Tomatoes are a Fish's Best Friend!

Thursday, August 18th, 2011 | posted by wendy

It’s tomato time! The farmer’s market is flush with all kinds of beautiful, delicious tomatoes. Beefsteaks, plum, cherry and grape, heirloom, green, there are thousands of types to choose from. The history of tomatoes dates back to the Aztecs, around 700 A.D. After the Spanish colonized the Americas they spread throughout the world. Members of the nightshade family, tomatoes are a fruit but are treated like a vegetable in the kitchen. The sweet, slightly tart flavor and acidity makes them the perfect compliment to fish and shellfish. We use tomatoes for so many dishes at the market and at home it’s ridiculous. Salsas, chowders, sauces, gazpacho, salads, sandwiches, the list goes on and on. From now through September we’ll be serving these local beauties in some form every day! The very versatile tomato is not only tasty but also very good for you. Besides lots of minerals and vitamin (especially vitamin C) they are full of lycopene, a carotene high in antioxidants .

Whether you’re roasting some bluefish with tomatoes and herbs, making clams with chorizo, octopus or squid salad, sticking a fat slice under some smoked salmon on a bagel or making a simple relish to serve with grilled fish, we are now in the tomato moment!

Posted in Blog | Comments Off
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Super Simple Sweet & Spicy Summer Salmon Salad

Friday, July 29th, 2011 | posted by wendy

A little spicy, a little sweet works well with this rich, flavorful king salmon. Serves 4.

  • 1-11/4 lb. Wild king salmon (or any other fresh wild or farmed salmon
  • 10-12 oz. Mixed greens
  • 1/2 of a large red onion – sliced thin and cut into 1 inch lengths
  • 1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved- use local tomatoes if in season
  • 1 T capers

You can add cucumber, avocado thinly sliced fennel, or whatever you like. We sprinkled some chopped fennel fronds on tops of ours.

Vinaigrette

  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 T rice wine vinegar
  • 1 t finely chopped jalapeño
  • 1 T sweet chili sauce
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • 1 t finely chopped garlic
  • 1 t honey

Shake it in a ball jar

To prepare the salmon:

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Place salmon fillets skin side down on a lightly oiled sheet tray or baking dish. Sprinkle with Cajun seasoning (available at Monahan’s—it’s similar to Pruhommes Cajun Magic). Baste with Monahan’s Irish Whiskey Maple Glaze (pure maple syrup, Irish whiskey and a splash of our teriyaki marinade). I added ¼ t Wright’s Liquid Smoke to the glaze.

Bake for 10 min per inch of thickness or until fish is barely opaque in the center. Let cool.

To assemble the salad:

Portion greens, onion, tomatoes on plates and flake, in large chunks, the salmon over the greens. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Sprinkle with capers and fennel fronds.

Posted in Recipes | Comments Off
Tags: , ,

More Cool Summer Seafood

Friday, July 29th, 2011 | posted by mike

We’ve been offering up some pretty good summer fare for ya. Cool salads, ceviche, poke, sandwiches, soft crabs, and some nice grilled fish recipes.

For our lunch special the other day, we served a super simple roasted salmon salad. Sometimes trying to come up with lunch specials is a little tough. Often we plan specials ahead of time but usually we’re just inspired by all the fresh fish and available ingredients all around us at the market. Mornings are hectic, fish is being delivered, orders are being filled, there’s a few hours of setting up our displays, chowders and prepared items are made and lunch has to be prepped and ready for service at 11 a.m. Incredibly some days we don’t even know what the special is going to be at 10a.m. Today was one of those days. I looked across the case and a gorgeous, bright, beautiful, Washington troll-caught king salmon was saying EAT ME !

This fish was a bit pricy for a lunch special but I figured a nice 4 oz. serving over mixed greens would make a great summer lunch. A little spicy, a little sweet works well with this rich, flavorful salmon so I sprinkled some of our Cajun seasoning  (a cayenne, paprika and herb rub) and basted it with our Irish whiskey maple glaze. Baked and flaked over mixed greens with a simple light, sweet and spicy vinaigrette and a slice of Zingerman’s paesano toast and voila! The perfect hot July meal.

We baked the salmon but this dish would be great with grilled salmon too. You can cook the fish a day or two ahead of time and have it around for a quick meal or picnic. Leftover salmon, bluefish, mackerel, tuna or any other fattier, flavorful fish would also be great for this salad.

Posted in Blog | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , ,

Cool Seafood Recipes for HOT Summer Evenings

Friday, July 15th, 2011 | posted by mike

The dog days of summer are upon us. It’s hot as heck and not all of us want to slave over a hot stove or grill. Quick, easy, healthful and tasty seafood salads are just perfect this time of year. And luckily, we have all the great seafood and fish on hand to put together a refreshing, simple dish that will be an ideal accompaniment to a glass of wine and a relaxing, sultry summer night.

