Coastal cuisine: bounty of the sea

Melanie Balog
The Post and Courier

Wesley Brown displays fresh-caught shrimp from the deck of the shrimpboat Carolina.

Vicki Kammeyer couldn’t have picked a better place to introduce her cousin, Donna Letteney, and Donna’s husband, Bob, to Lowcountry cuisine.

The three, along with about 700 fellow food-lovers, sampled wreckfish, clams and shrimp prepared by 12 of the Lowcountry’s top chefs during the 4th annual Sustainable Seafood Festival, held at the Maritime Center in October.

Kammeyer and the Letteneys were all sampling chef Bill Twaler’s Charleston Perlo, shrimp over rice and butter beans.

“The beans and shrimp are delicious,” Kammeyer said, “tender and crunchy, just the way they should be.”

Twaler, of the Old Firehouse Restaurant in Hollywood, was a crowd favorite, getting enough votes to be the runner-up in the shrimp cookoff.

Megan Westmeyer, Sustainable Seafood Initiative program coordinator for the South Carolina Aquarium, said she hopes attendees not only enjoyed sampling the various dishes, but also became more aware of seafood harvesting and the environment. In other words, “why they should care about where their seafood comes from.”

The initiative is a partnership among the South Carolina Aquarium, the South Carolina Seafood Alliance, Johnson & Wales University, the Coastal Conservation League, University of South Carolina, the Baruch Institute, and the South Carolina Sea Grant. The program encourages consumers to make sound and ethical seafood choices focusing on environmentally friendly, locally captured seafood.

There was ample opportunity to see that focus firsthand at the end of the dock at the Maritime Center, where the crew of the shrimp boat Carolina was doing a steady walk-up business. Rocky Magwood and Wesley Brown scooped out heaps of shrimp from yellow and green plastic bushel baskets.

By mid-afternoon they had sold 100 pounds of seafood.

Nunally Kersh was one of the customers. Kersh knows all about the importance of sustainable seafood. The producer of Spoleto Festival USA is married to Hominy Grill chef Robert Stehling.

“Even were we not in the business, we would do everything we could to support this industry,” Kersh said. “You have fewer and fewer boats out there.”

Magwood, nephew of well-known shrimper Wayne Magwood, says he goes out at 3:30 a.m. each day, and that’s where he still would have been if he wasn’t at the festival.

He said he’s grateful for the Sustainable Seafood Initiative because it’s helped raise local shrimpers’ profiles. “People just don’t realize it takes a lot to catch fresh shrimp.”

Like Magwood, Brown’s been working on boats his whole life, too. His dad, Captain Donnie Brown, operates the Miss Karen shrimp boat. He stopped to take a question from a potential customer, who wanted to know how many people a pound of shrimp would feed.

“One pound will feed one person if they’re not eating anything else, or two people with other stuff,” he said. He then demonstrated one- and two-handed methods for de-heading shrimp.

First District Rep. Henry Brown, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Natural Resources’s subcommittee on fisheries, wildlife and oceans, knows the vital role local fishing families like the Magwoods and Browns play.

“Sustainable seafood is so critical to the quality of life we have here in South Carolina,” Brown said at the festival. “Not only do we have a lot of people whose livelihoods depend on it, we want to be sure we’ve got a good supply not only for us today but for future generations.”

The question on a lot of people’s minds is how you can tell you’re getting local seafood when dining out.

“You gotta ask your waiter,” said Liz Hennrikus, director of institutional advancement for the aquarium. “They play a role. But it really has to start with the chefs.

“It isn’t easy. Seafood is probably our largest source of protein in our diets. We need to take good care of the resource.”

And the chefs, partners in the initiative, take that goal seriously.

“The whole sustainable seafood initiative, people are starting to get a lot more aware,” said chef Charles Arena from The Boathouse at Breach Inlet. “We need to take care of our oceans if we want to keep getting stuff from them.”

Sustainable seafood is much more than a trend, chef Ryan Herrmann of The Boathouse at East Bay said.

“It’s gotta be a life change. I’ve got a young kid, I want him to be able to eat the same stuff I grew up eating.”

For those who want seafood to cook at home, the Sustainable Seafood Initiative’s Web site lists places to buy from local fishermen.

