Category Archives: Weekly Wrap-up

Albacore Round 2 Wrap-up

Posted on by

Photo courtesy of http://nomnompaleo.com

Albacore is clearly inspiring and Siren subscribers were creative as usual! The pictures and emails that I got this week have given me some good ideas for future albacore recipes. This is probably the last albacore we will see until the weather warms up again. Sad.

Photo courtesy of http://nomnompaleo.com

Michelle at Nom Nom Paleo went the sensitive and delicate route with Softcore Albacore. You know, for the ladies. She braised the tuna in olive oil and flavored it with garlic and Tabil seasoning. Delicious AND a good companion to her Hardcore Albacore.

Photo courtesy of Geoffrey Aardsma.

New subscribers Geoff and Andrea did their first drop RIGHT. Good job!

“Thank you for the wonderful albacore, we prepared it tataki style with some baby bok choy and dandelion greens, orange ponzu on the side.  We loved it!”

Photo courtesy of Amy Whittaker.

Subscriber (and friend to the fishmongeress) Emily made perfectly seared albacore. It looks beautiful!

 

Twitter Round-up

You can follow my fishy adventures! @SirenSeaSA

@SirenSeaSA had an AMAZING albacore sashimi dinner last night! so glad i didn’t try to overdo it!
@kberger

 Awesome first week doing @SirenSeaSA. Sliced raw albacore thin, tossed it in olive oil/lemon/sea salt, and served with guacamole and chips.
@SirenSeaSA sooo good. Your albacore source rocks! Thanks for making all our Saturday dinners five star!

 

Sardine Wrap-up

Posted on by

Every time I drop off something new, I get a little nervous that Siren subscribers won’t like it. Things I never want to see: an inbox full of I HATE MY FISH emails. Yikes. When that new fish is also a little bit high maintenance, I worry that it will waste away in the freezer. Sardines fell into both categories: new and slightly high maintenance. Siren subscribers rose to the occasion and made some delicious looking meals.

Photo courtesy of http://nomnompaleo.com

Once again, Michelle over at Nom Nom Paleo made and beautifully documented a tasty dinner. Her Broiled Herb-Stuffed Sardines look incredible, and when I read that she brushed the herb-stuffed sardines with BACON GREASE before broiling, I knew that they must taste even better than they look. Damn.

Grilled cheese genius and maker of heavenly fried pickles, The GrilledCheezGuy, butchered and prepared his sardines like a pro. Apparently, the finished product involved red curry. I’m an idiot for curry.

 

Twitter!

@EdibleSF Sardines a la plancha – a la Contigo – sorta kinda. @sirenseasa instagr.am/p/QEEkG/
@girardinl Ate home-cured (&gutted) @sirenseasa sardines on @lavictoriasf bagel. Feelin hyperlocal…’cept for the Philly cream cheese
@miritcohen @SirenSeaSA the sardines were so delicious! And fun to clean too :) looking forward to my next fish butchery lesson.
@dirt_and_beer Sardines from @SirenSeaSA, ready for the broiler. yfrog.com/od5wobj
@marshmelones @SirenSeaSA Sardines were great! Grilled as you suggested. Thank you for coming to the South Bay!
@marshmelones Hello fishies. Fresh sardines from @SirenSeaSA. @lerrie is taking one for the team and cleaning them. pic.twitter.com/wVNIBJTE

 

 

Albacore Wrap-up

Posted on by

Hardcore Albacore! from Nom Nom Paleo on Vimeo.

I want to present this video without comment, but I am incapable of sharing anything this awesome without comment. Ever. Once again, Michelle from Nom Nom Paleo makes my special fish look sexier than I ever thought they could. She prepared a Paleo-friendly version of the recipe that I posted last week. It is appropriately called Hardcore Albacore, and my goodness does it look delicious. She documented the process beautifully on her excellent blog. YUM.

 

Photo courtesy of Mary Keller

Photo courtesy of Mary Keller

Mary wrote, “The albacore was so delicate and delicious! I followed your recipe and they turned out beautifully. Mike and I are so pleased with the quality of your seafood and look forward to our next delivery!”

Mary and Mike also sent along some pictures that made me wish I had more albacore to wrap in bacon.

 

Marcus of Eats for One also followed the recipe on the blog.

