Blue Sand Seafood & Grill Brings A Seafood Riff To Korean Food On Rte 40: Raw, Grilled, Soup

Seafood dolset

As I'm getting better at understanding Korean food, I feel like the Korean food is getting better in Ellicott City.

The newest find:  Blue Sand Seafood and Grill, which opened in the back of the Bethany 40 shopping center and served a delicious dinner -- fresh, flavorful seafood that tasted authentic, but would also welcome folks looking to try Korean food.

Now, it's just one meal.  But I'm incredibly optimistic.  We had a kid-friendly noodle soup, grilled fish and a seafood rice bowl.  Everyone left happy, even though we hadn't touched the flashy stuff at the heart of the menu.

I say flashy stuff because the restaurant and the menu put the sushi bar and the enormous platters front and center.  We watched hand rolls go past us.  We saw enormous platters -- primarily of sashimi on the night that we visited, but ranging from broiled fish to shellfish to thin-sliced beef on the menu.

Grilled mackerel

We started simple.  Grilled mackerel, seaweed noodle soup, and a dolset seafood.  The dolset is a hot stone bowl filled with rice, vegetables, squid and a shrimp.  This is an ocean version of the dolset bi bim bap that I recommend in my Korean 101 post.

This was really good food.  Mackerel comes split and grilled.  The meat is firm and meaty.  The flavor a step stronger than salmon, but that keeps the meat moist even cooked through.  We pulled the backbone and the fish came off in chunks even with chop sticks.

We alternated with the seafood dolset.  I'm a huge fan of squid, and this was cooked perfectly, firm but not chewy.  Some greens, scallions and other vegetables made the bowl filling but light.  I added some of the spicy sauce served with the dolset, maybe a tablespoon too much for Mrs. HowChow.

In contrast, Blue Sand's seaweed soup was mild.  It was perfect for Lil' Chow, who loves soup, noodles and seaweed.  I'd recommend it, although I may stick him with miso next time and try the spicy seafood noodle soup myself.

I'd actually love advice on other things to order.  I have posted many times about Korean food, but I'm an amateur.  Can anyone leave a comment with suggestions for Blue Sand or for Korean seafood in general?  A group could have a ball ordering those platters or maybe filling a table with grilled fish, soup, a dolset and some sushi.  I also see that Blue Sands could be a spot for people with adventurous tastes like sea squirt and live sashimi.

But I'd recommend our three dishes even for someone just learning about Korean food.  Or consider swapping out the soup for a sushi order or hwae dup bap -- a rice and sashimi mixture that I posted about last year.  That's all accessible and obvious.  Plus, you'll get a good introduction, especially because the small dishes served with the meal -- called panchan -- were really good.  The cabbage kimchi had a crunchy and a warm, but not sour flavor.  The stuffed cucumber kimchi was crisp and refreshing, a terrific taste after some grilled mackerel.

"Push button" -- Lil' Chow

If you work near Rte 40, Blue Sand offers several lunch specials for $11-14, including bento boxes headlined by sashimi, sushi, kalbi and salmon.  Blue Sand replaced the Kimco Seafood restaurant, which I don't remember having as an interesting or as tasty a menu.

If you go to Blue Sands, look for the numbered button near your table.  Many are on the walls at Blue Sands, but they can be on the table at other restaurants.  When you want something, push the button.  Often, the staff in a Korean restaurant doesn't check back with a table.  They wait for a ring, then come to assist.

Don't seat your children next to the button.  Lil' Chow spent a significant part of our meal alternating between singing "ding dong, ding dong" and asking me to push the button.  I was just glad it was out of his reach.

Rebirth Of Seafood In Jessup? Wild Seafood Appears To Be Filling The Old Frank's

A new retail seafood shop appears to be filling the space formerly occupied by Frank's Seafood in the Jessup seafood market.

Look for Wild Seafood at the near end of the market.  Dave Webb, a former manager at Frank's, is in the process of opening that store, reports Rob.  Some fish may already be on sale, but the official opening is slated for February 28.  Says Rob:

Right now, he is having a "soft opening," and he has a few things in stock. But, he will be up and ready to go full steam.... ahhh CRABS... ahead on the 28th.

The former Frank's Seafood closed last fall after being a Howard County mainstay for years.  They were my spot for oysters and steamed crabs.  The new Wild Seafood appears to be taking over the same space, which is just south of Rte 175 and a few blocks east of U.S. 1.  You need to show an ID to enter the Jessup wholesale seafood market, but anyone can buy at the retail store.

