Deals in the Discount Freezer

Hey Ya'll,

We are well underway now at our new store in Milton and we are so happy to have met many wonderful people!

When I first opened my store in Johns Creek I would send out a pretty lengthy email every week describing all the plans I had and giving recipes that I had actually tested.  I wrote and wrote and wrote some more about all the fish I sell and why you should buy it from me instead of my competition.  If I do say so myself, my emails became quite popular.  As I gained confidence, pictures of my grandchildren and my dog started appearing and I began telling stories about things I love or things I find particularly funny in addition to fish stuff.  The emails worked!  In fact, they worked so well that my business grew and grew and after a while I didn't have time to write them anymore! 

These days I am still busy but I think it is important that  all our new friends in Milton know about who we are and what we sell.  They need to learn about sustainability and aquaculture and new ways to cook fish.  And they probably would like to see a photo or two of my grandchildren.  (Who wouldn't? I have really cute grandkids).  Besides,  I still have a lot of stories I'd like to tell to anyone who will listen or read...

SO

I'm back.

I want to tell you about one part of our business that is very important to our success:  the discount freezer.  In Johns Creek it is that little white freezer across from the fish cases.  In Milton, it is the last door of the display freezer.  These freezers hold a treasure trove of fish!  If we don't sell the fish in our fresh cases in two days, we vacuum seal, freeze and mark it down 20%!  The fish in these freezers are still wayyy better than grocery store fish.  You can pick up fresh fish for dinner tonight and get some frozen for dinner tomorrow.  Buying this frozen fish helps us keep our prices down because we never have to throw fish away.  

To let our new Milton customers know about the discount freezer and to remind our Johns Creek customers about it, we are having a BOGO sale!  You pay for the more expensive package, we give you the cheaper one.  That, my friends, is a deal.   

Here's what's in the discount freezer this week:

Verlasso salmon 

Pompano 

Rainbow Trout 

Black Drum 

Steelhead Trout 

Mahi 

Swordfish 

Maki Shark 

Halibut 

Cod 

Catfish 

Flounder 

West Coast Dover Sole 

Barramundi 

Red Grouper 

Corvina 

Walleye 

Monkfish 

Haddock

 

Again, thanks to our new Milton friends for such a warm welcome and thanks to our Johns Creek friends for supporting us for 4 1/2 years.  We love all of you.

Blessings,

Kathleen

2015 Seafood Showdown Winning Recipe!

Hey Ya'll,

We love fall at Kathleen's Catch because that's when we have our favorite event - the annual grilling competition at the Johns Creek location!  This year's contest was held last Saturday, October 16th and after last year's rain, the weather gods took pity on us and gave us the most gorgeous day to celebrate fish, wine and friends.   

l-r  Me, Gary Smith-2012 winner holding Nora Daunais, Bob Crowell  (next year is your year, Bob), Jeanette Gilmore- 2013 and 2014 winner with Clair Daunais, Jim Daunais - owner of Johns Creek Wine and Crystal (back row), Yale Metz (in front - because he was the winner and, well, he is short), Kathy Daunais, Peter Hall (back row  - because, well, he is very tall) and Susan Metz

Every year Johns Creek Wine and Crystal,  Kathleen's Catch - Johns Creek and Viande Rouge join together to sponsor this grilling competition.  And what an intense competition it is!  Four local amateur chefs don their aprons and produce some of best grilled seafood you can find in Johns Creek and beyond!   Many of our customers and friends (same thing) come to eat and vote for their favorite chef's creation.   Besides the seafood from Kathleen's Catch and side dishes from Viande Rouge, you get to taste some of the best wines Johns Creek has to offer... AND IT'S ALL FREE!  

And the winner is....

