THERE’S SOMETHING FISHY ABOUT CHEF MICHAEL DEGEORGIO

Executive Chef Michael DeGeorgio held a cooking class that focused on fish, The Feast of Seven Fishes, to be exact.  For those of you that are not familiar with the Italian celebration, it is a traditional meal served on Christmas Eve.   Whether you were looking to do your own holiday cooking or just needed some great tips for preparing fish, the sold out class offered both knowledge and the highest quality seafood. 

There might have been some couples that were not even interested in cooking on the holidays.  For a price of $125 per person (all inclusive) you were able to indulge in a relaxed dinner that included three appetizers, pasta dish, entrée, and 3 desserts, plus paired white and red wines and coffee along with the full recipes for everything but dessert.  Hey, it was at least three hours of demo and eating. 

Needless to say, Chef Michael did not work alone as Chef Luis Enriquez did his “sous chef-ing”.   

   

What did we have and what did I learn?  Let’s start with a Frutta De Mare (seafood salad) of poached lobster, shrimp, calamari (squid), pulpo (octopus), dry sea scallops and scungilli (conch).

First things first, prepare a poaching liquid consisting of water, pickling spice, white wine and lemon juice, onions, celery, parsley and carrots.  You can always freeze this in portions for future use as is or it can certainly make for a great poaching liquid with that added seafood flavoring. 

Chef Michael gave us lots of great tips.  For instance, the best shrimp to use would be a 26/30 white, peeled and deveined.  Fresh squid is much better to use.  You can clean it yourself or buy it already done for you.  I used to think that calamari was rubbery due to the amount of time cooked.  Wrong.  Fresh counts the most.  Dry scallops do not have added water and chemicals.  Hint, hint.  

Fritto Misto (mixed fish) consisted of lemon sole, calamari, shrimp, fresh asparagus, and zucchini.  This is of the fried ilk and should be chilled overnight (before frying) to allow the marinade to soak in.  Tip?  Soaking food in milk tenderizes it.  In fact, Michael prepares a turkey by marinating in milk and butter.   Another tip on this is to dust with Wondra Flour.  The fish, not the turkey. 

Baked Clams Oregenata were next.  Littleneck clams baked with bread crumbs and white wine, along with things like roasted shallots and garlic and a few cheeses (I’m not going to give away the secrets).  He suggested that you can either open the clams or have your fish monger do it for you.  

We’re up to the pasta dish.  Personally, I do not like “al dente”.   Chewing pasta is just not my thing and I’m not Italian, so I don’t care.  Linguini Con Granchi contained: blue crab and Alaskan King Crab in a light tomato sauce.   Use a can of imported San Marzano whole tomatoes.  You might be better off having the monger kill and clean the crabs so that they don’t bite your tongue or grubby little fingers.  Alaskan King Crabs are easiest to get the most of the meat without most of the fuss. 

The entrée, hand-carved whole roasted fish with fennel, endive, broccoli rabe and bread crumbs was served with truffle potato croquettes.   Michael’s staff had prepared two different fish in the kitchen; American snapper and halibut.  I tried the halibut and it was extremely tender, but “meaty”.  This was due to the added liquids such as white wine and chicken stock as well as some other tasty additions. Not to miss out on the preparation, Chef Michael showed us how to prepare it using a smaller snapper.    

Seconds of everything were offered.  However, I was getting quite full on the “firsts” and wanted to save a bit or room for desserts.  One was Panettone topped with vanilla gelato and raspberry sauce (seedless). Another was a warm apple cobbler.  Last (and not on the menu) was a fried ravioli.  Fried ravioli for dessert?  It depends on what’s inside.  This one oozed chocolate!!

Here are just some of the folks that attended.

Joining us were the Almonte family, owners of the new Keyfood Supermarket located at 163-20 Cross Bay Blvd. 