If you go to the new Wild Seafood, I also recommend stopping at My Organic Market, which is on Rte 175 just east of U.S. 1.  I've done well in the past shopping for fish or shellfish, then taking that inspiration to My Organic Market to buy my other ingredients.

Shrimp At Shin Chon: Grill Some Seafood Along With Your Meat At One Of My Favorite Places

Shrimp on the grill at Shin Chon Garden

You can never go wrong with grilling your own meats at Shin Chon Garden, but there are variations for regulars or seafood lovers at Korean barbecue.

Shrimp -- either mild or spicy -- are served in a tin-foil tray and then cooked in a bubbling sauce.  This has always been one of the choices on Shin Chon's barbecue menu, but we hadn't tried it even after years of ordering beef and pork.  We went a few months ago to celebrate a birthday, and the table of Shin Chon regulars wanted to branch out -- but didn't want to try octopus.

The shrimp turned out to be a terrific alternative.  Our spicy order had some serious kick, and most of the flavor came from the red-pepper-heavy sauce.

That's a bright, peppy flavor after we and friends had knocked off orders of brisket and pork belly.  We wrapped some shrimp in the same lettuce wraps that are part of Korean BBQ 101.  Then I just snatched shrimp with chopsticks and ate them alone.

Shin Chon is one of my top restaurants in Howard County.  I love the food, and I love the atmosphere.  It's incredibly social to sit with your friends and a table covered with panchan and barbecue that you can sample at will.  I posted Korean BBQ 101 instructions so that anyone can try.  Now the shrimp lets you try even more.

I still want to try the octopus and some other dishes that Andrew Zimmern and Richard Gorelick explored.  Although that sounds exotic, I promise that Korean is really accessible -- especially because you get a table of dishes that you can explore.  There are options for all kinds of palates  including vegetarians, although I think Shin Chon will be most-exciting to folks with some love for meat and spice.  Check out all the HowChow posts about Shin Chon.

Salmon-Skin Rolls: Voted Least Likely To Be A HowChow Favorite, But Now A Crunchy Contrast

Salmon skin roll at Sushi Sono

Who would have ever expected to write rhapsodically about eating fish skin?

It sounds like a joke, but the salmon skin roll has become one of our favorites since I learned about them from a friend.

Almost every sushi restaurant offers their variation on this cooked roll.  Thin pieces of salmon skin with a little attached fish, broiled until crisp and then rolled sometimes with vegetables and the standard nori and rice.

Done right, it's a contrast with regular sushi rolls -- crunch and an unctuous char among dishes that can have a similar texture of rice-fish-nori-rice-fish-nori.  I think we tend to order salmon skin rolls when we have a few people around the table.  One or two pieces punctuate a meal.  We don't need half of the rolls to have skin.

Over the winter, we discovered that Sushi Sono does an exceptional salmon skin roll.  More meat than many other variations and cooked to the precise point where the skin crunches, but hasn't burned.  That version may even be better than our prior favorite at Yama Sushi in Ellicott City.

If you're looking for something fun, I really suggest getting 6-10 people together for one of the private rooms at Sushi Sono or Sushi King.  They both offer special tables where you sit on benches in an enclosed space.  Exotic fun for adults -- and surprising kid-friendly because we have had toddlers wander around the room without bothering anyone outside.  Check out my post about the Sushi Sono room, and call either place to reserve the roms.

Did Frank's Seafood Close In Jessup?

Details are sparse, but Frank's Seafood in Jessup may have closed.

This would be a bummer.  Frank's was a retail store inside the wholesale seafood market.  They were an invaluable place for fish, seafood and crabs.  I got crabs there last month.

Again I don't know details.  But the phone want answered this afternoon, and the Twitter and Facebook pages seem to be deleted.  A friend of mine who knows that market says Frank's has closed.  (Update:  I have heard this from two other people as well, including Nicole who put a comment on the HowChow Facebook page saying a guard at the seafood market said they have been closed since Monday.)

Does anyone know details?  I would love to be wrong.  I assume that Frank's was hurt when Wegmans and Whole Foods opened big retail fish counters in Columbia.  I love both of those places, but I recognize that they are changing the landscaping and taking business from businesses that welcomed me when I moved to Howard County.

A Summer Salad At Yet Nal House: Refresh Yourself With Sashimi With Rice And Vegetables

Stretch your summer dining by trying a salad that mixes fresh greens, sliced sashimi and rice for a light, but filling, bowl.