Yale Metz won the 2015 JCWC and KC Seafood Showdown with this amazing recipe:

Corvina Grilled in Banana Leaf with Ancho Chili Glaze 

& Grilled Pineapple Salsa
(Serves 6)

Ingredients:
•    6 6-oz pieces of Corvina
•    6 banana leaf pieces for wrapping fish
•    3 dried Ancho chilies *
•    3 cloves garlic
•    1/2 yellow onion cut into rings
•    1 cup orange juice
•    1/4 cup honey
•    1/2 pineapple cut into 1/2 inch rings
•    1/2 cup soy sauce
•    1/4 cup diced red pepper
•    1/4 cup diced red onion
•    1 diced Fresno chili (or other spicy pepper) *
•    1/4 cup chopped cilantro
•    Juice of 2-3 lime

 (This can be fairly spicy. To reduce the heat, de-seed some of the peppers)

How to Prepare:
1.    Ancho Chili Glaze: Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a heavy pan and toast the Ancho chilies until browned but not burnt. Remove from pan. Add garlic and onion and brown, turning frequently for a few minutes. Once onions are browned, add peppers back to pan followed by orange juice and cook until vegetables are soft. Transfer mixture to a blender and puree with honey until smooth.

2.    For the Pineapple Salsa: Pour the soy sauce over the pineapple and let marinate for about 20 minutes, reserving a few teaspoons for the finished salsa. Remove the pineapple from the soy and grill (med high to high heat) until slightly softened and charred. Dice pineapple, discarding skin and core. Combine with the red pepper, diced Fresno chili, cilantro, red onion, lime juice and reserved soy sauce.

3.    For the Fish: Pat fillets dry and brush with the prepared Ancho Chili Glaze. Wrap each fillet in a banana leaf to make a kind of pouch. Place each pouch seam side down onto grill and grill fish over medium heat until done (about 11 minutes). Remove pouches from grill and place seam side up on a plate. Open up each pouch but leave the fish on the banana leaf so the leaf is part of the visual presentation. Top each piece of fish with pineapple salsa and serve.


Thanks again to Gary, Jeanette, Bob and Yale.  You are all great friends and great cooks!

The Second Time is Harder, Sashimi Tuna and a Neighborhood Plug

Dear Friends of  Fantastically Fresh Fish,

Neighborhood Plug
I had lunch last weekend at 1001 Nights at the corner of Wilson Road and 141 in the shopping center with Great Harvest.  I had been there before when it had a different name and was completely unimpressed, but last weekend I found out is has new ownership and great Persian food!

www.1001nightspersiancuisine.com

The Second Time is the Hardest

I took a vacation a few weeks ago and did two things I have always wanted to do.  I visited Las Vegas and I hiked in the Grand Canyon.  What a trip!  I flew into Vegas where it took all of one evening  to realize that I do not know how to gamble.  The next day I drove to Peach Springs, AZ for a three day hike to Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls.

Jumping off cliffs is something I would NEVER have done in my youth but something I feel much more comfortable doing as an adult.  On my Grand Canyon trip, there were lots of places to jump into creeks and waterfalls and I took advantage of every one.  I discovered something interesting about taking risks:  it's way easier to make the first jump than the second.  That seems strange because, if you are standing there contemplating the second jump, you obviously survived the first!  I can only explain it this way - I'm the sort of person who loves a challenge.  If you tell me the water is deep enough and that other people jump at this place all the time, I will gather up all my nerve and with very little thought at all, I will charge up that hill, trot right to the edge and JUMP! 

The second time must be harder because I have already proven that I can do it.   I don't have all the adrenaline rush that propels me to the edge.  Nobody is paying much attention to me jumping the second time.  There is time to contemplate, "What the heck was I thinking jumping off a cliff at 52 years old?"  There is a lot more to tell about this amazing trip but since this is really a seafood blog I have to make some connection to my work. Here is the connection:

I'm jumping off a different sort of cliff for the second time with my new store in Milton. 
The opening is just two weeks away.   And I'm having all those second jump anxieties.


