THE WASHINGTON POST – Learning to cook seafood with confidence is like any other skill: It takes study and practice. That’s the message Karista Bennett delivered in For the Love of Seafood, a cookbook that can help you settle into that comfort zone.
“Seafood is like a blank canvas,” said Bennett, who encourages home cooks to view it as a broad category of food that can open up a world of new flavours and dishes.
Her cookbook begins with an efficient ‘Seafood 101’ chapter that covers topics such as sourcing quality and sustainable seafood, mastering cooking methods, and assembling pantry items and cooking utensils. It also features a finfish and shellfish chart that shows differences in taste and texture, cooking methods, and flavour-pairing tips.
What comes next are 100 seafood recipes divided into three skill-based chapters that let you work your way such as super-simple anchovy toasts.
“I want you to take what you are learning in the first chapter and apply it to what you’ve learned in the next,” she said, adding that exposure to good, well-prepared seafood is the key to falling in love with it.
Bennett empathises with folks who don’t cook (or consume) creatures from the sea. She grew up in Arkansas eating fish sticks but married her husband, Craig, who hailed from San Diego, and so gravitated toward fresh seafood. It was something she tolerated until a fateful birthday dinner at a Baton Rouge restaurant, when she ordered a red snapper with lump crab and a lemon beurre blanc and was wowed by how the delicate fish and crab meat went so beautifully with the rich sauce. She began dipping her toe into more seafood.
That dovetailed with her realisation in her mid-30s that, after 10 years in health care administration, she longed for a change. She attended Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona to become a better home cook, but with her first class, she was hooked on cooking – and eventually on seafood, too.
In time, her family moved to the Pacific Northwest, and her cookbook’s recipes come from ones she’s amassed as a cooking instructor in Seattle, a sous and prep chef, and most recently a private chef.
As an instructor, she thinks she’s addressed just about every obstacle to cooking with seafood. Here are a few of the most common:
It’s too hard to find. Today, Bennett lives in Bend, Oregon, about five hours from the coast, so she has easier access to seafood than many, but she recalled her Arkansas days, too.
Community-supported fisheries, similar to CSAs with fishermen selling directly to consumers, are becoming more common, she said.
But don’t discount your supermarket and frozen seafood. More fishers are vacuum-sealing and blast-freezing seafood on the boat or right at the dock, making it a great option, too, she said. Look for heavy, well-sealed packaging with no ice crystals on the seafood and for labels such as FAS (frozen at sea) or IQF (or individual quick frozen).
The next step is to ask questions and figure out the fish that suits your taste and cooking method (hence her detailed charts). For example: Don’t just buy cod; consider that Atlantic cod is meatier and tougher and so better for stewing, while Pacific cod is a lighter, more tender fillet for quicker cooking methods, Bennett said.
It’s too complicated to cook. “First, I tell people, even if it falls apart, it’s still going to be delicious.” She recommended starting with a fattier fish, such as salmon. “The higher fat content makes it easier to flip.”
For a simple fillet, Bennett recommends a skillet over medium heat and a generous amount of fat. Pat the fish dry, place it flesh-side down and leave it undisturbed until a light brown crust begins to form at the edges. Next use a fish spatula to flip it. Then top it with a sauce, salsa or fresh herbs. A good rule of thumb: “Cook the fish eight to 10 minutes for every inch of thickness.”
It smells. Most fresh seafood should smell like the sea and not produce a strong odour, but Bennett recommends roasting, steaming and poaching as the best methods for combating scent. For beginners? “Try baking fish in parchment with lots of aromatics, shallots, lemon, herbs,” she said. If pan-cooking, remove the skin, “which is more pungent than the fish.”
Or “just grill it”, she said.
This grilled salmon with pistachio lemon pesto is an example of seafood’s versatility. Also try cooking it on the stovetop in a grill pan, and if you don’t care for salmon, substitute swordfish or mahi-mahi.
Bennett encouraged home cooks to gather everything they need and just jump into seafood.
As she notes in her cookbook: “If you don’t get something right the first time; just try again.
I promise, over time, cooking skills are honed, and eventually, cooking seafood will become second nature.”
GRILLED SALMON WITH PISTACHIO LEMON PESTO
When grilling fish, firm, higher-fat salmon might be the easiest to tackle. The fish pairs well with summer produce, too. This pesto can also be used on grilled or roasted mahi-mahi and swordfish steaks, as well as vegetables. To prevent sticking, be sure your grill grates are as clean as possible.
The cooking time for salmon will vary depending on the thickness of the fillets and your preference. Most fish cooks through in about 10 minutes for every one inch of thickness, so if you want your salmon rare or well done, adjust the cooking time.
If you prefer to cook the salmon in a skillet: Place a grill pan or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and heat until a drop of water sizzles when it hits the surface. Add the fillets, skin side up, and cook until just lightly browned, two to three minutes.
Turn the fillets over and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the salmon looks almost cooked through, two to four minutes, for medium-rare.
INGREDIENTS
- Four skin-on salmon fillets, at least one-inch-thick
- Two cups packed fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving
- Two-third cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Quarter cup raw pistachios, plus optional chopped pistachios for serving
- Three tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- One tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- One clove garlic
- Three tablespoons grated parmesan
- Zest of one lemon
- Fine salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- One tablespoon vegetable oil or another neutral oil, plus more as needed
- Lemon wedges, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Remove the salmon from the refrigerator 15 to 30 minutes before cooking.
Heat the grill to medium-high heat, about 400 degrees. If grilling over charcoal, use a grill thermometer or use the hand method: If you can hold your hand four inches from the grill for about five seconds, the grill should be hot enough.
While the grill preheats, in a food processor or blender, combine the basil, olive oil, pistachios, lemon juice, parsley and garlic and process until smooth.
Pour into a bowl and stir in the parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Brush each salmon fillet with the vegetable oil on all sides and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the salmon pieces, flesh side down, diagonally on the grill; this positioning will make it easier to flip the fish. Close the lid and let the salmon cook for about five minutes. Using tongs or a spatula, ease the fish off the grill grates. If it doesn’t budge, wait 20 seconds longer, or as needed.
Once the fish easily releases from the grill, flip it skin side down and cook until the fish is opaque and flakes with the tines of a fork, about three minutes more. You should see a slightly darker centre for medium-rare.
Transfer the fish to a platter – the skin may easily slide off and remain on the grill. If it doesn’t, you can either leave it on the fillets or discard it before plating.
Place the salmon on serving plates, top with the pesto, and garnish with basil leaves and chopped pistachios, if using, and serve with a lemon wedge on the side. – Ann Maloney
