayo. Combine the following in a small cup or bowl: ¼ cup Hellman’s mayo, freshly grated (microplaned) zest of ½ lemon and 1-2 tsp fresh lemon juice. Adjust salt & pepper to taste. Transfer to a small ziploc “snackâ€
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Post by Hunter B »

Hi Brad :D you might recognize me from some other forums or you might not... if you don't then hi I'm Norseraider! Happy to meet your aquaintance! Now time to get down to business,(pardon me if I sound rude(not trying to be)) do you know any good recipes for fresh albacore tuna? I go fishing alot and my freezer is always stuffed with albacore. I only know how to prepare it a few ways and they're getting a little old. I'm afraid I won't be obliged to eat it all if I have to eat it the same way over and over again so a little help would be much appreciated. Thanks much. :D
p.s. my family doesn't like sweet flavors with dinner and there are six of us and usually a guest

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Post by Darb »

I wish I had such problems :roll:

There are many variations you can serve ...

* Grilled (recipes abound in both books on grilling, free on the internet at places like epicurious).
* Diced, sauteed, and served over hot pasta with various light sauces.
* Grilled, sliced, and served over lightly dressed salads.
* Frozen for at least 3 days (to kill parasites) then thawed and dressed raw, "Tartare" style.
* Endless varieties of soup ... just dice it and add it to the last 3-4 minutes of the simmer. Thai, Japanese, Portugese and Southern Italian styles soups are especially fish friendly.

All of those work for me, but I'm not sure what works for you.
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Post by Hunter B »

Thanks Brad but do you have any specific recipes for baking, grilling, or BBQing the albacore? I'm having albacore again tonight and probably tomorrow to and I don't know how much more I can stomach :cry:. If only you didn't live in NY then I'd probably ship you some... oh well it's too bad. If you don't know any albacore recipes then please just say so so I don't keep asking and wasting your valuable time. Sorry I can't ship you any albacore but if you think it's possible then let me know, remember that I live in California. Thanks very much.


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Post by Darb »

I'll admit that I dont really work much with fresh albacore ... most of my personal fish recipes involve things like salmon, snapper, bluefish, cod, swordfish, catfish, flounder, and the like.

However, it should be a simple matter to adapt a recipe or two that would ordinarily call for a similar fish to tuna.

Let me get back to you tomorrow, because i'm late for leaving work and heading home for dinner.
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Post by Hunter B »

Brad do you like spicy food? If you do then I'll post a recipe for a mexican fish dish(it's not that spicy however). You're supposed to use halibut (flat-fish (flounder?) ) but you can use many types of fish. When I don't have halibut I usually make it with bass. Anyway let me know tomorrow and I'll post the recipe.


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Post by Darb »

I adore spicy food.

As for a tuna dish, here's one that a chef friend made for me sunday night ... I've substituted seared tuna for thinly sliced steak.

1. Season a tuna steak with oil, salt & pepper, let rest for 15 mins to shed some cold, then pan-sear (or use a brulee torch) on both sides over high heat until med-rare. Set aside to cool.
2. Deseed and cut into 1/2" dice equal quantities of red & yellow tomatoes, and set aside.
3. Prepare vermicelli pasta, drain, rinse, and set aside.
4. Prepare a light sauce as follows: sweat a little finely minced shallot in a generous amount of olive oil over medium heat until softened but not colored. Add a generous amount of thinly sliced garlic (several large cloves), and sweat until aromatic, but not colored. Add some freshly torn basil leaves, stir briefly until wilted, turn heat to high, and add the tomatoes. Toss pan several times - you want to just warm the tomatoes and soften them slightly ... not cook them down. Sprinkle with salt & pepper, and add the cooked & drained pasta, along with a small splash of the pasta water. Toss over high heat until well mixed, and plate immediately. Grate some fresh parm over it, slice the tuna thinly on the bias, and arrange over the hot pasta.

That's reverse engineered from memory, but I think I got it right, and I'm certain it'd work just as well for tuna as it does for steak.

I can probably whip up another recipe, if you wanna swap a few more. :mrgreen:
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Post by Darb »

[tongue in cheek]

Ya know, I hear there's a new book out called "1001 uses for Fresh (Raw) Albacore".