“All of our seafood was local; we bought from the fishermen or from the dock,” Westmeyer said. “People should try to buy local or domestic seafood. Our fishermen follow some of the strictest conservation laws in the world.”

All the proceeds of the festival support the aquarium’s conservation programs.

Melanie Balog is an assistant city editor at The Post and Courier.

Shrimp cook-off winner: Chef Ciaran Duffy, Tristan

Chef Ciaran Duffy was pretty sure he had a winning combination at the shrimp cook-off. His butter-poached shrimp with mascarpone grits, roasted corn succotash and bacon foam was voted the favorite by nearly 700 tasters.

“I start the shrimp in a cold pan with cold butter,’ he said. “They stay tender and don’t get hard on the outside.”

Duffy found a familiar face staring at him from the line of eager judges: retired Atlanta Journal Constitution food critic Elliot Mackle. They debated the merits of foam and jelly in culinary preparations as Duffy added bacon foam to the top of his dish.

Chef Kim Ortego of Earth Fare prepared her family’s gumbo recipe. She explained how her dish stands out from other gumbo recipes. “We don’t use tomatoes, I’m not an okra fan. This is how you would serve it at the Ortego house: simple ingredients, fresh shrimp, fresh crab.”

Charleston Perlo, or shrimp over butter beans with grits, from The Old Firehouse Restaurant’s chef Bill Twaler, was another crowd favorite.

“We do simple straightforward food that people can appreciate,” he said.

Chef Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill also cooked up shrimp and grits, using stone-ground grits, and adding hot sauce and scallions to the mix.

“That’s what separates it from others in Charleston; that’s considered a little fancy.”

Melanie Balog
The Post and Courier

Butter-poached shrimp with mascarpone grits, roasted corn succotash and bacon foam

Butter-poached shrimp with mascarpone grits, roasted corn succotash and bacon foam

• Mascarpone grits

• 3 cups whole milk

• 1 cup white stone-ground grits

• 1 cup mascarpone cheese

• Salt and Pepper to taste

In a heavy-bottomed pot, bring the milk to a simmer. Whisk in the grits gently and continue to do so until they start to thicken. Turn down heat to low and continue to stir. When the grits have reached the proper consistency add cheese and season to taste. Serve hot or refrigerate.

Succotash

• 1/4 cup diced bacon

• 1/2 cup medium-diced yellow onion

• 1 cup roasted corn

• 1 cup fava beans

• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced

• 1 ounce unsalted butter

• Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium heat, render bacon till golden brown. Add onions, corn, beans, garlic and butter. Cook over medium heat until the onions become translucent and other ingredients are hot. Season with salt and pepper, serve while hot. This can be prepared ahead of time and heated as needed.

Butter-poached shrimp

• 1 pound local shrimp, peeled and deveined

• 4 ounces cold unsalted butter

• Salt and pepper to taste

Place shrimp and butter in a cold skillet and turn heat to low. Allow the pan to warm slowly, flipping the shrimp from time to time. The goal is to make the shrimp soft and tender, not firm as they would be if they were being traditionally sauteed. As they start to turn from gray to white, remove from the heat and season. Let them sit for a few minutes and allow them to continue to cook in the warm pan. Serve hot or refrigerate.

Bacon foam

• 2 cups skim milk

• 4 slices of bacon

• 1 cup sliced onion

• 2 tablespoons sliced garlic

• 1 tablespoon fennel pollen

• 2 tablespoons fennel seed

• 1 teaspoon tarragon

• 1 teaspoon thyme

Place all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Strain off all items, reserving only the liquid. Using a latte foamer like you would find in a coffee shop, lightly foam the top of the liquid. You may get a better result if the milk is warm or at room temperature.

To serve, top the grits and succotash with the shrimp, and add a scoop of bacon foam on top.

Wreckfish cook-off winner: Tim Armstrong, Old Village Post House

After the chefs cleared out from the first round, it was time for the wreckfish competition.

Chef Tim Armstrong of the Old Village Post House, came out on top with his prosciutto-wrapped wreckfish with buttery parsnips and a pomegranate glaze with a walnut endive salad.

“It’s on our menu …we do it a couple times a week,” he said of the dish. “It’s definitely a big seller when we do this.”

