Travel « (y)our food choices™

Shirley's Halibut catch.

Jason: We’ve all heard a fish tale or two about the one that got away. The elusive creature that struggles to free itself after a long, exhausting battle between man and fish. And just as it’s getting away you catch a glimpse of what just might be the biggest fish you’ll ever catch. That happened to me about a year ago. It was the first time I’ve fished since I was a small child. I was with Steve, his father, and my nephew. We went fishing on the Snake River and the fish that got away did so because Steve was too slow to get the net over to the edge of the boat. I don’t blame him since he was busy unhooking his own fish, but it would have been the biggest catch of the day—if he had just been fast enough.

Steve: Look, the fish was nice and all, but let’s face it, the rookie should NEVER go home with the biggest catch. Besides, I was distracted by my own catch and frankly, when there’s that much commotion on the boat, I tend to get a little confused. For what it’s worth, Jason got his revenge on Dad and me earlier this year. I’m cool with it!

Jason's Striped Bass catch.

Jason: Fast forward to spring of this year when, for Steve’s Father’s Day gift to his Dad, we all took a half-day trip out onto San Francisco Bay to do a little fishing. Steve’s mom and I came along for the ride. The morning came much too soon. We hauled out of bed at 4:30 AM to prepare for the trip. Unsure of what the day’s weather would bring, we popped a couple of dramamine and bundled up in what we thought would to be an acceptably warm series of layers only to find that we were a layer or two short of being comfortable. We arrived at Fisherman’s Wharf at 6:00 am and boarded the Lovely Martha. Roger, the deckhand greeted us and we soon met Captain Mike. The sun was nowhere to be found that morning as we pushed off for the bay. Our fishing companions for the day started putting on more layers as we headed out. Oh, how we wished we had put on that extra layer.

Steve: Underdressing for the cold outdoors is sort of our standard m.o. and this fishing trip was no exception. The wind and water chill you to the bone out on the open bay. The water wasn’t particularly rough that morning and nobody aboard seemed to suffer from motion sickness, but Jason and I remained as tightly wrapped in our layers as possible wishing we’d worn a thick wool sweater or an arctic parka!

Jason: About thirty minutes passed before we reached our first fishing location. Roger gave us instructions for baiting the hooks and placing the line in the water. Our bait consisted of live sardines and anchovies. The more experienced fishermen tried to find the largest bait in the holding tank. I was just taking what I could get my hands on. It took me a few tries before I got up the nerve to bait my own hook. Having never handled live bait before I was a bit squeamish about putting a hook through the tiny fish, but I soon got over the squeamish part and figured out that I needed to grab the largest wriggler possible.

Steve: I have to give credit to Jason for throwing himself into the whole messy process of fishing. We’ve become relatively soft urbanites over the years and the thought of pulling a fishing hook through the nose of a sardine is enough to send most of our friends running. The trick is holding on to the slippery little guys while completing the delicate procedure of threading that fish hook which, if you’re not careful, will slide just as easily into the flesh of your fingers. Jason figured it out right away.

Jason: It wasn’t the first catch of the day, but I did catch the first one that was large enough to keep and the only striped bass of the day. As I waited for the sinker to hit bottom I felt unsure of what was happening as Roger came over to assist. At first he thought I had snagged something but seconds later he handed the pole back to me and told me to reel it in, I had a fish. I positioned the end of the pole on my right thigh and gripped it in my left hand while reeling in the line with my right hand, steadily and quickly reeling the fish in. As it neared the boat Roger was there with the net to bring it in. This was the second fish I had caught in my life, and it was a beauty. After a few pictures of me holding the fish I was ready for more.

Steve: Of course Jason caught the coolest fish of the day. And why not? All the fishing dudes on the boat had plenty of their own fishing thrills to remember. This was Jason’s day to make his own fishing memories and watching him bring in that bass was pure fun. I think everyone on the boat got a kick out of everyone else’s fishing success that day.

Jason: My second catch was a Starfish the Captain nicked named “Patrick” (which we threw back into the bay after a everyone on the boat was finished touching it). Between catching the Bass and Starfish, Steve’s dad caught a Bat Ray that was sent back into the bay, and about an hour later Steve’s mom caught a halibut.

We continued to fish around the bay with little luck. I caught a halibut and was the big fisherman of the day with two catches, four if you count the starfish and a little bull head fish which also went back into the bay. All in all, five fish were caught by the fishermen (and women) on the boat that morning two of which were my catches and one that Shirley caught.

Will we go back and fish on the Lovely Martha again? Absolutely! I think I’m hooked. I guess fishing is a bit like life, some days the big ones get away, other days you end up with not one, but two biggies. It all seems to equal out in the end.

Steve: While I would have loved to catch a fish or two on this trip, I’m happy to get to share the haul. We stored Jason’s catch in our freezer and have been enjoying several wonderful meals from those two fish. What follows is Jason’s take on a potato crusted fish dish I can’t get enough of. Any firm white fish will do, but we insist on wild fish and hope others will use the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list as a guide for selecting the most sustainably harvested fish.

Potato Crusted Halibut with Broccoli Puree and Roasted Red Onion

Any seasonal vegetable puree will be a nice accompaniment to the fish. The roasted onion is optional but adds great flavor and a nice contrast of color.

Broccoli Puree

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Onion, minced

1 bunch Broccoli, stocks peeled and cut into ¼ inch pieces, florets separated

1 cup Chicken or Vegetable Broth

4 tablespoons Butter

Salt and Pepper

In a skillet, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the broccoli stocks and cook 3-5 minutes per side. Add the florets and cover with a lid, if the pan is very dry add a little broth, for about 5 more minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and transfer to a blender. You may need to do this in batches. Blend for 3 minutes or until well blended. Add the cold butter and continue to blend. Return to another pan and season with salt and pepper.

