One "Ridiculous" Sandwich: The Swordfish Club!

Thursday, October 4th, 2012 | posted by mike

swordfish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like the rich, fall bluefish that we’re loving right now, the fattest, freshest swordfish are migrating through our north Atlantic waters and they too are at their best! Glorious and guilt free, the stocks are now healthy, indulgence in one of the world’s greatest fish, they are now at their tastiest and least expensive peak.

We’ve shared some fine recipes for sword including Francesca Gitschlag’s amazing pesca spada con olive and Wendy Williams’ grilled Greek swordfish with zucchini. Another great sword dish was brought to us from our past chef Chewy Lebnick, the swordfish club sandwich. Fresh rich swordfish, a good bread, nice ripe local tomatoes, lettuce, onion and bacon along with roasted red pepper mayo makes for an amazing sandwich! Our good customer and friend, Leslie George, who recently moved to Abu Dhabi, loves it. We would message him on Facebook when it was our lunch special and he would always make sure to make a trip in.

Leslie had one word to describe this sandwich – “ridiculous!”

Try this sandwich at home and you too will feel the same.

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Swordfish Club Sandwich

Thursday, October 4th, 2012 | posted by mike

Serves 4

4 – 4-6 oz. Swordfish steaks, about 3/4 inch thick

Soft crusty bread (we use Zingerman’s farm bread)- I like mine toasted

8 slices of bacon (Sparrows Michigan bacon is great)

4 leaves of leaf lettuce

8 slices tomato (local still available from farmers market)

4 slices of red onion

Roasted red pepper mayonnaise (recipe below)

Olive oil

4 lemon wedges

Roasted Red Pepper Mayonnaise

1 pint mayonnaise

1 small or 1/2 of a large red pepper, roasted and peeled

1-2 t sriracha sauce

Combine ingredients in Cuisinart

Dust swordfish steaks in Drakes batter mix or seasoned flour

Fry bacon and set aside

Heat a heavy-duty pan or skillet over med. high and add about 1 T olive oil

Pan fry swordfish for 2-3 min. per side or until fish is just opaque in the center

Toast bread and slather some red pepper mayo on one side

Add lettuce, tomato, red onion and bacon

With sharp kitchen knife, slice in half diagonally (use frilly toothpicks stuck in each half if you’d like)

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Vietnamese Bluefish Sandwich

Friday, September 23rd, 2011 | posted by wendy

Mike Monahan created this great sandwich as a special for the lunch counter. It incorporates the wonderful flavors of Vietnam—Asian hot-spicy-sweet-sour vinaigrette and crunchy shredded cabbage—that perfectly compliments the fantastic rich flavor of bluefish. It’s great with a simple cucumber salad on the side. This recipe serves 4.

  • Fresh baguette
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lbs bluefish fillet pin bone removed
  • 1/4 cup Drake’s batter mix or seasoned flour
  • 1/4 cup Cajun seasoning or Prudholms Cajun magic
  • 1 1/2 cups finely sliced cabbage (purple and green)

The vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 T rice wine vinegar
  • 2 T Fish sauce
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 3 T Thai sweet chili sauce
  • 2  t  Shiracha sauce
  • 2 T basil finely chopped
  • 2 T cilantro finely chopped
  • 1 T mint finely chopped
  • 3 scallions finely sliced

Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Slice baguette in half lengthwise and then into 4 6-8 inch lengths.

Angle cut bluefish fillets into 4 slices about 6-8 inches in length. Dust fillets in Drake’s batter mix and a little Cajun seasoning. Heat ovenproof pan or iron skillet over high heat on stove, then add 2 T olive oil. When sizzling hot, place fillets in flesh side down. Pan sear for about 3–5 minutes or until the fillets are brown and crispy around edges. Flip and pop the skillet  into your pre-heated oven for another 5-7 min or until fish is opaque in the center.

Place fillet on baguette and top with cabbage. Drizzle vinaigrette over cabbage and serve.

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Schwartz' Wild Gulf Shrimp Banh Mi

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 | posted by wendy

(Makes 4 sandwiches)

Here’s the recipe for the components  necessary for the sandwich…you can save them to use in other things like salads as well.

Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish
1 cup warm water
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
2 T sugar
2 tsp Salt
½ pound carrots (grated through a medium fine grater)
½ pound Daikon Radish (grated through a medium fine grater)

Mix the water, vinegar, sugar and salt until the sugar and salt dissolves. Place the carrots and Daikon radish in a container and pour the liquid over. Let pickle for one hour. Can be stored in the Fridge for up to a week.

For the Shrimp
2 T Sugar
2 T water
1 T Fish Sauce
1 T oil
1 shallot finely diced
2 cloves Garlic finely chopped
1 pound wild gulf shrimp
1 T Fish Sauce
½ tsp black pepper

Heat the sugar and water in a pan on medium high heat until the sugar caramelizes and turns dark brown. Carefully (it will splatter) add the water and Fish Sauce and stir over low heat until the caramel dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add Shallot and Garlic and sauté for 3-5 minutes until soft. Add Shrimp, caramel sauce, fish sauce, and pepper and cook until shrimp is pink all over about 3-4 minutes. Let cool.

Assembling the Sandwich
1 Baguette
4 T Mayonnaise
1 t Soy Sauce
1 lb. large wild Gulf Shrimp (see above)
¼ cup pickled Daikon Radish (see above)
¼ cup pickled Carrots (see above)
½ cup thinly sliced Cucumber
1 bunch Cilantro
1 Jalapeno or 2 Serrano chilies thinly sliced (optional)

Cut baguette into four pieces and slice in half. Mix Mayo and Soy Sauce together in a bowl and spread on bread.   Divide Shrimp among 4 sandwiches, place the remaining ingredients on each sandwich and enjoy!

