Minute to minute: quick and tasty seafood

Annalena has heard every single variation on the sentence "I would cook fish but...." The ONLY valid one, in her mind, is "I don't like it." Of course, that has many ramifications and Annalena's naturally inquisitive and anthropological mind is probably hell bent on finding out WHY you don't like it, which may leave you wondering "why the hell did I ever say anything?"

The one that irks her more than any other is "I don't know how to cook it." Well, this, frankly, is hogwash. If you like fish, but you don't know how to cook it, LEARN. And, where better to start than with Annalena. :). It is really NOT that hard to do. If you don't care to take Annalena's tuition, listen to your local fish monger. After all, s/he is really very interested in you learning how to cook fish. If you feel intimidated by that, then ask a cook you trust. Most of us know how to cook at least some kinds of fish and, as you have learned from Annalena's blog, we are an opinionated block. I guarantee you, you will learn more than you thought you could, in just one session of fish cooking with someone who does it.

And, the next best thing to doing it standing next to someone who has done it, is to listen to Annalena. This is a dish that I made this past weekend. It was a very HOT weekend, it was also Annalena's 27th anniversary with the Guyman, which is why there were no posts this weekend. And it was born out of a desire to make something fast, tasty, and healthy , given that the revelries of the weekend would involve much animal fat , sugar, and alcohol. Here it comes. And I will offer alternatives along the way.

This is a dish that I made of clams, shrimp and swordfish. The clams and shrimp were steamed, the swordfish was grilled on the stove. Now, just about any time that someone gives you a recipe with clams, you can substitute mussels. With shrimp? Scallops will come in easily. Swordfish? Substitute yellowfin tuna if you don't have the swordfish, or use something else firm. Striped bass has just come into season. You can use that. In fact, in the ALL steaming version, you should use bass or some other white fish, as I will explain.

I will give you the proportions that I used for two nice sized portions. This could probably extend to four as a first course. You begin with a dozen clams. Or, a pound of mussels. You also need half a pound of shelled, deveined shrimp, or the same amount of scallops. Cut them in half if they are particularly large. Finally, a pound of the fish. You will also need one spring onion, or half of a storage onion (the ones with skin), half of a head of spring garlic, chopped (or two cloves of storage garlic, also chopped), and a volume of chopped ginger equal to the volume of the chopped onion. Also, you need some mirin (the Japanese sweet cooking wine), or some sherry (for heaven's sake, do NOT use "cooking sherry" which is only useful for poisoning people. Use good stuff). And some soy sauce. Finally, either chicken stock, or clam juice, or even just plain water. Start with the mirin: about a quarter cup, and then add soy sauce. Taste it. Do you like sweet or salty? Adjust the two, to get a flavor you want, but make sure that it's stronger than you like, because you are going to add enough of the stock/juice/water to come to a full cup. The flavor will still be there, even with 1/4 cup of mirin and two tablespoons of soy sauce, augmented by stock.

Let's wash the clams first. Many people find clams unappetizing because they do not clean them properly. If you are putting clams in a colander, and turning the faucet on them, this is wrong. Clams are sandy, and that process will just move the sand from one clam to another. What you do is immerse the clams in a bowl of water. Let them sit for a minute. See that gunk at the bottom? Ok, take out the clams, discard the water, and repeat. Do it until the water is clean. It won't take more than two or three times.

Put those clams aside, and now get a large pot . Put in two tablespoons of vegetable oil, and those chopped veggies. Let them cook for a minute or two, until the onion begins to color. Add the clams, and the liquid, and cover the pot.

Check after about 4 minutes, because your clams will have started to open. I think most people expect clams to open like a yawning cat. That will happen with some of them, but not all of them. In my experience, about half of fresh clams open only a short way. You can see an opening, but they do not "gape," the way we're used to. If that happens, the clam is good. Only clams that stay "tight as a clam" are dead and not fit to be eaten. If you see a small opening between the shells, you can very easily slip a small knife in between, and open the shells so that that clam gapes as well. Please protect your hands when you do this - Annalena does not want you to burn yourself while making this tasty dish.

When all the clams are done, IF you are doing a complete steamed dish, add a pound of chunked fish to the liquid, and again, cover the pot. After three minutes, add the shrimp and cook for another three minutes. Now, remove all of that, and keep it with the clams.

You can use your colander now. Take the pot with the liquid and the solids, and pour it through a colander, so that the liquid is on the fish.

DONE. Maybe. You probably want some starch with this. I made couscous, which was fine, but this may be a dish best served with toasty bread.

In the variation that I made, rather than steam the fish (I think that steaming swordfish is criminal), I grilled it. On the burner right next to the pot where you're cooking the clams and shrimp, heat up a grill pan that you've oiled quite generously. Let it heat for about five minutes. While it's heating, oil, salt and pepper a pound of swordfish steaks. When the grill is quite hot, put the fish on it. If you are using swordfish, 3 minutes to a side is about what you want. If you are using tuna, bring it down to no more than 2 minutes a side. You may want to use a frying pan, instead of a grill, for flat fish, or smaller , thinner fish.

You can add the fish in a whole piece if you like, or slice it as if it were a steak. I recommend the latter for tuna and swordfish, and the former for bass, or flounder, or something like that.

I guarantee you that if you make this, and you look up Annalena's simple fish in papillote recipe, you will have a sufficiency of fish dishes, that people may start calling you Poseidon, or Neptune, or a Nereid or soemthing marine. It's worth it.