Things are going along perfectly. The Milton community seems very excited at the thought of a seafood market in the neighborhood.  The new space is in a gorgeous building and is coming together just like I envisioned.  It's a chance for me to do all the things I wished I had done in Johns Creek.  After all, I opened the Johns Creek with my eyes squeezed shut.  With the opening of the new store, my eyes are wide open.  My fingers are crossed but my eyes are open.

And my Johns Creek customers are stopping by to check on progress.  Here's Johns Creek customer Pam Scripture checking out my new store in Milton. 

Opening day is scheduled for August 29th.  More details next week...

A Favorite Tuna Recipe
The lovely Sherry Tennant gave us this delicious recipe for sashimi tuna.  I stood in the kitchen and ate it out of the mixing bowl.  I mean really.  I barely got it to the table. 

Sherry's Sashimi Tuna 

1 lb tuna

2 serrano peppers, seeded and very finely chopped

1 T plus 1t finely grated ginger

1T toasted sesame seeds

1 clove garlic through garlic press

½ t kosher salt

¼ c canola oil

2 t sesame oil

1 t distilled white vinegar

1 t fish sauce

Toast sesame seeds.  Either finely chop or puree in mini-chopper the peppers, ginger, garlic and salt until somewhat of a paste forms.  Add sesame seeds.  Then add both oils, fish sauce and vinegar.  Add diced tuna and mix.  Serve with crackers or toasted won ton chips.

Back to School
Here they are...another year older!  Our babies' first day back at school. 

$20.00 in free discount fish to the first person who can correctly match each child with their Kathleen's Catch parent!

Hope everyone survived that first day!  Have a great first weekend!

Blessings,

Kathleen

We Need to Be Farming Fish if We Want to Continue to Eat Fish

We Need to be Farming Fish if We Want to Continue Eating Wild-Caught Fish

You and I both love our wild caught fish. At Kathleen’s Catch our cases practically overflow with beautiful Gulf red snapper, Alaskan halibut, Pacific cod, wild striped bass and, when it is in season, wild Alaskan salmon.  These beautiful fish are some of the greatest treasures available to us.   If our grandchildren and their children are going to enjoy wild caught fish, we have to support aquaculture when it is done correctly.  At Kathleen’s Catch we source our farmed fish from the very best aquaculture operations in the world.       

Let’s say that over the next 35 years, the US continues to set an international example for responsible, sustainable fisheries practices and other countries follow suit so that the number of fish in the sea does not fall to a lower level than it is now.  And let’s say that the per capita consumption of fish stays exactly where it is now.  We are in for some trouble because the United Nations estimates a global population growth to 9.6 billion by 2050.  This mean a 40% increase in demand for proteins. 

Knowing that resources for increased land protein production will be limited, the question then becomes how to increase protein production from the sea.  The only feasible answer is aquaculture.  And at Kathleen’s Catch, that’s not a bad thing because we believe that our food should come from operations with the highest levels of animal husbandry and the best tasting products available with a minimal impact on the environment.

The Carbon Finprint

Did you know that there is less environmental impact from the production of farmed salmon compared to other protein sources?  The carbon footprint of farmed salmon is 2.9 carbon equivalents per pound of edible product.    For chicken, it is 3.4 and for beef, it is as much as 30 carbon equivalents per pound of edible product.  If CO2 emissions are a concern to you, then farmed salmon on your dinner plate makes a lot more sense than a steak.

A Fish Out of Water?

In Norway, it takes 1400 liters of fresh water to produce 1 kg of edible product of farmed salmon and with the increased use of recirculating ponds that number is falling fast.  For chicken it takes 4300 liters of water.  For pork it takes 6000 liters and for beef, 15,400 liters of water per kg of edible product!  

I know that this seems to be a bunch of statistics that are hard to translate into the meal on your dinner plate.  Just think this.  The charge that farmed fish equals damage to the environment and the world’s oceans is not true!  If aquaculture is done correctly, you can eat some of the world’s best tasting fish without a moment of doubt about the future of the world’s oceans.  And you don’t have to worry about what our grandchildren and their children are going to eat. 

