Whole Fish

I really love to eat a whole fish. Increasingly, Americans have an appetite for the faster, more convenient filet... in fact, I once called 30 restaurants during a recent family vacation to Florida and not one of them offered fish prepared like this. But other regions in the world, including countries on the Mediterranean and South America (and countless others) still offer up whole grilled, baked and fried specialties.

Pedro and I love to take a trip to Pittsburgh's Strip District to buy fresh fish from Wholey's. We ask the fish monger to gut and descale the fish, but to leave the head, tail and fins on. We pack the fish on ice for the trip home. A few of our recent buys include Porgy (yum! - wide guy pictured below), Jersey Blue Fish (a little oily), Silver Snapper (yum!) and Bronzini (yum!).

Once home, we cut off any of the sharp side fins with professional kitchen scissors. Then we rinse the fish inside and out and make sure the fish monger caught all the scales (if not, just take a sharp knife against the direction of the scales and they'll pop right out).

We like to stuff the fish with all kinds of herbs (thyme, rosemary, marjoram, etc.), fresh garlic chunks, butter, olive oil, salt and lemon slices. We cook the fish on oven-proof plates...  typically at 375 degrees for 25 minutes +/- for a fish that weighs somewhere around a pound or a little more.

To test the fish's readiness, pull it out of the oven and check if the flesh pulls away from the bone easily.

Buying a 1 pound fish is typically more than enough to fill me up, but you can serve with a simple side of cooked potatoes or vegetables.

Pictured below: Porgy from the Strip District!

Pictured below: Yum yum fried whole fish on Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil!

Never a Bad Night [or Morning] to be in Manhattan

Seriously. Watch out. This is a killer cocktail. And while many scoff at the Manhattan as an old man's drink. Too traditional. Fuddy duddy. They haven't been to cocktail hour at Maiz-Waller Kitchen + Bar. Aspiring mixologists must follow these steps precisely.

Waller Manhattan

• Chill martini glass with ice water for a minute or two while you gather ingredients
• Rinse ice in cocktail shaker and strain extra water
• Place 2 amarena cherries (Typically only available via Amazon, unless you have a very special Italian market in your neighborhood. In which case, never move.) in the martini glass with roughly one tsp. of extra cherry juice
• See a picture of the porcelain jar the cherries come in below
• Give three shakes of bitters (I'm not particular about the brand of bitters, however I recommend just standard flavor...  not orange) on top of the cherries in the martini glass
• Mix 2 parts Makers Mark in the cocktail shaker with
• 1 part sweet vermouth 
• Shake vigorously
• Pour to bring up a nice icey foam

ENJOY with your favorite appetizer before dinner or after with dessert

Pictured below: A lovely manhattan at cocktail hour in Morgantown, W.Va.

Eating Away Winter Blues ::: Spanish Chorizo Carbonara and Catalan Market Salad

After a full afternoon of snowshoeing at South Park in Pittsburgh, Pa, Pedro and I enjoyed a delicious dinner, courtesy of Jamie Oliver's 15-minute meal series. Perfectly paired with a snow-chilled beer and a glass of kegged champagne (Pedro's 2013 batch of dry, carbonated Chardonnay made with malolactic fermentation and aged with 40 g of French oak chips). Here's alink to Jamie Oliver's recipes for Chorizo Carbonara and Catalan Market Salad. This meal is easy to make and would be ideal for entertaining (fast and easy to multiply). Although a couple of the ingredients can be expensive (the pine nuts, chorizo and the manchego cheese), the dish is well worth the splurge. A few substitution tips and adjustments we made include:

Catalan Market Salad

• We used asiago cheese instead of manchego (same sharp, aged taste and less expensive)
• Substitute honey roasted almond slices from Trader Joes for the pine nuts
• I spritzed the salad with fresh lemon after tossing it with dressing
• Although red wine or cider vinegar would taste good on this salad as well, the sherry vinegar really adds a unique flavor and I recommend keeping
• The mint also adds a unique (and delicious) flavor to this salad
• This salad could be a great base for other renditions 

Spanish Chorizo Carbonara

• We used sour cream instead of natural yogurt, which wasn't readily available - this substitution worked fine
• We used asiago cheese instead of manchego
• We added dried pepper flakes in addition to the fresh red chilli