Friday, February 26, 2021

Brookhaven, Stone Crab, and So Long Lobster

 

Hey Y'all,

Unless something goes terribly awry, the grand opening for Kathleen's Catch - Brookhaven is scheduled for March 20th. Spread the word to all your "townie" friends that the freshest seafood in the metro area is coming to their neighborhood!

Before we hit the frantic pre-opening days of the new store, Mr. Fish and I snuck out of town for a few days to visit our dear friends in Naples, FL. We did some of this:
which was incredibly fun and mind blowing!

And ate some of this:
Yep. Stone crabs. What's better than a plate full of stones, a cold beer and a warm sunny day in FEBRUARY! It was a few days of paradise. Sigh.

Stone crab are the ultimate in sustainability. When crabbers pull their traps, they check the crabs inside for two claws. If they have two, one gets pulled off and the crab is tossed back into the water. If the crab has only one claw, he gets a pass and goes back to the water. It takes about three years to grow back a claw that is legal to harvest.

Hasta La Vista Lobsta
If you don't live in Naples, Florida, winter is the season of cabin fever blues. On top of everything else that stinks about winter, lobster rolls are not available this time of year. It's a sad fact but here's why we are unable to provide them to you: our lobster rolls are made with fresh, never frozen, lobster meat.

Why no fresh meat? It's a long story but suffice it to say that fishing in the fall in New England was terrible. Bad weather and weird market conditions meant that not many lobsters were put up in the lobster pounds (a fenced in cove for holding lobsters without caging them) in the fall so the supply of lobsters is limited right now. In the winter, New England fishermen put away their traps and lines and get out their shot guns for hunting.

Right now the few lobsters in the pounds are strong, hard-shell lobsters so processing plants in the area shut down. Lobster tails and lobster meat are processed from weak lobsters that are generally molting. Molting happens in the warmer weather - mostly June through September - although we will see a bit more meat starting in April.

In the meantime, we have our tuna salad sandwich that is still amazing! It's yellowfin tuna boiled with lemon and Old Bay, then shredded and mixed with mayo, etc.

We are playing around with a cold crab sandwich that, when we finally get the recipe perfected, might become your new favorite Catch sandwich. Watch for this in the next few weeks.

Lent & Meatless Fridays:
When I was a kid, Fridays in Lent meant my mom would put a frozen slab of white fish in a pan and bake it until it was totally unrecognizable as a food product. I hated the taste and smell as much as I hated boiled cabbage.

These days, meatless Fridays are something to look forward to.

In response to last week's email, Joseph F. said " My goal is to eat more fish for Lent". We couldn't be happier with this decision! Our weekly specials and Catch To Go meals can help with keeping it interesting. We can also help with recipes if you need inspiration. In-store we have a recipe book filled with all kinds of delicious recipes and on our website we have our recipe and cooking tips page.

The Slimier the Better!
Have you noticed that some of the fish you brought home is slimy or slippery? That's a good thing! Skin-on salmon and rainbow trout secrete a mucus that protects them from infection and abrasion when they go up over rocks and sticks in rivers. Especially trout - it is very slippery. We don't wash that goo off before selling it because it is a sign of freshness, but you can wash if off before cooking it.   
Special This Week:
Rainbow Trout for $11.49/lb

This Hazelnut Brown Butter Trout is my favorite trout recipe. It should be your dinner this weekend!

Catch-To-Go This Week
Available until Sunday, we have Horseradish Crusted Mahi with creamed spinach and mushrooms.
Starting Tuesday, we'll have our Shrimp and Blue Crab Pasta. This stuff is to die for, seriously.
And Finally
I'm praying for good weather this weekend - kid baseball is starting up and I want to be running around to baseball fields to watch them play. I hope you have some good plans, too. Treat yourself to a good fish dinner. You deserve it.