An Abundance of Fishes, King Salmon and a Trip to the Grand Canyon

Dear Fish Friends,
 

This week we see the law of supply and demand at work.  Three months ago we saw the first of the king (Chinook) salmon appear from the Columbia River and a month later the kings made their appearance in the Copper River.   At Kathleen's Catch,  we had to charge you $39.99/lb. to cover our cost of these expensive fish.  On this day in July, you will find wild, fresh Alaskan king salmon on special for $17.99.  What difference a few months makes!!   Some people will swear that the kings from the Columbia and Copper Rivers are worth every penny of their $39.99 price tag because they have a very high fat content.  But king salmon from anywhere is an amazing fish.  There's a reason it's called king!  Right now kings are coming from all around southeast Alaska, both troll caught and net caught.  They are very plentiful this year, hence a price tag lower than we've seen in maybe 7 years!  An abundance of fish means a lower price at the seafood counter.

Here one of my favorite salmon dishes:

1.  Whip up some cole slaw with a light dressing and some sesame oil.

2,  Make your favorite cheese grits.  Mine is from The Flying Biscuit:

Flying Biscuit Creamy Dreamy Grits

3,  Grill salmon to desired doneness while basting with your favorite barbeque sauce.

4,  Dig out that bottle of hot chile oil you never know what to do with.  I buy the Hokan kind.

5.  Plate it this way:  grits in the center, cole slaw on top of the grits, barbeque salmon on the slaw and chile oil drizzled over the whole thing. 

Yep.  It's good.

 There's More Fish Around This Year
Speaking of abundance, salmon is not the only wild fish that there is plenty of this year.  In April of 2015 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their annual report on the condition of fish stocks in the United States.  In this report they list fish that are classified as "overfishing" which mean the catch limits are too high and those that are "overfished" meaning the population of fish is too low - whether from fishing or other causes.  This year six stocks were removed from the overfishing category and two from the overfished category.    Domestic fish listed as overfished or subject to overfishing has dropped to the lowest level since 1997 when these stocks began being tracked.

Eileen Sobek with the NOAA says this:

"Our agency wants to let consumers know that the United States' global leadership in responsible fisheries and sustainable seafood is paying off. We are moving forward more than ever with efforts to replicate and export stewardship practices internationally. As a result of the combined efforts of NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management councils, and all of our partners, the number of stocks listed as subject to overfishing or overfished continues to decline and is at an all-time low.

What's the takeaway?  The United States leads the world in responsible fishing.  Our excellent management of the oceans' resources is something we should all feel good about.    I still believe strongly that the best protein source for the world's burgeoning population is aquaculture done right.  After all, the world's population is growing faster than the oceans can product fish.  We HAVE to have an alternative to wild fish.  But the United States is setting an example for the rest of the world on how to properly manage the resources so that they will be around for future generations to enjoy.

Here's the whole report if you are interested:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2015/20150415-us-fisheries-continue-to-rebuild-overfishing-and-overfished-numbers-at-all-time-lows.html 

And Finally

 Kathleen's Catch #2 is coming along nicely and we are still looking toward a mid-August opening.  Before the second store opens, I am headed off for a vacation out west.  Next week I am hiking the Grand Canyon!   I can scratch one thing off my list of things I never thought I would do in my old age.  If all goes well, and I can climb back up out of that hole, I'll be back to work by Saturday the 

18th.  Cross your fingers.

I'm going to try to make a logical conclusion here and tie my salmon story to my upcoming vacation.  Salmon swim around in the ocean for years getting fat enough to reach their natal springs way up in the rivers.  The greater the elevation change in the river, the fatter they have to be to make it home.  I'm getting ready to experience some serious elevation changes at the Grand Canyon. I am going to  spend the next few days eating cake.  :)

Be grateful for the abundance in your life this week. 

Blessings,
 

Kathleen