We're talking about hwae dup bop -- or "sashimi salad" as it is rendered in English on the Yet Nal House menu in Ellicott City.

We had a terrific simple dinner at Yel Nal House.  The huge bowl of sashimi salad -- a variety of greens and lettuces, topped with sliced raw fish and other vegetables and served over steamed rice.  It's a filling meal, even though it is light and perfect for summer.  Your dress your own salad with a red chili sauce -- cho go chu jang --  that is chilis mixed with vinegar, sugar and sesame seeds.  That lets you set the heat however you prefer.

Hwae dup bop is a common Korean dish, and I got the inspiration from Lisbeth who posted on Lisbeth Eats about her favorite version at Hang Sung also in Ellicott City.

Lisbeth's beautiful photos show Hang Sung's salad with shredded iceberg lettuce.  Yel Nal House does a mix of whole-leaf greens, including several lettuces and baby chard.  Lisbeth says that's just wrong!  I have to admit that I loved the variety, but next time, I might ask for a knife to chop the greens a bit.  I'll definitely ask for small plates because I realized halfway through the meal that I wasn't supposed to be eating from the metal mixing bowl.  (We think the waitress just forgot.)

The beauty of Korean dining is that you can order a salad and eat so much more.  We got a half-dozen small dishes like you do at most Korean restaurants.  Those panchan dishes provide variety in the form of kimchi, sauced tofu, marinated vegetables and more.  We augmented the hwae dup bop with an order of bi bim bop in a stone pot.  That's the rice dish topped with a variety of vegetables and an egg.  In this case, the egg was fried, and the vegetables included some perfectly-cooked mushrooms that gave an earthy, meaty flavor.

Yet Nal House is a really friendly restaurant on Rte 40 west of Rte 29.  The menu varies from the Shin Chon Garden barbecue that we would suggest as Korean 101, and Yel Nal is welcoming to anyone.  If you go, check out the freezer of takeout dumplings just inside the door.  You buy them at the cashier in back.

What Is Wild Cajun Seafood? Are They Serving?

What is Wild Cajun Seafood?  Has anyone eaten there?

Jack emailed me about a Web site for a restaurant in the Lotte shopping center at Rte 29 and Rte 40.  It's new to me.  Jack and I didn't even know if it is open.  The phone number doesn't go to a restaurant yet.

Does anyone know the story?

The menu that Jack found on-line has a lot of fried seafood -- along with salads, other seafood, and New Orleans dishes like gumbo and etouffee.  They promise po' boys, and that could be a delicious.  There is also a Facebook page where they seem to be recruiting job applications.

Oysters And The Tool That You Need To Buy, Then Bring To Frank's Seafood In Jessup

Oysters and Seafood Hardware's cast iron oyster knife

On a visit to a friend in Nashville, I discovered a cool new tool perfect for the oyster-lover in your life.

Oysters on the half shell are a huge treat, and I love Frank's Seafood at this time of year for their selection of top-notch oysters.  The Jessup market is inside the wholesale seafood market off Rte 175, but you can shop there for fish, crabs and shellfish.

Last week, they had five local varieties, ranging from a salty, salty Sewansescott variety to several Maryland sweets.  They pick you good oysters.  You can buy a handful or dozens by the bag.  The selection lets you make a plate -- even for one person -- that contrasts the different flavors from the sea.

Oysters at Frank's

And now all that can be so much easier to open.

Frank's taught me to shuck oysters, and they sold me a small knife that remains the best way to worm into an oyster shell if it's really tight.  But a Georgia company sells a cast iron oyster knife that makes all the difference.  Its tip forces between oyster shells -- with a slight start by my shucking knife in the crazy few where the shell has grown around the hinge.  Then, the Georgia knife pops open an oyster easier than a key in a lock.

Cast iron makes all the difference.  That knife will never snap, and you will never cut yourself.  It's forged so that you push with your palm and thumb.  I can press hard to get into the oyster, then separate the shells with a twist.  Once open, I slice the meat from the shell with the shucking knife.  In Nashville, I did a dozen oysters like clockwork.

The one problem is that we need a Chesapeake version.  You can buy the original oyster knife ($29 with shipping) with a plain metal bar connecting the two sides.  But the Georgia company Seafood Hardware makes personalized versions cut with the outlines of Georgia, Texas and other southern states.  At a minimum, we need a DelMarVa version with the outline of the bay.

