Fun Playing With Goodness from the Sea

Last Saturday, we finally made it to the relocated Bay Lobsters Fish Market 9224 Darrow Road, Twinsburg Ohio - literally right down the street from my house.

I regret that I forgot to grab my camera before we left the house - the new store is bright and clean, with a smooth parking lot, lots of freezer and fridge space - and some fabulous fish and seafood!

All of the case products were tagged with where they came from and whether they were wild or farmed, fresh or previously frozen. We decided on the lovely looking US wild-fished Striped Bass, and a pound of the dry packed scallops, which were in a rainbow of colors. Co-owner John Dziorney also threw a half pound of fresh Florida Grouper fillet into our bag, and we also tasted the house-made Lobster Bisque - which was simply delicious, right down to the wonderfully fresh lobster meat.

You cannot imagine my delight at being able to acquire fish and seafood this good, and so close to home! We started with the bass:







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A word of caution - there were a few scales and pinbones. But this is a plus to me - because it tells me that this fish was probably filleted by hand, and not far from the sale point - this was NOT mass market crappo fish!

In fact, simmered in a coconut milk broth (which I was out of - thank heavens for the powdered coconut milk I keep in my pantry for moments like this) with very lovely green beans and red pepper from Heinen's (and a bit of leftover California cauliflower and carrots), it was exquisite. And I don't say that very often about Cleveland fish.





We actually got two meals from 1 pound of fish here.

So - it wasn't until Monday that we sampled the Dry Pack Scallops. Bob marinated them in Miller Farm egg white, Shaoshing Rice Wine, Kosher Salt, and cornstarch before I had a chance to photograph them.



I will plug Aaron Miller's farm again here, though he has no website, his products are worth the effort to obtain:

Miller Livestock is located in northeastern Ohio about 30 minutes from Youngstown. We strive to produce high quality beef, pork, chicken, lamb and turkey on clean, chemical-free pasture.

Beef is available nearly year-round, but spring and fall are the best time to purchase meat because the grass is the sweetest at these times. We sell beef by the half or quarter, as well as individual cuts and ground meat. Lamb and hogs are available summer and fall with greatest availability in the fall. Fresh chicken is available early June, September, and later in October. Turkeys are available throughout the fall or can be held for Thanksgiving. White and brown eggs from free-range laying hens are plentiful year-round.

Visitors are welcome—please call ahead. We welcome your inspection of our farm and look forward to meeting you.

Miller Livestock, Aaron Miller and Family, 9590 Kinsman-Pymatuning Road, Kinsman OH 44428. (330) 876-5655. E-mail: kins3yr@aol.com

The scallops would become part of Spicy Orange Scallops with Fresh Rice Noodles, from one of my favorite cookbooks, the late Barbara Tropp's China Moon Cookbook.

First, the marinated scallops are velvetized in simmering water:

Seasonings of orange zest, scallion and home-made hot chili oil (together with some "goop" from the oil) are combined and stir fried.

Onion is added to the wok - then fresh bell pepper, onion, and, in a trick I learned from the venerable Chef Ming Tsai, fresh jicama root playing the part of fresh water chestnuts (a completely different animal from canned waterchestnuts - which are inedible).

Looks a lot like fresh waterchestnut, doesn't it?

This was the first time, unfortunately, that frozen rice noodle sheets disintegrated when cooked.



I have to wonder if they weren't "previously frozen."

The dish came out fabulously:





And the one pound of scallops provided two full meals for the two of us.

Tuesday night rolled around, and we still hadn't touched the lovely half pound of grouper fillet that John had gifted us with. I felt badly - I'd asked Bob to freeze it, but he hadn't - and I was afraid that it wouldn't hold that long. It turned out I worried over nothing.

Bob sauteed the fillet, then sauteed veggies in leftover scallop sauce, and put it all together over rice. That had to have been very fresh grouper, because it was still damned close to pristine on Tuesday and we'd acquired it Saturday, which meant it had to have been out of the water for at least 5 or 6 days. Outstanding. Recommended. Delicious.

