Good Fish_ Sustainable Seafood Recipes From the Pacific Coast - Becky Selengut [24]
SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SIDE DISH (WITH LEFTOVERS)
To prepare the bread cubes, preheat the oven to 250ºF. Spread the bread cubes out over 2 baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes. Set aside.
To prepare the chorizo, mix all of its ingredients well in a medium bowl. Test-fry a small amount of chorizo and taste for seasoning. Set aside in the refrigerator.
To prepare the stuffing, in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the butter. When the butter has melted, add the celery, onion, and apple, and cook until softened, stirring often, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the salt. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Reheat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil, and when its hot, add the chorizo mixture. Cook, breaking up the meat, until it is no longer pink, 6 to 7 minutes. Add it to the bowl of vegetables, along with the parsley, egg, thyme, stock/ oyster liquid, oysters, and reserved bread cubes. Mix well, letting the bread cubes soak up all the liquid. Transfer mixture to a buttered casserole dish and dot the top with a little more butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes covered and then for another 15 minutes uncovered, or until the top crisps and browns.
PAIRING: A pinot noir, such as Belle Vallée 2007, Willamette Valley, Oregon, or a Beaujolais.
dungeness crab
I love me some Dungeness crab—all ways, but especially pure and simple, where the shortest distance between two points is a straight line from a cracked crab to my mouth. Butter is always a nice accompaniment, but good Dungeness crab seems to contain its own oceany butter: rich yet still crisp and clean. (An extra bonus is its onboard sea salt seasoning.)
When I worked at The Herbfarm Restaurant, I used to pick up our live crabs from the fish market. That long drive out to Woodinville was always punctuated by quick peeks into my rearview mirror to see if an army of rogue crustaceans was plotting to hijack the car. They never did, which was a very good thing, because what a loss if I had missed out on transforming these crabby warriors into the dishes of chef Jerry Traunfeld’s imaginings: paper-thin pasta squares enfolding crabmeat with a delicate lemon beurre blanc, herbed crab cocktails with shiso, and poofy, delicate crab soufflés.
WHAT MAKES THIS A GOOD CHOICE: The Dungeness crab fishery is well managed and abundant up and down the coast, from California to Alaska. The population fluctuates year to year and, generally speaking, the allowable catch is restricted by size (only the bigger crabs—size minimums vary by area), sex (males only), and molt times (only nonmolting crabs may be harvested).
BY ANY OTHER NAME: Dungeness crabs (Cancer magister) are also known as “Dungies.”
SEASON: Dungeness crabs molt many times in their first few years and once a year after that. Most commercial harvesting of Dungeness crab occurs in the fall and winter, though as you go north, the season extends into spring (in British Columbia) and summer (in Alaska). Crabs can be caught recreationally throughout the year in some areas. If you plan to go crabbing, check local sport-fishing regulations to make sure the season is open. Soft-shell crabs should be gently released to allow them to harden up (you get less yield by weight when the shell is soft).
BUYING TIPS: You will find Dungeness crab in many forms: live in saltwater or seawater tanks; cooked, cleaned and on ice; as picked crabmeat; in sealed plastic tubs; or in cans (most canned crabmeat needs to be kept under refrigeration). I’ve found that the tubbed and canned Dungeness crab can be of surprisingly good quality. If you want a live Dungie, look for a spirited one and make sure it has both of its claws (sometimes they get knocked off or lost in a fight; amazingly, crabs can grow limbs back when they molt). Cooked crabs (known as whole cooks) are often less expensive than live ones because they don’t need to be as perfect (they