Seriously, I recommend the Seafood Hardware knife.  They hand-forge them in Georgia.  They're a cool gift, and they made me much more confident that I could open any oyster.

This is a job for Steve Vilnit!!  A Chesapeake or a Maryland version of the oyster knife could be a fun partnership with some of our local oyster companies.  That's fishery marketing!

Squid At Wegmans: Try A Light Summer Dinner That Is As Easy As Grilling Up Hamburgers

Squid Burlissimo

Quick-cooking.  Low-fat.  Fresh-tasting.  How could squid not be part of your everyday kitchen?

Well, the squid part kept me from cooking them for a long time.  Big bodies you need to clean or frozen blocks you need to defrost and use.  But that changed at the seafood counter at Wegmans.

They're easy there.  Sold cleaned -- either as tubular bodies or bundled tentacles. You literally just slice them and cook, no harder than a fish filet.  We go with bodies.  Buy maybe a 1/4 pound per person.  Then find recipes that keep me from deep-frying them into crunchy calamari.

My current recipe was adapted from a Melissa Clark recipe in the New York Times.  Sautéed squid with lime, hot pepper and mint.  Served -- by accident -- on toasted bread when I misread Clark's recipe and then decided that I liked the change.  It's a fresh little dinner, great flavors and dedicated to the famous Duke and Duchess of Burlbaugh.

Squid Burlissimo
serves two, easy to double if you cook in two batches

4 tbl olive oil
1/2 pound squid bodies, cleaned
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small Thai pepper, seeded
1 lime
1/4 c. chopped mint
thin slices of crusty bread -- 2 large or 4 small

1) Rinse the squid, then drain and dry with a paper towel.  The bodies are long tubes, pointed on one end and open on the other.  Slice them into 3/4-inch-wide rings.  Pat dry, then put in a bowl.

Watermelon & feta salad

2) Heat a skillet large enough to hold the squid over high heat.  Let the pan get very hot.  Add the oil to the pan.  Then add the squid.  Sprinkle with salt and cook them for one minute without touching them.

3) Flip the squid.  Add the garlic and hot pepper.  Cook one or two more minutes.  Cook the squid until it gets firm and opaque.

4) At the same time, toast or grill the bread.

5) Pour the squid, oil, garlic and hot pepper into a clean bowl.  Squeeze the lime to pour juice over the squid.  Add the mint and stir.  You want a bit of oil at the bottom of the bowl.  Add a 1/2 tsp if you don't have enough.

5) Put the bread on plates or a serving platter.  Spoon squid onto the bread.  Spoon a bit of the oil on each slice.  Serve immediately.

Consider serving with a salad made of cubed watermelon, feta and basil.  Dress with a little olive oil and salt.

Crabs And Peaches - The Summer's Best Stuff With Short Drives Around Howard County

Crabs from Frank's Seafood

Summer makes for big food, and you can make short drives to get the best stuff.

The '34 Act Gourmet bought crabs to celebrate his birthday, and Frank's Seafood in Jessup steamed a spectacular bushel and a half.  I ate far more than my share.  Most people are such amateurs.  They knock off after two or three crabs.  The pros power through.

Peaches at Gorman

Frank's crabs were heavy and sweet.  Their spice mixture had flavor without being too salty.  I was super-impressed.

To continue on the summer flavors, drive down to Gorman Produce Farm in Laurel for peaches, basil, and vegetables.  Gorman farms most of the produce, and they sell boxes of tomatoes, herbs, onions, potatoes, beets, and more.  They also bring in peaches from Baugher Farm -- along with the first summer apples and other fruit.

WKitchen's summer cocktail

Gorman is a short drive from Columbia -- just east of Rte 29 on Gorman Road.  Like Frank's crabs, the Gorman produce is special and fresh.  You won't get these flavors from your mid-winter fruit.  I'm especially waiting until the tomatoes really arrive and Gorman sells crates of "seconds" to turn into sauce.

What other specialties of summer do you suggest? Any special shopping?  Special dishes at local restaurants?

It's a farther drive, but we went to Woodberry Kitchen that has the most-amazing summer items -- a like peach desserts and a warm cherry tomato salad with pancetta and rocket. But my absolute favorite was a non-alcoholic cocktail made from watermelon, cucumber juice, hot sauce, and sour mix. It alternatively sounds crazy and simple, but it tastes complex and delicious. I need to start experimenting with cocktails made with the blueberries that I preserved with wine.