Some excerpts:
27. You can make your own Vietnamese "fish sauce" ... rot some down in an open bucket, strain it, and age it until it's thick and black. Viola ... great in stir fries and oriental sauces.
32. You can puree it with watermelon for a refreshing (and high protein) summer smoothie.
37. You can use some to reduce your monthly catfood bills.
39. Feed some to your goldfish ... watch them evolve into Amazonian pirannahs before your very eyes.
83. The rendered fish oil makes an attractive hair treatment for men - particularly if you're Italian.
103. If you're neighborhood is heavily muslim, staple the tail fin to your front door ... the telltale crescent will make everyone will think you're muslim too.
107. Having mouse trouble ? Use the albacore to make your yard the favorite haunt of all your local cats. No more mouse problem.
137. Open your own sushi bar and earn $$$ in your spare time.
204. Fish under 15 lbs can be frozen whole and used as bathtub toys for your kids. (Note: may require periodic re-freezing)
219. Dispose of excess fozen fish in your neighborhood food drop. By the time they retrieve it the following day, it'll be fully thawed and ready to eat. Boy, wont THEY be happy !
387. Make a plaster cast, and use it to make your own mantle trophy.
445. Bronze it, and use it as a hood ornament on your new SUV. You'll be the envy of all your sport-fishing and SUV-drivin friends.
567. Wrap a large chunk in plastic, affix a bogus (and expired) price sticker, and return it to your local supermarket. Tell them they sold you expired fish, and that they'd better reinburse you or you'll sue. Repeat with all of your other areas supermarkets.
692. Grind it up and make sausage with it. Pinwheels, brats, kielbasa ... the sky's the limit !
723. Puree it with sugar, strawberries and cream, and then crank it slowly while immersed in a bath of salted icewater. Viola: strawberry-albacore ice cream ! Sure to be a hit with your fellow foodies.
919. Save the skeletons for lovely halloween decorations. Very scary !

Order your copy today ... operators are standing by. :lol:

[/tongue in cheek]
Last edited by Darb on Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Hunter B »

Very funny :lol: Alright here's the mexican fish dish I told you about. It's from the head chef at the Hotel Dorado Pacifico in Xtapa, Mexico. This dish is fast and easy. You can make up the individual pouches hours in advance and put them back in the fridge. The following will feed two adults.

7.75 oz. can of Buena Comida Tomato Chili Sauce
4 fish filets (any kind of white flaky fish like bass, halibut, sole, or dorado
fresh spinach leaves
thin tomato slices
lime juice
salt and pepper- to taste
garlic powder- to taste
pepper jack cheese- shredded
red onion and mushroom slices (optional)

On a 8" x 11" sheet of heavy duty foil, place a small amount of oil and wipe it around the area that will cover the fish.Make a slight bowl with the foil so the juice doesn't seep out and make a mess. Dredge your fish into the chili sauce and place on the oiled foil. Top fish in this order: lime juice, spices, spinach, tomato, optional onion and/or mushrooms, 3 tblsp. of chili sauce, and finally top with cheese.Close the foil by bringing up the sides and ends to make a pouch(this is very juicy soo pinch it tight. leave enough room to steam the fish. Place on a cookie sheet and put in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Carefully open the top of foil pouches( do not remove from the pouch since the juice inside is great to sop up with bread) and place right onto your plate.

A great side dish would be red potatoes.Just boil/drain them(just pour the water out, don't take them out of the pot) then toss some butter, finely chopped garlic, and olive oil in in the pot gently stir the seasonings in. Be careful not to mash the potatoes. when covered in oil just serve next to the fish and dip the potatoes in the sauce. This is my favorite side dish for this recipe because the potatoes are firm enough that you can stab them with a fork and dip them in the suace but soft enough that it absorbs some.

Let me know if you like it or not, I'll be trying your recipe tomorrow night and I'll let you know how it tastes. See ya! :D



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Post by Darb »

That looks tasty. Since halibut, red snapper, and bass are rather expensive (not to mention overfished) in my area, I'd probably use farmed catfish for that recipe ... it holds together wonderfully well when cooked, and it's tasty without being fishy or competing with the spices.

The only problem is procuring that chili sauce you mentioned ... do you have a linkable picture of the can, so I can try to spot it in one of my local bodegas ? Failing that, can you describe the flavor/heat/consistency, so I can find something equivalent ? Mucho gracias in advance.

Oh, minor corrections to the recipe I gave you:

Step 1: You might want to do the fish closer to rare, rather than med-rare. You want it done enough on the outside to have a nice savory flavor with a hint of crust, but rare enough to still be cool in the middle and so that the slices don't fall apart when you slice them. Marinate them before grilling, if you wish, for a little extra flavor.
Step 4: Chiffonade the basil, rather than tearing it. Chiffonade is where you stack several leaves atop one another, roll them up, and then speed-slice them crosswise into fine threads, which you then fluff up and separate. As for the garlic ... it's probably be better to crush, and then mince the garlic med-fine, rather than slice it - it'll thicken the sauce better, and you can use slightly less of it for the same amount of garlic flavor imparted. Also, add some of the cheese before giving the pasta one last toss, and then add more as a garnish when plating.

Do you have a non-stick pan big enough for tossing 1/2 lb of pasta ? Figure on needing a 14" one. Failing that, toss it in a large salad bowl, and then plate from that, with tongs.

As for playing with the recipe for the long term - once you get the basic theme of a warm pasta salad down, you can do all sorts of variations and substitutions and convenient shortcuts ...