So - if you crave truly fresh and delicious fish or seafood - get thyself to Bay Lobsters in Twinsburg and taste the goodness. Shop carefully and you will be rewarded with goodness rarely seen in our landlocked seafood wasteland. Fun fish, fun seafood, fun people - go play!

Fun Playing with Fresh Fish at Retail

I have long bemoaned the lack of truly fresh fish available at retail in Northeast Ohio. Yes, you can get exquisite sushi, scallops and other water-dwellers at many of our better restaurants in the Cleveland Area (such as Restaurant Dante, which I just blogged about here). But to me, cooking is an essential part of playing with food. And I long to try the many recipes I have for fresh crab, shrimp, scallops and finfish. I have rarely been happy with any fish I've purchased at retail in the almost 13 years I have lived here (with the exception of the fabulous gefilte fish mixture procured by Mister Brisket around the Jewish holidays). And I was really, really craving fresh fish after last Thursday's Sushi Blues at Dante.

So - I made my second journey to the newest local fish store: BayLobsters Fish Market, located at 9408 Ravenna Rd. (Rt. 82), Twinsburg, OH 44087. This is a family business owned by John & Cindy Dziorney, who also work in the store. Their daughter, whose name I did not get, really knows her fish (she was expertly shelling a cooked lobster for a customer when I came in), and was running the retail counter both times I visited.

The first time I visited, about 2 weeks ago, I got the most extraordinary piece of fresh halibut, which I did not get a photo of. Last Saturday, however, I felt like such a kid in a candy shop that I had to capture some swimming moments!

First dilemma - how to choose? Live soft shell crabs, live crawfish or whole fish (pompano, I think)? I decided to try the soft shells, which I've enjoyed eating, but never cooked.

Next - which fin fish? The salmon had just arrived, and it was pristine - I didn't open it until Sunday, and there wasn't a hint of fishy or even strong salmon smell. I asked for a pound. Since it was a little short, I decided to supplement it with some Mahi steak. But the Blue Marlin steaks just looked so good - I realized that the salmon would keep until Sunday, and the Marlin went on the menu for Saturday.

Then, off to Heinen's. They had some lovely crisp green beans, as well as passably crisp snap and snow peas. We still had some lovely asparagus from the Blue Egg Farmer - so I was in business!

As dinner time approached, I realized that I had no idea how to clean the soft shell crabs - every recipe I found told me to start with "cleaned" crabs. I had thought that they were 100% edible, but thanks to this recipe on Foodtv.com, I taught myself how to clean them. Since I had never cooked them, I was grateful to Foodtv.com for providing some help in that department, also.






Aren't They Cute?

I made a flour-beer batter, dipped them in, then set them into some 350 degree oil in a cast iron skillet. Served with Asian dipping sauce - they were scrumptious!





Next up - the Blue Marlin steak. Don't ask why I cut it in half before cooking it.



The young lady who sold this to me noted that it was Sashimi grade - so a light sear in the cast iron would be in order. I used a recipe for Wasabi Dipping Sauce to accompany it:







I stir fried the peas and asparagus with lots of garlic and ginger:



Add a pot of Jasmine Rice, and we enjoyed a fresh fish and seafood feast!

But the fish fest wasn't over yet! For Sunday night's dinner, I used a recipe from Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking for a baked salmon marinated in soy, chili and bean paste, to which I added a Bahamian gold pepper, which is very similar to, though slightly less hot than a habenero.

I was too tired to take a lot of photos - but these two say it all, I think:





The only salmon I've ever had that was more pristine than this was at Carrie Cerino's, when Chef Dominic was having Copper River Kings overnighted to him off of the fisherman's boat! This more than made up for the lack of profundity in the Mahi - it did smell a bit and wasn't as good. But to hit homeruns on three out of four fish items in one trip - that is a batting average the Cleveland Indians would love to have!

And now, thanks to BayLobsters Fish Market, I can play with fresh fish or seafood any time I want!