Blessings,
Kathleen

Friday, February 19, 2021

National Clam Chowder Day

 

Hey Y'all,

I hope you enjoyed your Valentine's meal. I'd love to hear how it went and if there is anything you think we could improve. We had a couple of great suggestions that will definitely help us fine tune our plan for next year. Let me know what you thought of it!

Fin Mail (aka Tooting My Fishy Horn):
 Malcolm and Lisa W.: Dear Kathleen and Crew: Our Valentine’s meal was beyond scrumptious! In fact, we were so excited about the main course, we ended up eating our shrimp for dessert! Saved our red velvet cupcakes for later! Thank you for providing such an amazing meal in the middle of all this chaos! With appreciation

Ellyn F. : We celebrated Valentine’s Day last night due to a family birthday today and it was so very very delicious! Thank you so much and we are so happy to be your customers. Your new Brookhaven store is close to our “kids” who are off Clairmont and we’ve made them aware. Happy Valentine’s Day and many thanks.

Voting For A Fellow Customer:
One of our regular customers, Shoshy R., whom we have featured recipes from before, has been entered in a Home Cook Competition by Favorite Chef! You can help by voting for her until February 25th by clicking here. She's currently 7th in her group! Voting also helps support Feeding America. If you haven't seen her blog before, we've linked it here as well - so many yummy h ome-cooked Israeli and Middle Eastern dishes. Good luck, Shoshy!

Weekend Special Sides:
This weekend only, we have a couple of delicious pre-made sides for you to pick up! First, we have a fresh cucumber salad at just $1.00 for an 8 oz. container.
Second, we have roasted asparagus with tomatoes and garlic butter at just $3.99 for a 2 person portion. The asparagus has simple to follow baking instructions. Is your mouth watering yet?
National Clam Chowder Day 02/25:
In honor of National Clam Chowder Day we will be having our ever-popular New England Clam Chowder at both locations on BOGO - buy one cup of soup get one free! (while supplies last). There is one "catch". You HAVE to pronounce it the "correct" way like they do in Boston - CLAM CHOWDA.

Introduced in New England in 1700s and previously known as a poor man's dish, clam chowder was the subject of Herman Melville's ode in Moby Dick:

"Oh, sweet friends! hearken to me.
It was made of small juicy clams,
scarcely bigger than hazelnuts,
mixed with pounded ship biscuit,
and salted pork cut up into little flakes;
the whole enriched with butter,
and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt."

Special This Week:

Mahi - 6 oz. portions - $8.99 each

Catch-To-Go This Week
Available until Sunday, we have Cajun Shrimp Creole in honor of Mardi Gras !
Starting Monday, we'll have Horseradish Crusted Mahi with Tomatoes and Asparagus. (This is really good. Really really good.)
And Finally
Last week I was called a buzz kill for jokingly mentioning the health consequences of kissing. I hope that no one took me seriously and that you all spent plenty of time kissing on Valentine's Day.

It's Lent now. Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday are behind us and now we look down the road of Lent. It sure feels like Lent, doesn't it? It's dreary and cold here in Atlanta and dangerously frozen in the rest of the country. Covid vaccine appointments are put off due to weather related transportation delays. We just got the news that life expectancy in America has dropped by 1 to 3 years depending on your race.

Spring is around the corner. The snow will melt. The vaccines will get here and one day, maybe even one day soon, we will all be living a life of good health, sunshine and plenty of hugs.

What to do until then? Take good care. Really good care. Don't worry too much about what you are giving up for Lent this year. You have sacrificed enough. Spend Lent being in love with yourself and your family and those few people you have been lucky enough to isolate with.

Smile until you really feel like smiling. Laugh until something really strikes you funny. Don't worry about those extra pounds right now. You are doing just fine. Be kind to yourself. (It wouldn't hurt to eat more fish, though.)

When it is all over we will never forget how it was. The lens we view the world through will be much brighter because these days of Covid and cold will always be in our rear view mirror.

Happy Friday.

