Tis the season for fish and seafood

What a great use for fish heads, "eat them up, yum!"  But seriously, lets share some recipes.

Okay, I will start it off with a very simple but really delicious recipe. I call it "Bait Soup". About this time most years to go down to the coast to surf fish and bring home a bushel or two of oysters and clams. The first step is to go out with my cast net and try to get some bait... minnows and shrimp... and some shrimp for eating. Usually I'll have some mullet and a few other small fish, maybe a pound or two of shrimp, I'll catch a few blue crabs and dig some clams. Sometimes I find some seas snails/winkles, grab a few mussels, etc. Usually, I'll catch some spots and croakers in the surf, which are fairly boney. Basically, anything fish big to throw back but too small to fry or grill goes into this soup, too. An eel or two is a real treat!

Get some water boiling in a large pot and put a metal colander in it, toss in all the shrimp shells and heads, crab shells, heads, tails and bones from larger fish. Simmer, then strain out the bones. Next, put the colander back in and toss in the small fish and eels. When the meat falls off the bones, strain hem out, returning the meat to the pot. In another pot, sweat down onions, garlic and celery in olive oil... fennel is nice, so are leeks, peppers and definitely corn. Push the veggies to the sides of the pot and dd a spoonful of butter and a spoonful of flour, make a roux. Add some crushed tomatoes, stir and cook until it all comes together nicely. Add your fish stock to this pot, as much as you like. Add at least a cup of white wine. Milk is optional, but very nice. Season with parsley, celery and fennel leaves (whatever you have), salt and black pepper, crushed red pepper. Turmeric is a great addition. I like a good amount of Creole Seasoning - salt free Tony Cachere's is my go too, but there are fancier versions or you can make your own. If you use those with salt, don't add any plain salt. Shellfish go in at the end, usually a few each day.

Potatoes can be nice, too, but they can dominate. I'd rather have some home fries on the side. Or a grilled cheese.

I love to fish the coast when it is cold, and the weather is somewhat nasty so all the tourists and retirees are gone. It is stark, bleak and beautiful. I usually have a cup of this soup with breakfast, lunch and supper. Whether with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, it warms and fortifies the body for the bracing wind and salt spray.

Ooh, if I'm driving by, may I beg a bowl?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Ooh, if I'm driving by, may I beg a bowl?

Considering that my training is cooking for service and I usually cook for like 2 dozen people when it is just me eating... sure!

I haven't had it for a few years now, but miss it from the Christmas Eve dinner: Does anyone know how oyster stew became a tradition for that evening meal or was it just for a certain sub-group?.....Seems like our family was not alone with this routine.  It just seemed odd that so many European immigrants to the midwest of the U.S. were eating a dish, the main flavor and substance of which would have been so hard to come by!  Was it a luxury afforded by the invention of canning so that oysters could be shipped to the nether regions of the continent without spoiling?

Just before posting, I found the following in Wikipedia:  "There have been a number of different explanations offered for oyster stew being traditionally consumed on Christmas Eve. Bill Neal suggests that before the acceptance of refrigerated food transport, sufficient cold weather for shipping was not guaranteed before December, and so "Far from the coast, oysters became a symbol of the arrival of the winter holiday season, appearing in the markets by Christmas Eve and on tables that night as oyster stew. Stephanie Butler, however, gives an alternate explanation: Irish Catholic immigrants would not eat meat on Christmas Eve, and were used to eating ling fish stew instead. Butler suggests that "oysters taste pretty similar to dried ling: they're salty, briny and can be quite chewy. The ling stew recipe was quickly adapted for oysters."...." -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_stew

John Weiland wrote:I haven't had it for a few years now, but miss it from the Christmas Eve dinner: Does anyone know how oyster stew became a tradition for that evening meal or was it just for a certain sub-group?.....Seems like our family was not alone with this routine.  It just seemed odd that so many European immigrants to the midwest of the U.S. were eating a dish, the main flavor and substance of which would have been so hard to come by!  Was it a luxury afforded by the invention of canning so that oysters could be shipped to the nether regions of the continent without spoiling?

Just before posting, I found the following in Wikipedia:  "There have been a number of different explanations offered for oyster stew being traditionally consumed on Christmas Eve. Bill Neal suggests that before the acceptance of refrigerated food transport, sufficient cold weather for shipping was not guaranteed before December, and so "Far from the coast, oysters became a symbol of the arrival of the winter holiday season, appearing in the markets by Christmas Eve and on tables that night as oyster stew. Stephanie Butler, however, gives an alternate explanation: Irish Catholic immigrants would not eat meat on Christmas Eve, and were used to eating ling fish stew instead. Butler suggests that "oysters taste pretty similar to dried ling: they're salty, briny and can be quite chewy. The ling stew recipe was quickly adapted for oysters."...." -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_stew

