Category: Recipes

Cioppino great way to enjoy rockfish, crab

One of the most delicious ways to enjoy Oregon Coast rockfish and crab is in a bowl of cioppino, a seafood stew with a rich history on the Pacific coastline.

Cioppino originated with the Italian immigrants in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1800s. From its humble beginnings, the tomato- and wine-based seafood stew is now one of the most popular dishes at restaurants on Fishermen’s Warf and throughout the West Coast. Traditional cioppino takes hours to prepare, first by making fish stock, and then simmering with Italian seasonings, wine, tomatoes and a variety of seafood.

Cioppino features fish and shellfish, and is delicious when served with warm bread.

Capt. Andy of Brookings Fishing Charters uses a simple yet delicious recipe for cioppino that is great all year, from stormy winter days to warm summer evenings. It can be made with fresh or frozen seafood and shellfish and utilizes pieces of fish simmered in chicken broth and wine instead of fish stock.

Oregon Coast crab and rockfish make cioppino even better!

Originally, cioppino was made with the catch of the day by San Francisco fishermen. When fishermen come back without catching anything, they would walk the docks with a pot, asking fellow fishers to donate whatever they could spare. A rockfish here, a few clams there, perhaps a crab or mussel. Fishermen who chipped in part of their catch knew they could count on fish in return if they came back with empty nets or lines. As the Italian immigrants perfected the seafood stew, they began selling it at restaurants in San Francisco, and then beyond, eventually making it a staple at seafood and Italian eateries on the West Coast.

Capt. Andy’s favorite cioppino recipe is a delicious combination of local crab and fish, with shrimp meat, clams and Italian seasonings.

A simple and tasty recipe for cioppino uses cut up fish fillets, canned clams, shrimp, chicken broth, onions, parsley, garlic, white wine, canned tomatoes and, if available, crab and other seafood.

1-2 onions, chopped

Minced garlic

Fresh parsley, chopped

1 cube butter

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) stewed or diced tomatoes

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth

1-2 cups white or red wine

1 cup water

2-3 tablespoons Italian seasoning (dried oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram)

Salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste

1-2 pounds rockfish or cod, cut into small pieces

1-2 pounds shrimp (cocktail and/or large peeled and deveined shrimp)

1-2 cans (6.5 ounces each) chopped or diced clams

Crab meat or cooked and cleaned crab halves

Cook onions, garlic and parsley over medium heat in a large pot.

Cook chopped onions, garlic and parsley in a large pot over medium heat with melted butter. Stir frequently, cooking until onions are soft.

Add two cans of stewed or diced tomatoes.
Add chicken broth, wine, water and Italian seasonings.

Add canned tomatoes, chicken broth, Italian seasonings, wine and water. Bring to a boil. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste.

Adding cut up fish fillets and canned clams to the broth and then simmering for a couple hours gives the stew a delicious seafood flavor.

Add 1 pound of chopped fish fillets (half of the fish to be used in the stew) and cans of clams with juice. Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes, and up to two hours. As the fish simmers, it will flake into smaller pieces, adding flavor to the stew.

Add shrimp meat and crab just before serving.

Just before serving, adding shrimp meat and crab legs and/or crab meat. Also add the remaining rockfish pieces. Cook over medium low heat until the rockfish is done, usually about five minutes. If desired, add more salt, pepper, Italian seasonings and garlic salt to taste.

Serve with warm bread.

Many cioppino recipes call for whole, raw clams and mussels, and scallops, but these can be difficult to find year round, especially away from the coast, so Capt. Andy uses the canned clams instead, but whole shellfish, if available, can be added and cooked. Warm Italian bread goes well with cioppino, especially when dipped into the stew. The stew also can be served over cooked rice.

Just a couple of rockfish are all that’s needed to make a large pot of cioppino. A limit of rockfish yields plenty of fillets for fish and chips, rockfish chowder, and a pot f cioppino.

To catch a limit of rockfish to make cioppino, fish and chips or rockfish chowder, visit www.brookingsfishing.com for information on ocean charters out of Brookings, Oregon.

