Jax Fish House

Posted on December 24, 2017 by melsmosaic

Slowly but surely checking out more restaurants in Fort Collins, CO. One of them was Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar. It’s a cozy place where you can sit at the bar for happy hour and watch the oyster get shucked or get a table.

Went on a Thursday night and though we had a reservation, we had a high top-like table facing the bar. It was quite loud and in one of those areas that was sort of ignored because it was almost invisible. It was between support beams/dividers and almost seems like it was more used for people to lean on while socializing during happy hour, but would be used to maximize table space.

We did get some service eventually and chose to start with some drinks while looking over the menu. I chose to go with some bubbles.

When the waitress came to take food orders, I decided to go totally hard core on fish that night for both courses. Started with the Fruit De Mer ($9) – Squid, shrimp, mussels, octopus, basil, jalapeño, red wine vinaigrette.

It was similar to a ceviche. And, there were green olives in there. Bring it on! Good amount for the two of us at the table.

For the main course, I opted for the Seared Scallops ($32.50) – parsnip hummus, balsamic roasted beets, belgian enive, carrots, bourbon pecans.

Overall, each component tasted fine, but the bourbon pecans did not fit with the scallops. They just went against their taste and texture. The sweet didn’t work. The pecans go with the thought/taste of fall roasted veggies, but not scallops. I was pretty disappointed.

The other entree ordered at the table was the Cast Iron Seared Salmon ($28.25) –
brown butter cappelini, roasted celeriac, butternut squash puree, crushed hazelnuts, roasted root vegetables, sage.

I was told it tasted quite good. The celeriac was a unique twist on traditional tastes.

I took quite awhile for these entrees to come out — maybe 40+ minutes. It didn’t appear to be that busy of a night. And just getting our water refilled was a challenge. I was happy to go to the restaurant, there was nothing wrong, cooking-wise, with my food, but it’s not a place I am putting at the top of my list to return to.

Black Market

Posted on November 17, 2017 by melsmosaic

Black Market can mean many things. Well, the most recent place I tested the name was at Jeff Black’s version of it in Garrett Park, MD, Black Market Bistro.

The last time I visited the place was probably 12 years ago and that was for brunch. Wow, it’s changed – it’s gotten much more popular and the menu is different.

Went on a Wednesday night and it was a solid 30 minute wait at around 7:45pm. Once we sat down, it didn’t take too long to decide what to get because we’d had a chance to glance at the menu while waiting. I will say, I ordered a heck of a lot of seafood!

So for the first course, the food that came to the table included:

Marinated Warm Grilled Squid Salad | $14 | Over Arugula in a Red Wine Vinaigrette with Kalamata Olives, Chili Flakes, Feta Cheese, Red Onions, Pine Nuts & Lemon Zest

First — the feta was genuine feta, so I could eat it. Everything other than the lettuce was hot-warm (which was perfect), and the squid was perfectly cooked. Heaven! I had to not eat it all because of the 2nd course.

Cornmeal Crusted Oysters | $13 | House Made Tartar Sauce

The plate was demolished, or the food on the plate was. Apparently perfect — crusted and cooked to perfection, with quite a tasty tartar sauce.

Second Course:

Swordfish special of the night. Can’t remember the entire description, but solid steaks, lettuce, nice vinaigrette, and delicious!

New Orleans Style Barbeque Shrimp | $27 | Sweet Corn & Scallion Grits, Wilted Swiss Chard & Toasted Baguette

Bring on the grit drool and mouth watering shrimp is what I determined/heard from across the table.

I took home a good amount of leftovers because both courses were big. The service was a bit slow and it was hard to get the waiter at some points, and then at others he was always there. But, as mentioned, it was a busy night.

A couple good wines were enjoyed, but forgot to take note of those. I think the food was the highlight of the night.

Check it out if you’re in the area. It’s definitely a hidden gem. Even if you know the area, you might have to pull out your phone to get you there from Strathmore Ave.

Cheers!

Smokin’ It

Posted on April 16, 2017 by melsmosaic

I love seafood, I love smoked seafood. So on my weekly or bi-weekly trip to Trader Joe’s I of course swung by the demo station. Had a bite of what they were serving (I think it was a egg salad). And at the station, they had a stack of Smoked Trout. While I have had their (and others’) vacuum packed/sealed stuff, this one was canned. Think of a sardine can, with a pull-top lid. It’s farm raised (not my favorite), skinless and in canola oil.

