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Mackerel, flageolet beans, guanciale, preserved lemon, parsley oil

grilled mackerel

Hello, my name is Matt, and I cannot plate food. There, I got that out. Thanks for listening.

As any reader of this blog knows, I eat a lot of seafood. Some I tire of, and have to change up. Others are always a complete joy to eat on a regular basis. A wonderful grilled mackerel certainly falls into the later (and in case you wonder, hallibut certainly falls into the first).. There is something about the buttery white flesh, and the ever-so thin crispy skin that gets me everytime. I haven’t even started to mention the flavor yet… Pure sea. Some say fishy.. Codswallop to that I say. You get a nice fresh (or really fresh frozen one.. more on that later) mackerel, and it shouldn’t smell fishy. Did I also happen to mention the price of them here in Seattle? Cheap as chips – as far as fish goes anyhow. One mackerel might set me back $6, and is just enough to feed two people. And the final clincher of the deal? It is a really, really healthy fish for you. Very oily, so tons of those good Omega’s. Since they are smaller fish, and relatively fast growing, it has been said that they also rank pretty low on the dirty little polutants side of things too.

Click to continue reading this Mackerel Recipe

Seafood Miso Soup

Seafood Miso Soup

Whenever I haven’t eaten seafood in a while I always seem to end up doing a big mix of the lovely stuff in bowl. This was absolutely no exception.

I have always been a fan of seafood soups. Bouillibasse (in it’s many incarnations) has been my favorite for a long time, but takes a while to cook which wasn’t something I was after on this particular night. Miso soup on the other hand can actually be ready in a flash, even if you do dump a big stash of seafood in it.

Continue reading about this Seafood Miso Soup, with recipe!

Dearie’s Fish Pie

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You remember Dearie right? No? She is my mother…. I did a post a while back about cooking with her when my folks were here for a long visit. Oh, and then there was the post about us cooking Meringues together too.

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Yellow fin tuna, sage oil, hibiscus salt

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I have mulling this one over in my head for a while now. I have been thinking of ideas for simple appetizers, or even an amuse bouche  that had the flavor intensity that I love with autumn, but a really clean light taste.

Sage is one of my favorite autumn herbs. Rich, deep, but yet floral, and sometimes with almost a citrus undertone to it. It adds this lovely almost smokiness to dishes, and really gives a certain robustness. Cook some with a little proscuitto and butternut squash, and have the basis for a lovely little quick pasta dish that just shouts fallen leaves, dew, and scarves.

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Pan seared Walleye, potato and celeriac cake, pea puree, butternut squash ribbons – or FISH AND CHIPS!!

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Recently I have been thinking quite a bit about classic dishes from my English past. Unfortunately these thoughts aren’t always good. We all know the stories about English food. Certainly nothing sexy. But, I honestly think that Brit-food gets a bad rap. Sure, the traditional stuff was super heavy and rich – but a lot has to be said for modern British cuisine. Actually, sod it, a lot has to be said for the classics too – all they take is a bit of re-interpretation.

So, I am going to be visiting a few classic dishes from my past, and putting my spin on them.

Continue reading after the jump, with a recipe for this new Fish and Chips

Halibut, Mussels, Fennel, Potato and Lovage – en Papillote with white wine and saffron – and my favorite wine glasses

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en Papillote is just French for “cooking in parchment” which normally refers to baking a bunch of ingredients together in a parchment parcel. It is all very dramatic to be honest, especially when guests open up the parchment for themselves at the table. Of course, the drama is heightened further if you don’t tell anyone what is in the parcels. Looks around the table for peoples expressions – some shock, some delight. Then of course, there are those people that just forget this is straight out the oven, and open the thing with their face RIGHT over the bag. Opps, steam burn for you!

Continue reading, with a recipe for this baked fish

Crispy skin Kona Kampachi, Mussels, Risotto Bianco, Chanterelle, pimentón mussel broth

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OK, perhaps the longest dish title I have had on my blog so far. It sounds like there is a lot going on here, but there really isn’t – It is actually a rather simple dish, with a lot of really robust flavor to it.