Panko breaded fish easy and delicious

One of the easier and quicker ways to prepare rockfish or lingcod fillets is coating them with panko bread crumbs and frying with a small amount of oil. Delicious, with a crunchy coating, this is a standby recipe for many Oregon Coast anglers.

Panko breaded fish fillets make delicious fish and chips.

Pour enough oil into a skillet to completely cover the bottom. Heat over medium heat to 300 to 350 degrees. Panko can burn at hjgher temperatures, or when deep fried. Cut the rockfish or lingcod fillets into small pieces. One rockfish fillet will yield two to four pieces. Combine a cup of flour, salt, pepper and other seasonings (Johnny’s, Old Bay, creole, lemon pepper, etc.) in a gallon-size bag.

For best results, cut rockfish fillets into smaller pieces.

In a bowl, beat two or three eggs. Add panko bread crumbs to another bowl. Completely cover the small pieces of fish by shaking them in the bag of flour, then dip the fish into the egg wash. Coat both sides of the fish in the panko bread crumbs.

Coat the fish fillets in seasoned flour by placing them in a plastic bag and shaking.
After dipping the flour-coated fish in egg wash, cover both sides in Panko bread crumbs.

The fish will cook quickly in the hot oil. Cook one side of the fish for 1 to 2 minutes, then turn. Cook until golden brown.

A small amount of oil is used to cook each side of the fish until it turns golden brown.

The small pieces of fish will cook quickly. Place on a paper towel to drain excess oil.

Drain fish pieces on a paper towel and salt to taste.

Panko-breaded fish is especially tasty with a squeeze of lemon juice, and dipped in cocktail or tarter sauce.

Make tarter sauce by combining chopped onion, chopped dill pickle, mayonnaise, a small amount of lemon juice, salt, pepper and dill weed.
Cocktail sauce is a simple combination of ketchup, lemon juice and horseradish.

To catch a limit of rockfish or lingcod to make your own panko-breaded fish, book a charter with www.brookingsfishing.com.

Here are some of our other favorite fish recipes:

Easy, delicious rockfish chowder recipe
Oregon Coast fish taco recipe

http://brookingsfishing.blogspot.com/2016/03/easydelicious-beer-battered-fish-and.html

Enjoy albacore tuna year round with these simple recipes

Aside from the thrill of catching them, the great thing about an Oregon Coast albacore tuna trip is the mountain of fillets anglers end up when they get back to the docks. An albacore trip will yield an immense amount of prime fish, which is best enjoyed fresh, and canned for meals later in the year.

Most anglers can (pressure cook) their albacore. After opening a jar or can and making a tuna sandwich, you’ll never buy the grocery store tuna again.

Albacore tuna can be abundant off the Oregon Coast during the summer. These were caught during the 2019 season by Brookings Fishing Charters customers aboard The Dash.

Here are a couple of our favorite albacore tuna recipes.

Albacore Tuna Noodle Casserole

We all had tuna noodle casserole growing up. It was an easy meal for mom or grandma to make to feed a lot of people without putting much of a dent in the grocery budget. Fresh or canned albacore tuna adds a new twist to this timeless comfort food recipe, with a taste that will keep you from having it any other way again.

Albacore Tuna Noodle Casserole can be made with fresh or canned albacore.

A can or two of albacore tuna is the key ingredient for this casserole. If fresh tuna is available, simply grill a fillet or two, or use the leftovers from the Bacon Wrapped Grilled Albacore recipe below.

Albacore Tuna Noodle Casserole

2 to 3 cups wide egg noodles

1 to 2 cans albacore tuna (drained), or 1 pound fresh tuna (grilled)

1 tablespoon butter

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 can (10.5 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 cup frozen peas and carrots (defrosted)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon dried or fresh parsley

Topping

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon parsley

The mixed ingredients.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Boil noodles according to package instructions and drain.

While the noodles are cooking, saute the chopped onion, celery and parsley in butter.

In a large bowl, combined the drained canned tuna, or grilled tuna broken into small pieces, and add noodles, onion and celery, soup, peas and carrots, milk and cheese. For even creamier casserole, add 4 ounces whipped cream cheese, or 1/2 cup sour cream.