To him, eating local extends beyond the seafood to the other ingredients, such as the parsnips in the dish.

Anyone familiar with Cypress’ signature cookbook would have recognized chef Craig Deihl’s dish of braised wreckfish with eggplant and baby squash. Braising the fish set his dish apart, Diehl said. This was Diehl’s fourth year at the festival.

“It’s kind of nice to see that we’re doing something different than anybody else (here).”

Chef Ryan Herrmann of The Boathouse at East Bay enjoyed the chance to prepare a specialty wreckfish dish with curry and citrusy tones.

“I always try to do things that aren’t on the menu when I do stuff like this. I get a chance to do something outside the confines of the restaurant.”

When asked what makes his dish a winner, he laughed and said “my winning personality. Chef Diehl’s back there. I can’t compete with him.”

Rounding out the wreckfish competition was chef Brandon Buck of Middleton Place, who prepared a seared wreckfish with a sautee of beech mushrooms, sweet corn haricot vert and a saffron buerre blanc.

Buck said he appreciated the chance to make something different and see people eating his food.

“It’s good to be out face to face with the guests. You’re so busy cooking at the restaurant, it’s a good chance to be out with the public.”

Melanie Balog
The Post and Courier

Prosciutto-wrapped wreckfish with buttery parsnips, endive and walnut salad and pomegranate glaze

Prosciutto-wrapped wreckfish with buttery parsnips, endive and walnut salad and pomegranate glaze

• 1 cup pomegranate juice

• 1/2 cup pomegranate puree

• 1/4 cup honey

• 2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed

• 4 ounces cold diced butter

• 4 (6-ounce) fillets of wreckfish

• 1/3 cup blended oil

• 1 pound parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice

• 4 thin slices prosciutto

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 2 tablespoons crushed walnuts

• Salt and pepper as needed

• 2 heads Belgium endive, stem removed, julienned

• Seeds from 1/4 pomegranate

• 10 chives, cut into 3/4-inch batons

Bring pomegranate juice, puree and honey to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and reduce liquid by 75 percent. Add thyme leaves and remove from heat. Add 2 ounces cold diced butter and swirl sauce until all butter is incorporated. Adjust seasonings and reserve.

Season fish with salt and pepper; wrap proscuitto around each piece of fish, with ‘flap’ ends up on the side where skin was removed. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of a medium hot saute pan, then add fish, flap side down. Sear until ham has a little brown color and starts to seal. Flip fish and finish in 425-degree oven, 6-8 minutes, depending on thickness of fillet. Remove from pan and flip over to reserve.

In a large saute pan, melt 1 ounce butter over medium heat. Add lightly salted parsnips and sweat for about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 of the stock and simmer until just about dry. If parsnips are cooked, remove from the heat; if not, add remaining stock and repeat. Once parsnips are cooked and removed from heat, add remaining butter and mix.

Over low heat, mix walnuts and oil in a small sauce pan and lightly toast nuts. Drain nuts when they begin to brown; reserve oil. Immediately season nuts with salt while draining on a paper towel; cool oil to room temperature. Toss together endive, walnuts, pomegranate seeds, chives and 1 tablespoon of reserved walnut oil with salt and pepper.

Place parsnips in the center of a plate; top with fish. Lightly drizzle plate with sauce, then top fish with a little of the salad.

Serves 4

Clam cook-off winner: Eric Sayers, CQ’s at Hilton Head Island

CQ’s chef Eric Sayers made the trek from Hilton Head Island for the festival, and the trip was worth it, as his Local Clams “Deconstructed” Casino was voted the crowd favorite.

“It’s a traditional Clams Casino but instead of bacon we use roasted pork belly,” Sayers said. “I think the pork belly is the key.” Other elements included a 14-herb- and-spice compound butter that served as the base for the broth and a slice of homemade, yeasty brioche to sop up the juices.

Ryan Sullivan, chef de cuisine at Cru Café, served his clams stuffed with homemade chorizo atop a baby arugula salad. Jalepeno butter factored into his clam broth. He worked alongside chef John Zucker.

“We came along at a point in time when we couldn’t really get all fresh seafood. Now we can get it from McClellanville,” Zucker said.

“It’s all fresh and local,” Sullivan said.

