Creamed Paua a la Gualala

Creamed Paua a la Gualala 

Background
Last year my moribund little Facebook Abalone Page was discovered by the NZ and Tasmania Maori community. As I said then:

"I have this little FB page that I set up 2-3 years ago to post occasional pictures, videos and links about a favorite hobby - abalone diving. It's really just for the benefit of my dive buddies, friends and family. I've always had about 30-40 "likes", picking up another every now and then... Last week this happened. The page goes from 44 likes to 1,700 likes and from 6 impressions to 50,000 in one week thanks to an influx of visitors from down under! Not sure what to make of this. But now I am feeling like I need to entertain you all in some way. I won't be diving again for a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll post some recipes or something."

The common thread - we love picking and eating paua (aka abalone). Especially eating. Among the comments left by my new FB friends, I found many references to Creamed Paua as a favorite dish. Here's a sample suggestion from one visitor:

"Creamed paua (black foot abalone) picked from Ruapuke New Zealand cooked two ways. Savoury - fried with onions add full cream and flour and water to thicken. Sweet (my favorite) same recipe as savoury adding in a can of pineapple chunks. How do you eat yours?" - Rine Riney Meany

This was a new discovery. I'm always looking for new preparations for my favorite sea slug, and determined to give it a try.

Last weekend my brother and I picked our limit from a cove near Gualala, California:

 

 No time like the present to try out a new recipe.

Recipe
First step, clean up the catch. After popping from the shells, the abs are sliced into larger steaks and smaller pieces trimmed for sashimi and ceviche'.

In the past, we discarded the trimmed pieces of black lip and darker meat around the foot. There is nothing wrong with that meat. it's just less aesthetically pleasing than the sliced and trimmed white meat steaks. I always thought throwing those scraps away to be wasteful, but didn't know what to do with them.  This time they're going into the creamed paua.

Next, research a range of recipe sources for this dish. We checked out Puna's Nannys, Cooks Classic, Nik's Kitchen, Uncle Jay, and, of course, our FB commenters.

Let's roll.

Basic ingredients are butter, onion, garlic, milk, salt, pepper, corn starch or flour for thickening and, of course, paua. I'm adding ginger, coconut milk, dry sherry, and fresh cilantro. Just because.

Every recipe starts with onions sauteed in butter. I added minced garlic and ginger. Ignore that lemon. I didn't use it. 

Some recipes say to caramelize the onions. Some not. I decided "not" and added dry sherry to keep the the onions white and soft.

These paua trimmings and scraps were likely to be tough. Some of the recipes recommended "mincing" the paua. I don't have a mincer but do have a food processor, so in it went...

I ground the paua at a somewhat coarse texture.

Then into the sauteed onions and butter...

Sauteed the paua with onions garlic and sherry for a while...

At this stage, some recipes call for adding milk, some for cream, some for coconut milk. I opted for all three:

While reducing the creamed paua mix over low heat (about an hour), I prepared a pot of white rice. The traditional creamed paua presentation is served with fried bread, but I didn't feel like adding any additional experiments so just went with the rice.

As the cream reduced, I added a little flour to thicken the gravy, but not sure it was needed. The sauce had already reduced nicely. As a last step, I added some chopped fresh cilantro for color and a note of flavor.

Review
Served over a bed of rice, accompanied by a side of abalone ceviche' and nice California chardonnay.

The picture really does not do this dish justice. I probably made enough for 2 to 3 servings, but ate it all myself in one sitting (my wife wasn't interested - her loss). It was really f*****g great.  Make no mistake. It's rich. With butter, cream, and abalone, what's not to like? Just don't forget to take your Lipitor for dessert.

Fresh abalone has a subtle flavor. I was afraid it might be overwhelmed by the coconut milk and cream, but the flavors balanced nicely. In some ways the abalone flavor comes through better than the traditional NorCal breaded and fried steaks.  The coconut and cilantro introduced a hint of sweetness and a Thai-like flavor to the dish that I really enjoyed. I resisted adding any hot chili sauce or peppers but the dish could probably stand up to them if administered with a light hand.

This is Tasmanian / Maori comfort food - filling, satisfying, delicious. To my taste, the texture and presentation invoked a Southern US staple - Biscuits & Gravy.  In fact, if served with traditional fried bread instead of rice, the comparison is even more apt. The flavor is distinctly different of course, but, like Biscuits & Gravy, I could see how growing up on Creamed Paua you would crave eating it your whole life.

Hey...  I had it for the first time a couple days ago and I am craving it again right now.

