Miso Glazed Broiled Swordfish

Wild Caught Lobster, Papaya and Mixed Grain Salad

Lobster Bundles, Lunch Envy

A luscious lunch for the Atkins crowd....poached wild caught lobster*, Haas avocado, heirloom tomato, red onion bundles on a bed of Arugula, gold bell pepper and baby greens in a light drizzle of lemon, basil and mission olive oil

*Lobster...but it's so expensive! No, not if you watch for the sale, and due to the downturn in the economy lobster is frequently on sale.  Buy it frozen and vacuum seal for freezer storage of 2-3 months.

Paella!

It's Salad Season!

 Lobster, black quinoa, 

avocado, early girl tomatoes and marinated red onion in a pomegranate vinaigrette 

Black bean, avocado, 

quinoa, artichoke hearts, roasted corn, grape tomato with Lime cilantro vinaigrette 

more salads here



Om Chef downtown L.A. enlightened omnivore clients will find all ingredients for these salads cleaned and chopped in labeled glass containers conveniently located in their refrigerator...making this dish qualify as 'fast food' the enlightened omnivore way

Asian Flavored Lobster Soup in Under 20 min

Begin with chicken stock preferably fresh homemade, or if you are short on time use Swansons low sodium chicken broth. Heat chicken stock with minced fresh garlic, ginger and fresh chili pepper to taste.While stock is heating up prep your veggies. Shown is a simple mix of thinly sliced crimini and shiitake mushroom, carrot, fresh lotus root,  fingerling potatoes, green onion and cilantro, and a couple of smallish lobster tails. Add spuds first, cook 5-6 minutes, add carrot, cook additional 2 minutes, add mushrooms, cook 2 minutes, add remaining ingredients cover and remove from heat. Finish soup with a splash of nam pla (fish sauce), and/or a little fresh lime juice.

Lobster was on hand for this dish, but most any seafood,  chicken and/or tofu would work just as well.

Soup allows for tremendous creativity, simply varying a few key seasoning ingredients can change it completely.  Replacing the cilantro, ginger, nam pla and lime juice with fennel, a little white wine, a pinch of saffron, fresh thyme, a swirl of EVOO and a strip of orange peel turns it into a heavenly Mediterranean soup needing nothing more than a baguette and someone to enjoy it with.....the fresh lotus root works beautifully in the Mediterranean version

Asian soups are an Om Chef favorite, I love the myriad of dried ingredients available, including dried lily buds,  shrimp, oysters, scallops, wood ear, black fungus, jujube, seaweeds, jellyfish, and  multiple kinds of fungi to name a few.

Om Chef downtown L.A. enlightened omnivore clients will find all ingredients for this dish cleaned and chopped in labeled glass containers conveniently located in their refrigerator...making this dish qualify as 'fast food' the enlightened omnivore way

EZ Ahi Tuna Poki-tini

Dice sashimi grade Ahi, chop red or green onion, avocado, cilantro and tomatoes,
mince ginger, and garlic, combine in glass bowl and drizzle with soy or ponzu flavored soy sauce, and fresh lime juice.
....allow to marinate for 15 minutes before serving

Shrimp and Scallop Fajitas

Technically any 'fajita' dish not containing beef, specifically skirt steak, would more appropriately be called a stir fry. Fajita means skirt steak, but has come to mean any meat or seafood quickly sauteed, or grilled, and rolled in a tortilla. 

Ultra easy and very healthy, fajitas are authentic Mexican fare. No deep frying and no mountain of melted cheese, just fresh, assorted peppers, onions, and marinated seafood, meat or tofu quickly sauteed, or grilled  at high heat in an iron skillet with a splash of olive oil.

 Served with warm corn tortillas, black beans, avocado, and fresh salsa...what could be easier?

Above is shrimp and scallop fajita/stir fry with red and green peppers, passilla chili, Anaheim chili, Spanish onion, and fresh cilantro.  Marinade for seafood is a simple blend of 2 limes, shown above with juice of 3 key limes and 2 tangerines,  2 tsp ground cumin, 2 minced jalapeno, 1/2 minced serrano,  1/4 cp chopped cilantro, 1 TB fresh mexican oregano, pinch of sea salt. Seafood only needs 10 minutes in marinade before cooking. Beef fajita marinades are best with skirt steak and a 12-24 hour marinade.

