loper

A friend of mine who studied Atlantic larval fish development has a monkfish larva on her shoulder - & it is pretty damn cool. I have a modern interpretation of a pacific NW salmon totem image on mine - a reminder of connections to many fish slain.

Salad of Mache & some other greens in a cranberry vinaigrette w/ rock shrimp and shaved parmesan: Lamb Shank braised in red wine & cranberry over black lentils w/ truffled potatoes, sauteed mushrooms & red wine/cranberry reduction: Before: After: Guess she liked it.

$4.99/pound at the new Whole Foods in Swampscott as well - marked as on sale from $5.99, shell on, heads off. I just tossed 'em in a bamboo steamer w/ a bunch of other stuff - really wonderful critters - and some of the few shrimp I'm comfortable eating these days.

Got a little silly tonight - seafood green curry insanity. Steamed Alaskan Halibut, Maine Shrimp & Littleneck Clams w/ yellow beets, chestnut cap mushrooms, beet greens & seasoned black & white rice; green curry w/ fresh basil, cilantro & mint, & a red pepper/shallot sambal-ish salsa stuff to boot. A bit crazy, but some of it worked & will be kept in mind for less insane dishes in the future.

Salad: Fennel, Blood Orange, Parm Reg, EVOO, Balsamic... Risotto w/ Rock Shrimp, Saffron & Spinach Anyone know about the environmental/fishery status of these rock shrimp? I'm curious to know how they are caught - all I can find are references to location, species, etc, and just one reference to dragging gear, which doesn't sound good, these being benthic critters and all. Any help appreciated...

Peanut Butter/Mayonaise/Banana Salad.

First contribution to the dinner/food porn thread... Valentines Day: 1. Rock Shrimp Ceviche w/ Avocado & Blood Orange, Oysters w/ Blood Orange Mingonette. 2. Copper River Coho Confit w/ a Black rice & Hijiki Crust, Truffled Potatoes & Greens. The salmon was done in Tetsuya's oil & herb marinade/low oven "confit" style, but then crusted and quickly seared - should have cut into it for the pic, the inside was a beautiful orange red and wonderfully tender. Candied Kumquats are a stand in for the home-cured salmon roe that I managed to leave at work. Potatoes were done sous vide w/ a little white truffle oil my mother brought back from Italy for me - first food-saver sous vide-ing for me, was good. 3. Coriander & Orange Peel Crusted rack of Lamb w/ Shiraz-glazed Apricots, lentils & Braised Cabbage, Cumin & Coriander spiced Blood Orange Cream. 4. Chocolate pot de creme. Mmmmm... chocolate.

Fun boston dish-surfing: BostonChefs.com

How about naming your restaurant after it?

I didn't have to work Christmas (other than the rib roast for the fam, that is), but got to wake up at 4:30 for a brunch shift the day after. Same deal NYD, 12 hours of brunch for the hungover masses, then home in time to see UM lose to the evil empire in the Rose Bowl on a last second field goal , followed by another brunch the next day. This was my first year w/ this schedule, and honestly, I didn't mind. There is something to be said for keeping your regular routine for the holidays, even if everyone else thinks you're nuts.

I've done very much the same - about half kosher salt, half brown sugar, with the addition of various spices as dictated by whim. We've usually let it brine over night before rinsing and drying. From what I remember, the more you rinse & dry, the less of a hard glaze you get on the fish after smoking, and the softer the texture of the final product. We've done some w/ a Caribbean-ish cure and left it on during smoking for something different. Here's some Coho, Sockeye, and Halibut ready to go... Oh... & Coho (Silvers) may not be Kings, but they aren't what I'd call small.

Someone made a banana-jalepeno sauce of some sort at work last week. As soon as I caught a whiff of the over-ripe bananas being tossed around in the robo coup next to me I was quickly compelled by my stomach to visit the toilet and relieve said organ of its contents.

The battered pickles are wonderful. as are deep fried nuggets of beer-battered macaroni and cheese. I've also had good luck with dropping in some blue cheese stuffed, nut crusted olives. my experience with deep fry parties always ends up with someone frying their shoes, which I can't say I recommend. (Fried shoe leather is not as appetizing as is widely believed).

New Haven - Apizza (whatever that is...) Halifax - Donair, Oatcakes Ann Arbor - Fragles (raisin bagel deep fried and coated in cinnamon & sugar) & all things Zingermans; recently, Halloumi showing up everywhere.

The appendix of John McPhee's "The Founding Fish" has some notes on cooking shad roe (a hybrid sautee/steaming on top of a bed of bacon), as well as milt and the rest of the fish in various forms. I've yet to read the book, but I have to say I like the appendix - "The bacon may be undercooked. Sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it is. I have no idea why. This is not a perfect world." And his suggestion to take a lemon and "render it hexapartite"...