Aw, Shucks - the Fight for Drakes Bay Oyster Farm

If you've been lucky enough to visit the Point Reyes National Seashore, chances are you also made a stop in at the Drakes Bay Oyster Farm for some ultra-fresh bi-valves.
Whether you like oysters or not (I don't, but all my friends and relations seem to), it's fun to see Drakes Bay and the fascinating operation run by fourth generation of local family farmers.

Sadly, that opportunity may not last much longer.
For the last few years, there has been a huge cloud hanging over the community of Drakes supporters - renewal of the lease to operate an aquaculture business within national parks land. Recently, the National Parks Service denied the lease renewal; and now the matter is going to court.



 If you can make it to Petaluma on April Fool's Day (no foolin'!), enjoy some oysters for me at the fundraiser party there. If not, there's a donation button on their site, so you can throw in a few clams to help the cause.

The Art of Cooking for One

What do you fix for meals, when it's just you?
I'm partial to toast with peanut butter and bananas, myself.
But then, I'm a frequent snacker - so that's not a meal. Pair it with guacamole, chips, homemade soda, and some ice cream from the B & J's carton, and you've got a meal.

Would I serve a guest a meal like that? Nope. And many days, when it's just me in the kitchen, I'd rather serve me an elegant plate with a real entree and side dishes, too.
Saturday night, for instance, I whipped up broiled asparagus, Yukon gold potatoes, and salmon deglazed with fresh orange juice and agave syrup.
While it would have been great to have someone to chat with while snapping asparagus stems, cutting the spuds, etc., the Wailin Jennies on the stereo made for really pleasant company. And flipping through the new edition of Cooking Light kept my restless mind entertained while still paying attention to my plate and enjoying every bite. Not exact substitutes for the great pleasure of good conversation while creating and devouring a meal; but it was a lovely evening.

The key to cooking well for yourself? Be as thoughtful as you would for a treasured guest. If you would dress the table, use good china, put on music, plate the food elegantly, then do. To show your appreciation, you can always volunteer to do the dishes.

Leftover Sashimi Tacos

Revenge may be a dish best served cold; but day-old sashimi is a dish best served well-cooked.

In this case, three lovely slabs of raw fish from a local Japanese restaurant with an overly generous bento box lunch became the key ingredient in fish tacos. Sauteed onions, fresh corn tortillas, some spices - and no food poisoning! Delicious.

Honey-Teriyaki Glazed Salmon

 When beekeeper Wayne Pitts appeared on the Bite-size Green TV episode The Buzz about Bees, he was a marvelous guest.  He not only shared humorous anecdotes, facts, and photos; but he also provided a cooking demonstration.  Like many good cooks, he tried a dish at a restaurant and said, "I could make this."  The result became his honey-teriyaki glazed grilled salmon.  Naturally, it's best if made from wild salmon and with honey from your own apiary.  If you can't become a beekeeper by suppertime, visit one at your local farmers market (Wayne can be found in Palo Alto every Sunday) and ask for a local variety.

Honey-teriyaki glazed salmon

Ingredients

• One cup honey, warmed
• One cup teriyaki
• A large fillet of wild-caught salmon
• Fresh leaf spinach, in bite-size pieces
• Two types of fruit, in small chunks (or whole, if berries)
• Blue cheese crumbles (or goat, if preferred)
• Walnut bits (or other nut, as preferred)
• Cherry tomatoes to garnish
• A fruity vinaigrette dressing

To prepare:

1. While warming the grill, fold a double layer of aluminum foil into a tray, and pour a layer of glaze into it. 
2. Place the salmon onto the glaze, and pour the remainder over the fillet.
3. Close the grill and let cook approx 20 minutes (med. heat). 
4. Check to make sure the salmon is caramelizing.
5. While the salmon is cooking, arrange the spinach on each plate.
6. When the salmon is done (and cooled, if you like), place a portion on each plate,  over the spinach.
7. Add the fruit, nuts, cheese and garnish to each plate, and drizzle with dressing.

Enjoy the quiet while everyone digs in.

Solar Salmon

Having learned a lesson about overcooking foods in the solar oven, I exercised great care while trying fish in it for the first time.

Salmon with raspberry-chipotle
sauce, in solar cooker.

First, I followed the tip about putting items on trays on top of a platform to raise them up closer to the window of the cooker. Had I planned a side dish (roasted beets, potatoes, etc), I could have cooked them in the black enameled pan that provided the lift for the salmon's tray.
Second, I checked on the lovely salmon fillet before I suspected it would be close to done, just to make sure all was well.  Because the wild-caught fish had been frozen, it let off quite a bit of liquid while warming.  Not wanting to steam it in the solar cooker, I drained the excess off and patted the fillet dry. Next I topped it liberally with a sweet-tangy raspberry-chipotle sauce, and put it back into the cooker.

When I peeked in on the fillet again about forty-five minutes later, it was done, with the cooker's internal temp showing about 275 degrees fahrenheit. Moist but firm and flaky, it also tasted delicious.

Power Plants as Fish Choppers

I love wild-caught fish.  So I was a bit appalled, and alarmed, by the news that power plants suck in large stocks of fish along with their cooling water supplies.  This cute little video by the Sierra Club gives the basics, and provides a link to more detailed information, including how to weigh in on the US EPA's upcoming decision on revised regulations to address the problem.

Haleiwa Eats

Wild-caught Hawaiian blue marlin

The town of Haleiwa, on the north shore of Oahu, offers lovely beaches for surfing, swimming, or watching the legendary Pipe Masters competition. For a view that's matched in quality by its food, Haleiwa Joe's restaurant ranks at the top of the local choices for dining.