Blessings,
Kathleen

Friday, February 12, 2021

Valentine's Day Weekend & King Salmon

 

Hey Y'all,

Happy Valentine's Day to you! I'll be working at the Brookhaven (not open yet) location this weekend, filling Valentine's orders and meeting some of our new customers. I'm looking forward to it! I'll be the one shivering under the tent near the new space so keep an eye out for me.

Valentine's Weekend Ordering in Advance
While you may have missed the order cutoff for our Valentine’s Meal, there’s still plenty of time to call our stores and reserve what you’ll need to make your Valentine’s weekend perfect! Make that call today so that your Valentine deliciousness arrives tomorrow on our last truck of the weekend. If it is too cold and rainy for you to venture out, you can order through Mercato and have it delivered to your door! How delicious would some oysters on the half shell and Verlasso salmon be for Valentine's Day? (You know what they say about oysters, don't you?)

Speaking of Salmon
I wonder how many times I have told customers who ask for wild salmon in the winter that it is not available fresh until spring. I'll not be saying that anymore since a new small commercial fishery for wild Pacific king salmon has opened in Patagonia Chile!

Once upon a time (way back in the 1970s), Japanese fish farmers tried ranching king salmon in Chile. They introduced hundreds of thousands of Chinook smolts from the Cowlitz hatchery on the Columbia River in Washington State into the Petrohue River basin in Chile. The venture failed, but the salmon succeeded. And now, over 40 years later, there is limited commercial fishing season for these king salmon that lasts from December to February, summertime in Chile.

The supply of these gorgeous, troll-caught kings is limited but we were able to get a few pounds for each store. And as a Valentine's gift to you, I am selling it at only $28.25/lb, less than we sell king salmon for during our regular wild salmon season!

So, dream of spring while you eat this buttery, rich-yet-mild fish - the very best of the wild Pacific salmons.

This fish will go fast so call the stores to place your order.
#SeafoodSunday
We had our first seafood Sunday this past weekend with some lovely recipes sent to us. Nancy W. made fresh snapper served with a Meyer lemon and orange juice butter sauce with minced scallions.
Adlen R. made an amazing Tuna Poke Bowl plus Onigiri.
You can send your recipes through either our social media pages (on Facebook or Instagram) or email them to chelsi@kathleenscatch.com. Can't wait to see what you whip up this weekend!
Special This Week:
6 oz. Swordfish for just $8.99 each.

Here is a great recipe to go with it:

Catch-To-Go This Week
Available until Sunday, we have Blackened Swordfish served with Roasted Potatoes and Baked Garlic Asparagus.
Starting Tuesday, we'll have Cajun Shrimp Creole in honor of Mardi Gras! We will not be offering a Catch to Go on Monday so that we will have time to prepare your Mardi Gras dinner for Tuesday. This meal will be available from Tuesday through Sunday.
And Finally
I read this in the Smithsonian Magazine and, in honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I would share it as a Public Service Announcement:

While kissing, couples exchange 9 milliliters of water, 0.7 milligrams of protein, 0.18 mg of organic compounds, 0.71 mg of fats, and 0.45 mg of sodium chloride, along with 10 million to 1 billion bacteria, according to one  accounting . Many pathological organisms can be transmitted through mouth-to-mouth contact, including those that cause colds and other respiratory viruses, herpes simplex, tuberculosis, syphilis and strep.

Pucker up.

Blessings,
Kathleen

Friday, February 5, 2021

A Note From Kathleen

 

Hey Y'all,

The last couple weeks in this email we made lists of the benefits of mask wearing. In the spirit of making lists to make us feel better, I present to you today...

Five Things I am Looking Forward To

  • Watching the Big Game in a small crowd (two humans and two dogs).
  • Valentine's Day. We need something to celebrate in the midst of dreary February.
  • Little League baseball games. I can't wait to be cheering on the little guys at their games soon - outside and safely distanced!
  • Covid vaccines. Won't we all sleep better when we get those precious shots?
  • Spring. Only 43 days away. I'm counting down. I don't enjoy shivering.

