Summer seafood: Soft-Shell Crabs, fresh wild Sockeye are unbeatable in the heat

THE PERFECT LUNCH? Two Soft-Shell Crabs, sauteed in olive oil and smothered in garlic, came with roasted potatoes and a steamed vegetable medley at Seafood Gourmet, the fish market-restaurant in Maywood.

MEATY SEAFOOD? We need a new word to describe crabs with a lot of, well, crab, besides "meaty," a reference to beef or other meat.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Summer can bring oppressive heat, but the season also offers great eating for pescetarians and other seafood lovers.

Fresh, wild Sockeye, King and Coho Salmon are widely available in markets, and Soft-Sell Crabs are on the menu at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, Seafood Gourmet in Maywood and many other restaurants. 

IN THE CASE AND ON THE PLATE: At Seafood Gourmet, Soft-Shell Crabs are available in the market, lower left, and in the BYO dining room, where my filling lunch was $18. The fish-market restaurant is at 103 W. Pleasant Ave., Maywood. Closed Sundays. With less than 40 seats. reservations are recommended for dinner (201-843-8558).

AT LOTUS CAFE: Our dinner for 3 included bite-sized Soft-Shell Crabs with Ginger & Scallion ($22.95), above; Filet of Sole in Garlic Sauce ($17.95), Fried String Beans Szechuan Style ($11.95), Boiled Seafood Dumplings ($7.95), and Pork & Pickled Cabbage Soup for 2 ($5.95).

SALT & PEPPER: We're planning to return to Lotus Cafe to try Salt & Pepper Soft-Shell Crabs. The Chinese BYO is at 450 Hackensack Ave., in the Home Depot Shopping Center, and is open 7 days.

FRESH WILD SOCKEYE SALMON: My favorite way to eat a leftover Sockeye Salmon Fillet is right out of the refrigerator on toasted slices of Dave's Killer Bread, an organic loaf sold at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro, spread with pesto or Dijon mustard, above and photos below.

SMOKED WILD SALMON: An over-the-top Sockeye Salmon sandwich includes silken slices of Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco, above and below.

AMAZON PRIME DEALS: Last week, fillets of fresh, wild Sockeye Salmon from Alasaka were $13.99 a pound at Whole Foods Market in Paramus or $6 off per pound for Amazon Prime members.

STOVETOP GRILL: I preheated a stovetop  grill that straddles two burners over a medium flame, added spray oil and cooked serving pieces of Sockeye Salmon for 3 minutes skin-side down and then another 3 minutes on the other side for medium-rare. I topped them with organic Mexican-style salsa, heated separately, and fresh herbs from my garden.

A couple of fish tales from here and there: At The Lambs Club and Seafood Gourmet

My $29 three-course Restaurant Week lunch at The Lambs Club in Manhattan on Thursday included one of the best fish dishes I've ever had, Icelandic Cod Loin with Roasted Vegetables and Miso Sauce, above. My starter was a Tuscan Kale Salad with Radicchio, Crispy Parmesan and Caesar Dressing, below.

RESTAURANTS OFFER A LOT 

OF FARMED SALMON YEAR-ROUND

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

During the semi-annual NYC Restaurant Week promotion, menus are awash with that old standby, farmed Atlantic salmon.

Cheap, artificially colored and usually raised on harmful antibiotics, farmed salmon doesn't have the eye appeal or robust taste of its wild cousins.

But Manhattan restaurants taking part in the promotion charge only $29 for a three-course lunch, plus tax, tip and beverages -- often less than the price of an a la carte entree -- so they turn to farmed salmon to cut their losses.

Barbetta, Charlie Palmer at The Knick, Toloache, Becco and Victor's Cafe, to name a handful, offered entrees of farmed salmon to non-meat eaters like me. 

So this week and last, I searched the NYC Restaurant Week site for other restaurants in or near the Theater District that served wild-caught fish, and had a delicious lunch at two, Esca and The Lambs Club.

The Lambs Club Icelandic Cod Loin entree I loved was listed on the a la carte menu for $35. My $29 three-course lunch cost a total of $37.37 with tax and a 20% tip.

 See: My $29 lunch at Esca

Once I ate the frisee salad on the plate with my main course at The Lambs Club, I found the Icelandic Cod Loin had been placed over a stack of crisp-tender roasted vegetables. The perfect entree: Heart-healthy fish, vegetables and salad.

My dessert was a trio of Sorbets

A small loaf of spongy bread, perfect for soaking up the extra-virgin olive oil I asked for instead of butter.

The Lambs Club restaurant is in The Chatwal, a hotel at 132 W. 44th St. in Manhattan, where the Art Deco-inspired lobby is a feast for the eyes, above and below.

