Super Bowl, Black Bass and More About My Dog

Hey Y'all,

What a week!  We got a snow day with no snow.  And beautiful weather for the weekend.  And a huge "Commercial Watching" party to look forward to on Sunday!  Our cup is overflowing!!

Fin Mail
There are a surprising number of people who read my blog and don't regularly shop at my store.  If you are one of these people, pay attention!  These quotes about how good we are are included just for YOU!

From Julie Sanders on Google:
Bought a pound of mussels YESTERDAY. Ended up cooking them today due to time restraints and thought I may have screwed up on freshness. Well, they were awesome! Every single one opened in the broth and were scrumptious! Never disappointed with Kathleen's fresh fish and shellfish. So fortunate to have this amazing provider.

Great staff, too. Always friendly and helpful. Good suggestions for how to cook their different items. BTW, also purchased some fresh green beans that tasted like they were hours from the farm! So yummy.

Catch Customers Can Cook!
Here's how Leslie prepared her red snapper last week:

Purchased red snapper filet on Tuesday. Have to tell you how delicious it was! I merely seasoned with lemon pepper and a few other herbs. Baked. Served with a sautéed cherry tomato/caper/ lemon sauce. It was perfect. Will be back soon to try covina or hake.

Ellen's been sending me more pictures! Here's the latest. It's monkfish!

I promise I won’t continually bombard you with dinner pics but the monk fish was another great success. Plated with asparagus risotto.  We prepped the monk fish with lemon juice, sea salt and cracked pepper and pan seared it. It was great with the risotto.  I’m excited for the next new fish to try!

John Steele sent this hint over after hearing about our Dungeness crab last week.

A sauce for the Dungeness:   in a mayo jar add equal parts ketchup and mayo, two good shakes of soy sauce, two long squirts of lemon juice, three teaspoons of horseradish and a little bit of wine vinegar. Shake till all is blended. Any left overs make a good salad dressing.

And to drive his point home, he mixed up some of our fresh Dungeness crab in this sauce and brought it to Sara to taste. (She was bragging about it all weekend.)

Why shop with Kathleen's Catch? Reason Number 3
We take care of the ocean!  That's why you will find a healthy mix of fish farmed at the best aquaculture facilities in the world and wild caught fish from the most sustainable populations in the ocean.  You can feel good about what you buy from us because you know we are paying attention.   Here's a bit from our mission statement:  "We remain committed to careful stewardship of the world's oceans and are dedicated to the preservation of marine resources in the interest of providing a healthy protein source for future generations."  Simply said,  we worry about your health, your grandchildren's health and the health of the planet.

Superbowl is Here!
We have plenty of options for you to enjoy in between the commercials. 

Lobster tails - all sizes from 4 oz. to 12 oz.

 Stone Crab! - simply crack 'em and eat 'em

We have the sauce too!

All kinds of raw oysters and a plate to serve them on

Party Trays - aka How To Impress Your Guests

King Crab Legs for the King aka How to Impress Your Husband

Caviar - aka How to Impress Your Tastebuds

This is Iranian Caviar which is in short supply so call in a hurry if you want some.  All caviars including this one must be ordered today for your dining pleasure this weekend.  

Valentine's Day

I know it's all about football this weekend but just in case you are planning ahead, here's our Valentine's Day offering.

https://www.kathleenscatch.com/valentine-dinner-special

More about this next week!

Catch Employees Can Cook!
 Mia Kosko is a multi-talented individual.  Two weeks ago I showed you her paintings.  This week you get a recipe.  She wrote this using black bass but any mild white fish or even salmon will do.

Black Bass the Way Mia Does It

1 lb. black bass
1/2 cup vegetable stock
2 Tbs fresh ginger
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp maple syrup (or honey/brown sugar)
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp cumin
Dash cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Corn starch
Rice
Steamed veggies

Heat 1 Tbs oil in a non stick-pan over medium heat. Place the fish skin side up and cook until you get a nice crisp on it. Flip the fish and turn heat to low. Mix all the other ingredients and pour it over the fish. Place a lid over the fish and allow the mixture to simmer for 3 minutes. If the mixture is too watery, make a cornstarch slurry and the mixture should thicken within a minute. Remove from heat and serve over rice with steamed veggies.

Catch to Go
This week is Roasted Cod with Succotash

Starting Monday it is Horseradish Crusted Mahi (my personal favorite) with spinach and mushrooms

What's Cool in the Stores This Weekend?
Trigger from North Carolina
Black Bass (see recipe above)
Permit from Florida
Red Grouper from Madeira Beach (especially beautiful and extra nice)
B-liner snapper from Florida

Lots of USA fish!!

And Finally
When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, my dog wags his tail.

I just realized this week that he does this and it really touched me.  What a wonderful thing to greet the day with your tail wagging, to greet the day with the expectation that great things await you!  Refuse to begin with negativity.  Let your wagging tail swipe away anxiety and depression and start the day the way the dog does.  Be thrilled to see whoever is in front of you.  Try not to drool but eat your breakfast with enthusiasm! Schedule in a walk and a nap if you can. Give yourself a treat.  And a scratch behind the ears.