An excellent dish, and cooking technique for good health and perfect weight

Sea Scallops on bed of Lentils and Spinach

Quick and easy one saute pan/ one saucepan meal!

half a cup lentils, two cups of water, garlic, half a spanish onion, simmer 30 minutes, or until tender.  Avoid boiling to retain lentils shape.

Cook 2 strips of tofu, pork or beef bacon (depending on your desired level of enlightenment ;0) until crisp, set aside.

Using same saute pan, sear one pound of scallops (in two batches-never crowd a pan!) in a teaspoon of butter...allow scallops to cook for one minute over medium to high heat, turn (only once to allow browning/carmelizing)) and cook additional one minute, remove from pan.

Toss a generous handfull of clean and dry baby spinach in to hot sautee pan, spinach will cook very rapidly, under one minute, remove spinach as soon as it wilts,

add one tablespoon apple cider vinagar to hot sautee pan, deglaze aprox one minute..

.place lentils and spinach on serving plate,  sprinkle with chopped crisp bacon, top with seared scallops and drizzle with apple cider reduction....serve with lemon, and a nice salad

Peruvian Style Ceviche

Classic Peruvian Style Ceviche:
Sea bass, key lime, sea salt, bitter orange, serrano chili, purple onion, and red pepper. Marinate several hours. Served with sweet potato, roasted corn, and red or purple potato

Seafood Markets Downtown

Whole fish is not only a better value, it's much easier to see the level of freshness in whole fish than in a small fillet. Whole fish shrinks less during cooking, and bones and trimmings are the beginning of an excellent fish stock.
All three of the fish shown are a mere $2.99 per pound at several of the markets in Chinatown.

Pictured: pacific sierra aka spanish mackerel, white bass, and red tilapia. Their small size insures minimal Mercury, and low environmental impact.

When fish is less than fresh look for "Frozen-at-Sea" (FAS) When thawed, sea-frozen fish are almost indistinguishable from fresh fish, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. In reality FAS is almost always your safest choice. 'Fresh' may mean 5 or 6 six days on ice, and that is way less than fresh if not downright gross...

Ceviche in NoHo

The foundation of any Ceviche is seafood, chilies, and citrus juice.

Lime, and lemon are the most commonly used citrus juice, but grapefruit juice, and bitter orange juice are also popular. Jalapenos, seranos or habenero chilies are the universal favorites. Tomatoes, mango, bell peppers, carrot, onion, garlic are all optional

Pictured: Baja Ceviche

Tilapia, squid, mussels, crab, scalop, tomato, red onion, lime, cilantro, jalapeno, habenero, and garlic....garnished with carrot and radish

Locanda Veneta,

The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you're hungry again.  ~George Miller

Locanda Veneta can be very noisy, cramped, and presentation is simple, very simple. But the food is delicious home style Italian just like mama would've made, if she was Italian 

 Calamari Alla Veneta

Grilled calamari served on light spicy, garlic Swiss Chard.

Veal Scaloppini sautéed in Marsala Wine Sauce.

Torta di mele

Sliced Apple baked in a light puff pastry served with caramel sauce.




LOCANDA VENETA (310) 274-1893 8638 WEST 3RD STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA 90048

Calamari/squid is on the 'all you can eat' list of sustainable seafood, so indulge, just avoid the battered and deep fried cooking methods that obliterate the naturally fab flavor of Calamari

Coming soon:
Lionfish is a recently added 'all you can eat' fish that is sure to entice seafood chefs everywhere, and will be receiving its own post as soon as Om Chef gets her hands on some....and who can resit a name like Lionfish?

Santa Monica Seafood, and Favorite Seafood Sources of Los Angeles

Santa Monica Seafood is the source of premium fish for some of Los Angeles' greatest restaurants, and local gourmets since 1939. Family pride, four generations of involvement with international fisheries, and respect for the environment shows in their commitment to sustainability, and is proven by their involvement in a number of wild and farmed certifying agencies. Santa Monica seafood understands that honoring the Seas, and being environmentally conscious is an ongoing process of increasing awareness, and making the necessary changes in all aspects of their business to be 'green'. They support the Seafood Choices Alliance, and recently became involved with the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sustainable Seafood Initiative.
Please support Santa Monica Seafoods dedication to the environment by purchasing seafoods marked sustainable, or ask the friendly and knowledgeable staff to help with your selections.
Wholesale and retail with a fab cafe and oyster bar.
Educate yourself with Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Initiative
Santa Monica Seafood has continued to expand its market share by acquiring smaller seafood markets, most recently, Seafood Warehouse Corp in 2006.

