seafood

“Y’all know me, know how I make a livin'” or so said Quint in the movie “Jaws” (at the town meeting before he gets eaten by the shark) but some folks out there reading this may not know that this blog is just my creative outlet and not my livin’. I would not mind doing this for a living but it is a way to express myself through food. If you are a first time reader, welcome! and if you are a returning reader, welcome back! Ah, enough of this sappy talk and on with today’s recipes. Yes, I said recipes, plural!

To give you some background, I was walking through the neighborhood store one day and “eye grazing” (it’s a thing) spices when Roasted Ground Ginger caught my eye. Knowing I had Toasted Sesame seeds at the house it started me thinking that I HAD to get these two together somehow. I was originally at a loss as to which protein I wanted to use for this experiment. The problem was that the Roasty combined with the Toasty were kind of sultry, sexy and deep flavors and I knew that doing something like a steak would muddle them and create palate confusion. Nobody wants palate confusion because the next thing you know you are scoring a corn dog on some side street and calling it a gourmet meal. I knew I wanted something a bit sweet and light so the first thing that came to mind was crab but not being hyper motivated to make crab burgers or something of the like I decided on some type of fish. A trip to my favorite fish market “Mr. Fish” here in Myrtle Beach helped me decide on what kind. I used Corvina which is a light sweet flakey fish along the same lines as grouper but a bit more tender. Please note that if you are ever in the Myrtle Beach area Mr. Fish is a tremendous place to buy seafood. Their knowledge of their inventory is expansive and are always willing to help you find exactly what you want. There is also a Mr. Fish restaurant next door which has some great food and the chef has it “goin’ on” with different types of sauces. Also, their crab cakes are to die for. So, Corvina was the choice and I decided to serve this with a Daikon radish and zucchini salad (recipe below) and jasmine rice. Without further delay here are the recipes.

Roasty Toasty Corvina

The Well Fed Cyclist – Gary Bechard

Ingredients:

1 lb – Corvina filets (2, 8 ounce servings) (You could substitute Grouper or any other mild, sweet, flakey, fish)

1/2 cup – Panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup – Whole, wheat flour, unbleached (I find that this type of flour brings out the smoky flavors in the seasonings)

2 tbs – Toasted sesame seeds

1 ½ tsps. – Roasted ground ginger

2 tsps – Coarse ground black pepper

1 tbs – Dried parsley

2 tbs – Soy Sauce (I use Kikoman lite soy sauce to cut down on sodium)

Construction Instruction:

In a one gallon sealable plastic bag or medium bowl combine breadcrumbs, wheat flour, sesame seeds, ginger, coarse ground black pepper and parsley. When you have done this either seal (yes that is important) and shake the bag to thoroughly mix the ingredients or whisk them together in the bowl to do the same thing. Next, take the mixture and place on a plate or a shallow dish. Then dip the filets in water and press into the mixture and coat each side evenly. Place the filets in a ceramic or glass baking dish which has been sprayed with some cooking spray and a small amount of water. (Note: the water should not be very deep and should only barely cover the bottom of the dish) Before baking, drizzle 1 tablespoon of soy sauce down the center of each filet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes (time will depend on how thick the filets are) until fish flakes easily.

Spiralize This! (Daikon Radish and Zucchini Salad)

The Well Fed Cyclist – Gary Bechard

Ingredients:

1 – Medium zucchini, either run through a “spiralizer” or very finely sliced (julienned)

1 – Small Daikon radish, either run through a “spiralizer” or very finely sliced (julienned)

1/4 – Medium sweet onion, very thinly sliced

1/2 cup – Shredded carrots

1/2 – Red bell pepper, very thinly sliced

1/2 – Yellow bell pepper, very thinly sliced

1/3 cup – White mushrooms, diced (You could also use a mixture of mushrooms like shitake, or others which may give it a bit more flavor)

10 to 15 – Small grape tomatoes, halved

Ginger salad dressing

Construction Instruction:

I will tell you that the easiest way to go here is to get a “Spiralizer”, which is not too expensive, and run the daikon radish and zucchini through it and put in a medium bowl. After slicing the onion and peppers, add these along with the shredded carrots into the same bowl. Note: I used shredded carrots because although I could have run large carrots through the “Spiralizer”, this saved some preparation time. Once all the long ingredients and the mushrooms are in the bowl, lightly toss to get all of these items evenly distributed. When this is done add the tomatoes and lightly season the salad with the ginger dressing or you can serve and allow your guests to season their own salads.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