Chefs Charles Arena and Bobby Yarbrough: from The Boathouse at Breach Inlet also relied on pork to complement their clam dish.

“It’s a classic combination of flavors,” Yarbrough said, “the saltiness of the clams, the smokiness of the bacon, the sweetness of the tomatoes, peppery arugula.”

Chef Cooper Thomas of the Sea Island Grill at Wild Dunes took a different tack, preparing littleneck clams and lump crab cakes with champagne-poached-clam butter.

“I wanted it to be more Lowcountry. The crabcake is very Southern...I’ve done the crab cake before, but not the clam butter, in the restaurant,” Thomas said. “I like the combination.”

Melanie Balog
The Post and Courier

Local Clams ‘Deconstructed’ Casino

Local Clams ‘Deconstructed’ Casino Clams:

• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon shallot, minced

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided for use

• 10 South Carolina clams

• 4 springs fresh thyme

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

• 1 cup Riesling (white wine)

• 4 ounces Cafe de Midi butter (see cook’s note)

• 2 ounces chimichurri

• Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

*Cook’s note. Cafe de midi butter is a compound butter with 14 herbs andspices, the exact makeup of which the chef learned at Cafe de Midi in Paris and would not reveal. Use a compound butter with white wine, garlic, shallots and spices.

Saute the garlic and shallots in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add clams, thyme, green onions and wine. Steam until clams are just open; remove clams and reserve. Reduce liquid and whisk in cafe de midi butter. Drizzle with chimichurri and season with salt and pepper.

Maple roasted fresh bacon:

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 2 tablespoons bourbon

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

• Sea salt and pepper to taste

• 1/2 pound pork belly

Combine sugar, spices, bourbon and syrup; rub on pork and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roast pork at 300 degrees until tender (about 3 hours). Dice into small pieces.

Brioche:

• 1/3 cup warm water

• 1/3 cup warm milk

• 2 envelopes dry yeast

• 3 1/4 cups bread flour

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 3 large eggs, plus more for egg wash

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons pureed roasted garlic

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

• 11/2 cups butter

Place water, milk and yeast in bowl; stir until yeast dissolves. Fit mixer with dough hook. Add flour and salt to bowl; beat in eggs on low speed. Add sugar, garlic and thyme, then add butter, one piece at a time, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding more. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, let rise 1 hour, then chill overnight. Place dough in a loaf pan, egg wash the top and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden.

Place clams in a bowl, pour Cafe de Midi emulsion over clams, sprinkle with fresh bacon and garnish with sliced brioche.

Serves 2

High school cook-off winners: Leile Schardt (senior) and Kiki Hannapel (junior), both of Wando High School

Though pride was on the line in the professional chefs tent, the stakes might have been even higher at the high school competition, where nearly $50,000 in renewable scholarships to Johnson & Wales University were to be claimed.

Ten high school chefs cooked in shifts at three stations, working under tight deadlines to cook and plate their creations.

After all the dishes were plated, each student was subject to a critique of his or her work from judges Paul Malcolm and Amy Felder of Johnson & Wales and Enzo Steffenelli, formerly chef of Sea Island Grill.

The assessments were every bit as thorough as those given during professional competitions on the Food Network, with the chef standing, surrounded by competitors, and often friends and family, as the judges listed the pluses and minuses of each dish, what succeeded and what fell short.

Wando’s Kiki Hannapel took first place among juniors with her pistachio-encrusted mahi-mahi with orzo pilaf al dente in Cajun remoulade. Wando’s Leile Schardt won the senior chef competition with her pan-seared local wreckfish with a local shrimp, sweet potato and roasted chanterelle succotash served with a sweet-corn coulis.

“For them to understand, at their age, sustainable seafood, making wise decisions with local ingredients in South Carolina, that’s making a point to eat local/grow local” and help preserve it for the next generation, said aquarium president and CEO Kevin Mills.

“They’re our future, quite literally.”

S.C. Aquarium/Charleston Picture Company
The Post and Courier

Pan-seared wreckfish with local shrimp, sweet potato and roasted chanterelle succotash

Pan-seared wreckfish with local shrimp, sweet potato and roasted chanterelle succotash

Wreckfish:

• 6 to 7 ounce wreckfish fillet

• Salt and white pepper to taste

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Season wreckfish with salt and pepper. Bring saute pan to high heat. Add oil to pan. Place wreckfish fillet in the pan and sear until golden brown on both sides and internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.

