A good occasion for oysters

What a shame that oysters are relegated to special occasions. Hot weather is a great occasion for oysters, bringing to mind the cool ocean, the shallow beds where they develop their flinty shells and the gorgeous flesh we release when we pop those shells.

Because shucking oysters can be intimidating, here’s a great video on technique, showing how easy it can be, the elegant work of Ashley E. Rodriguez, from her blog Not Without Salt, including this awesome oyster shot above.

How to Shuck an Oyster from Artazza on Vimeo.

For a condiment, I love a simple mignonette, which sounds very frilly and Louix XV, but far from it.

Mignonette is the classical French sauce for raw oysters. It has millions of variations, but it’s essentially is a vinegar-based sauce with shallots and white pepper.

This interpretation from Global Gourmet is a standout because it veers from the expected tartness of most mignonettes and instead delivers a faint sweetness.

Here’s all you need. Don't be shy about substituting a tablespoon of finely diced onion if you don’t have shallots on hand, and keep it cold.

½ cup dry white wine
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 shallot, finely copped
dash of salt & white pepper to taste

When Glenn, our wine guy, thinks "ersters," as he calls them, his tastes are surprising:
Although I personally prefer Guinness or a good, dry stout, oysters call for champagne, the good stuff, like Pol Roger, although they don’t have to. Consider chablis, made from chardonnay grapes, crisper and cleaner than white burgundy, or a muscadet, from the mouth of the Loire, also crisp and slightly lighter.

Great Gold in Fish Pie

Recently pouring over Nigella Lawson's How to Eat, the book fell flat open to fish pie. I clearly stopped at this page often. The dish takes me back to when I lived in London. My boyfriend's grandmother, who put us up that year, made it a couple of times a month, and it would unfailingly blow me away. Mouthfuls of fish in a lovely sauce always will.

"I love the sound of this pie," says Laurie. "Cod, haddock, salmon and shrimp are available year round, and saffron is a wonderful ingredient that really enhances fish. It'll be like sneaking a bit of comfort food before we move into the hotter weather."

Here are some helpful extras: a great site on bouquet garnis and video on making roux.

For a wine match, it's off to Glenn Barley of Stem Wine Group.

What are we drinking with this, Glenn?

"As a good foil for the cream, I'd go with the Woolshed Sauvignon Blanc. It's from Australia's Victoria region in the south. It's got tart lime characteristics, and you'll find it to be a familiar flavour, since this is the grape, originating in Bordeaux, that North Americans have been drinking in popular French white wines since the '60s. It's worth noting that Australians typically export wine from the Adelaide region, in the west, and prefer Victoria wines for themselves."

Questions about the fish, the recipe or the wine? Contact steph at ortenzi dot ca.
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Saffron Fish Pie

1 large peeled carrot
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
bouquet garnis
2 1/2 lb Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup unsalted butter
8 oz EACH of cod, haddock and salmon
4 oz. cooked peeled shrimp
4 oz. cream [approx]
4 Tbsp flour
pinch saffron
freshly grated nutmeg

• Turn the potatoes into mash, adding about half of the butter to finish them, and set aside.
• Cut carrots into large chunks and with wine, water, salt and bouquet garnis to a pot where the fish can be comfortably poached.
• Cut the fish into large, even chunks.
• Bring the pot to a boil and poach the fish in batches [about 3 minutes], and set aside to cool.
• Strain the liquid into a large measuring cup and top it up with enough cream to reach just under a litre. [Reserve the bouquet.]
• Make a roux.
• Stir in the cream mixture, add the bouquet and cook for about 5 minutes or so, and let it cool.
• To prepare for baking, lay the fish in the dish. Remove the bouquet from the sauce and pour over the fish.
• Cover with mashed potato, forming a seal, so that the cream won't bubble over while cooking.
• Lightly grate some fresh nutmeg on top.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 375F for 30 minutes or until fully heated through.

Image courtesy Henna via Creative Commons.

Humbly into greatness

Halibut was the first fish that came to mind when I stumbled across this gorgeous plate of braised radishes thanks to Know Whey. Radishes are just starting to hit the local markets right now, and I love them for two reasons. They’re pretty and they’re humble.

This plate said to me, "Give me a slab of halibut and some peas," so I complied and went off to see Laurie for some west-coast halibut, and to two great markets around the corner from her for radishes. Peas in the pod are starting to appear, too, but I’ll be honest: I shamelessly used frozen. I won't in the next week or two, though.