A particular treat the night we visited was finding wild-caught, Hawaiian blue marlin on the menu. While most marlin makes the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch list with an "avoid" rating, this one type is listed as a "good alternative." As if that weren't enough, it goes beautifully with garlic mashed potatoes and an avocado sauce.

Roy's at Ko'Olina

Oahu has three of the small chain of Roy's restaurants. The two in the heaviest tourist zones, Honolulu and Waikiki, handle very heavy traffic and reputedly suffer an occasional miss under the strain.  Out on the leeward side of the island, however, the Ko'Olina Roy's is known to be spot-on with every single dish.

Butterfish, with bok choy and asparagus

Perfect presentation and perfectly prepared fish were certainly our experience tonight. Half of our party of six ordered the butterfish, which was indeed delightful. For just a few dollars more, however, the Hawaiian fusion prix fixe menu was a great deal. A tidy little appetizer sampler plate included one short rib, one spring roll, and two slices of slightly seared ahi with a creamy wasabi sauce. For the entree, I chose the macadamia nut-crusted shutome * (broad-billed swordfish), served with asparagus and new potatoes, seated over two savory sauces to complement the flavors of fish and vegetables. And for dessert, the melting hot chocolate souffle. A decadent meal, but not over the top.

Monterey Bay's Seafood Watch classifies Hawaiian broad-billed swordfish as a "Best Choice" West Coast fish. On Oahu, it also counts as local.

Fish Wednesday

We've been truly blessed these past couple years to have a neighbor who loves to fish and love to share.  Along with the fish, he shares stories about catching them, and the rules about size, seasons, and numbers allowed per license.  He has strong preferences between types of trout, while I merely like the differences in their pretty skins and strongly prefer that they arrive in my kitchen pre-gutted.  I have learned to really appreciate the art of filleting, and anyone who will demonstrate it for me.

Besides the lake-caught trout, we've enjoyed a variety of treats from the SF Bay, such as Dungeness crab.  One of my favorites so far is fresh halibut (pictured here).

Although fish caught the same day needs barely any dressing up to be delicious, the gifts of the sea are so lovely they deserve thoughtful preparation.  Fish Wednesday, a blog by a friend of a friend, provides some inspiration and very clear instructions.  Pam covers both the adventure of finding sustainable seafood for sale (a doable feat in Seattle) and creating lovely dishes.  The photos (unlike mine) are always appetizing, showcasing the finished dish.

Thai Salad Rolls

For the Google's Green Gourmets episode, Angelina made Thai Salad Rolls. Preparing for the shoot, I was pleased to find a packaged kit with both rice paper rounds and rice vermicelli. For the filling, we used the vermicelli, fresh herbs (mint, basil, and cilantro) from the garden, strips of both cucumber and carrots, lettuce, and pre-cooked shrimp.

The peanut sauce for dipping was based on several recipes, including an old favorite from the lid of a Laura Scudder's peanut butter jar. The final rendition arrived through experimentation with key ingredients and a variety of bottled sauces from the fridge.

During the taping, Angelina made the assembly process look really easy. Although we shot two takes for safety, she made a gorgeous, snugly-tucked roll on the first try. For the on-screen bite, she rolled one without shrimp, which turns out to be one of a very few ingredients she can't eat.

Fish Tacos

Thanks to our friend who fishes in and around the San Francisco Bay, we are enjoying fresh halibut. He's even kind enough to fillet it for us.
A light marinade, a few minutes in the skillet or on the grill, and lovely light, flaky meaty chunks are ready to plate.
With halibut leftovers, fish tacos are my new favorite summer dish. To make:

• Warm a couple little white-corn tortillas in a skillet.
• Add a slice of cheese in the middle of each.
• Lay in an ounce or two of halibut chunks.
• Top with salsa and shredded cabbage, or
• Corn, black bean and red pepper salad.
• Add a dash of ranch dressing or sour cream, or yogurt, to taste.
• Roll the sides in and eat over a plate for the drips.

Local Seafood

In contrast to Thursday's meal at McCormick's, today's fish dish could actually be called local.
This morning our neighbor-friend offered us two rock cod filets, caught yesterday near the Farallones. We ate then tonight with quinoa and a salad.

Not only was the cod caught in-season with a hook and line; but for the fishing party it came with a gorgeous day on the water and a humpback whale sighting. That might just be worth getting up at 4am for.

Supper at McCormick and Schmick's

The first night of reporting from West Coast Green, we capped off a hectic day with a healthy dose of brain food (fish) at McCormick and Schmick's in San Jose. We walked over from the Convention Center, waited without reservations for less than 10 minutes (not bad, on a Thursday night), and plunked our tired-but-wired selves down in a dim, quiet side room of the main dining area.

As seafood restaurants go, McCormick's does an excellent job of providing fresh choices, with a new menu each day. Wild catch are noted, as are choices approved by any of the safe seafood certifiers. But their interest in freshness and a sustainable catch are definitely driven more by consumer demand than by an environmental orientation. Some of the fish is flown express from far-off shores; so fresh in this case is not equated with local. And a fair number of the menu selections are caught or produced in ways harmful to marine ecology, or simply over-fished already. So I did feel a bit as I would visiting a steakhouse serving mainly feedlot beef, with a few grass-fed options.

The mixed wild seafood grill (salmon, crab and an MSC-certified Chilean sea bass ) was beautifully plated, and entirely delicious.