Amazingly, before modern pollution and such, oysters actually went way up the rivers. Even more amazingly, oysters and lobsters were the cheapest of all food and considered low class I think it was Kansas City where the streets where made of oyster shell and the mother of pearl industry was so huge!  But, until the early 1900s, oysters were among our cheapest proteins.  The fresh water, inland fish brought a much higher price.  But, by 1920 or so, the tide had changed (;-p) and to the grand ballrooms of Chicago and Detroit and even Colorado.  Then, European chefs made them gourmet fare.  I collect old cookbooks... it is very interesting to see how all this happened.  Even int he 1980s, Shad roe was absolutely sought after.  Now, you couldn't buy it for love or money except in a very few, fish markets int he poorest side of the most rural southern town.  In 1870 or so, caviar was given away free to help sell beer in saloon.. who wanted fish eggs?!.

i do use fish heads!  if you want to make a great fish chowder you start with making the stock.  scale your fish and wash them good.  then fillet them a normal.  i then take heads and carcass and boil them with carrots onion garlic and celery.  simmer for 45min or so with lid on.  strain the bones out and retain the veggies that  you can.  use this stock to whip up your chowder/stew the way you like it.  cream of celery soup is good thickener i use.  my wife used to love my chowder until she came home early and caught me making the stock.  lol

around here its deer season so thats whats going on in the kitchen lately.  we did a grill full of deer ribs tonight.  then put them in roaster at 200 with onion and beef broth.  lip smackin good.

here is a deer roast that just knocks them dead(well not littoral lol)  i have used this for beef roasts just the same.  take one of the 3 large muscles from a hind quarter.  use meat fork to poke some holes in it.  cook up a brine with water salt sugar garlic rosmary onion splash of apple cider vinagar some dales merinade or soy or winchester sauce:) and a bay leaf.  "dales" makes it best though. simmer that with lid on for 30 min.  cool with ice cubes or let sit till room temp.  i like the ice to speed things up.  put roast and cold brine in ziploc bag in a bowl.  squeeze all the air out so meat is surrounded and refrigerate overnight (or 2 nights).  put roast in smoker and smoke with mesquite @ 225* until 135* inside. dont go over 145* internal !!!  remove and let sit on table(wrap it if you are not a rare meat fan) for 15 min.  then and only then may you slice it thin and enjoy it like roast beef.  if your brine was strong enough it will taste more like beef than deer.  the usual sound that comes out peoples mouths on first try is "oh my god!"  haha

that brine works on pork chicken and turkey as well.

ronald bush wrote:i do use fish heads!  if you want to make a great fish chowder you start with making the stock.  scale your fish and wash them good.  then fillet them a normal.  i then take heads and carcass and boil them with carrots onion garlic and celery.  simmer for 45min or so with lid on.  strain the bones out and retain the veggies that  you can.  use this stock to whip up your chowder/stew the way you like it.  cream of celery soup is good thickener i use.  my wife used to love my chowder until she came home early and caught me making the stock.  lol

around here its deer season so thats whats going on in the kitchen lately.  we did a grill full of deer ribs tonight.  then put them in roaster at 200 with onion and beef broth.  lip smackin good.

here is a deer roast that just knocks them dead(well not littoral lol)  i have used this for beef roasts just the same.  take one of the 3 large muscles from a hind quarter.  use meat fork to poke some holes in it.  cook up a brine with water salt sugar garlic rosmary onion splash of apple cider vinagar some dales merinade or soy or winchester sauce:) and a bay leaf.  "dales" makes it best though. simmer that with lid on for 30 min.  cool with ice cubes or let sit till room temp.  i like the ice to speed things up.  put roast and cold brine in ziploc bag in a bowl.  squeeze all the air out so meat is surrounded and refrigerate overnight (or 2 nights).  put roast in smoker and smoke with mesquite @ 225* until 135* inside. dont go over 145* internal !!!  remove and let sit on table(wrap it if you are not a rare meat fan) for 15 min.  then and only then may you slice it thin and enjoy it like roast beef.  if your brine was strong enough it will taste more like beef than deer.  the usual sound that comes out peoples mouths on first try is "oh my god!"  haha

that brine works on pork chicken and turkey as well.

Awesome - thanks!

Just whipped up some Mussels the other day.

Cooked some butter down to boiling in a tall sided cast iron pan, threw in some garlic until fragrant.

I added some turkey stock that I had on hand with a little white wine. Tossed in the mussels and covered for about eight minutes.

Took it off the heat, added a little cream and put the whole thing in a serving bowl.

Squeeze of lemon and some parsley finished it off nice.

SMOKED MACKEREL

20-30 mackerel fillets, ( I use a Bradley Smoker with Apple or Alder bisquettes)

BRINE:
4 cups water
1 cup salt
½ cup brown sugar
Dash Pepper
Dash Mustard powder
Dash hot sauce (any kind – Frank’s is good)
Dash Worchester
Dash Soya
Dash Cumin
Dash Turmeric
20-30 mackerel fillets

Dissolve then cool the brine
Marinate mackerel in brine for 1 hour 15 mins
Spray racks with oil, spread out mackerel, dry for ½ hour
Start smoker – 40 minutes prior (before spraying racks)
Smoke @ 120F for 1 hour
Smoke at 150-160 F for 1 – 1 ½ hours
Remove with thin spatula and chill right away – good for a week or so, extra freeze great – especially in vacuum sealed bags!

Cheers!