RECIPE: Fresh Steamed Clam Chowder with Chef Marc Dym at the Little River Inn

Little River Inn in California’s Mendocino region is a fantastic place to relax, get away from it all, and CHILL. Fortunately, it also is surrounded by great sources of food, wine, and beer.

Their friend Chef Marc Dym loves to prepare his famous Fresh Steamed Clam Chowder, a staple at Ole’s and a favorite of many of the Inn’s guests. Fortunately he has shared it with them and us for you to try.

Because the Inn is located on the California Coast, this recipe never lacks for fresh ingredients. That means it always tastes amazing. But you can can still make it at home, and enjoy it just as much.

Fresh Steamed Clam Chowder

Broth Ingredients

4 Tbsp Butter
1 cups Roundman’s bacon (Medium dice)
2 ea Onions (Medium Dice)
¼ c Flour
1 bunch Celery (Medium Dice)
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 ea Bay Leaves
4 cups Clam Juice
2 each Potatoes (Peeled and Diced Medium)
2 Tsp Old Bay Spice
To taste Salt and Pepper
Dash Tabasco Sauce

Broth Directions
1. Render bacon and drain fat
2. Add onions and butter sauté until translucent
3. Add celery and sauté until celery is tender
4. Add clam juice and spices
5. Add potatoes and cook until potatoes are almost tender

Ingredients For Each Serving

8 each Small Manilla Clams
¼ cup White Wine
3 tbsp Heavy Cream

Directions for Each Serving

1. Heat up small sauté pan
2. Add clams and white wine
3. Add cream when clams open
4. Add 8 oz chowder base

Little River Inn
7901 N. Hwy. 1
Little River, CA 95456

http://www.littleriverinn.com

The Seafood Brand you Have to Know includes All of Your Grilling Favorites

Mahi Mahi in a Red Wine Sauce

Fresh seafood is one of life’s pleasures, and flash frozen seafood delivered quickly to your doorstep can often be almost as good. One brand that we love is Vital Choice Wild Seafood.

Their premium sustainably-caught seafood tastes so fresh and delicious that it is hard to believe it wasn’t just caught. Not only does it taste fresh, it also looks and smells fresh. As many seafood lovers know, fish that smells fishy is often not in good condition. As far as looks, Vital Choice’s Mahi Mahi and salmon both look and feel firm — neither soggy and gray nor hard and dry — and have enticing colors that are a bit surreal.

Vital Choice GrillBox

Vital Choice has a combo package called the Limited Edition GrillBox. The GrillBox includes seasonal favorites and grilling planks — everything a seafood grill master would want — including:

  • Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon, boneless, skin-on
  • Sockeye Salmon Burgers, four 5-oz patties, gluten free
  • Wild Mahi Mahi, skinless, boneless
  • Wild Artisan Blue Shrimp from the Gulf of California
  • Alder Grilling planks

Salmon Fillet

The GrillBox portion sizes are perfect for long or short term storage and use. It’s not practical to want to make a serving for 1-2 people and have to thaw out an entire fish and just use half. The Vital Choice GrillBox sizes are therefore a good fit for various meals, plus don’t dominate available freezer shelf space. Fortunately, the GrillBox does come with several pieces from which to choose when it’s time for your next recipe.

Jerk Salmon and corn with cheese

Interestingly, among our reviewers the fan favorite was the Wild Mahi Mahi (dolphinfish), while the ruby red Wild Sockeye Salmon was a very close second. Once you start cooking with the Mahi Mahi, it’s clear that the sweeter but more neutrally flavored fish is much more versatile than the salmon, whose flavor is more robust and recognizable. The Mahi Mahi can be used in pasta, soups, bouillabaisse, or even in fish and chips and grilled or fried fish sandwiches. We tried the fishery raised Wild Sockeye Salmon with various marinades, jerks, and rubs, and were never disappointed.

Mahi Mahi with a batter crust

The one area for improvement with the GrillBox is possibly the addition of a larger package size of shrimp. The single packet included is great for 1-2 diners but not extendable to 3 or 4.