Potato Crusted Halibut

1 Large Red Potato

4 Halibut Filets

2 tablespoons Potato Starch

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Butter

Salt and Pepper

Cut the potato in half. Using a mandolin, thinly slice each potato half. Lay two or three potato slices on a workbench, slightly overlap each slice. Season the halibut filets with salt and pepper and rub 1 tsp, or so, potato starch on each side of the filet. Add the filet to the potato slice and top with more potato slices.

In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Once the foam from the butter has subsided, add the fish filets. Cook for about 5 minutes per side.

Roasted Red Onion

1 Red Onion

Olive Oil

Slice red onion in ¼ to ½ inch rounds. Brush with olive oil and grill using a grill pan for 3-5 minutes on each side or until caramelized. Can be prepared the day before, refrigerated, and then reheated before using.

They're rare so get them while you can!

We’re likely to make whisky dinners a habit after a recent event presented by Whiskies of the World and The City Club Whisky Society in San Francisco. City Club’s David Forsyth and WoW’s Douglas Smith hosted Ed Kohl of ImpEx Beverages who led the evening’s educational tasting of a magnificent selection of whiskies from the Ian Macleod Distillers’ Chieftain’s Range of single cask bottlings.

Now, you might be thinking to yourselves, “Whisky with dinner? That’s just crazy!” Believe us, whisky is a fantastic companion to many of your favorite foods. Pairing food and spirits takes some experience, but you already know that it works well with examples like tequila and carne asada or Grand Marnier and chocolate soufflé.

This was our favorite-and most rare-of the bunch.

So, here’s the setup: each course of the meal is paired with two different but complimentary Scotch whiskies, each selected for its unique flavor profile and likely affinity to the flavors of the food it accompanies. As the meal progresses, our whisky expert explains the whisky making process while describing the flavors of the whiskies in front of us on the table. Diners have a unique opportunity to experiment with pairings that would never have occurred to them (who thinks to serve whisky with fish?) while learning quite a lot about a spirit category many Americans are rediscovering.

The City Club’s very own Chef Michael Munoz, formerly of Moose’s Restaurant in North Beach, put out a fantastic meal that began with a taste of pepper seared beef tenderloin, roasted peppers and blue cheese cream on toasted crostini. Our whisky experts from ImpEx paired the hors d’oeuvres with two fantastic drams – the first, an 8 year old Isle of Skye blended malt with its mellow smokiness, was the perfect start to the evening’s tasting; the second, a 31 year old bottling of Speyside malt Allt a’ Bhainne, was a spicy, warm and woody counterpoint to the rich flavors of the beef and blue cheese.

Beautiful and delicious scallop with duck hash.

The pan seared Maine Diver Scallop dish that kicked off the sit down meal impressed us. Chef Munoz plated these beautiful scallops with Muscovy Duck Sausage Hash, Rocket greens and a delicate sauce béarnaise. The accompanying whiskies, an 18 year old Glen Moray from Speyside and a 25 year old Port Ellen from Islay were gorgeous on their own. The exquisite Port Ellen was jaw droppingly delicious and oh so fine! The Glen Moray was full of fruit and sweet oaky spice that lingered for a very long time. Both complimented the scallop and duck perfectly.

Venison, the other red meat.

Our venison consumption has been limited to the wild variety – mule deer, elk and antelope from Idaho and Wyoming – so we were curious to taste Chef’s Denver Leg of Venison, which he plated with herbed spaetzle, a puree of English peas, an heirloom tomato sauce and black truffle jus. We were impressed by the kitchen’s expert touch with the venison, served nice and rare. Venison is naturally lean relative to beef and as such doesn’t hold up well to overcooking. Wild venison cooked well turns into shoe leather and once “ruined” must be cooked for a very long time to get it back to a point where it is chewable. This dish was delicate and perfectly tender! We loved the spaetzle, a treat we’ve prepared at home with good success but something we don’t eat often enough. If there was a disappointment in the dish, it had to be the pea puree. It wasn’t a bad idea, but it didn’t do anything for the venison and one of us thought it tasted as though the peas were old. We both agreed that while some preparations of greens might pair well with whisky, this pea puree did not. The flavor of the tomato sauce was barely perceptible. The course was paired with a 16 year old Linkwood, a Speyside malt of excellent character with sweet smoke and spicy cedar notes that worked beautifully with the venison. We also tasted a 14 year old Glenrothes that has been finished in a Burgundy cask (also from Speyside). We love Glenrothes whisky, and this one was fine, but the Burgundy finish was distracting and, for a few dinner guests we spoke to, confusing. They wanted wine with their venison and the Glenrothes disappointed because the wine finish is, of course, very subtle.

You can never go wrong with Chocolate and Whisky.

The evening meal ended with a dark chocolate pot de crème and chocolate dipped hazelnut short bread. The pot de crème was interesting – very buttery and dense. We thought it was delicious. The hazelnut short bread was awesome! Unlike many shortbreads, this one was crisp not sandy. We wanted a plate of them. Desert paired nicely with an 11 year old Madeira finished Dalmore that we thought to be perfectly sweet and creamy with just hint of chocolate and smoke. It’s a warm, sunny malt from the Scottish Highlands that works nicely with the added richness of the Madeira.

Our compliments to the Chef and the whisky makers! You’ve inspired us to think more broadly about food and beverage pairings. To those of you who are still scratching your heads, we say let go of your inhibitions and give it a try. How bad can a great steak paired with a great glass of Scotch taste? We think you’ll love them together.