A throw back to the past? Maybe, but the thing is I had never prepared fish this way before using the actual parchment paper. It’s a snap with tin foil, but the result is not as dramatic and pretty. I made this for five people, so reduce or increase your proportions accordingly. The approach is Mediterranean but I did bake the fish steaks over carrot cumin rice which adds an Indian flare. I sort of used Mireille Guiliano’s halibut recipe from French Women Don’t Get Fat.

halibut en papilote

We at weirdcombinations were obsessed by Mireille a year or so ago, and she remains a fave. Jasmine met her in San Francsico once, if you can believe it!?! Of course, we loved the classic FWDGF! Who doesn’t really? Did you like the book about food and style over the seasons? I haven’t read the one about work, but Jasmine loved it.

Anyway, back to the fish. We had Jasmine Turner for this splendid Mireille-inspired meal. I forgot to mention it at the time, but I’m sure that she knows all about it by now. Love you, Jasmine!!

a charger with several halibut en papilote

halibut en papilote

5 pieces of wild caught Pacific halibut
5 pieces of parchment paper, each about 13×26 inches
cumin carrot rice: double this recipe
½ cup dry white wine
4 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped fine
½ tbsp lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp butter at room temperature
chili flakes to taste
Kosher salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for brushing

Mix salt, butter, tablespoon of olive oil, lemon zest, parsley, black and chili peppers together. Set aside.

Pre heat oven to 375F.

Fold each parchment paper into a 13×13 inch square. Lay one folded paper on top of another. Draw a half heart shape on top, filling as much of the paper as you can, then cut it out to form large paper hearts.

filling my heart shaped piece of parchment paper with carrot cumin basmati rice

all set and ready to fold closed

Place one heart shaped parchment paper on counter top. Brush with olive oil. Put two scoops of carrot cumin rice in the center, top with a halibut steak, smear some of the herbed butter over, and add a tablespoon of white wine. Inch by inch fold the edge of paper in such way that the folds overlap one another until you get to the “tip” of the half-heart. Twist the tip tightly to seal everything together. Repeat process with remaining portions. Put individual papilotes on baking trays and bake for about 15 minutes. Serve in paper.

classic pan fried mahi-mahi

These mahi-mahi steaks were wild caught from Hawaii. I purchased them at Sun Fat in the Mission. Among the many good things about food that arrives at your table super-fresh like this fish is that you don’t need to fuss with it too much to bring out the best flavor. I always go for the classic combo of lemon, salt, olive oil and occasionally a bit of garlic. That’s it. It sounds Greek. Sometimes I grill; sometimes I just cook them on the stove top.

classic pan fried mahi-mahi

3 small, ultra fresh wild caught mahi-mahi steaks
½ tsp lemon zest
Juice of ½ lemon
Kosher salt
Black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
½ garlic clove, mashed
3 thin slices of lemon for garnish

Season fish steaks with salt, pepper, lemon zest and garlic. Rub pieces with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Pour remaining olive oil into a large skillet on high heat. Give pan a good swirl to coat the surface. Put fish steaks in and cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Finish by squeezing lemon juice into pan. Let it sizzle a bit. Transfer to a warm serving dish and decorate with lemon slices.

salt cod fritters aka bolinho de bacalhau, or pasties de bacalhau

I served this as appetizer for a salt cod themed dinner party we had over President’s Day weekend. We don’t fry too much at home but sometimes I like to break the rules. These cod fritters came out so good! As proof, all of them were eaten within about 10 minutes after they came out of the frying pan.

That night, we enjoyed these in the company John and Jasmine. Jasmine had just returned from her week vacation to Singapore with Prof. T (who is now somewhere in Australia for work). It was fun listening to her experiences abroad.

I made a Brazilian croquette version of this in the past which is similar. The main difference is the texture: the croquettes are slightly more dense; and the fritters, more airy and fluffy. Both are super tasty.

salt cod fritters aka bolinho de bacalhau, or pastéis de bacalhau

1 cup cooked salt cod in flakes (click here to learn how to desalt/cook salt cod)
2 cups mashed potato
4 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped fine
2 eggs
4 tbsp olive oil
½ small white onion, in small dice
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt
Black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
Canola oil for frying

Put olive oil in a saucepan, add onions and cook on low heat until soft and translucent. Add garlic then cod, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley and potato and stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes making sure all ingredients have been mixed together. Adjust flavors. Remove from heat and let cool down a bit. Add eggs one at a time. Stir to combine.

preparing cod mixture for salt cod fritters aka bolinho de bacalhau, or pasties de bacalhau

Fill a small pan with a couple inches of canola oil. Bring temperature to medium high.

