Dorado in Wine

Quick and simple, this recipe tastes great and can be ready in 15 minutes!

I like this on rice, so cook some first, you can do quick rice as well, but it does’nt taste quite as good.

2 Dorado filltes
1 1/2 cup white wine (better quality gives better results)
1 1/2 teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon diced onion
1 1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons minced chives

Put the wine in a saucepan with the capers and diced onion, heat so it starts to bubble.
Place the fillets in and poach until 3/4 done, still a bit pink when looking at the ends, remove from the pan.
Reduce the wine to 3/4 volume, add the sour cream and reduce to 1/2 volume.
Replace fillets in the pan with the sauce, continue to cook several more minutes until almost done.
Remove filltes, place on top of rice, spoon sauce on top and sprinkle with chives.
Serve with a small green salad and a glass of the remaining white wine (told you the good stuff was better!).

Cabo Fish Report

FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
http://www.flyhooker.com

http://captgeo.wordpress.com/

Cabo Fish Report
June 18-24, 2012

WEATHER: The only sure thing about our weather is how quickly it can change. Yesterday morning at 4:30 it was 81 degrees and 40% humidity with light winds, this morning it is 70 degrees with 88% humidity and breezy. This time of year it happens often, but is still unsettling as there is no way to predict what we are going to see just a few days in the future. We had scattered clouds this week but no rain, as normal. We sure could use some though.
WATER: Still in transition from spring to summer water conditions, we keep hoping that it will settle down into the summer pattern, but mother nature is fickle and keeps changing her mind. The water out in front of Cabo remained cool at 64-65 degrees. On Friday it was 65 in front of the marina, but by the time we were 12 miles offshore it had risen 12 degrees to 77, and had changed from very green to almost clear with a light green tinge. When we returned at the end of the day the water in front had risen to 68 degrees but remained green. At the end of the week the warm water that had been offshore had been pushed to the east and it was not until you got east of a line south of the Gorda Banks that the water warmed up much. The good thing was the clarity of the water. The cold water that wrapped around was actually clearer than the warmer water.
BAIT: Caballito and Mullet were available at the normal $3 per bait and there were plenty of green Jacks if you wanted them.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: As it is in most areas of the world, our marlin fishing this week was once again an exercise in patience. While we consider the fishing we had this past week as slow compared to what we are used to, it was what most areas consider normal. A few boats did manage to get into a group of fish that would bite, with the most I heard of from one boat was five releases, the normal, or average experience was a few fish to throw a bait at, a couple in the lures and perhaps one or two bites. Not bad, but of course we get spoiled because when the bite is on, our arms get tired! The fish were actually in two different areas this week. The most productive, and with the calmest seas was the Punta Gorda to Los Frailles stretch out to 6 miles. Quite a few fish were seen and the hook-up ratio was decent. The only issue with fishing this area is the distance, two hours to get there and two hours back. Closer to home there were fish found in the stretch of water between the 95 spot and the 1150, just not as many fish as to the north, but still the chance was decent. We did have a one day showing on Thursday of a concentration of Striped Marlin just off of the lighthouse on the Pacific, but they had moved off by Friday.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Finally there were some Yellowfin caught close to home this week. No great numbers were reported, I heard of several boats getting between three and five fish, and no large sizes either, most of them were between 8 and 18 pounds. These fish were caught in the open and were not associated with porpoise, they were blind strikes. The area between the Arch and Chileno Bay out from two to four miles had these fish scattered about. Cedar plugs and feathers did the work to get hook ups. I did hear of a few nice sized fish found off of Los Frailles, but they were quite a ways offshore, that’s a really long run for a charter boat, but the fish were reported to be nice size, up to 100 pounds.
DORADO: I’m not really sure why, but most of the Dorado found this week were on the Cortez side in the cool water from the Arch to Chileno Bay, the same area that the Yellowfin were found. None of the fish were large, and there were no great numbers, but almost all the boats that fished the area returned with at least one, sometimes more, flags flying.
WAHOO: I haven’t seen one of these fish in quite a while, and did not hear of any caught this past week.
INSHORE: Still slow, the bite on Yellowtail was almost non-existent, the Sierra bite slowed way down as well. The positive note for Sierra was the size increased by quite a bit with many of the fish being caught being larger, in the 8-12 pound class. Add in an occasional Grouper to 25 pounds, a few Roosterfish to 40 pounds, an Amberjack once in a while and a few Snook being reported and there was something to catch for almost everyone.
FISH RECIPE: Check the blog for this weeks recipe!
NOTES: Now the G20 is over and our visitor numbers are returning to normal, if only the fishing would! Not great, but not bad, there was a decent chance of hooking up on every trip, but no one expected to get into a wide open bite on any one species, and no one did. A steady catch on scattered fish was the experience of the week, but hopefully as we get further into summer the fishing will improve. For now, just have a great time on the water and be patient! Until next week, tight lines!