I told you yesterday that crab was on sale, and well maybe I over purchased, but something good did come out of it. I believe I am now “one” with the seafood aisle. However, being one with any aisle in the grocery store may be a dangerous or at the very least expensive, thing to be but if something is on sale and it looks good, I get it and see what I can do with the ingredient. Before I forget, there are some ideas that in the process that may become recipes soon, mojito marinaded pork (cannot decide on what cut to use at this point) and, I know it may seem excessive but another form of stuffed cabbage. The cabbage of choice this time will be savoy and the filling finely chopped chicken and other goodies.

You know funny thing happens to me when I hear someone say things about food and this recipe is no different. I was flipping through channels the other day and I heard someone on the television say the words “crab rice”. I did not pause on the channel or go back to find out why they were saying crab rice but it planted a seed. Now to most people those two words would not conjure up any type of response except perhaps maybe revulsion or a “why in the world would anyone do that?” question. I am different, as can be attested by most people who know me, because my mind went straight to, ” I wonder what I could put in it? and how do I preserve the delicate flavor of the crab?”. The result of some deep thinking about it is this recipe (yes, yes, I do deep thinking about food, okay?) . Interesting note, the crab rice was also excellent cold on tomato slices with a bit of balsamic vinegar as a dressing. Who knew?! Now without further delay here is the recipe.

Not so Shabby Crab Rice

Gary Bechard – The Well Fed Cyclist

Ingredients:

1 lb – Crab meat ( I used lump (it was on sale you know) but if your tastes extend to the less expensive use claw and back fin)
1/2 – Red bell pepper, diced small
1/2 – Green bell pepper, diced small
3 1/4 inch slices – Sweet onion, diced small
1 cup – Green onion greens, chopped (about ¼ inch pieces are good)
3 cloves – Garlic, diced fine
¾ cup – Diced mushrooms (I used a mixed mushroom blend that uses Cremini, Portabello and Shitake)
¾ cup – Parsley, fresh, chopped fine
1 cup (uncooked) – Wild and Basmati rice blend prepared according to the instructions (leave the rice on the firm side)
Note: I did not use instant or quick cooking rice for this recipe because it tends to get mushy
1 tsp – Lemon pepper
¾ tsp – Cayenne pepper
¾ tsp – Celery salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Construction Instruction:

Preparation –
Prepare the rice according to the package instructions using vegetable stock instead of water. You will want to make sure that the rice absorbs all of those nice flavors. Once this has been completed set this aside and begin to prepare the vegetables. Dice all vegetables before beginning because you will put them in the skillet according to their firmness. This will help you maintain the integrity of the vegetables. (And so they will actually look like vegetables when you are done.)

In a large skillet (mine is 12 inches across and 3 ½ inches deep), pour a couple of turns around the pan of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and bring up to temperature remembering to keep the heat at around medium or lower because olive oil has a pretty low smoke point and you do not want to burn the oil. Once the oil is at temperature, add garlic, red and green peppers and the sweet onion and sauté until onions start to become translucent and peppers begin to soften (about 3 to 5 minutes). Next, add the mushrooms and continue to sauté those until they begin to get soft (about 1 to 2 minutes) and last add the green onion greens. Turning down the heat push the vegetables to the side of the pan and place the crab meat in the center and slowly work the vegetable mixture in to the crab until mixed thoroughly then season with lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, chopped parsley and celery salt. Fold mixture until seasoning coats the mixture evenly. (about 4 to 5 minutes) Once you have the crab mixture complete, take a large bowl and place rice and crab mixture in and fold together until crab and vegetables are evenly distributed. Put the mixture in a 9 X 13 baking dish and place in a 275 degree oven for 30 minutes.

The crab rice was served with steamed fresh broccoli as a side. One of the most interesting things about this dish is that it is very good cold over slices of fresh tomato with a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

thewellfedcyclist

Experimenting with Roasty Toasty Goodness…

Ain’t so shabby and possibly a bit crabby…