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Schwartz Concocts a Banh Mi Sandwich with our Wild Gulf Shrimp!

Thursday, July 21st, 2011 | posted by mike

When we opened our fish market back in ‘79 our staff was pretty thin. There were just a few of us and a key guy was “Schwartz.”

Mike Schwartz was a U of M student at the time and was working a lot of hours with us, considering he was a student. He had an interest in fish and cooking and already had restaurant experience behind him from his high school years in Livonia. From the start he helped us with recipe ideas for the market and even though Mike went on to become a lawyer and now a teacher, he still pops in to help out, make a prepared dish, or give some recipe ideas.

This past Tuesday Schwartz prepped an amazing lunch special for us. I’ll let him describe it for you along with the recipe. He used our wild gulf shrimp, which we think are the finest out there. The flavor and the firm ” snappy” texture is so much better than the soggy, limp farm-raised shrimp that shows up everywhere nowadays. We also like to support the U.S. fishermen and fishing communities .

I have been telling Michael (Monahan) that he needed to have a lunch special that was served cold. Well, the forecast for the Art Fair this week was HOT. So I thought I should try to get him to serve one of the most refreshing sandwiches around, Banh Mi.  This sandwich usually contains sliced pork or a pate of pork, but I was looking through some of my favorite food blogs and came across Banh Mi burgers on the food blog, Closet Cooking. I remembered that he had a shrimp Banh Mi sandwich a while back, so I searched the archives and found the recipe.

These fill the bill for a cool and refreshing meal on a hot day. There is some cooking, but that can be done ahead of time so that the stove can stay off in the heat of the afternoon.  The Caramelized shrimp will keep for a day or two and the pickled vegetables will keep for a week.

The trick to all of the fresh vegetables is to cut them thin enough. I use a mandoline for the cucumbers and the peppers.  For the carrots and daikon radish I use my Borner 4 sided grater which a julienne side that is just perfect for this cut.  If you use your coarsest setting on your box grater it is a little too large.  I would suggest slicing the carrots and Daikon on a mandoline and then cutting the slices into matchsticks.

As for some other variations,  you could substitute red pepper flavored rice vinegar for the white vinegar in the pickling part of the recipe.  You could also use Monahan’s Mustard Mayo dip instead of plain Mayonnaise (add the soy sauce to the dip). You could also substitute Monahan’s Salmon Burgers for the Shrimp. I would sauté the Salmon Burgers for 1-2 minutes each side before adding the liquid in that cooking step.

Mike Schwartz’ Shrimp Banh Mi is our recipe of the week. Enjoy!

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Monahan's Fried Oyster Po'Boy

Friday, April 1st, 2011 | posted by wendy

We serve these every Saturday at the Market on a Café Japon Baguette, but here’s the recipe in case you feel like making them at home. Serves 4.

  • 1 baguette (choose a baguette with a softer crust so that oysters won’t get squashed with each bite)
  • 4 nice leaves of romaine lettuce
  • 3/4 lb. fresh shucked select oysters
  • Drake’s batter mix or fine cornmeal for dredging
  • Peanut or vegetable oil for frying
  • Tomato slices
  • Red onion slices
  • Remoulade sauce (make at home or buy at Monahan’s)
  • salt and pepper
  • wedges of lemon

Cut baguette lengthwise, then into 4 equal pieces and slather bottom piece with remoulade. Arrange lettuce, tomato and onion over remoulade sauce.

Heat skillet or heavy pan and add enough oil so it will just cover oysters (about 1 inch).

Dredge oysters in their liquor, then in the Drakes or cornmeal. When oil is sizzling hot but not yet smoking, around 360 degrees, add oysters one at a time and fry for 2 or 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel, season with a touch of salt and pepper.

Arrange oysters over each Po’Boy and attack!.

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Salmon Quesadillas

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 | posted by wendy

•    4 flour tortillas
•    1/4 lb. goat cheese
•    1/4 c sour cream
•    1/2 c diced, seeded tomatoes
•    2 t capers (drained)
•    1 1/2 t snipped fresh chives
•    1 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
•    freshly ground black pepper
•    1/4 lb. smoked salmon

Place two tortillas on a work surface and sprinkle them evenly with half of the cheese. Slather 1 T of the sour cream over each. Scatter the tomatoes, capers, chives, lemon zest and pepper evenly over each. Arrange the salmon over top. Cover with remaining cheese and sour cream. Place a second tortilla over each and press down with the palm of your hand.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Using a spatula, cook each side about 3-4 minutes, until cheese melts. Cut each quesadilla into quarters. Serve hot with a bowl of Pico De Gallo.

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Open-face Scandinavian Maine Shrimp Sandwich

Thursday, February 4th, 2010 | posted by Monahan's

Serves 2
3/4 lb. peeled and cooked Maine Shrimp
mayonnaise
a coarsely chopped hard cooked egg
1 T fresh dill (chopped)
thinly sliced bread (rye is particularly good)

Boil shrimp in lightly salted water for about 2 minutes or until shrimp is barely opaque in the center. Chill shrimp in colander under cold water with ice (this stops the cooking and ensures a tender, moist shrimp). Spread a thin layer of mayo over rye bread (or cocktail rye, for appetizer). Cover lightly with chopped hard-boiled egg. Arrange shrimp on top and sprinkle with chopped dill.

Ilsa & Stig say, “Smaktgod!”

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