West Coast Seafood: The Complete Cookbook - Softcover

Harlow, Jay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 157061170X ISBN 13: 9781570611704

Publisher: Sasquatch Books, 2002

Synopsis

This is the new definitive seafood cookbook from writer and chef Jay Harlow. West Coast Seafood addresses the finfish and shellfish, ocean and fresh water catch available fresh from California to Alaska, with over 250 recipes, both basic and lavish.

This important new cookbook introduces the up-to-the-minute selection of fresh fish and shellfish available on the West Coast and furnishes 250 wonderful recipes that bring out the most in albacore, spot prawns, black cod, salmon, rainbow trout, petrale sole, skate, oysters, and more. It includes color photographs.

About this title

Review:

Picture yourself standing before the fish monger's display case with the day's catch all nicely laid out on gleaming shaved ice, the price tags and labels in place, the fishmonger's retail smile intact. He's waiting, patiently, for you to make up your mind. Trouble is, you're shopping for a specific fish, and it's not for sale. So what do you do, fall back on old tried-and-true recipes for the seafood you recognize in the case? You can hear your family yawning, can't you?

Fear not, lover of seafood. Jay Harlow has written West Coast Seafood: The Complete Cookbook. Tuck this sucker under your arm next time you head out the door and you will never again suffer seafood angst. Nor will you have to stand in front of the fish counter thumbing through a book like a damned fool. Harlow, you see, has organized West Coast Seafood by type of seafood, not according to where in a meal the dish will be served.

And if that doesn't tell you that this guy knows what he's doing, then just dig in. Complete Cookbook falls short of the mark; Final Word comes closer. Because everything is here: all the information you need to select the best-quality seafood; instructions to clean and prep the seafood you bring home; and then a wide flavor range and cooking-style range to keep new and exciting dishes coming to the dinner table.

The finned fish of fresh and salt water, both wild and farmed, are all here. Can't stand the idea of another grilled salmon steak? Try Kurt's Salmon with Oyster Stuffing. And if there are any leftovers, go straight to Salmon Cakes. How does Grilled Halibut with Roasted Garlic Marinade sound? Or Halibut Cooked with Poblano Chiles and Cream? Yes, there are Dungeness Crab Cakes in West Coast Seafood, but you will also find Stir-Fried Crab with Chiles and Ginger.

There are no desserts. But Harlow does end his book with a selection of appropriate sauces as well as two essays on the future of fishing, and the place of aquaculture. Like the entire book, well worth reading. --Schuyler Ingle

From the Publisher:

Want to know how to approach seafood with confidence - both in the market and in the kitchen? At long last, here's a trustworthy, up-to-the-minute cook's guide to fresh seafood, "West Coast style."

Much of the nation's seafood supply comes from the West Coast, according to Jay Harlow, author of West Coast Seafood: The Complete Cookbook. In his definitive new cookbook, Harlow, a veteran seafood chef, cookbook author, cooking teacher and all-around seafood expert based in Berkeley, California' introduces the sometimes bewildering array of fresh fish and shellfish now commonly available to home cooks. The result is a trustworthy, up-to-the-minute cook's guide.

From familiar varieties such as salmon, halibut, swordfish, and Dungeness crab, to more exotic types like tilapia, wolffish, and grenadier, his complete cookbook provides an impressive collection of information, instruction, and recipes. Whether it is albacore from the Pacific Ocean, California halibut from the Sea of Cortez, king salmon from Alaska's Copper River, or Pacific oysters from the waters of Hood Canal, West Coast Seafood explains what it is, when it's in season, and how to cook it to bring out its best flavors.

More than 250 delectable recipes, both basic and lavish, run the gamut from West Coast classics such as Angels on Horseback and Crab Louis to contemporary restaurant-style Lemon Scented Pasta with Manila Clams, and Chard Wrapped Salmon Packets. The multicultural array that many Pacific Coast diners enjoy is reflected in dishes such as Catfish in Vietnamese Caramel Sauce; Jerk Fish, a Jamaican-style barbecued halibut; and Chawan-Mushi, a Japanese savory custard with salmon and asparagus.

Harlow has made it his life's mission to teach home cooks how to approach seafood with confidence, both in the market and in the kitchen. "People are simply not as comfortable preparing seafood as they are other foods," he says. "Most have a limited repertoire of recipes for a few familiar varieties, and are afraid to experiment with others. Harlow's clear, simple, step-by-step instructions and relaxed, confident approach in West Coast Seafood are sure to help cooks cross that bridge, with delicious results.

West Coast Seafood draws on the nearly two decades Harlow has spent cooking with and writing about seafood. He is author or co-author of 11 cookbooks and writes a seafood column for the San Francisco Examiner. Previously, his weekly column on seafood, "The Fishmonger," ran for more than a decade in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Before turning to writing, Harlow was a cook and chef at such well know seafood restaurants as the Hayes Street Grill in San Francisco and the Fourth Street Grill and Santa Fe Bar & Grill in Berkeley, working side by side with some of the best of the new breed of California chef/restaurateurs, Jeremiah Tower, Mark Miller, Paul Bertolli, and Patricia Untermann. Since 1983, Harlow has taught cooking classes to home cooks and aspiring chefs throughout the West Coast and across the country.

"Whether motivated by health concerns or simply looking for more varied and flavorful meals, Americans eat more fish and shellfish than ever before," says Harlow. "At the same time, food retailers across the country have responded to the rising interest with a dramatic increase in the size and selection of their seafood departments."

"The challenge for the home cook," he adds, "is knowing how best to cook fish that may seem similar but differ widely in flavor. Increased variety means learning about new and unfamiliar species of fish and shellfish, but it also gives the informed cook many more ways to prepare delicious, healthful seafood meals."

About this edition

• Publisher: Sasquatch Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 157061170X
• ISBN 13: 9781570611704
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368