Soup and Visitors

Robyn and Jeff will be arriving this evening. It'll  be cold and nothing beats a warm bowl of soup for the weary traveler. Inspired by an inherited recipe cousin Bunny shared with the family a few years ago, Dad and I thought we'd give Bubbe's Sweet and Sour Cabbage Soup a try.

 Full disclosure, I had a few issues with the original recipe (ketchup?), so decided to meld it with some other Old Country Ukrainian Cabbage Soup recipes found on the interwebs.

We are supposed boil the flanken until the meat falls from the bone. I think we are there. The recipe calls for cabbage to be "thinly sliced", potatoes to be "diced", onions to be "sliced", and carrots to be "grated". At times like these it is good have an old army guy around with vast experience at K.P. duty.

Strip the meat from the bone, saute the veggies, mix the broth, meat, cabbage, and veggies. Simmer for a few hours, season to taste.

Nothing more to do but wait for dinner companions, who finally arrive.  Good thing, as we've got a lot of soup.

Final Verdict: "It's as good as my mother's soup." - Papa Sid

Thanksgiving and New Old Traditions

 For the first time in recent memory, we decided to forgo the usual bird on Thanksgiving and go with a local holiday tradition - dungeness crab.  The local fishwrap accommodated with an easy recipe for Roast Garlic Crab:

Adapted from “The Tra Vigne Cookbook,” by Michael Chiarello (Chronicle Books, 1999).

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
1 tablespoon minced garlic 
2 Dungeness crabs, about 1¼ pounds each, cooked, cleaned and cracked 
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 
1½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 450-500 degrees. Heat the butter and olive oil in a very large ovenproof skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the garlic and crab, season to taste with salt and pepper, and toss well. Transfer to the oven and roast until the garlic turns light brown and the crab is heated through, about 6-10 minutes, stirring once halfway through.Pour the contents of the skillet into a large serving bowl, add the lemon juice and parsley and toss well. Serve at once.

Accompanied by artichokes, Sigrid's secret dipping sauce, seasoned rice and plenty of chardonnay. The crab is a little harder to eat than the turkey but way easier to prepare.

I love new traditions.

Alternative abalone appetizers

Abalone Sashimi

I was craving abalone, but did not want to go through a complete abalone fry production. The smaller 7.5 inch abalone was more than enough for a nice sashimi plate, and enough abalone ceviche to last for a couple days as a side dish and snack.

Abalone Ceviche

This is the recipe I used as I guide:

1 pound abalone steaks
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons safflower oil
1/4 cup green chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 drops Tabasco sauce
1 lime, thinly sliced
fresh coriander sprigs

Pound abalone lightly, then slice into thin strips about 1 inch wide and 1 1/2 inches long. Place in a small glass bowl. Mix together lime juice, oil, chili sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, sugar and Tabasco sauce. Pour this mixture over abalone and mix well. Cover and chill about 4 hours or overnight. At serving time, spoon into an abalone shell or scallop shells and garnish with lime and coriander sprigs. Makes 16.

I lost track of where I found that recipe. Somewhere on the intertubes. If I find it, I''l update this post with a link and credit. I like ceviche spicy and used Mrs. Renfro Jalapeno Salsa for the green chile sauce. Works great.

A fine repast

The recipe of choice: Wine Steamed Clams

1 medium onion, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, smashed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
4 pounds small to medium size Cutthroat Clams
1 cup fresh coriander sprigs, washed and spun dry
1 cup fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves, washed and spun dry
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, or to taste

In a large pot cook onion and 2 smashed cloves of garlic in oil over medium low heat, stirring ‘till soft. Add wine and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 5 min.

Add washed clams, cover pot and steam, medium high heat for about 5 minutes. As the clams open, use tongs to take the clams out of the pot and put them on a platter. Discard any clams that have not opened after about 8 minutes. Keep clams warm.

Put reserved liquid from the clam pot into a blender with the coriander, parsley, butter, 3 garlic cloves and lemon juice an blend ‘till smooth. Pour sauce over clams and serve with crusty French bread.

It was good.