Lemon Pepper Rub

Spicey Lemon Pepper Rub

1 lb fresh yellowtail or other white meat fish
cleaned of bones of skin, bones and bloodline

¼ cup lemon pepper
1tbs chili powder
1 tbs cumin
1 tbs ground coriander
1 ½ tsp packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 ¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper

Avocado oil, enough to oil fish and grill
½ cup butter melted
2 tbs fresh lemon juice

Mix above dry ingredients and set aside
Get the grill clean and hot
Brush the oil onto your fillets, one side at a time,
then spread liberally some of your dry rub.
Repeat for the other side,
Any left over rub, can be saved for another day.

Plaec fillets on oiled grill. Don’t forget your basic fish cooking rule,
5 minutes per inch per side and don’t forget your fish will conitnue to cook after removed from the heat.

Mix the fresh lemon juice with the metled butter and drizzle over the top of your fish.

I plated this fish on a bed of white rice. ( yes we eat a lot of rice)

Then I found another recipe that is supposed to be a fish marinate, but I turned it into a light salad dressing.

I always make my dressing in my small bullet container and blender,
I started with a big juicy mandarin off our tree, you can either use a mandarin
or an orangeor the original recipe called for lime.

¼ c citrus juice with seeds removed.
1 tsp Avocado oil
1 tsp Grey Poupon or whatever brand you have
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
dash of cayenne pepper
black pepper to taste.

Salad, whatevery you like with your romaine or lettuce
We mostly use Romaine and have been getting some young fresh leaves
from a guy George works with. Always tomatoe slices and sunflower seeds.
Add some black olives, carrot, celery, green beans, onins, whatever is in the frig and will add a new flavor and more crunch to your meal!

These recipes were inspired by “25 Techniques for Grilling Fish”
by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig. Copyright 2010.
Printed by Harvard Common Press

Grilled Shrimp and Rice

Fresh Salad with romaine grown by a friend in San Jose.

yummy pile of shrimp and rice!

Big switch to rice this week. Victor was going to drop off some amberjack for us, so I didn’t take anything out of the freezer. Well his clients took all the fish, so shrimp thaws out faster!
This is an awesome recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. Links at the bottom for them.

Grilled Shrimp and Rice.

I started with 1 lb of shrimp for the 2 of us. We got the shrimp in Lopez Mateo, so assorted sizes. I recomment 21-25 shrimp for this recipe. Use your favorite size and adjust the cooking temperatures. Just don’t over cook them. They will continue to cook a bit after removed from the heat.
Skewers for the shrimp
Peeled and deveined
3 lemons
½ butter
oil
sugar
S&P
hot pepper of your choice. We used our Booney peppers, but you can use pepper flakes. Amount depends on your personal heat thermometer. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want, but it does add a nice touch.
3 minced gloves of Garlic
Cilantro for finished product.

Rice. I liked to cook sushi rice with chicken broth, instead of water. Use whatever you have, white, brown, wild, sushi, or even that minute stuff, whatever your preference.

First off get your rice cooking, shrimp cleaned and the grill hot.
Place the shrimp on the Skewers, alternating head to tail and pack tight.
You want to add a little oil so they don’t stick to the grill. Salt and pepper to taste, then sprinkle a little bit of sugar on one side only.

