Mrs. Alandur's Biranyi, King Crab and Wolf Fish

Hey Y'all,

I'm considering expanding my business to include raft sales so that you can hop in and paddle your way over to the store.  Please let me know if you think this would hurt my business as people might  just go out in the road and fish for their dinner.  What do you think?  #pleasestopraining #carsdontfloat #fishingfordinner

Fin Mail

Ivan Tucker gave us a 5 Star (yay!!) Review on Google!  Thank you, Ivan!

Very pleased and impressed with Kathleen's. The Red Snapper was as fresh as it came right off the boat.

Also lots of people gave rave reviews in our follow up emails about the Valentine's dinners.  I am so glad you loved it and appreciated having a nice meal at home with little work and planning.

Do your friends a favor and spead the word, y'all.  Everybody needs a place to buy fresh fish.

Catch Customers Can Cook!

I include people's pictures of their meals because I think it gives others an idea of things they could prepare for themselves.  Even if they don't send me a recipe, I believe that the pictures of simple meals people make at home with my fish are an encouragement to others who need inspiration.

Ellyn Foltz used to travel to India often for her work.  One of the people who worked for her must have really loved her because he took her to his mother's home in Chennai where she made this.  Ellyn is calling it Mrs. Alandur's Biranyi.

Mrs. Alandur's Biranyi

Serves six adults or three teenage boys

I T. extra virgin olive oil
½ cup brown (or regular) basmati rice
1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
1-2 T minced fresh ginger
½ t ground coriander

1-2 T curry powder

Cayenne, to taste
1 potato (chopped, leave skin on)
2-3 carrots (roughly chopped after cleaning and peeling)
½-1 lb. uncooked, peeled, deveined shrimp from Kathleen’s
1-2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
½-1 (10 oz). bag thawed frozen peas
4-5 T Greek yogurt
1 jalapeno, chopped, optional
Fresh cilantro for garnish -also optional

This is a stew and what you add is completely flexible. I like lots of vegetables so I go with the larger portions suggested above. 

1. Prepare the rice. Can be done the day before. Set aside. 
2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
3.  Cook the onions for about five minutes. 
4.  Add the ginger and garlic and cook with the onions for about a minute or so. Add the dry spices and cook for just a minute or so with the onion mixture. Watch carefully as they will burn easily. You just want them to release the spice oil (scent).
5. Add about a cup or so of water to the pot and add the potato and carrot to the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes can be pierced with a fork.
6. Add the shrimp. Stir after 2-3 minutes to ensure even cooking.
7. Stir the thawed peas and tomatoes into the pot and heat through (no more than a few minutes) Remove from heat, stir in the rice and the yogurt.
8. Serve with a garnish of fresh cilantro and chopped jalapenos, if desired. In India, this would also be served with naan bread to dip into the stew.
9. Leftovers keep well in refrigerator. Heat gently before re-serving so that the yogurt does not separate.

Reason Number 6 to Shop at Kathleen's Catch

No surprise that one of the top reasons to shop at Kathleen's Catch is this lady right here, Sara Waterman, the manager of our store in Milton. Yes, she is my daughter, but I think that if you have met her you would agree that she is smart, cheerful, hardworking and a great asset to our business.    Having grown up in a fish family, Sara knows all about seafood and loves to share the news with her customers. Because she has worked for us for almost 8 years, everyone in Milton should know her and most of the Johns Creek customers remember her too.  Besides being a fishmonger extraordinare, Sara lives in Woodstock with her husband Nate, her son Joel and her step daughter Kailey.

Talk about a King Crab!

I spent President's Day doing some official research with a couple of my assistants at the Georgia Aquarium.

One of their favorite finds at the Aquarium was this Japanese Spider Crab.  As usual, I was unable to take a decent picture so I had to refer to Wikipedia for the image.

By Tsarli at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7252951

These crabs are clever.  They survive in the wild by hanging out nearly 2000 ft. deep on the ocean floor.  And they gather up a bunch of smaller animals and cement them to their backs as camouflage  to avoid being eaten.  Talk about taking advantage of your friends...

Anyway, this got me to thinking about crab, especially King Crab.  You know how delicious it is - delicate sweet flavor and tender texture.  You can use this crab for all kinds of appetizers, salads, soups and sautes.  It is best, though, just cracked and served with your favorite sauce or simply drawn butter.

Nutrition Facts per 3 oz. serving:

82 calories

16 g protein

1 g fat

0 g. monounsaturated 

1g. polyunsaturated

1 g carbohydrate

0 g sugar

0 g fiber

PLUS vitamin C, folate, vitamin B12, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, and selenium.

                 

Alaskan King Crab Salad with Avocado, Grapefruit and Citrus Ginger Vinaigrette

1 large or 2 small Ruby Red grapefruits

1 head butter lettuce

1 small head Belgian endive

1 avocado

1 lb. shelled Alaskan king crab (about 2 lbs. in shell)

1/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds (optional)

Vinaigrette

2 T lemon juice

2 T lime juice

1 T orange juice 

1 t orange zest

1 T finely minced fresh ginger

2 t Dijon mustard

1 T honey

1/3 c olive oil

1/4 t salt

Cayenne to taste

Make the vinaigrette first:  In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients until well combined.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to three days.

Cut the peel and all the white pith from the grapefruit, exposing the flesh.  WIth a small paring knife, cut out the grapefruit segments and place in a bowl and set aside.

Using mainly the inner leaves of the butter lettuce, tear larger leaves into bite-sized pieces.  Cut the root off the endive and peel off each leaf.  Arrange the leaves in a stack and cut them in half lengthwise.  Cut the avocado in quarters; peel and slice thinly.

Toss the lettuces with half of the vinaigrette.  Divide between 4 plates, placing the greens in high mounds and pulling some endive pieces to the top.  Divide the avocado slices and grapefruit on top of each salad.  Divide the crabmeat between the salads and sprinkle salads with almonds and pomegranate seeds.  Pass the remaining dressing drizzle over crab.

What's Cool This Weekend?

Wolf fish is not a fish we carry regularly because people will often pass over fish they are not familiar with.  Sometimes it is because unfamiliar fish might not be the prettiest fish in the seafood case, but wolf fish is delicious AND beautiful.  The fillets are thick and very white.  The meat is sweet and the texture is on the firm side so it holds up to every cooking method.  It gets its name from its canine looking fangs but you won't be seeing those in our case today.  Just beautiful, white fillets.  Go out on a limb.  Try something different.  With this fish, you won't be sorry.  

Catch to Go

Ohhh soooo goooood.  It's our Low Country Bake. Yep, an Oven Ready Low Country Boil.  If you haven't tried this one, you better get going!  It's available until Sunday. 

Starting Monday, enjoy the Italian Herb Swordfish with a grape, almond, barley salad.

And Finally

I think I know who you are.

You are a lucky person.  You can read.  You own a device with an internet connection.  Most likely you eat some of the best seafood available in the world.  You own a car (or a raft - see first paragraph) to get you to the fish store.  You have a home with an indoor kitchen to prepare your seafood meals.
You sleep in a soft bed in a temperature controlled room.  You go to church or you don't go to church, because you get to choose.  You vote or don't vote because you get to choose.  When you are sick, you go to the doctor and when you are bored you go to the movies, or the bookstore or the golf course. 

Be grateful for where we live and how we live.  Life is good, right?

Blessings,
Kathleen