Teach A Man To Fish

Again Whole Foods did not let me down. Their unsurpassed capacity to get fresh seafood year round justifies the 15 minute commute. This night I made trout dusted with almond and pine nut flour, steamed primal artichoke and littleneck clams in champagne broth.

I bought slivered onions and pine nuts from the bulk section and buzzed them in the mini-food processor. I added salt, tiny bit of sugar and some dried thyme and basil. Put it in a bowl for later.

The fillet was about a pound, center cut (which is hard with a trout since filets don’t run that huge). Take extra care to remove as many pin bones as possible. You do this by running your hand against the grain on the flesh, and that will poke the bones up. You can extract them easiest with tweezers. You can also use the toaster as a mirror, and take care of your eyebrows while you’re at it.

To cook, sauté flesh side down for about 3-4 minutes, flip over and transfer to a 400 degree oven for another 5 minutes or so.

To prep the artichoke, I cut the very tip of the stalk off, and strip off some of the outside skin on the stalk. Bisect the artichoke and cut the top hemisphere off and discard. Take a spoon and pretend its your sword enemy and scoop the ‘choke’ out of the middle, scraping around until all the hair is gone.

Store in cold water with lemon or lime juice to prevent oxidation. When you cook it, steam for about 12-15 minutes, and please keep checking to make sure you don’t run out of water and burn the bottom of the pan. Burnt artichoke is so unbecoming.

Whole Foods pre tests their clams for life by tapping them, so if you trust your fishmonger you don’t need to repeat the process. I sautéed a couple of shaved shallots and later added tomato.

When sufficiently stewed (little brown on the shallots) pour in a cup of chicken broth and a cup of champagne. When it comes to a rolling boil, add the clams and keep simmering on medium until the broth is reduced by half. I added sprigs of fresh thyme.

If you like, cut the other liquids in half and add a cup of cream and reduce until it nappes the spoon. Clams in cream broth are silky and indescribable. Serve with crusty bread.



Butter, Butter, Butter! Both items on the plate cry for butter so melt down half a stick. Set one half aside for the artichoke, the other half you will add lemon juice and capers. Pour that over the fish.

This is really a quick meal that times very well. You start the clams first, then steam the artichoke, and prepare the fish last, it all comes out as a brilliantly healthy meal. Except all the butter.