⇒ FIND THE GRILLBOX HERE

About Vital Choice:

Known for high quality, sustainable seafood delivered straight to your door, Vital Choice has thoughtfully curated our version of an ultimate grilling sampler with their launch of the Limited Edition GrillBox.

Vital Choice believes that healthy, delicious food shouldn’t harm the planet. Initially focused on wild Alaskan salmon, they’ve since expanded to provide customers with sustainable seafood from around the world. Today, Vital Choice is the trusted source for fast home delivery of the world’s finest wild Alaskan seafood, whole-food supplements, and organic fare. Vital Choice foods are the purest available, always sustainably harvested from healthy, well-managed wild fisheries and organic farms.

www.vitalchoice.com

TASTEABLE Television Series Season 5 Episode 10 Intro

TASTEABLE Television Series, Episode Intro, Season 5 Ep 510, featuring Darioush Winery in Napa Valley, a seller of rare books about food, a trip along the California central coast, and recipes for ahi tuna scramble by the Stephanie Harris-Uyidi the Posh Pescatarian.

TASTEABLE can be watched on these PBS-affiliate television stations in Northern California, reaching over 2.5 million households from the San Francisco Bay Area to Wine Country

KPJK, Ch 17 (HD 717) on Fridays
KRCB, Ch 22 (HD 722) on Mondays

TasteTV Gift Guide: 9 Tasty Gifts for the Fancy Food Lover

If you have food lovers in your life that have earned a great gift then you are in luck! TasteTV has found some equally great ideas for you. They include gourmet meats, poultry, spices, pasta, cakes, and awesome cookbooks.

Read more

Savor Fresh Seafood from the Source with Wild Alaskan Company

Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon

Wild Alaskan Company

Fish is some of the most delicious and healthy food that we can eat, and it’s even better when it’s direct from the source and sustainably caught. That’s why Wild Alaskan Company’s new direct to consumer subscription service is just what the chef ordered. These fishmongers source and sell fish directly from the Northern waters to your doorstep on a monthly or several months basis.

The people of Wild Alaskan Company are passionate about bringing you a variety of cuts and fish types, and freeze them for shipment so that you can enjoy them immediately, or at a later date. There is no middleman, it’s just you and them. And of course the fish.

They’re kind of like your personal source for fish. Arron Kallenberg, the founder of Wild Alaskan, started the company in order improve our food system through healthy, convenient, sustainably sourced meals

We previewed a box of Wild Alaskan selections (they come in 12 or 24 pack box sizes), and were not disappointed.  Of course, we did not eat it all at once. We took the opportunity to try a number of different seafood recipes to test the quality of the catch. Some of the recipes were from the TasteTV kitchens, others came directly from Wild Alaskan Company. Below for example are a few that they recommended and we love.

Wild Alaskan Company‘s membership subscription price is a great value, considering that it includes sourcing, selection, and shipment of the finest quality items directly to you. For example:

Wild Salmon Box
signature box featuring 6-ounce portions of wild salmon — such as sockeye and coho salmon

Wild Combo Box
assortment of portion sizes, cuts and species of wild salmon and wild white fish

Wild White Fish Box
assortment of portion sizes, cuts and species of wild white fish — such as halibut and cod

Interested? Try out a few Wild Alaskan recipes like we did, or visit them at Wildalaskancompany.com.

RECIPES

Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon

MOROCCAN GRILLED SOCKEYE SALMON

Makes 4-6 Servings

Ingredients:

  • One 1-2 lb sockeye salmon fillet, pin bones removed
  • 1⁄4 cup olive oil
  • 2-4 tablespoons Moroccan Spice Mixture (recipe below)
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1⁄4 cup finely chopped cilantro
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Salt and ground pepper to taste

Moroccan Spice Mixture:

  • 1/2 cup smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:
Sockeye Salmon

Cut salmon into 1.5 inch portions or leave fillet whole. In a mixing bowl, combine olive oil, spice mixture, garlic, cilantro, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Coat salmon evenly with spice mixture and marinate 20-60 minutes.