Herring At Today's Catch

Herring at Today's Catch

I know herring is a limited market -- so limited that half my house doesn't care for the pickled fish.

But it's a great snack if you're in the mood and shopping in Today's Catch in Columbia.  The fish market often sells small containers for less than $2.  You get delicious fish in a sauce that may have wine and mustard.  Great on a bagel for breakfast.  Great on a crack for a snack.

Boarman's: Report From The XMas Front Line

Boarman's Meat Market in Highland was jumping this morning with people picking up and ordering meat, fish and turkeys for the weekend.

The pick-up line for pre-orders was against the produce.  New orders snaked up a central aisle.  Boarman's had a crew working so that waits were reasonable, and people loaded up on steaks, hams, turkeys, and the house-made sausages.  Guy in front of me ordered three big steaks and picked up his Maple Lawn turkey.

They were sold out of flank steak, so I grabbed a pound of Maryland crab meat to use this weekend.  I need to cook because Mrs. HowChow is working the entire weekend so we can't return to the Red Pearl for a Christmas Day dim sum.

Then I had a last-second inspiration and asked for clams.  Boarman's has them in the back for 50 cents each.  Mrs. HowChow talked about thick clam chowder earlier this week, so I picked up onions and potatoes to work on that tonight.  Plus a sausage to flavor either the chowder or pasta.

Bonus item at the cash register: Boarman's stocks the breads and pies from the Lovebirds bakery that I had seen before at Roots and Gorman Farm.  Lovebirds apparently bakes in Howard County.

Clam Chowder a la Today's Catch -- The Secret Ingredient Is Clams That They Freeze In House

Okay, the secret ingredient in clam chowder can't actually be clams, but who knew that Today's Catch gets Chesapeake clams that it freezes in house?

I only ended up in Today's Catch's freezer because I couldn't find large clams at the local seafood markets.  I had a recipe that called for six pounds of clams and steaming them to start.

Why bother?  The market in Wilde Lake village center sells $10 containers of enormous clams -- shucked and raw, ready to make whatever interests you, and ready to store a bit in your freezer if you take them straight home.  They buy them fresh, then package and freeze them in the Columbia shop.

Last weekend, I had a car full of chowder ingredients like cream, bacon and potatoes, but no clams at Frank's Seafood Market in Jessup.  I had to take a risk, and it paid off in a flavor strong with salt water and clams.  No grit.  No fishiness.  I augmented with a can of Chincoteague sea clam juice, and I adapted a recipe from The New Best Recipes.  Basically, I cooked the clams in a tiny pot, then followed most of the recipe along the way.

The Local Delicacy That Got Away -- Chartering A Boat To Chase Rockfish On The Chesapeake

PoppaChow and Chris Diehl on the Teaser

This was supposed to be a post about catching your own dinner, but those were the ones who got away.

Fishing trips were a tradition in my family in the 1960s and 1970s, and I restarted the idea last weekend with a trip on the Chesapeake for my father's birthday.  He and my brother crashed at our house in Howard County.  Then we drove to meet Chris Diehl on his boat the Teaser at 6:30 am in Dundalk.

Fall rockfish season -- as I learned on the Teaser -- is about younger fish.  We were looking for fish longer than 18 inches.  We could only take home two fish each.  It's a tough limit.

But it turned out to be tougher to catch a fish.  We tried a stop soon after we entered the bay.  We stopped near the bay bridge.  We ran across to the Eastern Shore and circled until I lost my sense of direction.  At mid-day, we hadn't had even a bite, and we were grateful for the excitement when the weights got caught on the bottom.  (My brother caught a burlap bag.  For a while, we thought that might be the highlight.)

Maryland Crab And The First Harvest Of 2011

We ate the first contributions from the vegetable garden Monday night -- lettuce in a salad to go with Maryland crab cakes.

The Maryland crab has arrived at Laurel Meat Market.  It is $16 a pound for lump or backfin, and I went simple with crab cakes assembled with just a minimum of egg, breadcrumbs, scallions and mayonnaise.

Crab is a fun luxury.  Cakes are easy enough for a weeknight, and you can easily make four meals from a single container.  I'm sure the Maryland crab is available at Frank's Seafood in Jessup as well.

The garden has tons of lettuce this year.  It actually has tons this week.  I went crazy right after the thaw and seeded with enthusiasm.  Instead of leaving space for multiple plantings, I quickly exhausted my small garden.  So it's all ready at the same time.