Santa Monica Seafood
Santa Monica Retail Store
1000 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310- 393-5244


Premium Sushi Chefs are devoted to Los Angeles Seafood Company, located downtown for 60+ years. Specializing in Kaimin Katsugyo, insuring the freshest fish through forced hibernation of the fish during transportation, fish arrive at their destination not just fresh, but alive.
Los Angeles Fish Company
420 Stanford Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90013-2121
213- 629-1213
Mon-Fri: 06:00am-03:00pm
Sat 06:00am-11:00am

Ultra premium sushi chefs keep their sources secret, but the sources are clustered downtown in the wholesale district, 3rd to 7th streets, and Los Angeles to Alameda. To find these secret sources start early, like 4a.m., and note the whsl district is in and around skid row, so bring some blankets or anything else you would like to donate to those less fortunate, consider it an offering to the fish gods and goddess'.

Fish King
A fabulous favorite for those in the foothills,
720 North Glendale Avenue
Glendale, California 91206
818- 244-2161

Santa Barbara Fisherman's Market at the Harbor

This is fish as local and direct as you can get, straight from the fisherman! Every Saturday from 7:30 - 11:30 am in the Santa Barbara Harbor at the Breakwater. And don't miss the SB farmers market at Cota & Santa Barbara Streets also on Saturdays 8:00 am - noon

And Gelson's is the uber easy seafood choice with 18 locations in Southern California's most beautiful places

Healthy, One Pot Lusciousness

 

So easy! Brown rice, short grain is best for this dish, assorted vegetables, fresh herbs, a few small pieces of fish, and a 2 quart saucepan with a lid.  Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add one cup of brown rice, return to a boil, add root veggies, reduce heat to a simmer and cover with lid, simmer aprox 35 minutes. ...DO NOT REMOVE LID BEFORE 35 MIN*...Turn off heat, add fish, fast cooking veggies, tofu if you have it, and fresh herbs, cover, and let stand 15 minutes-with no heat...

  serve with a splash of soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil, or a drizzle of olive oil.

As shown with cilantro, mushrooms, eggplant, green beans, carrots, and cilantro. The above dish was prepared with a cutting board, sharp knife, and a single burner hot plate in an artist studio with no kitchen.  Ingredient cost was $6.00 using sushi grade fish, and a hand full of veggies from a local Korean market.

*The secret to steamed rice is very simple, after bringing rice and water to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low, and Do Not Remove the Lid. That's it, just that easy.

   

Broiled Crispy Skin Salmon

Rice Noodle with Spicy Shrimp Balls

Thai Shrimp Spring Roll

Gordon Ramsay Finds Sustainable Caviar in Andalucia Spain

Fascinating field trip to Andalucia Spain and an amazing Sturgeon farmer.
With fewer than 1,000 beluga sturgeon left in the Caspian Sea,
the world’s chief source of caviar, and with experts predicting that they will be extinct in 14 years,
Caviar farmers such as this are critical to the Sturgeons survival.

Caviar de Riofrio.com

Smoked Salmon, Spinach Turnover

Simple, but decadent appetizer that comes together in minutes.
A package of Puff pastry should be in everyones freezer
for the unexpected guests or the occasional indulgence.
Puff pastry can be filled with almost anything,
this is a great place to be creative and use whatever you have on hand.
Here I have used smoked salmon*, frozen chopped spinach, red onion, and a little cream cheese as a binder. An egg wash is brushed along the edges of the pastry before folding over to help with the seal, as well as across the top of the turnover to enhance browning and add a nice gloss when baked. I substituted a small amount of mayonnaise for the egg wash, and sprinkled with red Hawaiian rock salt.

•canned Alaska pink or red salmon is available at all major grocers, and works equally well All canned salmon is wild caught making it that much better. 
A fab online source for Wild Alaska Salmon at fab prices, wild pacific salmon.com
Family run and fisherman direct, it doesn't get better than this!