It can be as easy as flaking some smoked fish over mixed greens with a simple vinaigrette. Poached salmon tossed with a little sour cream, yogurt, dijon mustard, lemon, chopped cucumber and fresh dill is perfect summertime fare. Try some boiled shrimp, lobster meat, or crabmeat and just add a touch of mayo, lemon, chopped celery and onion, maybe a little fresh tarragon and a dash of Tabasco, serve on a bed of lettuce or on a roll. Blacken a fillet of bluefish and serve it over a Caesar salad. Squid or octopus salads are always a hit. Simply boil (squid for 2 min.-octopus for 45 min.), cool, make a light oregano vinaigrette and serve with tomatoes and onions. Creating a great vinaigrette is a cinch. All you need is extra virgin olive oil and a good vinegar.

Pantry Essentials
Some of the essentials in our pantry are Thai sweet chili sauce, sriracha sauce, Thai roasted chili paste, Thai red curry paste, Thai fish sauce (nuoc mam), ponzu (a citrus, soy, bonito sauce), Kikkoman ponzu is available at Monahan’s, pickled and fresh ginger, mango chutney, dijon mustard, Tiger sauce and Lizano sauce (from Costa Rica). We use fresh fruits, lemons, oranges, mangos and lots of limes in many vinaigrettes. Curry powder, cumin powder and a good assortment of dried herbs (we buy fresh herbs and chiles as needed). You can go for the sweet and spicy or the tart and tangy. For seafood salads I usually use white or rice wine vinegar.

From there you can get as wild and crazy as you want. Just experiment and have fun with it! If you still don’t feel like cooking, we usually have a few seafood salads ready to take home at the market.

Posted in Blog | Comments Off
Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Ultimate Salad Nicoise

Friday, July 15th, 2011 | posted by mike

A true meal in itself. You can cook the potatoes, eggs and green beans in the same pot to cut down on cooking time and dishes. Salad Niçoise is a composed salad that looks gorgeous on a platter, and there’s lots of room for improvisation when it comes to ingredients (you can add roasted red peppers, feta, toasted walnuts, or other Mediterranean components). The following recipe is the classic style of southern France, but topped with seared, fresh, sashimi-grade tuna. Serves 4.

Ingredients for vinaigrette:

  • 1 minced clove of garlic
  • 1/2 t Dijon mustard
  • 1 1/2 T red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 lemon, juiced
  • 1 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 T minced fresh tarragon
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Ingredients for Salad:

  • Fresh baby greens, Boston lettuce or Romaine to line the platter
  • 1/2 lb. small new or fingerling potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 lb. French green beans, stems removed
  • 1 lb. fresh sashimi-grade tuna
  • 1 T extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 cup niçoise olives
  • 8 anchovy fillets
  • 1/4 cup capers

Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together until emulsified then set aside for the flavors to meld.

Bring potatoes to a boil in a kettle of salted water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then add the eggs. You can either steam the beans above the boiling water for about 5 minutes, or simply add them to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. In the end, you want the potatoes to be fork-tender and the beans to be slightly crisp. Drain everything in a colander under cold water, then put back in the pot with cold water and ice to shock and chill the ingredients.

Heat a heavy bottom skillet or cast iron pan over medium-high. Rub the tuna with olive oil and a bit of the vinaigrette and salt & pepper. When the pan is hot, sear the tuna for 2 minutes or so per side…you don’t want it to cook all the way through. Remove from pan and place on a cutting board while you compose the platter.

Composing the platter
Line the platter with lettuce or fresh baby greens. Use a bowl to coat the individual ingredients (potaotes, beans, capers, tomatoes, olives and anchovies) in vinaigrette before arranging the separate ingredients like a dial around the platter. (We actually mixed all the ingredients together, but the classic version keeps things in separate piles so guests can choose how much of each ingredient to add to their plate.) Halve or quarter the eggs and arrange on the platter then slice the seared tuna and arrange attractively in the center of the dish. Drizzle the platter with remaining vinaigrette.

Posted in Recipes | Comments Off
Tags: , , ,

Updated Lenten Salmon Cakes (with Baby Green Salad)

Friday, March 11th, 2011 | posted by wendy

If you read Brian Cleary’s reminiscence of the Lent of his youth, you may appreciate this update on the old-school classic. This one is served over mixed greens with a mustard-dill mayo and serves 4.

  • 1 lb. Skinless boneless cooked salmon fillets
  • 2T purple onion finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 T capers
  • 1 cup panko crumbs (for coating cakes)
  • 2 t honey cup mustard
  • 1 t dijon mustard
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 2 T fresh dill finely chopped
  • 1t old bay seasoning
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1/4 cup panko crumbs (to mix into the salmon cakes)
  • 4 T olive oil for frying

For the mayo

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 t Dijon mustard
  • 2 t honey cup mustard
  • 2t lemon juice
  • 1 T fresh chopped dill

Vinaigrette for the greens

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/8 cup rice vinegar
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1 T fresh chopped dill
  • 1 T coarse grainy mustard

Preheat oven to 375°. Put aside 1 egg beaten, 1 cup panko crumbs and oil for frying.