Grilling Instructions

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill. Grill salmon over medium-high heat, flesh-side down for 3-5 minutes or until browned, then flip and cook another 3-5 minutes.

Baking Instructions

Heat the oven to 375 F. Place salmon in a shallow baking dish and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

Salmon is done when the flesh flakes easily with a fork and is uniform in color. If checking with an instant-read thermometer, it should reach 145 F at the thickest part.

Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon

WILD SALMON POKE BOWLS

Ingredients

Wild Salmon:

  • 1 pound wild salmon*, skin and pin-bones removed, cut into bite-sized cubes, cooked
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 2-3 tablespoons lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, freshly grated
  • 3 tablespoons green onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Bowls:

  • 1 cup rice, steamed (seasoned sushi rice recommended), cooled
  • ¼ cup cucumber, sliced into matchsticks
  • 2 tablespoons nori (roasted seaweed) or wakame, finely chopped
  • Sriracha sauce

Garnish:

  • bean sprouts, lime wedges, shredded carrots, snap peas

Directions

Wild Salmon Poke: Add the cubed salmon to a medium-sized bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together the sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, ginger, green onions, sesame seeds and red pepper flakes, stirring to combine.

Pour the mixture over the salmon and fold gently to evenly coat. Cover and chill poke for 15 minutes.

Bowls: scoop a portion of rice into a serving bowl. Top with poke, cucumbers and avocado. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve promptly with Sriracha sauce on the side and more sliced onions and sesame seeds for garnish, as desired.

Optional garnish: sprouts, limes, carrots and snap peas.

*Consuming raw or undercooked seafood and shellfish may increase your risk of foodborne illness. Therefore, we recommend only using cooked salmon in this recipe. For any raw or semi-raw preparations, be sure the salmon has been properly frozen previously.

MORE INFORMATION AT:

@wildalaskancompany | wildalaskancompany.com

Chocolate Clam Tasting Menu at Grand Velas Los Cabos

 

Chocolate Clam Tasting

Guests will be able to enjoy a fresh take on Baja California’s “Candy of the Sea” courtesy of a new chocolate clam tasting menu at the AAA Five Diamond Grand Velas Los Cabos.

Named for the uniform brown color of its shell rather than any chocolate flavor, the meaty Mexican chocolate clam is one of the largest West Coast bivalves, reaching up to six inches across. Each of the signature five restaurants at the “Beyond All Inclusive, Beyond All Compare” resort have prepared one version of the dish paired with a wine, including a few from Mexico’s wine region in the north of the peninsula.

Menu

Highlights of the menu include a chocolate clam with white bean, lardo and piccalilli from Cocina de Autor’s two Michelin starred chef Sidney Schutte and, from its Velas 10 steak and seafood restaurant, Clam Au Gratin made with chocolate clams, creamy baby spinach, bacon and grated Grana Padano cheese. The resort’s Italian restaurant Lucca offers a Spicy Clam Crudité made with red pepper vinaigrette and a roasted lemon chutney with fresh tomato and basil crumble and garlic bread. From Piaf, Grand Velas’ fine dining French option, the chefs have created chocolate clam tartar and Kumamoto oysters with Mediterranean lemon, refreshing pea sorbet and cauliflower vichyssoise. A stuffed Chocolate Clam with grilled ham, mushrooms, corn and Oaxaca cheese will be available from the Frida Mexican restaurant. Guests can enjoy the myriad varieties of traditional chocolate clams freshly shucked poolside at Cabrilla, the resort’s poolside cevicheria, beginning soon.

For additional information, visit https://loscabos.grandvelas.com/

About Grand Velas Los Cabos:

The AAA Five Diamond Grand Velas Los Cabos on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula offers the next generation of all-inclusive amenities and facilities with dramatic ocean views and unique spaces infusing every area of the resort. Located between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, the beachfront property features 304 ocean view suites, all over 1,180 sq. ft. with private terraces and some personal plunge pools.