Use a tablespoon to scoop out the cod mixture. Use another one to shape the mass into an elliptical cake. Repeat until no cod mix remains. Fry for approximately 4 minutes or until browned, flipping half way through. Transfer to a paper towel to drain.

Serve hot with wedges of lemon and pepper sauce.

draining browned salt cod fritters

Portuguese businessman’s salt cod aka bacalhau à Gomes de Sá

This is another Portuguese salt cod recipe which I adore. Legend says that it was created by a businessman from the northern city of Porto, hence the name Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá. It is a complete success all over Brazil and a comfort food for me. It reminds me of the holidays from my childhood. My brothers and sisters would all come home and my mom would make special delectable meals for the 13 of us! Lots of activity in the kitchen preparing meals for a big family! This was one of the best.

Portuguese businessman’s salt cod aka bacalhau à Gomes de Sá

2lb dry salt cod
4 large Yukon gold potatoes
4 red bell peppers, cut in quarters, stems and seeds removed
1 bay leaf
1 tsp black peppercorn
1 cup olive oil
4 tbsp canola oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 eggs boiled – how to boil eggs?
½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
½ bunch Italian parsley, chopped fine
3 medium sized white onions, 2 of them cut thinly in half moon shape
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt

Soak cod in cold water for about 24 hours changing water about 4 times. Place cod in a large saucepan, fill with fresh water; add bay leaf, peppercorns and one whole onion. Bring to a boil then reduce temperature to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer cod with part of the cooking water to a bowl and let it cool down to room temperature. Retain remaining cooking water in pan. Drain, shred cod into bite size pieces. Remove and discard skin and any bones.

cooked, desalinated cod

prepared salt cod

Return saucepan to the burner. Add whole potatoes, top with more water if needed. Bring to a boil and cook until soft by not crumbly. Mine took about 25 minutes. Scoop potatoes out of the pan, and let them cool in a colander. Once cool enough to handle, peel and cut into thick slices then set aside, keep warm.

Follow the link above to boil the eggs.

Meanwhile add canola oil to a pan that is wide enough to lay quartered peppers skin down in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt, cover, bring temperature to high. Then lower it and cook/poach peppers until soft and skins are wrinkled, about 15-20 minutes. Do not burn them. Remove from heat, let cool, peel and discard skins. Set aside. Reserve the oil for other cooking purposes.

Wipe the pan with a paper towel, add ¾ cup olive oil, sliced onion, some salt and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring every now and then. Onions should be soft but not browned. Towards the last minute add crushed garlic followed by the prepared cod. Put in parsley, bell and black peppers. Carefully fold in potatoes and heat through.

Transfer to a warm serving bowl, garnish with slices of egg and Kalamata olives. Drizzle remaining olive oil over everything.

This tuna roll-up takes me back to memories of one of my first jobs in America. It’s been about 20 years now: gosh time flies by so fast! Then I managed a miniscule and extremely busy coffee shop located in the Murray Hill area of Manhattan on 3rd Avenue. We served gourmet coffee (before Starbucks invaded) and an impressive array of pastries and breads, which we carefully selected from numerous vendors. These were delivered fresh from different bakeries in town and sometimes even beyond the isle. We also made excellent sandwiches, salads and soups.

grilled tuna roll-ups with hoisin sauce

Maggie, one of the owners, was in charge of the recipes. She would come up with creatively new ideas for the food borrowing from ethnic cuisines from around the world. Just like on this blog, we featured new things all the time. It was very cool watching how surprised and delighted our clients got when spotting the next hit on display at the shop.