In a foil pan or something you will put on the grill, melt the butter on the grill, and add juice of 2 lemons, minced garlic, and the hot pepper, When butter is melted and all mixed, move to cooler side of the grill, let it bubble away.
Place the skewers on the grill sugar side up, for about 2 minutes, then turn over for another 2 minutes, The sugar is going to give the shrimp nice grill marks. After 2 minutes, push the shrimp off the skewers into butter lemon mixture. Leave in the butter for another 4-5 minutes to finish up the cooking.

Serve over rice with cilantro over the top. I forgot that part in the picture.
Oh well, never siad I was perfect!
I got this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated issue. If you have never heard of this magazine, and you love to cook, you have to check it out. They experiment and figure out for you why and how is the best way to cook almost anything.
at http://www.americastestkitchen.com
Www.cooksillustrated.com, They now have a TV show and Radio show, check them out, type in your zipcode and see if there is a show in your neighborhood. No this is not a commercial.
We have been subscribed for about 15 years, and have never had a bad recipe from their kitchen.

Pepperoncini, goat cheese stuffed yellowtail

YELLOWTAIL Stuffed with Pepperoncini and Goat Cheese
Makes 4 servings.  I had large pieces of fish, we each had a half with one meal.  But I think it helped keep the stuffing inside the fillets!

When I first saw this recipe in the Seattle Times, it was made for chicken breasts. I thought the idea would go great with some nice thick pieces of fish. I just happen to have in the freezer, some nice fat fillets of yellowail. And once again I have defied those professional chefs and combined fish with cheese!
My first choice for this recipe though would be a nice wahoo fillet. But alas, I have none.

You’ll find a number of uses for this recipe’s creamy stuffing. Try it on bruschetta or bagels, in sandwiches or tossed with pasta.
2 thick yellowtail fillets, slice down the side, but not through.
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped pepperoncini
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
Coarse salt and ground pepper
I used my bullet with the jar attachment to finely chop the Thyme and pepperoncinis, then added the goat cheese to get nice and creamy. Only takes a couple seconds!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mash goat cheese with a fork until smooth. Stir in pepperoncini and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Tightly pack each pocket with cheese mixture. Original recipe calls for 4 @ chicken breasts, so after stuffing the fish I had some left over. I used this later, a little slather across the top of the fish when finished cooking.
Heat a large cast-iron or other heavy ovenproof skillet over medium-high. I added a tbs Butter and 1 tbs avacado oil. Saute the fish for about 5 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until for about 15 minutes, depending on how thick your fish is. Remember your fish will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat. You want to let the fish rest out off heat for about 5 minutes.
I served over a bed of rice, with a nice salad on the side. No pictures this time. I let a friend borrow my camera, and my blackberry takes horrible pictures.

Cabo Fish Report

FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING

Captain George Landrum

gmlandrum@hotmail.com

www.flyhooker.com

http://captgeo.wordpress.com/

Cabo Fish Report

May 28 – June 3,  2012

 

WEATHER:  We sure had a changeable week on the weather front.  One day the morning high was 76 degrees and the next it was 64 degrees, one day sunny, the next cloudy with fog.  One day it was peaceful with little wind, the next morning it was howling. The beginning of the week was a nice recovery from the wind of last week, but it returned on Friday, and it blew hard.  As I sit here on Sunday morning I can hear the wind whistle through the palms and bougainvillaea outside, not quite as strong as yesterday, so hopefully it will die off soon.  Typically this time of year we have several windy days followed by several calm days.

WATER: We were looking at a beautiful band of warm water along the Cortez side of the Cape this week.  It extended from the East Cape all the way to Cabo and curled around the Cape just a little, extending up into the Pacific a short way.  A great 78 to 80 degree band of water, it extended from the shoreline to approximately 8 miles out.  While not a perfectly clean blue color, it was fairly clean on the outer edge. Once you went past the edge the water quickly dropped to 66-68 degrees within several miles. On the Pacific side the warm water only extended a short way to just past the lighthouse, but it went offshore a bit to the west.  Unfortunately as the wind began to blow at the end of the week and the currents shifted this warm water was pushed back up the Sea of Cortez so that on Saturday evening we saw the water at just 70 degrees off of Cabo and 74 degrees off of San Jose.  Surface conditions were just fair at the start of the week on the Pacific side, but it didn’t matter as there were few fish there anyway.  Once the wind started to blow it became un-fishable, and the wind wrapped around the Cape so that by noon on Friday and Saturday you were coming home from the San Jose direction directly into the sheep farm, a wet and wooly ride back to the slip.