So I grabbed some and used it on a salad. Simple arugula, tomatoes, kalamatas, hearts of palm and baby Brussels sprouts. Just delicious blend of flavors. So as long as you’re not totally against the farm-raised, this is great stuff to have on hand. Stack it in the cupboard with the tuna and the other stuff and you’re good to go.

Opah!

Posted on January 12, 2017 by melsmosaic

Wanted to find something fun to cook the other day so swung into Whole Foods to see what they might have. Roamed over to the seafood section and found something I hadn’t noticed before — Opah. Went to the counter and asked one of the guys what he knew about it. He mentioned it was sort of a cross between tuna and swordfish. Ok, might as well give it a try.

I asked him about cooking and he said either grill or roast. I’d love to grill it but I don’t have the luxury of doing so because I live in an apartment building. I asked about pan searing and he said that works just fine, too. Seasoning-wise, he said don’t go crazy, no more than S&P.

While waiting for it to defrost (dropped it in a bowl of water, still wrapped), did some research on the Opah. They are pretty cool looking. Also found out they are pretty much a Hawaiian fish. Nice way to think about warmth.

It definitely lived up to the ‘firm’ preview. It had a really nice taste — some creaminess to it and was quite filling. I served it with some kale chips and pita & hummus.

And, let me tell you, the leftovers tasted awesome! Totally worth checking out if you see it at the store.

Tartare…touché

Posted on October 13, 2016 by melsmosaic

I love seafood, and next to the ceviche, I love tuna tartare. I can’t remember where I found this recipe, but I make it quite often. It’s so simple and so good. All you have to do is cube the tuna, then toss all the other ingredients with it. At the end, drizzle some lemon juice on top and garnish with the fennel fronds if you really want.

1 lb tuna or yellowtail, cubed
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T tiny capers
1 T finely chopped shallot
1 T finely chopped Sicilian green olives
1/2 t. red pepper flakes, or 1 small chile pepper, chopped fine
1 t pine nuts, toasted and chopped
S&P to taste
1 lemon
2 T fennel fronds, for garnish (optional)

Good places for the seafood is Costco, if you’re a member. Also, if you can find the fish flash frozen, such as places like Trader Joe’s, it’s just as good. Enjoy!

A New Halibut Ceviche

Posted on October 13, 2016 by melsmosaic

Ceviche is one of my favorite dishes, and halibut is a great fish to use in it (oddly — and when I want to splurge). I have one recipe I love to use and then came across another I thought I would try — Halibut Ceviche with Tomato and Cucumber.

Ingredients
Servings: 6

1 garlic clove, finely grated
¾ cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila blanco (used the (gold) Cuervo I had)
1 teaspoon agave nectar
¼ small pineapple, cut into ½-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced
½ jalapeño, thinly sliced
6 ounces halibut fillet, skin, bones, and bloodline removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 avocado, cut into ½-inch pieces
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup finely chopped mint
Kosher salt
*I don’t see cucumber anywhere in the ingredient list, even though it’s in the title of the recipe, so they either forgot it in the list or put it incorrectly in the title

Preparation

Mix garlic, lime juice, tequila, and agave nectar in a large bowl. Add pineapple, tomato, onion, radishes, jalapeño, and halibut and toss to coat. Fold in avocado, cilantro, and mint; season with salt.
Chill 10 minutes before serving.

It was good, but not great. There was something off about it. Maybe the pineapple was the wrong texture? Not saying I wouldn’t eat it, but not my favorite ceviche. I think my favorite it the Green Ceviche.

Fishbone Bar & Grill, Queenstown, NZ

Posted on April 28, 2016 by melsmosaic

New town, new country, of course new exploration. The hotel where we stayed recommended a great seafood restaurant for the first night in Queenstown; Fishbone Bar & Grill. Of course, you have just a bit of water around you when you’re in New Zealand so there is likely to be some decent seafood.

And to kick off the meal in the new country we started with some vino, of course. We opted for some Rockface Pinot Gris from Waipara, NZ. Pretty dry, which is why we picked it to pair with upcoming seafood.

For dinner we decided to go with 3 appetizers. They were good sized as we saw them going to other tables, which is why we went this route.