Russo’s recently put out their own brand of gourmet food now being sold at this location. All you have to do is heat it up…unless it’s something you would serve cold, such as a seafood salad.  Each day, the food is prepared at Russo’s on the Bay and brought over to Keyfood’s deli department.  Along with salads and main dish items, there is an area just across the deli called “Grab and Go”.  Here you can get two sauces, ala vodka and marinara as well as appetizer sizes of: Russo’s original meatballs (Michael’s recipe), Chicken Francese  meatballs, Asiago rice balls, Potato Croquettes, Stuffed mushrooms, and Mozzarella Carozza (kind of a fried mozz sandwich). 

With Thanksgiving coming up Chef Michael is doing the preparation of turkey packages that you can pre-order at Keyfood and get it delivered to your home.   As an idea, the cost of a $229 (plus tax) would feed 12-15 people.  718-835-4100. 

As for cooking classes, check Vetro’s website of www.vetronyc.com   for future classes and other tidbits of information. 

 

SEVEN FISHES WITHOUT AN ALLERGIC REACTION

The below article appeared in the December 20, 2013 issue of the Times Ledger. However, the person editing failed to mention the subject of the article leaving out two important paragraphs.  Omitting them sounds as if I don't know what I'm talking about.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci), celebrated on Christmas Eve, also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), is believed to have originated in Southern Italy and is not a known tradition in many parts of Italy. The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstinence which, in this case, meant refraining from the consumption of meat or milk products on the eve of specific holy days.  As no meat or butter could be used on such days, observant Catholics would instead eat fish, typically fried in oil.

Some Italian American families have been known to celebrate with 9, 11 or 13 different seafood dishes.  At Fairway Market in Douglaston you will most likely view a sign reading, “Festa deiSette Pesci” with a list of seven suggestions: Baccala (Dried Cod) Fritte; Fried or Boiled Calamari; Baked Flounder; Boiled Whole Crab or Lobster; Sauteed Shrimp; Steamed Mussels; A Classic Spaghetti with Clams.

An availability of fresh seafood is not a problem, but what if some of your family members have an allergy toward shellfish?  What is “out” and what is “in”?

The obvious “villains” are crustaceans such as: lobster, crabs, shrimp, prawns and crayfish.  You can most likely add mollusks such as clams, oysters, mussels, conch (scungilli) and scallops.  Not so obvious are squid (calamari) and octopus (polpo). What’s a host to do?

You can certainly find some fish markets in Queens.   I recommend Fairway Market not only for their array and reputation but noticing that there is a purposely placed separation between the allergens and non-allergens.   Make it a point to tell the person handling the seafood that you are purchasing fish for someone who is highly allergic to shellfish.  If necessary, request that the gloves be changed.  

Another option is that if you are just purchasing the non-allergens, you might want to shop at a kosher supermarket such as Aron’s Kissena Farms, 75-15 Kissena Blvd.  or Seasons, 68-18 Main St.  Any form of shellfish considered to be un-kosher.  

The rest of your basic Fairway shopping needs is available as well.  A preparation of a marina sauce using San Marzano tomatoes, a fish stock made with the fish bones and heads, fine quality pasta, olive oil, and produce such as lemons, garlic, onions, potatoes, parsley and basil are just some of the essentials. 

Here is my idea for 10 fish dishes.  1.  Fresh sardines are offered.   Remove the head, tail and back bones.  Drench in flour and fry.   2.  and 3. Baked flounder filets and pan fried lemon sole filets are fabulous.   4. Bronzino is one of the best for stuffing.  Buy it whole and have them scale, gut and remove the head and tail (Keep for the stock).   5. and 6. You can make great tasting fish balls from cod and salmon.  Have them remove the salmon skin (stock) and grind the two fish adding mayo, Dijon mustard and Panko bread crumbs.  Roll in small balls and fry.  Use the fish balls in a pasta dish.   7. Fish and chips anyone?   Whole red snappers are on display.  They can do the fileting and you can keep…you know.   8.  A different pasta dish using anchovy filets.  9. Grill or pan fry fresh tuna for an Italian style tuna salad. The fish stock will come in handy for sauces as well as a 10. Christmas Fish Soup. 

Nobody says that you have to stick to everything done Italian style.  Spruce it up with some smoked white fish and pickled herring for appetizers. I guess that makes 12.  Mangia!