Category Archives: Seafood

Ginger Glazed Salmon

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Remember a couple of months ago when I went to the Flavors of Aloha event at Tommy Bahama?  At the end of our delicious meal we were each given the new Flavors of Aloha cookbook, and I finally decided to make the ginger glazed salmon recipe that I’ve had my eye on for weeks now (because, salmon).  Not only was this recipe incredibly easy, it was delicious too!

ginger glazed salmonThe key to this recipe’s success is getting really good salmon.  As I’ve mentioned before, I only get my fish at Santa Monica Seafood, and I always make a point to get sustainable wild fish. I hear it’s good for the synthesis of vitamins, and I lowkey hoped that one day I wouldn’t need my Proclear lenses. Lucky for me, Santa Monica Seafood happened to have some wild salmon on sale, so I jumped on it.

The original recipe in the Flavors of Aloha cookbook calls for hoisin sauce, but since I can’t have soy, I swapped in coconut aminos instead, which still yielded a tasty result.  The rest of the ingredients included diced ginger, sake (or rice wine), green onion and garlic.

From start to finish this took roughly 20 minutes, making it the perfect meal to whip up during the week when you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking.

We had our salmon with some roasted potatoes, but I think the wasabi mashed potatoes from the Flavors of Aloha cookbook would be a wonderful side to the ginger glazed salmon.  And if you don’t like salmon, try it with ahi, halibut or even sea bass.

Ginger Glazed Salmon (serves 2, from the Flavors of Aloha Cookbook)

Ingredients:

2 salmon filets

1/4 cup coconut aminos

2 tbsp sake

2 tbsp chopped green onion

2 tbsp diced ginger

1 garlic clove, smashed

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Set your oven to a broil setting.  Place your salmon filets skin side up on a baking sheet.

ginger glazed salmonIn a small bowl, mix your ginger glaze and set aside.

ginger glazed salmon bowlPlace salmon in the oven for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from the oven and flip over.  Add the ginger glaze to your fish and place back in the oven for another 4-5 minutes.

ginger glazed salmon filetsIf you want your salmon cooked a little further, I recommend keeping in the oven for another couple of minutes otherwise remove from the oven, eat and enjoy!

Learning to Love Salmon

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Before I turned 30, you couldn’t pay me to eat salmon.  I knew the nutrition stats for salmon were great but still didn’t want anything to do with it.  Then one day, as if out of the blue, I started learning to love salmon.

I suppose it started with the night I met Dr. Andrew Weil at True Food Kitchen.  One of the dishes served was grilled salmon over the harvest chopped salad, and I remember thinking how the salmon was cooked to perfection and loaded with flavor, but wasn’t sure if it was just a fluke.

superfoods with dr andrew weil harvest choppedI decided to put my new-found appreciation for salmon to the test when I ordered a blackened salmon salad at La Sirena Grill.  Different preparation, but still quite delicious.

blackened salmon salad la sirenaBut I have to admit the dish that really taught me to love salmon was grilled salmon at Watermarc.  For whatever reason the preparation is phenomenal.  I’m usually the type of person who likes to order something different at restaurants, but every time I’m at Watermarc I go straight for the salmon.

grilled salmon saladWhile I’ve been learning to love salmon in cooked forms, I still can’t get on board with salmon sashimi and smoked salmon.  So that poses the question: how can I learn to love salmon in all it’s forms?  Any and all advice is most welcome.

Any other salmon lovers out there?  Where’s the best place to get a good piece of (sustainable) salmon?

Guacamole Fish Tacos

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Living in Southern California, it is pretty much a prerequisite that you must love guacamole.  And yet, I don’t have it often enough!  But in the spirit of the 2015 cookbook challenge and to celebrate the return of Portlandia, I decided to make Guacamole Fish Tacos from the Portlandia Cookbook.

guacamole fish tacosI’ll be honest, this recipe was pretty straightforward and easy to make.  The main modification I made was with the fish.  The original recipe called for red snapper (which I love), but we are both trying to be more conscientious about our seafood choices thanks to Seafood Watch, so we opted for wild sole and rockfish from Santa Monica Seafood.  Another good seafood tip?  Buy wild over farm raised and fresh over frozen as often as possible.

santa monica seafoodOnce we got our fish, the rest of the recipe came together pretty quickly.  We whipped up the guacamole, sautéed the fish and vegetables, assembled the slaw and warmed up the tortillas.  The great thing about fish tacos is you can customize them however you want, as long as there’s guacamole involved of course.

guacamole fish tacos taco bar

One of my lovely friends from LA joined us for dinner and we created a build your own taco bar with all of the fixings.  I knew this recipe was a winner when there wasn’t a drop of guacamole left after.

fish tacos and cheese

Guacamole Fish Tacos (adapted from the Portlandia Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh fish (see note above)

4 avocados, mashed

1 red onion, chopped

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

flour tortillas

sour cream or other cheese for topping (I used Tillamook Cheese)

Directions:

Grill your fish to your liking (I also recommend baking in parchment paper)

While you fish is cooking, assemble the guacamole ingredients in a large bowl and mix until everything is well blended.  Since many people have different preferences to how they like their guacamole, I recommend seasoning to your liking.

Warm your tortillas in the oven.  Assemble your fish taco, devour, and repeat.

Bear Flag Fish Co.

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Since our wedding a couple of weeks ago, the Englishman and I have been pretty busy.  We had family in town, various work obligations, and just trying to get back into the swing of things.  We finally had a few moments to catch our breath so we decided to go on a much overdue date to Bear Flag Fish Co. for dinner.

Bear Flag Fish Co CollageAfter hearing many friends rave about the fresh seafood at Bear Flag Fish Co., I figured it was high time that I finally check it out.  The restaurant is a no-frills kind of place where you order at the counter and your fresh fish is served on paper plates, which I really liked.

I started the evening out with a glass of wine, because why not.

Bear Flag Fish Co WineBear Flag Fish Co. is best known for their fresh ahi poke served with corn chips, but since that doesn’t work with my allergies, I decided to get the catch of the day which was yellowtail with brown rice and a salad.  Apologies in advance for the picture quality as all of these were snapped on my iphone.

Bear Flag Fish Co YellowtailThe yellowtail was grilled perfectly and was nice and light.  And Bear Flag doesn’t skimp on the portions either which was awesome – my plate came with a 1/2 pound of fish!

The Englishman decided to go with the swordfish taco which he quickly devoured.

Bear Flag Fish Co Swordfish tacoBear Flag Fish Co. gives you the option of either their panko grilled fish tacos or fish tacos made with the catch of the day which is awesome.  They also cover their tacos in their special “Tommy Sauce” and even have $2 Taco Tuesdays!

In addition to the fish taco, the Englishman ordered some clam chowder since it’s one of his favorites.

Bear Flag Fish co Clam ChowderI snuck a bite of the clam chowder and while it was good, it wasn’t the best clam chowder I’ve had.  Bear Flag Fish Co. is definitely known for their fresh seafood dishes, so I’d stick to those when ordering.

I was really glad we finally checked Bear Flag out!  The prices are definitely affordable, and the restaurant offers a lot of delicious items like fresh fish burritos, seafood bowls and a couple sushi rolls.  This is a definite return for me!

Favorite place to get seafood?  And go!