Fin Mail (aka Tooting My Fishy Horn)
Loved reading your story. So happy we discovered your fabulous store/shop in Crabapple. Everyone is always, friendly and helpful. Stay well.  - Judy Dubrof

THE DEADLINE IS MONDAY FOR VALENTINE'S ORDERS!
We're in the final countdown to get your orders in!!

To pick up your meal in the store click here,  Valentine Dinner Special, where you will see your options and can submit your order. Once you send in your order, we will call you to finalize the plan and collect payment.

OR

You have the option of having your meal delivered to your door. To do this click on your local Catch here to see the meal selections and place your order:
or

Pay attention!!! Orders have to be in by February 8th - which is MONDAY. THIS COMING MONDAY. 3 DAYS FROM NOW. ARE YOU LISTENING?

Wine Pairings & A Special Discount:
If you purchase one of the Valentine's Meals, you'll get a special discount on wine from either Johns Creek Wine & Crystal (located next door to the Johns Creek Market) or Milton Wine & Crystal (located inside the Milton Market)! Just provide your receipt or your confirmation email and you'll receive 5% off the following wines:

  1. Chateau de Bligny Champagne - Pairs well with all the meals.
  2. Alexana Pinot Noir – Pairs well with the tenderloin and lobster.
  3. Gotas del Mar Alborino – Pairs well with both the crab stuffed flounder and the Chilean seabass.

discount only valid Feb. 13th and Feb. 14th; one time purchase)

#SeafoodSunday:
Starting this Sunday, we're going to start doing a #seafoodsunday on our social media pages that feature YOUR recipes! Send us your recipe pictures throughout the week to be featured. You can either send through our social media pages (on Facebook or Instagram) or email them to chelsi@kathleenscatch.com. We can't wait to see them! You will be famous!!
Special This Week:
6 oz. tuna for just $7.99 each!

Here are some great recipes to go with it:
Sashimi Tuna - perfect for your Big Game watching this weekend!
Ahi Tuna Tacos with Mango Guacamole - perfect for Taco Tuesday!

Get a Party Tray
It doesn't have to be a "big" tray for the "big" game. If it's only a family gathering, you can make a Super party atmosphere by ordering one of our Super seafood party trays. Call your local Catch and find out how we can help you change your ho-hum Sunday afternoon football fare into a Super party worthy of the name of the game. (That name we are not supposed to say.)

#ididntsayit, #imnotintrouble #dumbrules
Catch-To-Go This Week
Available until Sunday, we have Honey Jalapeno Salmon with Black Bean & Corn Salad (pictured below).
Starting Monday, we'll have Blackened Swordfish served with Roasted Potatoes and Baked Garlic Asparagus.
Look Out Brookhaven!
Your home cooked meals are going to be getting really, really good very soon!
It feels like we have been working on getting this store in Brookhaven open for years having been trapped in the black hole of county bureaucracy. Now we finally have an anticipated opening date of March 1st - give or take a day or two! Get it on your calendar because if you live anywhere near the intersection of Clairmont Road and Buford Highway, you are going to want to pay us a visit. We want to be your daily source for a fresh seafood meal and a nice bottle of wine too!

I'll be keeping you up to date here and will be posting pictures here as soon as there is something to show.
And Finally
My beautiful daughter-in-law has a t-shirt that says "Free Hugs". I remember a few years ago the family being out somewhere together in public and random people coming up to her to get theirs. I guess she hasn't been wearing that shirt much in public these days since we aren't allowed to hug right now. It's hard to hug and stay six feet apart.

I interviewed a man this week and we laughed at how awkward it is to meet someone and not shake hands. Even elbow bumps draw you into that six foot realm.

When I hug my grandkids I turn them around and hug them from the back just to keep our faces apart.

Number 6 on the list of things I am looking forward to (see above) is hugs. When the time is right, I'm going to borrow that Free Hugs shirt from Katie and stand around in my stores to hug every single one of you that walks through the door. Get ready for that.

Happy weekend to you!

Blessings,
Kathleen