I actually went back to the Main Street market last night for my favorite ground chuck.  I'd love to learn some more-intricate grilling, but I warmed up for the season with 1/3 pound burgers, sliced potatoes and eggplant.

Oysters At Frank's Seafood In Jessup

My drive for better ingredients keep taking me to Jessup where I buy fish at Frank's Seafood in the wholesale seafood market.

Last weekend, I went for shrimp to flavor a pasta dish, but I also picked up a dozen oysters.  They had four varieties, and I picked the Maryland locals ($9/dozen) because I was just making a treat to surprise my father.

Crabs dominate my Frank's trips in summertime, but they still have terrific whole fish, wild shrimp and shell fish now.  Shucking raw oysters intimidates me, especially because I don't have the knives to do it.  But a Frank's customer ordered them, and, after I asked, he explained that he was going to grill them at home.

Two minutes or so on the grill, and the oysters pop open.  I pulled them all once I could see that two or three had separated.  They don't cook enough to interest Mrs. HowChow, but the gap made them easy to pry onto a half-shell with a screwdriver that I had sterilized in a gas flame. The meat was firmer than straight raw, but they still had the clean ocean taste, the slightly salty bite that makes them so unique.

Remember the oysters get really hot on the grill.  I wore an oven mitt and tried to keep them steady as I pulled them off the fire.  I lost a little oyster juice into the flame, but it was a pretty simple operation.


Does anyone else have suggestions for Frank's?  Supermarket shrimp disappoint me, and I won't buy farmed ones anymore because I saw one too many description of how that's done.  I go to Frank's for crabs, shrimp and now oysters, but I'd like to branch into whole fish.  Anyone suggest a cookbook that teaches those techniques?


(Update: I went back and bought a shucking knife at Frank's with a second batch of oysters.  They were "salts" cultivated in Virginia.   It was an easy skill to pick up, and they were delicious -- a touch saltier than the locals.)

They're Giving Away Crabs At Frank's Seafood

Think about Frank's Seafood on Sunday because they were giving away crabs on Saturday.

Not free crabs.  But the cold crabs -- steamed this morning and completely delicious -- were on special.  They were $1 each or buy-a-dozen-get-a-dozen-free depending on the size.  Those are some nice deals.  I got a half dozen of the $1 crabs and filled a bowl with picked meat.

Frank's in Jessup says its Sunday hours are 12-5.  They have crab meat and crab cakes to go with the hardshells.  They also have a wide variety of fish and seafood.  I considered a dozen oysters.  They were offering samples.  But fish and crab were more than enough for us tonight.

Smoked Salmon At The Town Grill In Lisbon

HowChow: The official blog of gas stations where you should eat fish. 

Visit the Town Grill in Lisbon for barbecue, but get a piece of smoked salmon to go.  The restaurant in the Citgo station smokes salmon fillets and sells the meat for $1 per ounce.  You pick the amount that you want.

I thought the smoked salmon was delicious.  Smoky with a firm crust coating tender meat.  Like prosciutto, good smoked salmon has a big flavor that gives you a full meal for a small amount of meat.  I cut the Town Grill's salmon into a pasta dish with onions, garlic, lemon and a little half-and-half. Four dollars of salmon made a special dinner.  You can put it in wontons.  Make salmon and cucumber rolls.  Put mustard and salmon on toasted baguettes.  And that's just a single Chowhound post.  This isn't the type of salty smoked salmon to put on bagels, but it's a great treat.

And if smoked salmon isn't your cup of fish, try the ceviche special in the R&R Tacqueria inside the Shell station on Rte 175 at U.S. 1.


Smoked Salmon Pasta
(serves two)

4-6 ounces of spaghetti or a similar pasta
2 TBL olive oil
1/3 c. chopped onions -- one small onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. water

salt

2 TBL lemon juice -- about one lemon
zest of one lemon (divided use)

1/4 c. cream or half-and-half

4 ounces of smoked salmon, broken into small pieces
ground pepper

1) Heat a pot of boiling water for the pasta.  Add the pasta and cook to al dente.

2) While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet on medium heat and add the olive oil.  Add the onions and garlic, saute for two minutes.  Then add the water, a pinch of salt, lemon juice and the zest from half of the lemon.  Increase the heat and let the sauce boil down by half.

3) Take the sauce off the heat.  Add the cream.