The hoisin chicken roll-up was an instant sensation. We served lots of them for months and the demand never slackened. Plus, as an added bonus, they were super-duper simple to make. Last week for a quick and easy dinner, I prepared this pescatarian version at home using wild tuna steaks I got from our favorite fish monger west of Manhattan

key ingredients for grilled tuna roll-ups with hoisin sauce

Hoisin sauce is sweet, a bit sour and salty, so the cool cucumber and veggies break some of the saltiness. The more veggies the better here, so pile them high.

grilled tuna roll-ups with hoisin sauce

1 lb wild caught tuna steak
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Lemon juice
8 kirby cucumbers
1 head of lettuce
5 whole scallions
½ bunch cilantro
2 sheets Lavash bread
Hoisin sauce
1 tsp ground fresh ginger

Set grill to 500F. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of tuna, rub olive oil around steak. Grill for 3½ minutes, flip and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side. Remove from grill, sprinkle with a few drops of lemon, cover with aluminum foil or plastic film and let it cool. Cut into strips.

Meanwhile, wash and spin dry lettuce, scallions and cilantro. I used a salad spinner. Chop scallions and cilantro, but keep lettuce leaves whole.

Cut top off each cucumber and rub top against it to extract the bitterness. Partially peel cucumbers and soak them in cold water for about 5 minutes. Drain, pat dry and cut into spears.

ready to roll!

Lay one Lavash bread on counter top. Squeeze hoisin sauce over it. On one end of lavash bread pile several leaves of lettuce, cucumber spears, scallions , cilantro, ginger and strips of tuna, roll it and cut in half. Repeat process for another sandwich. Serve.

The tuna steak was way too big for us eat so we shared some with Clarence, which he devoured with gusto.

Clarence waiting for some tuna

I simply love the site sardine society. It is fully dedicated to the noble, cheap and widely available canned sardine, and all-things canned-sardine related. What a great way to honor these humble, delicious and prolific fish.

patê de sardinha AKA sardine paté

Sardines have a wonderful flavor, are inexpensive and are a rich source of protein. Yet they always seem to struggle under the “canned fish” stigma: too smelly, too fishy, too unrefined, etc. Well, that’s too bad. And rather silly, too. I eat them straight from the can with pleasure all the time. Cooking with them is also marvelous. And don’t even get me started about fresh sardines! Out of this world!

Marcia, a friend of mine back when I lived in Brazil, used to make this patê de sardinha often. She and her husband bought a house and chunk of land in a remote, scenic area nearby a recently constructed damn in the State of São Paulo. They invited friends over to spend weekends and help with the up-keep of the place. In return we had a nice place to stay and a chance to escape from the city during the summer. Since we always got there late and hungry, Marcia always made her sardine paté to tide us over until dinner. We would enjoy it with French bread and lots of cold Brazilian beer. Delish.

patê de sardinha AKA sardine paté

1 can oil packed sardines, drained
4 tbsp finely chopped white onion
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp black pepper
Few drops of hot sauce (sriracha)
3 tbsp vegenaise
½ tsp French mustard
2 tbsp ketchup
Juice of ½ lime
Bread slices

Put all ingredients (except bread) in a bowl and mash with a fork until relatively smooth, cover and refrigerate for about half an hour. Transfer paté to a serving bowl. Eat with any bread of your preference.

Moqueca is a delicious fish stew traditional to the beautiful and sunny state of Bahia in Brazil. Seafood there is of excellent quality. In Bahia this dish is named moqueca but outside we call it moqueca baiana. I think I’ve actually been biased toward moqueca capixaba, a lighter version popular in the neighboring state of Espírito Santo, just to the south. Perhaps the reason is simply because I have a couple of dear friends who live in ES. In Bahia, one only eats moqueca Baiana; and in Espírito Santo, moqueca capixaba. Truly, both are delicious.

moqueca baiana AKA Bahian fish stew

Traditional moqueca baiana is made without paprika or shrimp paste. I decided to use these two alien ingredients for enhanced flavors and more color vibrancy. But this doesn’t make this a lesser a moqueca in any way. At times, Bahian foods remind me of South East Asian dishes or even things made in Louisiana. See here and here.

I purchased the dendê oil (palm oil) from the outrageously expensive Rainbow Foods Supermarket in San Francisco. It was Colombian, not Brazilian, but has an identical flavor. Actually, I had to go to several shops before I could locate it, so thank heavens for Rainbow. It was their last jar of the stuff.