BAIT:  Caballito were the bait most boats were able to get this week, and at the normal $3 each.  Some of the bait boats were carrying a few partially frozen Ballyhoo as well, at the same price.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: With the warm water showing up we had a re-appearance of the Striped Marlin.  While the bit was not wide open by any means, most boats were able to get hooked up at least once during a trip, and a few boats managed to release as many as four fish on a charter.  Most of the boats were happy with one fish released, great results compared to what we had been seeing.  There were a few Swordfish caught as well in the waters outside the Gorda Bank where the temperature and color changed.  I expected to hear reports of some Blue and Black Marlin but did not, that does not mean there were not any caught, just that I did not hear of them.  The water might still be just a little off-color for them to show up.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: I heard there was a great Tuna bite for a few day up on the East Cape but there was little action in our area.  As was the case last week, a few boats managed to catch a few football size Yellowfin, most in the blind, not associated with the porpoise.

DORADO: There were some decent Dorado caught this week due to the warm water being here, but there were no large numbers of them.  Several boats caught fish to 50 pounds and there were quite a few smaller fish in the 8-10 pound range.  It was not a species that many of the boats targeted, instead they were an incidental catch by boats fishing for Marlin.

WAHOO:  I did hear of several decent Wahoo being caught this week, once again a result of the warm water moving into the area.   Most of the action occurred from Palmilla and eastward toward and past Los Frailes.

 INSHORE:  Roosterfish, Amberjack, Pargo, Yellowtail and Sierra were the inshore flavors of the week for most of the anglers fishing near shore.  We had a decent showing of Roosterfish to 50 pounds with most of them in the 15-25 pound class for the boats fishing off of Cabo Del Sol and there were a few found just around the arch on the Pacific side early in the week.  The Sierra bite was good early in the week on larger fish to 9 pounds for boats fishing the Pacific side in 100 feet of water, there were smaller fish close to the beach.  Amberjack were found from Gray Rock to Palmilla and the best results were had using live bait dropped down to 10 feet off the bottom in water from 90 to 130 feet deep. The same techniques worked for the Yellowtail, and in the same area. Argo were found closer to shore, and they as well as some grouper could be had by trolling large lipped Rappala type lures in 50 to 60 feet of water.

FISH RECIPE:  Check the blog for this weeks recipe! 

NOTES: If I could predict how the fishing was going to be I would be rich, instead I am just frustrated.  Once the weather and water settles down we will have great fishing as well as great expectations on every trip, but for now it’s fishing, not always catching.  It has turned into a nice day as the wind has let up, so it’s time to hit the beach for our Sunday morning trip with the pup.  This weeks report was written to the music of Capt. Sam Crutchfield on a compilation album, good fishing songs! Until next week, Tight lines!

Lemon Yellowtail on the grill

I’m sorry I didn’t do a recipe last week, the one we used is one I have already posted. We had a good friend, Paul Watts die last week. As taught by my father you bring a dish to the Memorial. We figured the easiest, and popular dish to bring was our recipe for fish fingers and tarter sauce. They were a huge hit, and dissappeared in no time. That was an entire 15lb yellowtail we cooked up.

This week, I am back to being creative. I usually go through a cookbook looking at recipes until I am inspired and list of ingredients in my head.
This is what I came up with this week.
It was delicious with white rice and a green salad. A friend has been growing different types of Romaine and bringing us some. What a delight to have fresh picked Romaine, tomatoe, olives and some green goddess dressing!

Lemon Yellowtail
1 lb yellowtail cleaned and portioned
the juice of 3 lemons
½ cup Avacado oil
½ cup white wine
2 cloves minced garlic
3 tbs chopped cilantro or parsley
pinch of oregano
salt and pepper to taste.