Continue reading this seared Kampachi recipe

Silver Smelt two ways, roasted beet and savory salad

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Yep, we are back from LA. A great time was had by all, especially Drake at Disneyland. Holy cow that kid wore us out. I had my reservations about whether Disneyland was going to be good for a 21month old lad.. I was wrong, it was just perfect. If he breaks down and starts screaming – so what? There was 3 other kids in earshot all the time doing just the same.

Continue to see this Silver Smelt Fish Recipe

The best thing I have ever done with Dandelion leaves, thanks to one of my favorite cookbooks – oh and some grilled Mackerel

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Dandelion leaves. These have always been one of my favorite greens to prepare. Maybe it has some sadistic pleasure in cooking up something that I always seem to be yanking out of our lawn. Maybe it is the fact that they taste great, and are one of the healthiest greens you can eat.

Continue reading this Grilled fish and salad recipe

Pan Roasted Halibut, French cut Romano Beans with Lardons, Salsa Verde

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I am still on cloud nine to be honest. The party hosted by WhiteonRice is still in my darn head, and I cannot get it out. Dani and I finally met the awesome couple, and can now call them friends. I am honored. The only bugger is they are in California, and we are in Seattle, so I cannot invite them over for dinner every weekend!! They managed to assemble such a fabulous range of bloggers, that are truly inspirational – it is no wonder I cannot stop thinking about that wonderful sunny afternoon in California.

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Seafood Paella

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I have been having seafood withdrawals recently. It has actually been quite a while now since I have really cooked up a decent amount of ocean fair.

This post, you see, is actually out of order. I have a great roast chicken post to do, which actually got “made” before this one. The problem is that there is a video associated with that, which is taking me a sodding age to edit, because I have realized that I am remarkably crap on camera.

Continue reading this seafood Paella recipe

Seaweed Salad with watermelon radishes and garlic scapes, grilled mackerel

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For some reason I had been thinking about seaweed a bit of late. I have absolutely no idea why to be honest. I haven’t eaten any in ages, however one day sitting at work I decided I wanted to make a nice tasty and fast seaweed salad.

And that really got me thinking about flavors with seaweed. I have had some really awesome seaweed dishes at some great local Japanese restaurants, but I couldn’t remember for the life of me what also went in the salad. Which, leads me on to my next point. To me, seaweed doesn’t have a ton of flavor. It tastes of the sea, and I love that, but it is far more a textural thing than a taste – in my books anyhow. So, the really memorable flavors in a seaweed salad have to come from elsewhere.

Continue to see this seaweed salad and grilled mackerel fish recipe

Pan Seared Scallops, Red Onion Confit, toasted pine nuts and sage oil

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Blimey, scallops again you say. Well, yes. I am on a bit of a scallop fix lately. When the weather is hot, they just seem like the perfect seafood bite. They also cook in a snap, and are bloody tasty. That could be closer to the truth actually….

Click to see this scallop recipe

Pan Seared scallops, beans, frisée and chilli

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OK – after the last post, I am going to get through this one without a single exclamation mark. Lets see how I do…..

So this dish very nearly didn’t make it. I was meant to be cooking for my parents, Danika’s parents and us, at our house. Somehow it then got all screwed up, and I was then cooking at Danika’s parents house. Bastards. I am going to seem like a real high-maintenance bloke here, but I am not. Just don’t ask Danika that though!

So, I hate Danika’s parents kitchen. Their stove is rubbish. A match gives out more heat. They also don’t cook much, so the layout of the thing is pretty rubbish too, along with lots of stuff covering the counters, which makes it hard to work. The only work space is really on the bar, which is full of people, and snacks for said people.

Continue to see this salad and scallop recipe

Pan Roasted Striped Bass, roasted tomato puree, grilled fennel and olive/anchovy tapanade

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Something crazy happened when I walked into Mutual Fish at the weekend. I went there with Copper River Salmon money. Yep, that stuff ain’t the cheapest fish in the store. But, and this is a big but, I walked straight past it. It looked amazing, but at this point no where near as good as some of the most beautiful white fish I have ever seen. Striped Bass.

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