Alaskan Halibut Season is in full Swing

Mouth watering, buttery, luscious, seriously sexy, white, melts in your mouth, hot or cold, grilled, baked, or on the pan. Fresh Alaskan Halibut. There's a reason why it's everyone's favorite fish. It's big, beautiful, no bones, delightful to cook, and makes most seafood lovers stomachs' growl, our mouths go dry and watery, our eyes roll back and our brains get headachy when we know we will get to chew and swallow it. It pairs perfectly with everything.. A cold Corona, a glass of cabernet, chardonnay, pinot, merlot or a tall icy Coke. It can be smothered in a gourmet cream sauce, salsa or enjoyed with a lemon wedge and fresh herbs. It is not cheap. Most of the time it is more expensive than live lobsters and fillet mignon.. but us Alaskan Halibut lovers don't care. We splurge because to live without it would make life sad, lonely, depressing and gastronomically boring. No boring allowed!

See recipes I've installed below in my blogging past. My favorite standby is the Almond Crusted AK Halibut with sundried tomato cream sauce.

Happy Mother's Day!
Theresa

Easter and Seafood go GREAT together!

Crab Cakes, Crab Salad, Shrimp Cocktail, Smoked Salmon, Grilled Salmon, Alaskan Halibut... What do they all have in common? They all go GREAT with your Easter Ham or your Easter Brunch! I'll probably serve a delicious, thinly sliced smoked Scottish salmon for breakfast with fresh warm bagels, cream cheese and capers.. and for dinner, slider size crab cakes (thanks Matty for reminding me!) for appetizers, and a whole side of fresh Scottish salmon, which I'll bake with a simple and light lemon and orange juice with chopped parsley and basil.

Call or email me at Piacentini Seafood Delivery freshfishdelivery@hotmail.com if you would like me to deliver any fresh seafood to your door on Saturday morning, or sooner!

Happy Easter everyone!

Crab Cakes

1 lb fresh or frozen crab meat
1/2 cup mayo
2 tsp fresh parsley
salt/pepper
Several dashes of hot sauce (whatever you have in your fridge)
1 cup panko breakcrumbs

In fry pan, saute' the following with a bit of butter or oil:

1/4 cup fresh chopped red bellpepper
1/4 cup fresh chopped celery
1/4 cup fresh chopped red onion
1/4 cup fresh chopped fennel

After the veges are lightly cooked, pour in a bowl with the rest of the ingrediants and mix together.
Form into 1 inch thick round cakes, and sprinkle more Panko on the outside of the crab cake.

Saute on pan in olive oil or butter about 2 minutes total or until browned, then place on a cookie sheet and bake for an additional 5 minutes at 350 degrees.

BBQ Shrimp Pizza

Matty Trottno knows cooking seafood. He just sent me his masterpiece... A glutin free/wheat free pizza crust that he picked up from Lassens. Cold Springs Tavern bbq sauce and almond cheddar cheese from Tri County Produce. Onions and cilantro from the Santa Barbara Farmers Market, and wild mexican shrimp from Piacentini Seafood Delivery.. (me!)

Thanks Matty for making my tummy growl.

Barrumundi- A true Superfood!

Barramundi was just rated #1 in the top 5 superfoods by Dr. Oz. It's appeal goes beyond its health values of high Omega 3s and low toxins.. It's easy to cook, delicious, and available year round. It comes from New Zealand and Australia and I love it!

For winter months, it can be harder to fire up the grill, but it withstands the grill beautifully.. just make sure you order it skin on which helps it stay together. It also does perfectly well on the pan or in the oven, so it's really up to you how you want to enjoy your Barramundi.

Here's how I like to do it:

Grilled Barramundi with Tropical Fruit salsa. You can bake it uncovered if you don't want to grill it.

Lightly season your fillet with a dry rub mix of:

chilli powder (1 tspn)
garlic powder (1 tspn)
brown sugar (1 tspn)
onion powder (1 tspn)
salt (1 tspn)
pepper (1 tspn)

(Premix your dry rub, then sprinkle on the fish.. save the rest of your rub for next time)

You can spritz your fish with a small amount of olive oil, but it is not necessary.