Last Saturday night at Seafood Gourmet in Maywood, my wife ordered this wonderful dinner special, Grilled Chilean Sea Bass served with a Roasted Pepper Sauce, Smoked Gouda Cheese and Spinach Orzo ($28). The piece of fish I tasted was perfectly cooked -- moist and flaky.

I ordered another special, Seared Wild Salmon served over a Salad of Grilled Asparagus, Roasted Potatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Red Onion and Arugula in a Roasted Garlic Oil ($27). The fish didn't looked seared, and it came to the table overcooked (I asked for it medium). And there was far too much garlic-oil dressing for the salad.

 At Seafood Gourmet

I keep on striking out at Seafood Gourmet, the no-frills restaurant for fresh seafood behind a Maywood fish market.

I appreciate the chef's imaginative preparations, but have found that the fish and lobster I ordered were overcooked, even when I asked for a lighter touch.

Last Saturday night, my wife ordered an extraordinary Chilean Sea Bass entree, which was served with a small bowl of delicious Lobster Bisque.

I, on the other hand, fell for what was described as "Seared Wild Salmon," but what I got was a pale, skinless-boneless filet that didn't taste like wild fish at all.

Plus, I asked for it cooked "medium" and it came to the table cooked through.

Wild or farmed?

A few days later, I called the market to ask whether the wild salmon listed on the specials menu and displayed in a refrigerated case had been previously frozen, and where it was from.

It didn't have the deep red-orange color of raw sockeye, so I thought it might have been Pacific king salmon (also called chinook), the largest variety.

I was told the salmon wasn't previously frozen, and that it was wild and from New Zealand.

But when I looked at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch site, I could find only farmed king salmon from New Zealand.

The small, no-frills dining room at Seafood Gourmet is often crowded, and dinner reservations are recommended. Website: The Restaurant at Seafood Gourmet

Eating Out: At Seafood Gourmet, gagging on iceberg lettuce and overcooked halibut

LOOKS GREAT, BUT .... Lightly seasoned char-grilled halibut and wild shrimp served over a salad with fruit ($26) was one of the imaginative dinner specials on Saturday at Seafood Gourmet in Maywood. The menu said the seafood would be served over a "mixed green salad," but most of it was nutritionally bankrupt iceberg lettuce.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

When you have a disappointing meal at one of your favorite restaurants, the heartburn is especially intense.

That's the way I felt after a celebratory pre-Father's Day meal at Seafood Gourmet, the fish market/restaurant in Maywood where the fresh fish you see in the refrigerated case usually lands on the menu.

OK. I didn't get heartburn from the meal, but in what has become a pattern, my fish and wild shrimp were overcooked -- short of drying out, but not ideal.

And I was completely turned off by all of the cheap iceberg lettuce in my seafood-and-salad entree and the salad my wife got with her Broiled Crab Cakes ($22). 

Iceberg is only good for a restaurant's bottom line: It's 95 percent water, and has absolutely no nutritional benefit.

For my birthday last November, I splurged on a 2.5-pound lobster ($48+), and although I wanted the crustacean steamed, the kitchen broiled it, judging from scorching on the claws, and it was overcooked.

I also recall a takeout order of wild King Salmon fillet, which was cooked through instead of medium, as I requested.

Great meals

Looking back on meals I've enjoyed at Seafood Gourmet dating to 2010, all this overcooking is disappointing.

The no-frills dining room has only about 40 seats, but when they are full, the kitchen doesn't seem to be able to handle orders properly.

Here are links to previous meals:

Great seafood after Superstorm Sandy

When I splurged on a 2.5-pound lobster ...

A great lunch at Seafood Gourmet

My mother-in-law enjoyed another dinner special, Seared Wild Salmon, finished with a Carrot-Ginger Sauce and served with Jasmine Rice and Bok Choy ($25). A cup of Lobster Bisque was included.

My wife loved her Broiled Crab Cakes, served with soup or salad, vegetables and potato ($22). Still, she choose the house salad, and was turned off by too much iceberg lettuce, too.

With my halibut-and-shrimp entree, I got a cup of the Montauk Seafood Chowder, which lived up to its name with tender calamari, scallop and shrimp in a light tomato broth. We also enjoyed a side dish of sauteed spinach ($5).

The Dinner Specials on Saturday at Seafood Gourmet.

A working fish market in front ...

... and a BYO dining room with about 40 seats in back.

Details

The Restaurant at Seafood Gourmet, 103 W. Pleasant Ave., Maywood; 201-843-8558. Closed Sundays.

BYO, free street parking, reservations highly recommended on weekends.