Blessings,
Kathleen

Cobia, Contagions and Dungeness

Hey Y'all,

Thanks so so much to everyone who goes on social media to toot my horn for me! I can't tell you how much that helps my business to grow. Spread the word to help us keep fresh fish on your dinner table!

Fin Mail
Chris Lyles gave us 5 stars on Google:
Very fresh and delicious seafood. Very knowledgeable staff.

Tim P on Yelp gives 5 stars and says this:
I have been coming to Kathleen's for years at both locations for their seafood. It is always fresh and whatever you buy is going to make a great meal. We particularly love the shrimp and scallops. They are always fresh and quite good. They have a nice variety of fish that is usually always portioned for you. Both locations are clean and do not have a hint of a fishy smell. The staff is always helpful and has given me advice on how to prepare my seafood. Remember to check the freezer for some great deals on fresh frozen fish.

5 Stars on Google from David Barber
Fantastic selection of fresh seafood, and amazing deals on frozen items marked down. Skip Whole Foods and put some money into the local economy instead of padding Jeff Bezos' back account. Highly recommended.

Catch Customers Can Cook!
Ellen Buskovitz is a great cook.  I don't know her but I can take a look at the pictures and see that she prepares magazine worthy meals.

The recipe she started with was found at this website:

https://thefoodiepatootie.com/sauteed-cobia-with-tomatoes-and-capers/  

Ellen added some garlic to the fish which you can see in the photo on the left.  The cobia is served over spaghetti squash and served with braised leeks.  Yum.  This was Ellen's first time cooking cobia and she "loved it!"

(Speaking of love, how about the name of that food blogger?  Foodie Patootie!)

Ellen is right about cobia.  This beautiful white fleshed fish is farmed by Open Blue in Panama in
deep waters far offshore. By staying away from sensitive coastal areas, they eliminate the risk of nutrient and waste build-up, minimizing the risk of disease. Independent research of Open Blue's sustainable fish farming methods confirms that the impact on the ocean environment is neutral.

Cobia is clean and buttery tasting with a firm texture and a mild flavor.  It has a high oil content so you almost can not overcook it, even on the grill, but it is mild and clean flavored enough for sashimi. 

Finnan Haddie Anyone?

I had a request this week for finnan haddie, aka smoked haddock.  This customer wants to make kedgeree and only needs a lb or two.  Unfortunately, since it is not a very familiar product in Atlanta it comes to us frozen in 15 lb cases.  If you have a hankering for some finnan haddie, get in touch!  We can arrange to split the case between a few of you.

Last Week's Contest
Last week I presented you with a challenge.  Barb emailed me with some oyster trivia and I asked you to fill in the blank.

In one of my Anthony Bourdain books he mentions that Eric Ripert was always instructed by his very French parents to ________ the oyster. I do not know if this is an old wives tale but.....???

No one guessed the correct answer. The answer is "chomp the oyster because the oyster will live on in the perfect stomach environment."  I'm pretty sure an oyster dies when it is shucked so this is probably a wives tale but just the thought makes me shudder.  I prefer Richard Loehn's answer (even though it is incorrect):

Unless you are married to an orthodontist, always shuck your oysters prior to eating on the whole shell.

Reason Number 2 to Shop at Kathleen's Catch
Some big retailers may get some of their seafood from the same source we use. What's the difference between theirs and ours? The main difference is that fish usually gets to the Catch much faster than fish gets to the grocery store.   We review the inventory of seafood in route to Atlanta every day and pick what we want to bring in the next morning. Grocery stores are buying large quantities of a few species that are arriving in town less frequently. Our fish gets to us directly from the processor and not through a distribution system that adds a day or more getting it to the stores. We all know that every day matters when it comes to the quality of fresh fish.  As a small retailer, we also can switch gears quickly to take advantage of local and regional purchases of fish that the “program oriented” big retailers can’t or won’t bother pursuing. We do it to support local, regional, and US fisheries, and to bring the freshest assortment of species to your table. We may not have North Carolina triggerfish all the time, but we will always have something equally fresh and interesting to offer our customer. We follow the weather, seasons, and other factors to find fish wherever it’s being caught.

In addition to that system of purchasing, we are also just extremely picky and know what we are looking for in terms of the highest level of quality.  And like I said last week, it’s our only job, and we try to be the best, most knowledgeable fishmongers out there.

Catch to Go 

This week's Catch to Go (through Sunday) is

Dry Rubbed Salmon with Mashed Potatoes and Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

And beginning Monday, Catch to Go will be Roasted Cod with Succotash.