Grill your fish about 3 minutes on each side or until desired doneness. If you are going to bake your fish, place it on a foiled cookie sheet, uncovered, and bake at 400 degrees about 10 minutes, or until desired doneness.

Mango/Papaya/Avo/Jalapeno Salsa.. ie.. Tropical Fruit Salsa:

Put all (below)in your favorite salsa bowl:

1 peeled/diced Mango
1 small peeled/diced papaya (or half of a big one)
1 diced avocado
1 fresh Jalapeno pepper, seeded (if you don't want it too spicy, you can use a pickled/canned Jalapeno instead)
1 handfull of fresh chopped cilantro
1 handfull of fresh chopped basil
1 handfull of fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 tspn (or so) of fresh chopped ginger
1 lemon, for juice
1/4 cup balsamic vineger
1/2 of an orange, for juice
1/2 diced red onion
salt/pepper to taste

Cook your Barrumundi, then spoon your salsa on top of the fish. Make a simple spinnach salad and some white rice, and you are now a seafood star!

Bobby and Gina's Masterpiece!

Bobby Smith and his wife, Gina, have been busy in their kitchen and backyard.. and look what they did last night! I am very very impressed. They grilled their Scottish salmon with blackening seasoning.. simple yet divine, then kicked it up a notch with breading that called for orange & lemon zest. Speaking of lemons, when I dropped their fish off to them yesterday, I was offered fresh Meyer lemons (and leaves) growing on the walkway. Thanks, Bobby and Gina!

Farm raised vs. Wild

The topic of farm raised vs. wild salmon is alive and well! There are great arguments on both sides of the pond, so we try to please everyone by offering both products.

When wild salmon is not available or out of season, you can still have it. Wild sockeye, Coho and King salmon fillet are available year round because the fish are frozen whole where they are caught, then thawed and filleted as the demand requires. In other words, if you want delicious, premium wild salmon tomorrow night for dinner, you can have it! It's just not going to be "fresh". It will be "refreshed" or thawed product, and it will be delicious! (My husband Davey is a mega Sockeye fan and we eat it year round)

If you absolutely do not want thawed fish, then farm raised fresh salmon is the next best thing. There are many salmon aficionados who would make the argument that premium sustainable farm raised salmon is actually better tasting and higher in omega 3 fatty acids and easier to cook.. making for a luscious and delicious alternative to wild fish. Other farmed fans will argue that we are depleting the wild fisheries, and farm raising is the wave of the future. The proverbial questions: Do you eat wild tomatoes and lettuce? Are there great tomato and lettuce farmers who "raise" their products responsibly and sustainably?

At any rate, we sell it all! If you prefer wild salmon, no problem! If you want premium Scottish Salmon, awesome! I am giving you the website to Loch Duart premium Scottish Salmon, the very best product available on the market today, and used by the finest dining establishments all over Santa Barbara County and beyond! Here is their website, please go there! http://www.lochduart.com/

And if you are absolutely opposed to eating farm raised fish, then I will be happy to provide the prettiest wild fish that I can find.. just for you.

Happy Eating!

Theresa

Cooked by Matty Trottno

Check out Matty's beautiful and luscious dinner he cooked for his sweetheart last night! Scottish Loch Duart Salmon rocks all worlds. Thank you for sharing, Matty!

Seafood Delivery in Santa Barbara!

I'm so excited! I started a small seafood delivery service today, with the approval of my bosses at Central Coast Seafood! I am allowed to sell "the freshest fish on land" to my friends and family living in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito and Carpinteria.

I deliver Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. You call a day ahead with your order, I will bring your fish to your door the next morning between 9:00 am and 12:00 noon. If you're not going to be home, you can leave a cooler on your doorstep and I'll leave your fish in it for you.

My prices are extremely competitive, if not a few dollars below the best seafood counters in town, and my quality is tops. I don't sell "sitting around on ice" seafood. Your fish is cut in the middle of the night and delivered to your door within a few hours. It is fine restaurant quality! The same fish that I sell to my wholesale customers and best restaurants in Santa Barbara County.

Please call or email me for my weekly price list. Get signed up on my email list and I will automatically send you my price list on Mondays.

Cheers!

Theresa Piacentini-Smith
Piacentini Seafood Delivery
freshfishdelivery@hotmail.com
805-680-7984