* You can simplify preparation by using leftover pasta stright from the fridge, instead of freshly cooked pasta ... just dump a bunch of pre-cooked pasta in a bowl, microwave until warm, and then toss it with a little oil (or mist it with some water) to freshen it and prepare it for the sauce. If you have leftover rice instead of pasta, use that instead, along with a little extra oil and/or a flavoring liquid of some sort ... the theme will be fried rice instead of warm pasta salad.
* You can use other types of sauteed vegetables.
* You can use completely different seasonings themes ... such as oriental (ex: peanut oil plus garlic & ginger & soy & cilantro, instead of italian olive oil plus garlic & basil).
* If you tire of the fish, you can use sliced chicken breasts, thinly sliced steak, sliced and stirfried pork, or marinated & panfried tofu, or a sliced omlet, or whatever's available in your fridge that strikes your fancy.
* If you add stock to the dish, viola ... "soupy noodles". Same dish, different presentation.

It's all variations on a theme ... kinda like music.

That's one of the biggest joys of cooking - playing around with your food and your recipes. :thumb:
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Post by Hunter B »

I couldn't find a picture of the can itself, but I did manage to find a picture of the label (the one with the "tender cactus"). It's the Mexican hot style tomato sauce that you need. Click on the link below for the picture (sorry it's not that good). It's the first picture on the page. If it's not sufficient then let me know and I'll look again or find a substitute.


http://www.privatelabelmag.com/pdf/nov_ ... s_food.cfm


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Post by Hunter B »

Hey Brad, Before I try your recipe I need to know how many people it feeds. Let me know as soon as you can. Thanks.
P.S. Still looking for another picture of the can or label. Was the first picture good enough or should I keep looking?


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Post by Darb »

NR: The recipe was specifically general, both because it was reverse-engineered from memory, and also to keep it simple ... the size you do, and the equipment you use, depend on how many people you cook for.

Cooking for 2 is easiest ... figure (this is a guess), in addition to the other ingredients mentioned about 1 med tomato each, 1 lg clove of garlic each and 3 oz of pasta each ... and you only need a 12" non-stick pan to toss the pasta with the sauce before plating. Easy and fast. Figure about 3-4 oz of tuna each too.

For 4 people you'd need about 12 oz of pasta. Tossing 12 oz of pasta and sauce in a skillet that's less than, say, 16" (which most people dont have) is problematic ... you'd need to toss it in a large salad bowl, and then either serve it "family style" on a large pasta platter with songs, or plate it individually.
Last edited by Darb on Mon Jul 26, 2004 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Hunter B »

Hey thanks. I'll try and cook this tonight if nothing comes up again (something always comes up when I want to try a new recipe). Now about that picture.......



Norseraider
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Post by Hunter B »

Hey Brad, if I can find it, would you wan't a recipe for teriyaki chicken? Let me know if you do and I'll try to find it. Let me know ASAP and I'll look for it.... I've changed my mind, I can't sleep so I'll look for it as soon as I turn off my computer.

/me rummages through some papers next to me but with no such luck




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- Gravity Dreams, L.E. Modesitt Jr.
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Post by Darb »

Thx, but most recipes for teriyaki marinade are pretty straightforward.

I'll see your offer of chicken and raise you a recipe for bourbon-teriyaki-lime flank steak ... if you want it :)
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Post by Hunter B »

Sorry Brad bad news, can't find the recipe :(. If you have any good bread pudding recipes I'll trade you for my stepmother's Death by Chocolate cake. It's very good, I think you'll like it. Good news is I know where it is. Let me know. Thanks. :D





Norseraider
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- Gravity Dreams, L.E. Modesitt Jr.
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Post by Darb »

It is a matter of terrible personal sadness, and deep culinary loss, that I must report that I can no longer eat chocolate, due to the development of a late-life allergy in the past 5 years :cry:

Nothing life threatening - just unpleasant.

/me pines for his favorite ... semi-sweet extra-bitter dark chocolate, 70%+ cocoa :cry:

I used to make a wonderful mousse :(
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Post by Hunter B »

I feel sorry for you, you don't know what your missing.


/me takes a moment of silence to mourn for Brad and his loss :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:




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Post by Hunter B »

How about a recipe for crepes. Straight from the kitchen of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. I'm still willing to trade for a good bread pudding recipe if you have one. Let me know if you do. Thanks.




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Post by Darb »

Despite having a large griddle that'd be ideal for making them, I'm not really much of a crepe person. Figures you'd have to ask me one of the relatively few areas that I have little experience or interest in :roll: :P

As for desserts in general ... aside from the occasional frozen blended drinks, scones, and pies, I'm not really much of a sugar or dessert person.
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Post by Hunter B »

:shock:

Alright I'll try to find something else.

/me racks my brain for something else to offer and fails miserably but keeps trying.




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Post by Hunter B »

Brad_H wrote:I'll see your offer of chicken and raise you a recipe for bourbon-teriyaki-lime flank steak ... if you want it :)
Hey Brad isn't this recipe already posted on page 2?
"Explanation is not an escape from suffering."

- Gravity Dreams, L.E. Modesitt Jr.
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