I’ve had moqueca baiana many times but never actually made it at home, so this was a very exiting experience for me. I hope that you enjoy it as well.

some key ingredients for moqueca baiana AKA Bahian fish stew

my organic palm oil

moqueca baiana AKA Bahian fish stew

2½ lbs skinless thick pieces of wild caught ling cod, cut in ~6 inch steaks
½ lb medium sized wild caught shrimp; shelled, deveined and chopped
1 lb ripe heirloom tomatoes, skin removed, cut into chunks
½ bunch cilantro
4 scallions, green and white parts chopped
¼ cup coconut milk
2 tbsp dendê oil (palm oil)
¾ tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp shrimp paste (belakan)
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin rings
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin rings
1 white onion, diced small
2 limes
5 cloves garlic, crushed
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt to taste
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 red chili pepper, seeds and ribs removed, sliced thinly

Rinse fish in cold water; pat dry with paper towel. Place in a dish. Squeeze juice of 1 lime over it. Add equivalent of 3 cloves of garlic, followed by salt and a sprinkle of black pepper. Let it marinate for about ½ hour, in the fridge if too hot. In blustery San Francisco, I just let it chill on my kitchen counter.

Rinse shrimp in cold water; pat dry with paper towel. Place in a small bowl. Squeeze juice of second lime, add salt, black pepper, equivalent of one garlic clove, cover and let it marinate next to the cod fish.

Using a large and wide cooking pan, add dendê oil and onion. Bring temperature to high and cook for a few minutes just to sweat the onion, add remaining garlic, peppers, belakan, paprika, sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir everything together. Cover the pan and cook for about 3 minutes on high heat. Stir to avoid burning. Add tomatoes and cook until they collapse. Remove 1/3 of partially stewed vegetables to a bowl. Add fish steaks with juices to pan. Top with reserved stewed veggies. Cover and continue cooking vigorously on high heat for another 10 minutes. Carefully flip the fish half way through.

Uncover and scatter spring onion and ½ of the cilantro over fish followed by the shrimp with juices. Cook for another minute. Carefully mix in coconut milk and remaining cilantro. Adjust flavors with more salt and pepper if needed. Serve with white jasmine rice and extra wedges of lime.

One of the best things about visiting friends and family is… well, eating of course. Our recent holiday trip to Washington D. C. and Northern Virginia was no exception. Aside from a delightful lunch at the very chic Spanish style tapas place, Estadio, we were happily taken to an amazing seafood shop, literally floating off a pier in Washington: Main Avenue Fish Market.

Sea...

Main Avenue Fish Market, Washington, D. C.

Hegui had agreed to prepare paella with lobster for our Christmas Eve meal at his niece’s place. Wes and Juliana knew exactly where to go for the freshest fish. Plus Wes wanted live oysters as part of the holiday feast. So on our first day in the Nation’s Capital, jet-lag and all, we drove across the Potomac by the Pentagon (Wes and Juliana live in Virginia) to Main Avenue, under the Freeway.

Taylor Seafood and the Freeway overpass

the crew in front of Pruitt's Seafood. See the Freeway overpass?

crowds of seafood shoppers throng the pier

Wikipedia says that this popular local seafood market, all on barges, is the oldest of its kind in the entire U.S. It used to be housed in an actual building, but that was razed in the 1960’s as part of urban renewal. The vendors protested and through some legal wrangling, were able to move the market to the barges. There are numerous “shops” floating around the pier. I was particularly drawn to Captain White’s Seafood City probably because I thought their signage was the most visually stimulating.

Captain White’s Seafood City

busy at work cleaning crab

frisky blue crabs

conchs and oysters

numerous kinds of fish

Everyone seemed to have tons of blue crab on sale. I love that and daresay prefer it over Dungeness, the common variety available in San Francisco, though perhaps in the spirit of the season, I should write, “They’re just different.” There were lots of fish of various shapes and sizes, shrimp, unusual shellfish like live conch, and of course oysters by the bushel. Wes bought four dozen. Hegui got a four or five pound lobster plus clams and other things for the paella. We took a bunch of pics and trotted home for a nap then some holiday revelry.

Wes and Juliana

a happy holiday shopper heading for home

Now we're ready to go home

our holiday lobster paella

The lobster paella was a huge success! And I was amazed about the oyster shuck experience. Really they’re not hard to open—at least in theory. All you must do is hold the oyster firmly in one hand (with a thick glove of course, these babies are slippery) and using the pointy shucking tool, wedge it into the area where the shells hinge, then slowly and very firmly twist until the joint pops. That’s it. I think it takes practice, as I tired out after only a few. But Wes is a champ! He shucked two or three dozen right there and we had the rest the following afternoon at my parents for Christmas dinner. He even taught my sixteen year old nephew, Matt, the art.