“I made the Bacon Wrapped Albacore. Quite yummy. I used Sherry instead of sake. That’s a pretty strong fish, especially grilled with bacon, so the substitution didn’t affect the sweet and luscious impact of the marinade. It was really good, ‘cept sadly, I overcooked it.  Can’t wait to get albacore again so I can do it up right. (What a spectacularly beautiful piece of fish, by the way.) Used the leftover raw fish in my 1904 bouillabaisse with shrimp and scallops. Yum.”

I am already actively searching out some late season albacore so that week A members can have a taste!

 

Photo courtesy of Amie Pfeifer

 

Amie, aka @FabFoodLover on Twitter, followed a recipe from Becky Selengut’s excellent cookbook, Good Fish.

“Let me just say this: Oh my God was that some good fish!  I opted to use Becky Selengut’s recipe for olive oil poached albacore with caper-blood orange sauce from the Good Fish cookbook.  It was my first time poaching ever and I have to say it turned out pretty awesome.  The friend I shared it with commented that she had never had tuna so good.  I’ve got some leftover tuna that I’m putting on my salad for lunch today and I cannot wait. hmmm . . . wonder if it would be weird to eat lunch at 8am?”

Take it from me, 8am is NOT too early for seafood. I am often hacking off  and eating raw pieces of fish in the early morning. It’s the mark of a true fish lover.

 

Photo courtesy of Kathryne Bennett

Chef Kathryne poached the tuna with margoram, thyme, garlic and chilies. That sounds like heaven!

 

Twitter!

You should follow @SirenSeaSA if you would like to see pictures of seafood and read my sassy ramblings. You know you do.

Here is what people are saying about Siren on Twitter.

@iamdanmckinley Yesterday: first @sirenseasa pickup. Tonight: salad niçoise w/ seared albacore w/ soy-mustard sauce. Yum. instagr.am/p/O81s8/
@lyamamot I’m interested in signing up for @SirenSeaSA but first I have to stop remembering its name as Chicken of the SeaSA.
@MeganYip Just signed up for @SirenSeaSA ! Can’t wait to start this adventure in ridiculously fresh, local seafood!
@SecretStashSalt I have a crush on @SirenSeaSA. Any bay area folks subscribe to their seafood CSA?
I will end things with a mussel flashback. Remember these guys?

Photo courtesy of http://www.porkcracklins.net/

Sheri over at Pork Cracklins made Pan-roasted Mussels with Garlic Butter and wrote about the process on her excellent blog. I miss those mussels already.

 

 

 

 

Mussel Wrap-up

Posted on by

I am such a lucky fishmongeress (I’ve decided that is my official title.). Opening my email and checking Twitter after the Saturday drop is like running downstairs on Christmas morning. Instead of new ballet shoes and a Janet Jackson CD, there are pretty pictures and brilliant recipes. It made me so happy to see all of the interesting things that y’all did with Scott Zahl’s delicious mussels. Siren SeaSA subscribers are impressive cooks. Abundant proof found below.

Photo courtesy of http://nomnompaleo.com

Once again, Michelle of Nom Nom Paleo took pictures that made me want to eat what she made RIGHT THEN. This week my inappropriately timed seafood craving was for Thai Steamed Mussels at 6 AM. Mmmmmmmm. I love her sassy commentary and beautiful photos. You should be reading her blog!

Photo by Amie Pfeifer

Amie, aka Fab Food Lover, made Mussel, Corn, & Tomato Soup.

“I started with several slices of Fatted Calf pancetta that I sliced into lardons. After I rendered them, I added half a red onion, minced plus 2 garlic cloves smashed. I sauteed them for about 5 minutes (maybe longer, I was de-bearding the mussels at the same time). Then I realized some of my tomatoes were about to turn, so I tossed in a handful of tiny Sun Gold cherry tomatoes and a couple of small Early Girl tomatoes that I quartered.  Then I added about a cup of Cline Oakley Four Whites, added some fresh thyme and tossed in the mussels, put the lid on and let cook for 10 minutes.  Once the mussels were done, I took all of them out of their shells and served. But then I realized that corn would be a great addition. So I had half the soup without corn on Sunday night and then last night I boiled up an ear of corn and added the kernels to the reheated soup. It was magical.”

All finished with a squeeze of lemon. It sounds amazing. You had me at lardons…

Photo courtesy of Oriana Tiell

New subscribers Oriana and Steve sent in a picture of the mussel feast! Looking delicious!

Otto, another new subscriber, described how he prepared his mussels.

