The aquarium in Monterey, California has compiled a handy booklet listing the fish which are readily available, fish that are OK to buy, and the ones that are totally overfished and shouldn’t be selected. As a general rule, our oceans are really stressed, so you should only choose fish from the good list. And as a matter of policy, here at Silver Cloud, we do not recommend any farm-raised fish. Buy wild fish. Period.
The good news is that fish cases are required by law to list the country of origin and whether or not the fish is wild or farm-raised. As a general rule, buy fish that is as nearly local as possible, and wild.
But there are lots of great fish to choose from. Here’s what the list says:
Great choices: abundant, well managed and caught in environmentally friendly ways
clams: softshell and steamers, crab, Dungeness, Stone, and Blue, Halibut, Spiny lobster, wild Alaskan salmon, squid, wild striped bass, swordfish, tuna, albacore, and skipjack.
Good alternatives: are an option, but there are concerns with how they’re caught and the health of their habitat due to human impacts.
Black sea bass, bluefish, clams, quahog and surf, crab; blue, jonah, king and snow. haddock, hake, herring, Maine lobster, mahi mahi, oysters, pollock, wild sea scallops, scups, wild American and Canadian shrimp, squid except Longfin US, swordfish, tilefish, tuna: bigeye, yellowfin and canned tuna
Avoid: For now, these items are caught in ways that harm other marine life or the environment.
Caviar, sturgeon, Chilean seabass, Atlantic cod, imported king crab, Atlantic soles, halibut, trawled haddock, hake, imported mahi mahi, Marlin both blue and striped, monkfish, orange roughy, farmed salmon, shark, skate, imported shrimp, red snapper, imported swordfish, farmed tilapia, Southeast tilefish, yellowtail.
Recipe:
Halibut a la Bonne Femme Recipe
Got to hand it to the French. They eat well, and as well all understand, it’s the reason French women always seem to be thin. Although the recipe calls for Pacific halibut fillet, substitute the freshest fish in your fish monger’s case from the good list. Pick what you love.
- Makes 4 servings in less than 20 minutes
- 4 Pacific halibut fish fillets, about 1 pound
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons shallots or green onions, minced + more for garnish
- ½ lb. sliced chanterelle (or button) mushrooms
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg yolk
Heat oven to 350o. Butter a baking dish generously then salt and pepper the fish and lay it in the dish. Pour wine over and bake covered about 10 minutes, or just until cooked through. Pour the pan juices into a saucepan with butter, shallots and mushrooms. Heat to boiling. Meanwhile whisk cream and egg yolk together then add to the sauce. To serve, pool sauce in a dinner sauce and add fish fillets. Garnish with minced shallots and serve.
Nutritional Readout: 349 calories, FAT 22 g., PROTEIN 23 g., CARB 3.3g. FIBER .02 g