Warm Squid and Great Northern Bean Salad with Oven Roasted Tomato, Caper Vinaigrette

Thursday, March 21st, 2013 | posted by mike

Serves 4

1 1/2 lb. cleaned Narragansett squid, tentacles and bodies, scored and cut into triangles  (video instructions)

1 5 oz. pack of mixed salad greens, including arugula

1 15 oz. can great northern beans

6 T olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

2 T oven roasted tomatoes (packed in olive oil available at Monahan’s) or sun dried tomatoes

3 scallions, white section with some green, thinly sliced

2 T capers

1T rice wine vinegar

3 t chopped anchovies

Black pepper

3 T chopped Italian parsley

 

Arrange greens on plates

In a med. saucepan over med heat, add 2 T olive oil

When oil is hot, add scallions, roasted tomatoes, jalapeños, garlic, capers and anchovies

Sauté till onions soften and garlic just starts to brown then add rice vinegar and beans, stir for a minute, take off heat.

In a large heavy pan or skillet, over med-high heat add 4 T olive oil

When oil is hot add squid heads then 20 seconds later add scored pieces

Stir fry for about 2-4 min. or until scored pieces curl up

Add tomato caper vinaigrette to squid and toss to coat

Taste, if you need to add a little more oil and vinegar, go ahead

Spoon squid over greens, season with black pepper and garnish with parsley

 

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Tasty Super Bowl Sea Fare

Thursday, January 31st, 2013 | posted by mike

Super Bowl Sunday is almost upon us! Many fans (and many who just like an excuse to get together with friends and eat Super Bowl food) will be getting together this weekend to watch the battle between two great seafood cities, Baltimore and San Francisco. The game will be played in another great seafood city, New Orleans. Trying to think of a theme for this article has lots of possibilities. New Orleans po’ boys, gumbo, Cajun shrimp, oysters Rockefeller would all be great to serve for the game. Baltimore style crab cakes or oysters on the half shell would also be a hit. How about the famous fisherman’s stew from San Francisco? Cioppino, full of fish and shellfish and a sauce that’s perfect for sopping with a crusty San Francisco sourdough baguette.

Giant Pacific Octopus on Deveaux's head

Former fishmonger, Deveaux, wears a Giant Pacific Octopus on his head (sometime in the 1980s)

Since we have recipes for all the above, I’d thought I’d share one that would probably be more appropriate for hockey’s Stanley Cup playoffs than the Super Bowl. Our octopus salad is certainly not representative of any of this year’s Super Bowl towns, but it sure is delicious! It’s also a dish that’s a little something different, that’s easy to make and your guests will inhale it! Serve with fresh lemon wedges and maybe some Louisiana Tabasco sauce or Crystal hot sauce (available at Monahan’s direct from Louisiana). The crowd will go wild!

We’re also including our buffalo shrimp recipe that was such a big hit for the last Super Bowl.

This weekend buffalo shrimp and peel ‘n eat gulf shrimp, steamed in Baltimore’s own, Old Bay seasoning, will be available at the market, all made up and ready for the game.

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Octopus Salad

Thursday, January 31st, 2013 | posted by mike

Serves 8 for an appetizer

1 cnt 4 lb. octopus, fresh or frozen Spanish

1 T finely chopped Italian parsley

1 small purple onion, sliced thin then chopped in 1 inch lengths

2 med tomatoes cut into 1 inch cubes (if not in season use 1 box of cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in half)

Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 t dijon mustard

1/2 t honey cup mustard

2 T rice wine vinegar

Juice from 1/2  lemon

1/2 t dried oregano

1/2 t dried basil

1 t red pepper flakes

Boil octopus over med. heat for 45 min. (have pot partially covered so water won’t overflow)

Remove octopus and when cool enough to handle, slice into 1 inch pieces

The head is a little tougher than the legs so slice into thin small 1 inch lengths

Combine octopus with onion and tomatoes in a large bowl

Gently stir in vinaigrette until lightly coated

Serve garnished with chopped Italian parsley

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Super Simple Sweet & Spicy Summer Salmon Salad

Friday, July 29th, 2011 | posted by mike

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Salmon Cakes (with Baby Green Salad)

Friday, March 11th, 2011 | posted by mike

Serves 4

Served over mixed greens with a mustard-dill mayo.

  • 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.

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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.

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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!

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