“We steamed them on the stove with garlic, cippolino onions, thyme, olive oil, butter, and some pinot grigio from napa (a slightly modified recipe from tyler florence on foodnetwork.com) and they were wonderful!”

 

Twitter

You can follow @SirenSeaSA on Twitter and hear all about the fish I am stalking and the fishermen I’m harassing. You can tell me about what you made with your new edible ocean friends. It will be FUN.

@marshmelones  I love the photo @lerrie took of our mussels this weekend. twitpic.com/6r2hzp
@marshmelones I cleaned, debearded & cooked mussels for the first time ever onight. Normally don’t really like them, but yum! Thanks to Siren SeaSA.
@Post24th Yum Siren SeaSA’s mussels steamed in @dirt_and_beer‘s fresh hop brew, served on zucchini “pasta”! yfrog.com/kedm5naj yfrog.com/j2o44wj
@mlangbehn Today was our first delivery, and the mussels were divine. Too cold to barbeque, so we used the “Joy of Cooking recipe”. Yum!
@LBM  Fresh pasta with fresher Siren SeaSA mussels, prepared with a recipe from The Silver Spoon. instagr.am/p/OPE0L/
Can’t wait to see what happens with the albacore that will be showing up in your coolers this weekend!

 

Halibut Wrap-up

Posted on by

As always, I am completely impressed with what my subscribers do with their fish. Good job team!

Here’s a very brief Twitter rundown:

@girardinl Here’s the rosemary crusted halibut w/ preserved lemon, tomato & chick pea stew I made http://bit.ly/pp7Q4L w/halibut from Siren SeaSA

@gharp halibut is delish as lemon juiced ceviche on bed of cabbage, spinach, & purslane w/toasted sesame on top + chili soy ginger side

@nicolelafave Our Siren SeaSA halibut marinates … http://yfrog.com/nwectsj

 

It all looks fantastic and sounds fantastic!

 

 

Black Cod Wrap-up

Posted on by

Black cod was a great way to get back into the fishmongering game. It’s delicious and not too messy. I’m still having sticky squid ink flashbacks after the SQUID DAY FROM HELL that I put myself through last round. My car, my fingernails, my clothes, my body, and the trusty Siren coolers on wheels were covered in squid muck. We won’t be doing that again any time soon! Let’s get back to pleasant black cod thoughts, that fish makes everyone happy.

I was so happy to see all of my old buddies (aka subscribers) from last round and put some faces with the names of my new friends. A big part of the reason I enjoy this so much is that I get to interact with a good number of my customers every week. I love handing fish to people and hearing about their plans for it. I am a little bummed that I don’t get to meet most of my South Bay, East Bay, and Petaluma customers in person. I think that we will have to have some sort of big fishy party to remedy that sad situation. How about a crab feed with a twist on December 10th? You’re all invited. Official announcement coming soon! Woo!

I’m always anxious to hear what everyone made and what they thought of the fish. Keep the feedback coming. I take it all into consideration when searching for recipes and sourcing fish. Now that Siren 2.0 is alive and delivering, I will be posting weekly wrap-ups of what y’all did with your sea creatures. Nothing crazy, just a little rundown to remind us all of good times with good fish. We will also be able to look back on what other people did with their fish when that particular creature shows up in your cooler again.

 

Subscriber Blogs and Photos

Photo courtesy of Marcus Rector http://www.eatsforone.com/

New subscriber Marcus Rector posted an excellent rundown of his first Siren SeaSA experience on his blog, Eats for One. Marcus followed Mike Lee’s recipe for Hacked Sous Vide Black Cod that I posted on the blog last week. As you can see in the picture above, he got excellent results. That looks delicious! Read all about it on Eats for One.

Photo courtesy of Nom Nom Paleo http://nomnompaleo.com/

Another new subscriber documented her black cod experience over at her completely cute and beautifully photographed blog, Nom Nom Paleo. There are photos of the entire process of cooking the black cod with a legit sous vide set-up. Hell yes. She made the fish look damn sexy. Check it out over at Nom Nom Paleo! Twitter: @nomnompaleo

 

Twitter

You can follow Siren SeaSA on Twitter! I blabber on and on about fish and finding fish and cooking fish and eating fish. FISH! Here are some tweets from subscribers about the yummy black cod and what they did with it.