Succotash:

• 4 tablespoons Plugra butter (see cook’s note), divided for use

• 1 cup whole, peeled and sliced chanterelles

• Salt and white pepper as needed

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 cup butter beans

• 1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/4-inch dice

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon chives, snipped

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 1 tablespoon minced shallots

• 2 ears sweet corn, shucked

• 3 ounces local shrimp, small dice

• 1/2 cup chicken stock

*Cook’s note: Plugra butter is a European-style butter with 2.5 percent more butterfat and less moisture than traditional butter. It can be found in specialty markets.

Roast the chanterelles by bringing a saute pan to medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of Plugra butter. When butter is melted, add chanterelles. Toss lightly until crisp and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

Boil a pot of water with bay leaves and salt and add butter beans; cook until tender.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add sweet potato. Cook and then shock in ice water to stop the cooking process.

Bring a saute pan to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons Plugra butter and vegetable oil. When butter melts, add garlic and shallots. Next add corn, butter beans, chanterelles and sweet potatoes. Add shrimp and chicken stock and simmer until shrimp are cooked. Add salt and pepper and finish with remaining Plugra butter and chives.

Corn coulis:

• Kernels cut from two ears of corn

• 1 Vidalia onion, finely diced

• 3/4 cup heavy cream

• 5 tablespoons Plugra butter

• Salt and white pepper to taste

Heat a medium pot on medium-high heat. Add juiced corn and onion and reduce until thick. Add heavy cream and keep warm but not boiling. Slowly whisk in pieces of Plugra butter, one at a time, bringing the sauce to a Bernaise consistency. Add salt and pepper to sauce and keep warm.

To serve, place a mound of succotash neatly in the middle of the plate. Place seared wreckfish fillet on top of the succotash. With a ladle, circle the corn coulis around the fish and succotash.

Serves 2

S.C. Aquarium/Charleston Picture Company
The Post and Courier

Pistachio-encrusted mahi-mahi with orzo pilaf al dente in Cajun remoulade

Pistachio-encrusted mahi-mahi with orzo pilaf al dente in Cajun remoulade

Mahi-mahi:

• 2 (5-ounce) fresh mahi-mahi fillets

• 1 cup flour to coat fish

• 2 teaspoons rosemary

• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 2 eggs for eggwash

• 1/4 cup heavy cream for eggwash

• 11/2 cups crushed pistachios

• 1/3 cup pita chip crumbs, optional

Preheat 10-inch saute pan on medium-high heat. Coat fish in flour mixed with herbs and spices. Soak in beaten eggs and cream so fish is covered. Roll in crushed pistachios (mix in crushed pita chips if desired). Add oil to saute pan and saute fish on each side until golden brown. Finish in oven for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees, or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Set aside.

Orzo pilaf:

• 1/2 teaspoon butter

• 1 cup orzo

• 2 cups chicken stock

• 1 teaspoon rosemary

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

• 1/4 cup diced cherry tomatoes

• 1/4 cup steamed asparagus tips

• 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Heat a saucepan on medium heat and add butter. Add orzo and cook for approximately 3 minutes or until slightly golden, stirring frequently. Add chicken stock, rosemary, garlic salt, onion powder, and a dash of pepper. Cover and cook for 4 minutes. In a separate pan, saute garlic, tomatoes and steamed asparagus for 2 minutes. Add cilantro, heavy cream, asparagus, onions and tomatoes to orzo and cook until al dente.

Cajun remoulade (makes 2 cups)

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 1/4 cup onions, small dice

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon horseradish

• 1 tablespoon Pick a Pepper sauce

• 1 tablespoon hot sauce

• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

• 3/4 tablespoon capers, rinsed

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients except for salt, pepper and mayonnaise in food processor and pulse 4-5 times until pureed. In a medium bowl, mix with mayonnaise, salt and pepper until blended. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

To serve, stack orzo in center of plate. Place fish on the orzo so part of it hangs off the orzo onto the plate. Drape remoulade over fish, and garnish with cilantro leaves dipped in balsamic vinaigrette and three pistachio nuts.

Serves 2