Gefilte Fish, Stripers and Caribbean Lobster

Hey Y'all,

Business is growing here at the Catch. We are buying more and more to fill your needs so our supply lasts through the end of the day. Besides our usual selection, this week I brought in some interesting fish for your Friday meal.

What's in Our Cases?

Fresh Smelts

Walleye

Whole Branzino

Whole Red Snappers

Skate Wing

Striped Bass

Swordfish

Yellowfin Tuna

Red Snapper

Red Grouper

Rainbow Trout

Steelhead Trout

Atlantic Salmon by Verlasso

Black Drum

Corvina

Mahi

Cod

Monkfish

Flounder

Chilean Sea Bass

Wild Georgia Shrimp

Oysters - Blue Points, Blackberries, James Rivers, Beausoleil

Littleneck Clams

Black Mussels

If you have your heart set on something, give us a call early so we can hold it for you.

Pacific Halibut

On the horizon!! It looks like there may be some arriving next week so keep an eye out.

Gefilte Fish

Passover starts April 12th which means it is time to start thinking of the fish you need for traditional gefilte fish. In case you are unfamiliar, this Jewish dish, gefilte fish requires a mixture of freshwater fish such as carp, whitefish and pike. Here's my plan:

Pre-orders for Lake Whitefish and Walleye Pike must be in by April 3rd for delivery on April 9th. I won't order any extra fish so this is by pre-order only. No carp is available.

These prices are estimates and are subject to change up until the time we order on the 3rd.

Whole fish:

Walleye - $10.95/lb. Average fish weighs 3-4 lbs. Fillet weight 22 - 28 oz.

Whitefish - $10.50/lb. Average fish weights 2.5-3 lbs. Fillet weight 16 - 25 oz.

Fillet only:

Walleye -$27.95/lb

Whitefish - $26.95/lb

If you order whole fish we will provide it with separately wrapped head, bones and skin and we will remove the eyes and gills.

For those of you who are non-Jewish people, here's more about gefilte (pronounced ga-filt-a-fish.) Gefilte Fish  Consider getting some of the fish even if you don't plan to grind it up and make fish balls. Walleye and Lake Whitefish are delicious fish from the Great Lakes.

Live Crawfish

We don't do live crawfish. Many people ask but here's the reason why I don't do it. The fish trucks that come up from the Gulf are too cold to carry them. Crawfish come from the warm, shallow bayous of Louisiana and can not sustain life in a very cold fish truck. In my early years of mongering, I tried several times to buy sacks of live crawfish and ruined every large gathering they were intended for. NEVER AGAIN! I love you too much to ruin your parties.

Caribbean Lobster Tails aka Rock Lobster aka Spiny Lobster

Here's a cool new arrival - 9 oz. tails from the Caribbean! These are only $28.99 each so if you are looking to enjoy something special on a budget, compare these to the $41.00 per tail for the same sized Maine tail. Caribbean tails do not have the same flavor and tenderness of the Maine tails but their distinctive slightly sweet, slightly briny flavor is absolutely delicious.

$1.00 Oysters and BOGO Fish

Wednesday is Buy One Get One from our discount freezer and Thursday is $1.00 oyster day!

Wines By Mike

Join us for a free wine tasting at our store every Saturday from 3:00-5:00.

Three Pinot Noirs to try this week from California at three different price points. All are excellent examples from two of the best growing areas in the state for Pinot Noir.

Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, 2021 - $51.99

Customer favorite (Their Chardonnay also gets very high ratings)

Sonoma Coast

Talley Family Estate Pinot Noir, 2022 - $40.99

New for us, this is who brings us one of Kathleen's favorites, Bishop's Peak.

San Luis Obispo

Bishop's Peak Pinot Noir, 2021 - $25.99

Secondary label from Talley that is astonishing quality and got a 93 from Wine Enthusiast. Hurry and try this wine before I buy everything the distributor has left for our personal use!

San Luis Obispo

This Week's Special 3/21-3/27

Striped Bass $11.95/6 ounces

 ($4.00 off regular price!)

How to Cook Striped Bass by Chef Jon

1.     Lightly oil the underside of a clean sauté pan that is smaller than the pan you will be cooking in. I use a 12 inch pan to sear with a 10 inch pan for pressing.

2.     Place your larger sauté pan over medium heat and allow to preheat for 1-2 minutes. Add your oil to the pan and allow it to heat for 30 seconds.

3.     Gently place the striped bass into the pan, skin side down, leaving space between each piece. IMMEDIATELY place the smaller sauté pan onto the flesh side of the fish and lightly press down for 1-2 minutes. If it gets too hot hold down with a towel.

4.     Remove the top pan and cook for another 2 minutes on the skin side.

5.     Using your fish spatula, gently flip each piece to the flesh side and finish cooking for another 30 seconds or so. Remove the fish to a plate lined with a paper towel to rest for 1 minute before serving.

What's Cooking at Our House This Week

Lobster Tails!

We prepared the Caribbean lobster tails last night so I could honestly tell you how delicious they are. Here's how we did it:

Thaw the tails.

Preheat oven to 475.

Cut a 2" wide section of top shell off with poultry shears.

Slice down the middle of the meat and spread open the tail.

Lay pats of salted butter over the meat (we use Banner Butter, of course).

Sprinkle with dried tarragon.

Bake on a baking sheet for about 13 minutes.

Cut into meat to be sure it is opaque.

Eat and thank me later.

And Finally

I had a funny text exchange with my friend, Chef Jon, this week. Jon told Siri to type "today is my busy day" and instead, Siri typed "Today is Mumbling Day." I got to thinking about Mumbling Days and realized I absolutely have them. Just ask Jamovia. There are days when she has to say to me "Did you say something?" 20 times because she can't hear my mumbling.

I think Mumbling Days happen to me when I have so much on my mind that I can't get the words to formulate into coherent sentences. Or they happen when I am very tired and trying to produce brilliant conversation. Either way, I forgive myself for my mumblings and I hope you will too. Our poor brains get short circuited with so much going on, with stress and worries and busyness. A little mumbling just means you may not be performing at your peak but you haven't given up trying.

Next time you see me mumbling, just smile and nod. No need to respond to mumblings that haven't sorted themselves out yet.

Hope you have an extraordinary week of endings or beginnings whichever are the best and good food or chowder and weather and also your dog is good and so are mine and you should eat fish because it helps with brain power.

Blessings, Kathleen