The topping.

In another bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Add melted butter, bread crumbs, cheese and parsley. Panko style bread crumbs work well, but Italian or plain bread crumbs also will work.

The casserole will be baked at 425 degrees in a glass baking dish. Add the casserole mix, and then sprinkle with the topping.

Bake at 425 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.

The cheese will be melted and the bread crumbs will be toasted when casserole is done, usually in 18 to 20 minutes.
Albacore Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Bacon Wrapped Grilled Albacore

Another favorite Oregon Coast Albacore tuna recipe is bacon-wrapped grilled albacore. This is especially good with fresh albacore loins.

Bacon-wrapped grilled albacore tuna.

Bacon-wrapped grilled albacore is a summertime treat on the Oregon Coast. The bacon helps keep the albacore tuna moist while it is barbecued, and when combined with the teriyaki marinade adds an amazing flavor.

Start by cutting an albacore tuna loin in 2-inch pieces. Wrap each with a slice of bacon, secured with a tooth pick.

Place the chunks of albacore tuna in a large plastic bowl or glass dish and marinate in teriyaki sauce. Yoshida’s teriyaki is a good choice. Marinate for 2 to 4 hours.

Albacore tuna cooks quickly on a grill. Be careful not to cook at too high of a temperature, as the outside will become well done while the middle remains raw. Turn the albacore a couple of times, redipping in the teriyaki sauce.

Remove the tooth picks before eating.

The albacore will change color when done, turning almost white. Be sure to remove remove the toothpicks before eating.

Capt. Rye and Capt. Mick hold albacore tuna caught aboard The Dash of Brookings Fishing Charters.
Trolling for albacore tuna aboard The Dash.
Brookings Fishing Charters customer Don Williams with an albacore caught aboard The Dash in 2019.

To book an albacore tuna trip with Brookings Fishing Charters, call (541) 813-1082 and ask to be on our call list. Trips can also be booked at www.brookingsfishing.com.

Sweet Chili Smoked Rockfish

A few weeks ago, frequent customer Glenn Thill brought some smoked rockfish on the boat that was great: sweet, not too dry, good flavor. You wanted another piece after trying it. Glenn shared the ingredients with Capt. Andy, who tried a few versions before settling on this recipe.

Smoked rockfish is easy to make and delicious. This recipe yields a moist, sweet treat, and can also be used for salmon and other fish.

1 cup Yoshida’s original sweet teriyaki sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

For those who like a more salty flavor, increasing the soy sauce to half a cup, or adding 1/3 cup salt is optional.

The main ingredients are brown sugar, Yoshida’s original teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

Cut the rockfish into small pieces, roughly three or four pieces per fillet.

Cut the rockfish fillets into small pieces. Each fillet will yield four pieces.

Brine in the Yoshida’s, brown sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce mixture for at least 12 hours.

Add the fish to the brine, and leave in the refrigerator overnight. The fish can be brined for two to three days

Without rinsing place on a drying screen for one hour.

Allow the fish to air dry in the smoke with the lid off for at least an hour before turning on heat and adding chips.
Use thee pans of chips to smoke, then leave in smoke several more hours to finish.

Smoke, with three pans of chips, for 4 to 8 hours. Brush with sweet chili sauce and continue smoking until fish is done. You will know when fish is done when it easily breaks apart and turns from a translucent color to white inside.

After three pans of chips have been used, apply the first coast of sweet chili sauce. This will help keep the fish moist, and add a delicious sweet flavor.
After smoking for three or four hours, brush the fish with sweet chili sauce again.

We’ve tried lots of smoked rockfish recipes. Rockfish tends to dry out quickly, and also can easily by too salty. This brine yields a moist piece of rockfish with a firm texture without being stringy.

The finished product, sweet chili smoked rockfish.
Glenn Thill of Shady Cove, Ore., shared the ingredients for sweet chili smoked rockfish with us. Glenn is a frequent customer on our charter boats.

To catch a limit of rockfish to make your own smoked rockfish, visit our web site, www.brookingsfishing.com, or call our booking office, (541) 813-1082.