Preparing Seafood Beyond "The Big Three"

Chef David Pasternack Helps Expand Horizons Beyond Tuna, Salmon And Swordfish

(CBS)  NANTUCKET BAY SCALLOPS WITH LEMON AND CHERVIL

Serves 4

1/2 pound Nantucket Bay scallops (about 25 to 30), well chilled
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
coarse sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 sprigs chervil, leaves only

In a mixing bowl, combine the scallops, lemon juice, and olive oil. Toss gently to combine.

Spoon onto four serving plates and dress each with a light sprinkling of sea salt, black pepper, and a few chervil leaves.

Serve Immediately.

RIGATONI WITH TUNA BOLOHNESE

Serves 4

2 pounds fresh tuna scraps or steaks, cut into large chunks
10 ounces pancetta, cut into medium dice
6 ounces mackerel, cut into medium dice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
one bottle (750-milliliter) red wine
1 bay leaf
1/2 cinnamon stick (about 2 inches)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
one 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (and their juice)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound dried rigatoni (preferably DeCecco)
1/2 pound mascarpone cheese

In a food processor, pulse the tuna, pancetta, and mackerel until coarsely ground. Set aside. In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over a medium flame. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the ground tuna mixture, and increase the flame to medium high. Cook, stirring with a fork, until all the juices are dry and the bottom of the pan begins to brown, 7 to 10 minutes.

Add the red wine, bay leaf, red pepper, and cinnamon stick, and cook until dry, about 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, crushing them by hand, and their juice, and 1/2 cup water. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Let simmer, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours. The sauce should be moist, not wet. Taste and re-season with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf and cinnamon stick.

Prepare the rigatoni according to the package directions, cooking 1 minute less than the package instructs for al dente. Drain in a colander and combine with the Bolognese sauce. Divide among four serving bowls. Top each bowl with 1/2 cup of mascarpone, a sprinkling of salt, and a grinding of pepper.

GRILLED PORGY WITH SALSA VERDE AND BRAISED CARROTS

Serves 2

For the Salsa Verde:
2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
3 sprigs rosemary, needles picked off the stems
2 anchovy fillets
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup chives, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup fennel tops, fronds picked off the stems
6 sprigs tarragon, leaves picked off the stems
3 sprigs oregano, leaves picked off the stems
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the Porgy:
One 2-pound porgy, scales and fins removed and gutted
4 parsley stems
2 medium lemon slices
1 clove garlic, crushed
Extra-virgin olive oil, to coat the fish
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Braised Carrots (recipe follows)

Make the Salsa Verde:

Use a mortar and pestle, combine the sea salt and rosemary and crush to a fine dust. Add the anchovies and garlic, and continue pounding until the mixture has the consistency of a paste.

Follow with the chives, fennel tops, tarragon, and oregano, pounding after each addition.
Transfer the paste to a small mixing bowl and add the olive oil and lemon juice.

Taste and then adjust the seasoning by adding salt and pepper as needed. This should be made shortly before serving so the herbs are still fresh tasting. Leftovers can be refrigerated and brought to room temperature before serving as a condiment.

To make the Porgy:

Prepare a charcoal fire and let the grill get very hot. Dry the fish with paper towels. Stuff the cavity with the parsley stems, lemon slices, and garlic. Rub the fish on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

When the coals are white-hot, place the fish over the medium-high part of the fire (where you can hold your hand above the coals for, say, 4 seconds). If the flames jump to touch the fish, move it to a cooler part of the grill. Grill the fish for 8 to 10 minutes per side. The skin should be charred but not blackened.

The flesh of the fish, when touched, should gently break away under the skin. Fillet the fish and transfer it to two serving plates. Spoon a tablespoon of the Salsa Verde over each piece just before serving with the Braised Carrots.

BRAISED CARROTS

Serves 4

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups moscato wine
2 cups orange juice
1/3 cups light brown sugar
3 cups baby carrots
2 sprigs thyme
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over a medium flame until hot but not smoking.

Add the shallots and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the moscato, orange juice, and brown sugar, raise the heat, and bring to a simmer. Add the carrots and the thyme, stir thoroughly, and cover. Cook the carrots until they're almost tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove the lid and let the liquid evaporate until the pan is moist but no longer wet. Remove the thyme sprigs. Season with salt and pepper, add the butter, stir until it melts, and transfer the carrots to a serving bowl.

[sjw1253]

I too missed this segment. Appointments are not always conveniently scheduled for t.v.

I wish that the chef would define sea beans as well??? What the heck are they???

The "Ask.com" feature on the website is a great feature usually - but when I click on the sea bean - it states it is the same as a Florida bean... which is "The large, roundish, flattened seed of Mucuna urens. See under Bean. (b) One of the very large seeds of the Entada scandens."...

Say ... What??? I am used to having these things spelled out in English - duh... in terms that I can relate...

Please give better details in the future...

Thanks in advance...


The recipes sound great...

[sevenveils]

I was skeptical when I first started reading about this chef. After finishing this article all I can say is: This guy knows how to cook! And he uses real charcoal too! Wish I had seen this segment.

Perhaps on the show sea beans were defined, and from what I've read they can be coconuts or almonds, so I'm guessing chef Pasternack is using almonds in the fluke recipe?

[extremophil]

Just gimme a fish sandwich from Long John Silvers.