Mix ingredients and pour into a gallon ziplock bag.
Add cleaned fish fillets and let marinate for a couple hours.

For the rice, I always use Chicken broth. Here in Cabo, the boxes are 1 liter. So I use 2 cups for the rice, then the small amount left I put in a small sauce pan. When the fish is on the grill, I add the leftover marinate to my chicken stock, and added a little more white wine, and reduced this stirring constantly so it doesn’t boil over. I did add a little salt to enhance the flavor.
If you don’t have the left over broth, it’s ok, still reduce, maybe a little more wine to taste.

I put the rice on the plate, fish on top, then drizzled the reduction
over the top.

Hope you all enjoy this recipe, we sure did!!!

And I’m not sure what happened, I did something wrong! No pictures on my camera. I thought it was acting weird! Works fine this morning.

Cuban Style Fish with Orange Salsa

orange cucumber with mint salsa

the finished meal, rice, fish and orange cuke salsa on top

Cuban Style fish with Orange Salsa

I found this recipe in the Seattle Times, well sort of. The original recipe was for pork. After reading the recipe I decided this would be great with fish too! And of course I adjusted things a little as usual and to match what I find in the stores here
For the fish
You need 1 lb of fish, we used yellowtail.
2 oranges I used the sweet juice oranges.
1 large lime or 3 small ones
2 tbs chopped cilantro
4 cloves of garlic minced.
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Juice the citrus, and mix in the garlic and cilantro. Pour over the fish
and let marinate for an hour.

Orange Cuke Salsa
In a medium size bowl, add the following:

½ cucumber, seeded and chopped in small cubes.
3 sweet oranges, slice the peel off, and as much of the white pith in the middle as you can and cube them.
1 scallion (green onion) sliced rings up to the dark green part.
20 mint leaves chopped
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup oil
salt and pepper to taste.
Mix together gently and let sit so the flavors can blend together.

Orange Rice
Follow the directions on the package to make rice, but add one peeled, pithed and chopped orange as above. Stir in so orange is blended with the rice. Cook as you would regular rice.

When ready to eat, place the rice on the plate first, with a fillet of fish next, salsa on the top.
With all the citrus this dish was light and refreshing on a warm spring evening.

Cabo Fish Report

FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING

Captain George Landrum

gmlandrum@hotmail.com

www.flyhooker.com

http://captgeo.wordpress.com/

Cabo Fish Report

May 7-13,  2012

WEATHER:  It’s summertime!  We have had clear skies and warm weather all week, and the water is warming up as well.  With the daytime temperature getting into the mid to high 90′s and the nights only dropping to the high 70′s we know it’s not too long before going to the beach will become an almost daily ritual.  It’s about the only way to beat the heat without running the AC all day long.   Put the sweaters and long pants away and buy new tubes of sunscreen.

WATER: At the end of the week it was clear that warm water has been pushing our way from the east.  The surface temperatures on the Sea of Cortez inside the 1,000 fathom line east of the 95 spot is a steady 75-76 degrees.  Outside the 1,000 fathom line and from the beach on out north of the 95 spot to the lighthouse on the Pacific side the water is 69-70 degrees.  From the lighthouse on the Pacific side an 8 mile wide band of  67 degree water extends from the northeast to the southwest.  On the northern side of this line, for about 3 miles, there is a band of cold water at 60 degrees that runs right across the top of the San Jaime Banks.  North of this band the water warms a degree or so to 63-64 degrees.  Surface conditions throughout the area have been great with small swells and mostly light afternoon winds.