Abalone chez Carlson underway

We are following: Lou's North Beach Style Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 Abalone
• Flour
• 2 eggs
• Italian style bread crumbs
• dash of dry sherry
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 1 bunch of parsley
• many cloves of garlic
• 1 stick of salted butter
• 1 cup white wine
• roll of paper towels

Preparation

• Place bread crumbs and flour in separate shallow bowls.
• Blend eggs and sherry in shallow bowl.
• Prepare abalone steaks:
  • Slice abalone into thin (1/8" to 1/4") steaks.
  • Bread the abalone steaks.
    1. Coat both sides of one abalone steak with flour.
    2. Dip the floured abalone steak in egg mixture.
    3. Coat the egg dipped abalone steak with bread crumbs.
    4. Put aside and repeat the process from a. for the remaining steaks.
  • Chill the breaded steaks for an hour or two.
• Prepare parsley/garlic topping ingredients:
  • Trim parsley and chop fine.
  • Crush and chop several cloves of garlic. The more the better. There should be about a 3:1 parsley to garlic ratio.
• Layer 4 or 5 paper towels on a serving dish.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a dry frying pan on medium high heat.
2. Wait until the frying pan is hot.
3. Add olive oil until there is approximately 1/2 cup in the pan.
4. Wait until the oil is hot.
5. Add 2 to 3 abalone steaks to the hot oil.
6. Cook on one side approximately 30 seconds.
7. Turn abalone steaks gently.
8. Cook for another 20 seconds.
9. Remove abalone steaks to the serving dish.
10. Cover abalone steaks with 2 or 3 paper towels.
11. Repeat from step 2 for the remaining abalone steaks. Replace oil as it darkens or becomes too full of debris.
12. Prepare the parsley/garlic topping:
    • Heat a seperate frying pan.
    • Melt one stick of salted butter.
    • Add the parsley and garlic.
    • After one minute, add the white wine.
    • After two minutes, turn down heat and hold warm.
13. When all of the abalone has been cooked and the parsley/garlic topping is ready, pickup the stack of paper towels along one edge and shake abalone out of the paper towels onto a serving dish.
14. Serve abalone steaks individually topped with parsley/garlic sauce.

With a few accomodations for the U.P...

... we attempt to duplicate the Troto all Astigiano recipe we learned at Palio d'Asti

The recipe

For Trota all Astigiano

Bar poché au champagne

Yes, we are tired of fried fish. The bass filets were prepared with a variation of this recipe, found on the web.

Bass poached in Champagne

and served with a Champagne Cream sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 sea bass filets, about 8 ounces each
• 1 carrot, cut into rounds
• 1 medium onion, cut into quarters
• 1-2/3 cup crème fraîche
• 3 cups Champagne
• 1 parlsey bouquet
• 1 bay leaf
• fresh thyme

PREPARATION:

1. Place the fish in one layer in a sauteuse pan, or other pan that can hold all the liquid on top of the stove. Add the carrot pieces, onion quarters parsley, thyme and bay leaf.

2. Pour in the Champagne along with 1-1/4 cups of water.

3. Gently bring it almost to the boiling point, frequently basting the fish. Just before it reaches the boiling point, lower the heat, and poach the fish for about 20 minutes.

4. Remove the fish to a warmed platter, cover and keep warm.

5. Filter the poaching liquid and pour into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to 1 cup.

6. Lower the heat, add the crème fraîche, whisking constantly. Whisk in the butter, by small pieces, until thick.

To serve:Arrange fish on warmed serving platter and cover lightly with the sauce. Pass the rest of the sauce in a separate sauce boat.

Accompanied by garlic rice and a tomato onion salad.It was surprisingly good for a first effort under trying conditions.

2006 Shag Update - Fall Color Edition 4 - We Catch and Eat More Fish

Contemporaneous e-mail backpost...

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: 2006 Shag Update - Fall Color Edition 4 - We Catch and Eat More Fish
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 23:13:25 -0700
From: MW
To: Family

My wife tells me that she really is not all that into fish pictures. So we start this edition with some more fall color.

This is the "Jinx" oak tree in the front. When we arrived, the maple behind was in full bright yellow color and the oak was green. Now the maple has lost its leaves and the oak is red. Meditate on this for a while, because ...

We are back to the fish pictures - caught Wednesday...

No need for a fish stretcher this time.

Mr. Pike relaxes in a ice bath...

...while I look up How to fillet and cook a pike.

Not bad for a first effort.

After a PBR marinade, the pike fillets were oiled and seasoned, in preparation for ...

Fresh Michigan Cajun style blackened pike in the cast iron skillet.

And another dinner fit for a king.

For Sigrid - a non fish picture. Moon rising over Shag Lake and the remains of a bonfire.

That's it for this edition. Logistics changed for the return. Looks like we will need to spend another night here to finish cleaning and closing up. The plan now is to drive back early early Saturday AM. - mw