Website: Right off the boat

Eating In: Preparing delicious side dishes, other leftovers; plus, first soft-shell crabs

A POUND GOES A LONG WAY: When I prepare a pound of organic whole wheat fusilli pasta with bottled sauce, chopped garlic and organic diced tomatoes, the leftovers provide a ready side dish for a breakfast of organic eggs or dinner, above and below.

DINNER OF LEFTOVERS: Both the fusilli and the Icelandic cod with spinach, tomatoes, capers, black olives and Greek yogurt were leftovers.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

"Cooking ahead" means preparing larger quantities than we'd consume at a single meal, yielding leftovers that cut the time it takes to put future meals on the table.

If you have a tasty preparation of whole wheat fusilli in the refrigerator, you can enjoy a breakfast of pasta and eggs in about 7 minutes (the time it takes to reheat the pasta and prepare an omelet or two eggs sunny side up).

The same goes with preparing other whole grains, such as 2 cups of organic quinoa or organic brown rice with chickpeas and organic diced tomatoes, either as side dishes or as a light dinner topped with salad.

If that package of fresh, wild-caught Icelandic cod at Costco Wholesale is close to 2 pounds, you can prepare it all at once, providing that night's dinner and a couple of lunches or snacks.

Kinara in Tenafly, The Fish Dock in Closter

A Korean shrimp-and-beef feast

A pan of skinless-and-boneless Icelandic Cod with fresh organic spinach, tomato, black olives, capers, fresh lemon juice and salt-free all-purpose seasoning is ready after 15 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven. I add Greek yogurt just before serving the fish.

You can find fresh wild Atlantic Cod from Iceland for $7.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Teterboro.

Sweet potatoes mashed with extra-virgin olive oil and seasonings is a favorite side dish. Here, I heated up leftovers to eat with the Jamaican national dish, Ackee and Salt Fish, that my wife prepared with salted cod, canned ackee fruit, and sweet and hot peppers.

Before Easter, the ShopRite in Paramus was selling 5-pound boxes of Sweet Potatoes for $2.99 each. I baked some of the potatoes, and mashed the rest.

A pound package of organic whole wheat linguine and other shapes are available at ShopRite, Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's for about $1.50.

I poached two organic eggs from Costco (2 dozen for $5.99) in leftover pasta sauce, and sauteed fresh spinach in organic chicken stock, sesame oil, sake and organic no-salt seasoning, above and below.

I ate the eggs over leftover organic whole wheat pasta shells in a spicy bottled Fra Diavolo sauce with canned sardines and anchovies.

Warm organic brown rice with chickpeas and organic diced tomatoes topped with organic spring mix, which I dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

For another quick preparation of Icelandic cod fillets, poach the fish in a 16-ounce jar of 365 Everyday Value Roasted Chipotle Salsa from Whole Foods Market with added lemon juice. You can also add onions, chopped fresh garlic and chopped olives, above and below. The side dish is leftover mashed sweet potatoes.

Add the sliced onion, garlic, olives and lemon juice to the salsa, cover, bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes. Then, add serving portions of the fish, seasoned with a little sea salt, cover again and cook for about 7 minutes for fillets up to a half-inch thick.

An egg-white omelet with leftover fusilli pasta and chopped callaloo, a collard-like green available in cans.

Here is a stuffed egg-white omelet with salted cod fish, smoked wild salmon, reduced-fat Swiss cheese, Mexican-style salsa and Greek yogurt laced with wasabi. The finishing accent is crushed red Aleppo pepper from Fattal's, a Syrian baker, butcher and grocer at 975 Main St. in Paterson.

Soft-shell crabs

Every spring, seafood lovers eagerly anticipate the appearance of soft-shell crabs in markets and on menus.

This week, I met my friend Arthur at Seafood Gourmet, the fish market-restaurant at 103 W. Pleasant Ave. in Maywood that is his go-to place for lunch on Mondays.

Unfortunately, when we were seated at about 1 p.m., the kitchen had only two soft-shell crabs left, so we split a special, Gingered Soft Shell Crabs served with Jasmine Rice and Vegetables (Market Price).

The lunch entree was delicious, but came with a little heartburn: 

We were charged $24 for two crabs -- that's $12 bucks each. 

Explore: Do You Really Know What You're Eating?

A half-portion of Gingered Soft Shell Crabs with Jasmine Rice and Vegetables at Seafood Gourmet in Maywood.

We also split Seafood Gourmet's Coconut Shrimp ($8).

On Easter Sunday, I paid $13.99 a pound for two live lobsters at the ShopRite in Paramus -- more than double the price when they are on sale.