BAIT:  Caballito have been the prevailing bait this week with very few Mackerel and a decent supply of Mullet, all at the normal $3 per bait.  For boats willing to go the distance and needing Sardines, we were finally seeing some decent size ones from San Jose, but you had to be there early, and they were going for $20-$25 a scoop if you could get them.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: With the moon in it’s waning phase we are seeing more Striped Marlin on the surface and they seem more willing to take a bait than they were last week.  The favorite area is still between the 1150 and the San Jose Canyon, but there are fish showing up on the 95 spot, probably as the warm water keeps moving to the west the fish will follow.  A few boats were finding Marlin very close to the beach, less than two miles out.  They were not there in the numbers being found offshore, but they were willing to bite and many boats managed to close out a half day trip by catching one right outside Cabo.  In more good news, the warming water may also be bringing in more of the larger Marlin as several boats this week reported catching Blue Marlin.  I did not see any of the fish but they were reported to me as being less than 200 pounds and were caught on lures pulled for Striped Marlin.  Never forget that there are other billfish out there as well!  A private boat went out this week to run some checks on their electrical systems, checking the radar, sonar, FLIR and such and of course they put a couple of lines in the water.  Crossing the 95 spot they hooked up a Swordfish that weighed just under 300 pounds, on a lure, at night!  You never know what is going to show up!

YELLOWFIN TUNA: I did hear of a few boats in the area that lucked into #100 fish while working Dolphin but there were no numbers reported to me, just that a few had been caught.  Must be nice to luck into these fish!  For the rest of us, Yellowfin were pretty much a hit-or-miss situation.  Find the right porpoise pod and you might get a few fish averaging 15 pounds, but there were not many of them out there.  Boats fishing inshore trolling Rapallas for Yellowtail caught a few Yellowfin, but once again there were no number of them, just the occasional fish here and there.  These were not fish that I would have gone out and targeted this past week, but instead would have been happy to get as a by-catch.

DORADO:  I think the Dorado may just be a month away as we are slowly seeing the bite improve.  Once the water hits 80 degrees we might see it bust loose, but for now an occasional 30 pound fish with a few smaller ones in the 10 pound class are what we are seeing every day, and that is not per boat, but an average of about 10 boats.  They are there, but the numbers are not here yet.

WAHOO:  Wahoo were scattered this week with most of the fish reported coming from the warmer water up around the Gorda Banks and Punta Gorda.  More were being seen than were being caught, but there were some nice fish reported with weights ranging from 25 to 70 pounds.  Sure would be nice to get a couple of Wahoo fillets, I have some ingredients just waiting to use on them for a great meal!  The fish that have been caught have mostly been on live bait but a few have been reported caught on lures, and almost all the fish have come from shallow water, less than 350 feet.

 INSHORE:  Sierra continue to be the inshore fish of the week in our area, but I have heard reports from a few of our boats that have ventured up to the Punta Gorda area that there was a decent bite on Pompano that lasted for a few days.  These great eating fish were found close to the beach, averaged 6 pounds and were biting on Sardinas.  There are still some Yellowtail being found on the Pacific side of the Cape, but not in the numbers we were seeing several weeks ago, nor in the same size range.  Boats are averaging two to three fish per trip and the size has dropped to an average of 12 pounds.  Also being found inshore are good numbers of Roosterfish to 20 pounds.  Great action on spinning and fly tackle, when you mix in an occasional Jack Crevalle you better be ready!

FISH RECIPE:  Check the blog for this weeks recipe! 

NOTES: Tawny is snoring at my feet, waiting for the Sunday beach walk, that was my music for this report!  Can’t keep her waiting, and of course a great Sunday breakfast when we get back, a call to Mom for mothers day and then off to watch the final round of golf at TPC Sawgrass!  Have a great week everyone, and Happy Mothers Day!  Until next week, tight lines!

Lemon Scallion Marinade

Lemon Scallion Marinade
I used this both with chicken and fish last week it was so good.

1 lb white fish fillets, we used yellowtail.
Juice of 1 lemon
1 green onion sliced thin
1 ½ tsp fresh thyme
1 clove garlic minced
½ cup Avocado oil.

This was so easy and delicious.

Into a bowl squeeze the juice of one lemon, add the onion, thyme and garlic.
With a fork, smash the onion slices to help release the juices.

Mix in the oil and stir until well mixed.

Place fillets into a one gallon ziplock bag, pour marinade onto the fish.
Squeeze the air out of the bag, and close tightly.

Massage the marinade around the fish so it is totally covered.
Refrigerate for 1 – 3 hours
Then grill.
Remember the old term for cooking any fish. 5 minutes per inch per side.

Fish stuffed and wrapped in foil and will take a little longer.