4) Before you drain the pasta, save about a cup of the cooking liquid.  Then drain the liquid.  Add the hot pasta to the skillet.  Add the smoked salmon and the zest from the second half of the lemon.  Season with the pepper.  Add a little of the pasta liquid if the sauce seems dry.

Eating Fish In A Gas Station (Or Why You Should Get A Ceviche Lunch At R&R Taqueria)

The R&R Deli (nee R&R Taqueria) was one of my favorite discoveries when I was just eating tacos and fresh fruit milkshakes.

But the takeout in the Shell Station at Rte 175 and U.S. 1 has broadened its menu -- including a ceviche special that made a delicious lunch.  For less than $4, you get a takeout shell filled with marinated fish and sliced avocado on a crispy tostada.  This isn't exotic restaurant ceviche, but it's fresh and full of flavor with tomatoes, cilantro and onion.  It's a nice mix of fish so that each bite is slightly different, and the marinating liquid soaked beautifully into the tostada.

If you're eating lunch in Columbia, then you need to give yourself a break and try R&R.  For the price of your regular sandwich, I got the ceviche and a barbacoa taco.  Those tacos are still shockingly fresh with the deep flavors of barbecue and the fresh taste of herbs and spicy salsa.  This is a takeout that wants to make exceptional food.  The classic "hole-in-the-wall" that makes it fun to troll for new options.

The doctor in the house has approved the R&R tacos.  In the interest of full disclosure, I admit that I'm the only one to sample the ceviche so far.

R&R Deli

7894 Washington Boulevard

Elkridge, MD 21075

410-799-0001

NEAR: The deli is in the Shell station at U.S. 1 and Rte 175 on the Elkridge/Jessup line. It's really convenient from Rte 175 -- just go east from Columbia across I-95 and then look left at U.S. 1.

Maryland Crab at Frank's Seafood

I go to Frank's Seafood in Jessup for delicious seafood and straight answers.

The hardshells at Frank's are still coming from warmer Carolina, but I bought a pound of Maryland backfin last week and made wonderful crabcakes and weird sushi.  I also got a half pound of scallops -- the kind where no one has injected salt water to inflate the price and ruin the flavor.

Frank's isn't cheap.  I paid $20 for the crab and $9 for the scallops.  But I got real answers when I asked where they were getting everything and what they thought of the difference.  The Frank's clerk described each crab option -- Venezuelan crab had good texture but little flavor, Carolina was good, and the Maryland was the sweetest of all.  Such a contrast to earlier last week when I stood at a supermarket counter and watched a really nice teenaged clerk unable to say anything except what was written on the label.  The guy in front of me couldn't get an answer to anything.  I walked away with no fish.

With answers and past success, I blew all my cash at Frank's and will do it again.  The Maryland backfin tasted like summer.  I added egg, mayo, and breadcrumbs just to hold the cakes together, and I'll add even less next time.  I used the leftovers to make sushi rolls with thin-sliced tomatillo and crab.  Thumbs up, although I was just screwing around.  The sweetness of crab and scallop should be a luxury, and I'd rather eat Frank's on special occasions than load up on the tasteless shrimp pushed on me by almost everyone else.

(Update:  Since this post, I have gone back to Frank's for shrimp, oysters and whole fish.  The oysters are a terrific treat, especially once I learned that I could grill them for a few minutes so that they would pop open.  The shrimp were firm and sweet, and they're wild, which has become my requirement after learning too much about how they farm shrimp in southeast Asia.)

Frank's is right down the road from Mom's Organic Market, which makes it a great pairing to get vegetables and bread and then stop for fish.  If you head south from Rt 175, then consider rolling down Snowden River too.  For the crab cake dinner, I grabbed a takeout loaf of ciabatta at Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery.


By driving to Jessup, you enter the wonderland around Rte 175 and U.S. 1. The finds near that intersection include great empanadas at El Patio, a Chinese buffet at Fortune Star, and several taco options including the R&R Deli and Pupuseria Lorenita's. Check out the entire post about the wonders along U.S. 1.

Frank's Seafood
7901 Oceano Ave # B
Jessup, MD 20794
(410) 799-5960

NEAR: This is in the wholesale seafood market in Jessup. You take Rte 175 east from I-95. You turn right on Oceano Avenue after passing the prison. You turn left into the market. You need to show a driver's license, but Frank's is open to the public.  The market charges truck drivers to deliver or pick up, but it's free to the public after 10 am.