Following Know Whey's technique – a braise in stock and butter -- got me great results. I seared the halibut skin-side-up in a hot pan with a bit of veg oil and let the fish caramelize into gold. I turned it over [my pan goes into the oven, but if yours doesn't, you could put it on a baking dish] and finished it in a preheated 400F oven. For a one-inch-wide filet, 7 to 10 minutes should do the trick.

To serve, I heated up the radishes [I'd cooked them earlier; they were just standing by] with a bit of reduced stock/butter liquid. I added cooked peas and let them get acquainted for as long as it took for them to be heated through. I put a helping of these lovelies into warm, shallow bowls, with enough sauce to make everyone happy and then I placed the halibut majestically on top. Heaven.

For this dish, Glenn went to his consignment list and came back with a quick study in pinot grigio. He chose two from the Fruili region of Italy, produced by Forchir, “both with distinct white pepper notes and pear flavours that will complement this great fish,” he says.

They have a clear distinction. The first is Rosadis, which came to mind when he was considering the radishes. Rosadis has a slight pinkish hue, which it gets from the grape’s skin, which also imparts some hints of red fruit, like cherry and strawberry. Traditionally, Glenn explains, pinot grigios had this pink hue, but now that the wine has become hugely popular, the more common style for this wine is to make it like Lamis, his second offering, which has a greenish tint.

Any questions about the fish, food or wine? Let us know via Comments, and we’ll get back to you pronto.

We won't hold his comb-over against him

Hitler Fish comes from Zombie Panda, yes it does.

Shrimp "au Chien"

When I heard "au chien," some ideas crossed my mind, and none of them were particularly suited to food.

But when I learned about what goes into this sauce with the canine name, I thought: I'd love this with shrimp. I enjoy hot food, as long as it doesn't take away the flavour of what I'm eating. I like when it sneaks up on you right after you savour and swallow your bite, and how it gives you a zing of heat that makes you want to come back for more.

What do you want us to know about this dish, Steph?

"Sauce au chien" comes from Mark Bittman of the New York Times, who learned about it from a friend who came across it in Martinique. Bittman uses it with chicken, but heat from a Scotch bonnet pepper screams for something a little more tropical.

Here's the line up that will comfortably work for a couple of pounds of shrimp.

1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
6 scallions, trimmed and minced
1 Scotch bonnet* stemmed, seeded and finely diced
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 Tbsp veg oil
juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper

. Combine garlic, scallions, chile, salt, allspice, pepper and oil.
. Add 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir and let it sit at room temperature.
. After an hour or so, taste the sauce; add more chile, salt, pepper, or allspice, if needed and to suit your taste.
. Just before serving, stir in the lime juice and pass the sauce at the table.

*Hot tip: Everyone's "zing," as Laurie calls it, is different. If you want to start slow, substitute a jalepeno for the Scotch bonnet, or even chili paste or cracked chilis. With these latter two options, Bittman says, start with a 1/2 teaspoon.

This cool accompaniment above comes from Hedonia, words by Sean Timberlake and photos by D. Paul Brown. They call this salad "Lagrimas," Spanish for tears, probably for how the peas look when cut this way [and appropriate to our meal, depending on how hot you make the sauce.].

It's beautifully simple and has a bit of chevre, which is going to be a good counterpoint for the heat. Also, I love how they handle their ingredient list:

A fistful of fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed and thinly cut on a slight bias
A couple of radishes, shaved thin
A wad of mint leaves, cut into a fine chiffonade
Several small dollops of creamy chevre
A few shakes of rice wine vinegar
A healthy drizzle of peppery extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of salt
A good crack of black pepper

Glenn, what are we going to drink with these two?

I've got two off-the-wall suggestions that aren't going to be fore everyone, but I'm going to throw them out there anyway.

Asti Spumante. I know, a bit of a jaw-dropper, but sparkling and/or sweet wines are excellent matches for hot and spicy foods.

Beaujolais is the other suggestions and, again, not a usual pairing, but it's got some great qualities that work well for spicing seafood. With virtually no tannins, it's got soft, ripe, red fruits [mostly strawberry] and white pepper hints. It takes very well to chili. The LCBO has a bounty of Beaujolais. Try a few to see which you like best.

Glenn Barley is a wine agent with Wine Stem Group.