Wes demonstrating his oyster shucking magic

this is the easy way to shuck an oyster

here I am trying to shuck some oyster

Last November when Devaki from the beautiful blog, Weave of a Thousand Flavors, came to San Francisco, we took her to one of our favorite restaurants in town, the Slated Door. That visit, we tried a dish that I had not had before: deep fried whole branzino served on a bed of a thick sweet-and-sour sauce. Thanks Chef Charles Phan! This fish was ultra fresh, fried to perfection, crisp on the outside with a yummy flesh inside. Mmmm!!! We (me) actually ate everything, bones and cheeks included, and wiped the sauce off the plate with our fingers. Delish!

fried red snapper with tamarind date sauce

my tamarind date sauce on the side

So this is my attempt to reproduce the dish at home. The branzino at Sun Fat was farm raised in Greece, so instead I bought wild caught red snapper from the Pacific. Much better.

The sauce from the restaurant, as I recall, was a simple combination of tamarind concentrate and spices. I think that my version’s close. I used a mix of tamarind concentrate and a tamarind-date chutney I found at a local Indian market. The list of chutney ingredients includes tamarind concentrate, dates, salt, sugar, chili and black peppers. Just the thought of it makes my mouth pucker happily lol

We served this for New Year’s Eve with fragrant herbed basmati polow.

tamarind concentrate and tamarind date chutney

fried red snapper with tamarind date sauce

2 red snappers weighing about 2½ lbs each, cleaned
rice flour for dusting
Kosher salt
black pepper
oil for frying
slices of cucumber
lime wedges

for tamarind date sauce:

4 tbsp tamarind paste
3 tbsp tamarind date chutney

Rinse and dry fish, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dust in rice flour and fry it in hot oil for about 8 minutes on each side or until crisp. Remove from pan to a dish covered with paper towels to drain any excess oil. I served the tamarind date sauce on the side after I got worried that the guests might not like it. My original idea was to drizzle the fish with the sauce. Silly me because we all loved it! This was another great tasting and satisfying meal.

sesame and onion seed crusted sword fish with buckwheat soba and chard sauté

I know eating swordfish is supposed to be naughty. But per our fish monger, this one was line caught off the coast of California. So that’s good. It looked super fresh with that beautiful seafood aroma and so after listening to his explanation he convinced me. I lost my guilt and purchased 3 steaks for our dinner party. The whole dinner had a Japanese, South East Asian flair to it. It is pretty easy to make and delicious.

sesame and onion seed crusted sword fish with buckwheat soba and chard sauté

for the fish:

3 swordfish steaks or other similar fish steaks of your preference
1 tbsp sesame seeds (or more)
¾ tbsp black onion seeds (or more)
Lime juice
Nori strips (edible seaweed strips)
Olive oil

the noodles:

buckwheat soba noodles for 4 people cooked per package instructions, rinsed and kept warm

for the veggies:

1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves roughly torn
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil

for the sauce:

1 clove garlic grated into paste
1 tsp fresh ginger grated into paste
1 tsp chile garlic paste
3 tbsp soy sauce (or more)
¾ tbsp rice vinegar
¼ tsp sugar
¾ tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 whole scallions, sliced

Prepare the sauce mixing all the ingredients together, except for the scallions. Taste it and adjust flavors. It should be bold a bit salty, tangy, smoky, sweet and spicy. Drop in scallions then set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Put chard in and cook for about three minutes. Drain and squeeze as much water as possible from it. Add olive oil to a skillet, then garlic and cook until garlic is aromatic. Add chard and cook for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle with some salt and black pepper. Transfer to a bowl, keeping it warm.

Rinse and pat dry fish steaks with a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Mix seeds together and sprinkle on both sides of steaks. Using the same skillet, add a tad of olive oil, bring temperature to medium high, add sword fish steaks and cook for 3 minutes on each side (if your pan is too small do it in batches). Remove from pan and let rest for a couple of minutes, keeping it warm. Cut into bit size strips. Squeeze a few drops of lime juice over the fish.

Place soba noodles on a serving platter. Toss with sauce. Top with sautéed chard, then the fish, nori and serve.