I bought abalone from Giovanni’s a few years ago. Overnight shipping to Montana. Very expensive. The abalone had been flash frozen and arrived in dry ice, still frozen. It was worth it that one time. We don’t have any decent fishmongers here.
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When I was young, I would just eat anything and hated to waste food. However, after two food poisoning or stomach flu, I have become much more caution. The first incident can be traced back to a raw and heavily spices seafood (I believe raw ocotupus but it could have been raw oysters).
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Yes so many things change as we age…sadly for me it seems to be food tolerances, especially with seafood😥.
Abalone is one of my all time favs… used to catch it myself (mostly greens and the occasional red) in So. Cal.
But there used to be a place up here that did a calamari steak (in a white wine, lemon butter sauce with garlic and shallots) that was every bit as good… and way cheaper.
Most of the online places have it for 12 to 20 bucks per pound (depending on size). So if you like abalone this is a worthy substitute.
I have about 20 of these. They come with oysters in smaller boxes. I bring 1 with me on holiday. No maintenance needed and works extremely well.
We were so spoiled eating pan fried fresh abalone BITD. Someone was always sharing part of their limit. Everybody it seemed was driving up the coast to get them. Sometimes a meal at Chez Madeleine was involved. When we couldn’t get any anymore, we would be eating the pan fried calamari steak at Spenger’s in Berzerkeley. It was hard to tell it wasn’t the real thing. Served with the plank sized french fries, their awful cole slaw (someone must have liked it!) and lots of lemon wedges and the loaf of sourdough and ice cold butter. No ta-ta sauce for me. Miss that place, but have plenty of good memories.
I might try playing with the calamari steaks I sometimes find at the grocers. Your recipe description sounds pretty nice.
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I remember having abalone BITD, in Monterey, before the aquarium went in and tourism exploded there. It was just a sleepy little town back then. Not too long afterwards, abalone became difficult to get, and I was living inland at that time. Sad. I have a recipe from my Nevada days for Phony Abalone which calls for pounding out turkey tenderloins, marinating them in bottled clam juice overnight, then breading and frying them. Supposed to taste like abalone, but I’ve never tried it, despite always wanting to. Maybe soon! I do love calamari as well.
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Lucky you… while it is listed, it seems permanently out of stock in our market. That means online with crazy one day shipping costs. Still it’s way cheaper than abalone.
It (or something similar) was always my fav way to do abalone.
Prep a really light egg white/flour batter with a pinch of kosher salt and a dash of EVOO, and refrigerate. Pound the steaks and set aside.
In small skillet do the shallots and garlic (with a pinch of kosher salt) in unsalted butter over medium-low heat. As soon as it is fragrant add the lemon and white wine and turn the heat to low (stirring occasionally).
Grab the batter and dip the steaks, and saute in a small glug of EVOO in a medium low non-stick skillet until you see the slightest sign of browning on the bottom side, then flip and cook for half (or even less) the time as the first side. Then add the sauce on top of the steak(s) and heat for another 30 seconds or so and serve. Yum!
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Did that, done that. Same with chicken, nothing to write home about. I do miss the old sleepy coastal towns. Pacific Grove, especially. Now Montana has been ‘found’ thanks to some unrealistic TV show, and we’re in the garbage dump. Thank you, Hollywood.
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Yes, Pacific Grove was always my favorite, even surpassing Carmel. Really love that part of the coast. Did you ever go to Nepenthe? I didn’t even know about it until the 2010’s, but have their cookbook. Lots of stories and nostalgia. Well, good to know about the phony abalone recipes. Yeah, Montana’s been heading the way of Idaho for some time now, I’m sure totally worse since Covid, and yes, Yellowstone. I have relatives there & when I was little visited there many times & had a blast. Clyde Park, near Livingston. I was in that big god awful earthquake back in the 1959 I think? I was a pretty young kid & slept thru it!!
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So you woke up and then the world has changed.
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For me (being a So. Cal. boy) it was Santa Catalina island… the birthplace of abalone in my life. Nothing really “gourmet”, but lot’s of places to get fresh, simply prep’d seafood… including abalone sandwiches on the Avalon pier.
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That’s exactly what happened! I remember hearing my mom & auntie talk before I was fully awake, but I heard that a damn had given way, and there was no fresh water. My dad & uncle were way up in the mountainous back country on a horse packing trip, and didn’t know what had happened. They made their way home as soon as possible, rocks & boulders were displaced, so they knew something had gone down.
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Yeah, you can’t go home! I don’t remember any of the restaurants on the coast in CA, but I do remember the Santa Maria Inn, Buellton’s Andersen’s Pea Soup both inland.
We’ve had little stickers in MT for years that read, ‘Get Lost in Montana’. A lot of them have an extra line added either, ‘then go home!’ or ‘and don’t return’. As Joni Mitchell said in ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot”. More like put up a condo for vrbo. Build, build, build but where are the ‘helpers’ gonna live? Ugh! We visited Jackson, Wyo. many years ago for a funeral and found that most of the employees in that town lived in whole 'nuther town, like Wilson.
I survived Loma Prieta in 1989. One of the reasons for leaving CA.
What was Nepenthe like?
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I never made it there, didn’t know about it until waaay past it’s heyday. I guess it was very boho, attracted writers, artists, and all sorts of free spirits. It was near where The Sandpiper was filmed with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who were guests. This was way before my time, but the cookbook captures that essence, and last I heard it was still in the hands of the family, with a lot of changes made. Still, it evidently resonates with a lot of people for the nostalgia factor.
Yeah, I’ve been to Jackson Hole a number of times & yes sad that a lot of locals can’t afford to live there. Same for Sun Valley, and Ketchum Idaho.
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You need more practice. Once you get the hang of it, you can pop the hinge without a lot of effort. If its a workout, you’re not doing it right.
I think I saw a show on PBS’ Create with Samantha Brown and her California Coast travel review that featured Nepenthe.
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Swoon!
Hi all,
A couple of follow up questions. I have been using my oyster knife for the last three weeks (three separate occasions). Not only my oyster has an upturned tip, the knife blade is smooth (not sharp at all). I suppose the idea is that it has an edge enough to “cut” the adductor muscle, but not enough to cut a person’s hand.
Question A: Does your oyster knife have a sharp blade?
Question B: Would you recommend me to sharpen the blade?
Thanks.
I have at least 6 models and none are sharpened and I don’t recommend it for the reason you mentioned.
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