@NextMoon      Saturday’s black cod was delicious! Thanks so much.
@Jesse_Hirsch  Hey @SirenSeaSA I invented a new recipe for broiling the black cod, with ginger, garlic, two types of peppers, sake, sesame oil. Win!
@Nuggetacious A BIG Thank you to all involved in this past Saturday’s Black Cod Extravaganza ! The fish was pristine. We loved it !

@gharp          Picked up some Black Cod at @SirenSeaSA + Herbes de Provence, sprinkled salt, crushed pepper + baked in butter w/chopped scallions = yummy

 

Facebook and Email

Chef Neil Davidson, who contributed a genius beer steamed mussel recipe to this blog, smoked his black cod fillets. They look heavenly. Save some for me? Please!


Nancy in Petaluma followed a recipe from Alice Waters, which is never ever a bad plan.

“I used the Alice Waters slow-poach approach, and barely simmered the cod in a large pan of water with salt, some herb sprigs from the garden, a few slices of Meyer lemon, and, since I was nibbling on celery as I was waiting for it to cook, added some celery tops. Sooooo tender. Melt in the mouth.” 

 

On the Siren SeaSA Facebook page, Kristina shared her approach.

” It was fantastic! I steamed it with garlic, ginger, chillies and lime, and served it with brown rice and stir-fried kale.”

And Emily shared hers.

“I tried the hack sous vide… not so successful for me, but the cod still tasted delicious! I pan fried some the next day, and now I’m eating the last bit for lunch in a fish taco!”

Mmmmmmmmmm fish tacos…

Like us on Facebook. I talk about fish there as well. I really am a one-trick pony.

I can’t wait to see what everyone does with their halibut. Keep me posted!

Salmon Wrap-up

Posted on by

On Saturday night I nervously check my email, Twitter, and Facebook.  I ignore my dinner companions and forget how to make conversation.  I get nervous like I’m waiting to hear back from an audition.  I’m not.  I’m waiting to hear the answer to the all-important post-drop question: How’s the fish?

The verdict on the King salmon: fantastic.

Here is some of the feedback and some pretty pictures of what Siren SeaSA’s subscribers did with this week’s fish.

Mary and Harry Keller loved the recipe from The Year in Food.  Dining outside in the Sierras made it even better.  Beautiful.

 

Here is a round-up of what Siren SeaSA subscribers had to say on Twitter:

Kind words from @FabFoodLover

So happy I joined @SirenSeaSA & @thegrubdown is now 1 of my fave people on the planet.

This week’s @SirenSeaSA delivery of fresh king salmon was so darn good I had to stop myself from hoovering the whole thing in under 5 mins.

Last night’s salmon dinner using @theyearinfood‘s recipe courtesy of @SirenSeaSA. We served w/farro & kale salad http://twitpic.com/5vow3j

The other gr8 dish I made w/@SirenSeaSA‘s king salmon: @ChefReinvented‘s wild salmon chowder w/fire rstd tomatoes http://twitpic.com/5vp0mc

 

Pan fried by @rachelannyes

Very much looking forward to @SirenSeaSA salmon for dinner–with backyard young onions, favas, fennel, celery root, meyer lemons.

Astonishing salmon dinner from @SirenSeaSA. I’ll never forget it. Thank the fisherpeople and the hairnet wearers for us. Sublime texture.

@SirenSeaSA Quickly cast iron pan fried your salmon in butter. Skin was crazy delicious. Thanks for leaving skin on, sassy filet ladies!

Still full from @SirenSeaSA salmon feast. @DrWeidinger and I discussed the future, the ocean, and the future of the ocean. Hopeful.

 

Cedar plank grilling from @jeannebee

Bodega Bay salmon fr @SirenSeaSA , best I’ve ever had. Grilled on cedar plank, seasoned w/ spicy rub, brushed w/ maple syrup. Amazing!

 

An awesome complement from @mcs3000

@SirenSeaSA best. salmon. ever. rivals copper river.

 

My buddies at Mission Gastroclub (@gastroclub) are working some serious magic with their 11 pound whole fish. Eric (@beerandpork) made salmon head cheese.  Chef Neil Davidson (@theneild) served up pan-seared fillet with Romano beans and creamy polenta at tonight’s dinner.

 

This fishmongeress is feeling lucky to have such a creative and kind group of subscribers.  I cannot wait to share this week’s HALIBUT with you all.  That’s right, halibut week is here and a really sweet husband and wife team are out catching our fish.  Check back tomorrow night to learn why there is no gaffing on their boat.  Maybe I’ll also explain what gaffing is.