What's Cool This Weekend
Fresh shrimp from Wanchese, NC
Black bass from North Carolina
Golden tile from Florida
Monkfish from Massachusetts
Haddock from New England
Fluke flounder from North Carolina
Tuna loin from Dulac, LA
Stone crab from Florida
Petrale sole from Oregon

AND FRESH DUNGENESS CRAB!!  Around these parts we eat blue crab but give this west coast treat a try.  Click here to see how to split and clean these crabs:  How to Clean and Crack a Dungeness Crab.  These big crabs make the work of cleaning them worth the trouble!

These crabs average between 1.75 and 2.25 lbs each.

 
And Finally
Georgia is still considered by the CDC as a high risk state for flu activity, but there are plenty of other unwelcome little bugs that can hitch a ride in your belly or your head!   Google can help with suggestions for avoiding contagious diseases but one affliction in particular is difficult to avoid.  Cheerfulness.  If you are not careful and do not arm yourself adequately with crankiness and complaining, you might encounter a person contaminated by cheerfulness and you could catch the bug.  Worse still is bringing it into your home or office.  Just think what would happen if there was a major outbreak of joy and laughter in places where you typically shelter your irritability.  It could ruin all of your carefully constructed misery.  No place is a safe place.  Beware.

Spread the bug.

Blessings,
Kathleen

Why Eat Seafood, Oyster Sale and Nantucket Scallops

Happy New Year!

Oh what a holiday we had! We broke every possible record for our company this holiday season: the most sales ever, the fewest mistakes ever, the most exhausting ever and the most fun ever. Our sales for the week of Christmas were so unexpectedly over the top that I was in shock. New Year's Eve sales were unbelievable as well and our staff earned every penny they made. Good employees make all the difference in the world and I am very thankful for ours.

Now is the time of the year when we all buckle down and take stock of ourselves. New Year's resolutions can include taking a look at your finances, your emotional well-being, your cluttered garage or the gym membership you have been paying for and maybe not using very much. Diets are a big part of the January push for improvement. It doesn't make any sense to drag yourself out to the gym only to come home and eat Fruit Loops for lunch. With a little planning, you can eat delicious, healthy foods with minimal effort.

How's Your Heart?

As you might have guessed from reading my emails, my heart is generally overflowing and I attribute this entirely to my seafood diet. Well, not exactly. The truth is that I am a very grateful person living a very happy life. Being healthy, however, contributes to a sense of well-being and eating seafood twice a week is an easy and tasty way to maintain your health, especially your heart health.

Studies show that eating fatty fish twice a week reduces the risk of dying of heart disease by 36%. 36%!!! And seafood provides other benefits as well such as vitamin D, selenium and high levels of protein.

Two of the reasons for generally low seafood consumption in the US are 1. limited access to quality seafood and 2. uncertainty about how to cook seafood.

If you are reading this you must have some appreciation for your access to the best seafood in the area. And if you don't, well, hellloooo. We are right here in your neighborhood selling nothing but the very best products available.

And as far as uncertainty about how to cook it, just ask us! We know!

If you live nearby and are able, stop in and pick up your seafood twice or more a week. If it is out of the way for you, come by once and pick up two meals. Our fish is never frozen so it won't hurt to put a piece in the freezer for a few days.

Read more about the benefits of seafood diets here: Fish: Friend or Foe?

Fish for the Weekend:

Black bass

Red grouper

Fluke flounder

Cherrystone clams - Milton location only

Nantucket scallops - Each store will have a limited supply of this perfect seafood. Yes I said perfect. They are tiny (50-60 in a lb.) and so simply sweet and fresh you can eat them raw. They are $45.00/lb because there is a very limited supply and the harvest time is very short. When you finish your workout, stop by and treat yourself to this perfect, yes perfect, seafood.

Black bass - I am always surprised when we bring in black bass for a weekend and there is some left on Sunday afternoon because this is a beautiful fish - inside and out. The outside looks like beautiful black embroidery and the inside is a firm white or pink flesh. The taste is mild and it adapts perfectly to all sorts of sauces. Don't pass this fish up.

Happy New Year Oyster Sale

This weekend only, blue points oysters are $.75 each.

You are going to save so much money on these oysters that you will have enough leftover to pick up one of these lovely oyster plates left from the holidays.

If you are looking for a way to serve oysters at your Super Bowl party or you need a hostess gift to bring to the party you are attending, these gorgeous oyster platters will knock your cleats off. Put them in the freezer to chill if you are serving oysters on the half shell or bake your oysters in them with a topping to create a Bienville or a Rockefeller.

Catch to Go - starting Monday

Parmesan Baked Mahi with Jasmine Rice and Garlic Roasted Asparagus

And Finally,

I was on the highway the other day when I noticed this truck ahead and I just had to take a picture for you.

Finally! Someone who specializes in EVERYTHING! It seems like the Walmart mentality has spread to the moving business! Convenience and mediocrity compete with small businesses like mine that strive to truly specialize. How about making a 2019 resolution to support small business whenever you can? You will taste the difference.

Blessings,
Kathleen