Seared Tasman Sea scallops with tomato and fennel ragout, shaved fennel, orange and fresh fennel pollen

Sesame-crusted west coast Albacore tuna sashimi with Daikon, cucumber and bok choy, black garlic mayonnaise

Salt & chili arrowhead squid with radicchio, endive, orange, and squid ink mayonnaise.

I don’t think you could find a piece of food left on these plate. The tuna was perfect crusted in sesame seeds and the perfect size, the squid had been cooked to perfection and was the perfect texture and those scallops, oh those scallops. This place needs to open a location in DC.

Saffron Fish Stew

Posted on January 23, 2016 by melsmosaic

Even before this crazy snow started falling (so last week), I was searching for soup. It was actually while needing to sit on the couch for several hours watching football. So a recipe I came across to check out was Bon Appetit/Epicurious’s Saffron Fish Stew with White Beans. I love getting something with that sharp color of saffron (and you can find it for a great price at Trader Joe’s). When I came across this recipe it has so many of my favorite herbs. Anything with seafood is wonderful!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup pre-chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground fennel (love it!)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (heaven)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 thyme sprig
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh orange rind
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups clam juice
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 pound flounder fillet, cut into (2-inch) pieces (for this I just threw in a bunch of stuff from my freezer — some white fish, scallops, langoustine tails. I also had a bag of mixed stuff from TJ’s that I’ll use next time)
1 (14-ounce) can great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
Fresh thyme leaves

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, fennel, coriander, garlic, and thyme sprig; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in rind and saffron; add water, clam juice, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in salt, fish, and beans; cook 5 minutes. Top with thyme leaves.

This was so quick to make! Served it with some rosemary bread (can’t take credit for making that). Delicious.

Oh My Cod

Posted on November 16, 2015 by melsmosaic

Another new recipe, of course. What would I do if cooking magazines went out of publication? I love posole and normally it’s made with chicken. But in a recent edition of Bon Appetit (can you see what I get often?) there was a recipe for Green Posole with Cod and Cilantro (Duh on the last ingredient!!! How can you live without that stuff?).

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 serrano chiles, thinly sliced, divided (skipped these, see below)
8 medium tomatillos (about 1¼ pounds), husks removed, rinsed (Lazy on these because I use green salsa. I usually just get the ‘normal’ stuff from Trader Joe’s. Well they just came out with some super spicy green stuff — Hatch Valley. So I used one jar of the normal and one jar of the spicy, which replaced the chiles, and oh I am glad I only used one jar!)
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 cup cilantro leaves with tender stems, plus more for serving
1 pound cod fillet (frozen chunked from Trader Joe’s)
1 15-ounce can white hominy, rinsed (used a bigger can, because that’s what I had — 25 oz)
1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
3 small radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced (skipped them because it was garnish)
Lime wedges (for serving) (ditto as above)

Preparation:

-Heat oil in a large pot over medium. Cook shallots, garlic, and half of chiles (this is the part I skipped, chile-wise because of the salsa), stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, 6–8 minutes.
-Meanwhile, purée tomatillos in a blender until smooth.  (didn’t have to do this because of the ease of green salsa)

-Add half of tomatillo purée to pot and cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup cilantro to remaining purée in blender and blend until smooth; set aside.  (I just chopped the cilantro very well and added it a step down).

-Add cod, hominy, clam juice, and 1 cup water to pot. Bring to a simmer and gently cook over medium-low until cod is opaque throughout and beginning to flake, 8–10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in reserved raw tomatillo-cilantro purée, breaking cod into large chunks; season with salt and pepper.   (If you used the cubed stuff from Trader Joe’s or elsewhere, you don’t have the break down the cod, already done — simplicity in the kitchen!).

-Divide stew among bowls and top with radishes, cilantro, and remaining chile. Serve with lime wedges.

This stuff was good! Pretty thick/heavy, too. A bit spicy for me, but my friends inhaled it and loved the spice. Love getting variations on posole. Definitely recommend giving this a try.

Gettin’ crabby

Posted on September 8, 2015 by melsmosaic

Maryland, Labor Day weekend, unofficial end of summer, an important thing to do was eat crabs. A friend has crab traps right at her place so had to go join right where the action was taking place.