In mixing bowl flake salmon in 2-3 inch pieces gently with the rest of the ingredients. Make 8 cakes then dip them in the egg wash and coat with panko crumbs. Heat oven proof skillet over med-high, then add the oil. When oil is sizzling hot, add cakes and brown about 2 min. a side. Pop the pan in the oven for another 4 to 5 minutes to finish. Toss greens in vinaigrette, plate the salad and serve salmon cake on top of the greens with a dollop of mustard dill mayo on top.

Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »
Tags: , ,

Seared Sea Scallops with Lime & Spinach

Friday, November 5th, 2010 | posted by wendy

This has been one of our favorite recipe cards over the years…serves 4–6

• 1/4 c walnuts
• 1 t sugar

• juice of 1 lime
• 1 t lime zest
• 2 t olive oil
• 1 t Dijon mustard
• 1 t minced shallots
• 2 lbs. sea scallops
• 1/2 T olive oil
• 2 t minced garlic
• 1 & 1/2 lbs. Spinach leaves
• salt & pepper to taste

Carmelizing the walnuts:

Combine nuts and sugar in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar melts and forms a syrup which coats the nuts (about 2 minutes). Quickly transfer the nuts to a plate.

Searing the Scallops:

In a non-reactive container, combine half the lime juice, the zest, oil, mustard, shallots and some black pepper. Toss in the scallops and marinate for an hour in the refrigerator.

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium heat and brush with a little oil. Remove scallops from marinade and sear on one side (without moving them) for about 2 minutes. This may have to be done in batches. Turn and sear until browned on the other side (about 2 minutes). When all the scallops are cooked, transfer them to a clean bowl and return the pan to the stove and deglaze with the remaining lime juice, scraping up all the browned bits. Pour this pan juice over the scallops, set aside and keep warm.

Spinach & assembly:

Rinse the pan and heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic to cook just slightly, then add the spinach leaves and cook briefly, stirring until the leaves wilt.  Make a nest of the spinach on each serving plate, then arrange scallops and accumulated juices on the spinach and top with walnuts.

Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »
Tags: ,

Bernie's Maine Lobster Salad

Friday, October 8th, 2010 | posted by wendy

This is a great recipe to make to your own taste…we’ve included ingredients and ratios, but you can customize it to your liking. We sell lobster meat by the pound if you don’t want to cook one.

Lobster meat (cooked)
minced onion (or scallion)
finely chopped celery
mayonnaisse
fresh lemon juice
Tabasco sauce

Put lobster meat into a bowl, add just a wee bit of minced onion, a bit more of the finely chopped celery. Add the amount of mayo and a little lemon juice you until the the mixture has a consistency you like. Add a dash of Tabasco.

Serve on a toasted, buttered hot dog bun with some nice lettuce. Nothing could be finer!

Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »
Tags: , ,

Monahan’s Squid Salad

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | posted by wendy

(serves 2-4)

•    1 1⁄2 lbs. squid (cleaned and  cut into 1⁄4” rings)
•    2 cloves garlic, chopped
•    10 T extra  virgin olive oil (6 T for vinaigrette & 4 T for sauté)
•    1⁄2 t oregano
•    1⁄2 medium sweet onion (vidalia, if in  season), coarsely chopped
•    1 T white wine vinegar
•    1 T rice wine vinegar
•    1  1⁄2 T lemon juice
•    1 T Tiger sauce (available at Monahan’s)
•    2 pinches Old Bay seasoning (available at Monahan’s)
•    salt & pepper to taste

Vinaigrette:  Combine 6 T olive oil, vinegar, oregano, onion, lemon juice, tiger sauce & Old Bay

Heat remaining 4 T olive oil over medium-high burner until quid sizzles in pan, then sauté for 1 minute. Stir in garlic and sauté for another minute, then drain in colander and set aside to cool.  Add cooled squid to vinaigrette and marinade for 30 minute.  Serve on a bed of lettuce

Posted in Recipes | Comments Off
Tags: , ,

Monahan’s Maine Shrimp Salad

Friday, February 5th, 2010 | posted by Monahan's

Serves 4 as appetizer
1 lb. peeled and cooked Maine Shrimp
5 T mayonnaise
1 finely chopped scallion
1tsp lemon juice
3 dashes tabasco sauce
a finely chopped hard cooked egg (optional)

This is shrimp elegance at its quickest and easiest – a salad served on a bed of lettuce, a sandwich on toasted bread, or an appetizer on crackers. To cook shrimp, bring salted water to a boil. Drop in peeled shrimp and stir for two minutes. Quickly drain and immerse shrimp in an ice water bath to stop their cooking. Handle these little jewels with care. Mix together other ingredients to make mayonnaise sauce. Add the sauce to the chilled shrimp, folding gently, being careful not to overcoat these delicate crustaceans..



Posted in Recipes | Comments Off
Tags: ,