Adapt this recipe for the grill by butterflying the whole chicken and cooking 30 minutes each side, beginning breast side down, until the skin is golden and the juices run clear.
1 small chicken
1 Tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Leaves from 2 sprigs sage, finely chopped
Leaves from 1 sprig thyme, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Wild Grape Sage Sauce
Bones from 1 chicken
2 Tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
3 onions
2 carrots
1/2 stalk celery
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) Gamay Noir
6 cups (1.5 L) chicken stock
1 garlic clove
15 black peppercorns
10 juniper berries
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp (2 mL) chopped sage, plus more for garnish
5 oz (150 g) wild grapes
1/3 cup (80 mL) maple syrup
A few hours before grilling, rub chicken with olive oil, garlic, sage, thyme, and salt and pepper. Refrigerate until grilling fire is ready. Build a fire with apple wood and, when the wood turns to coals, push chicken onto a rotisserie spit and roast, adding pieces of wild grape vines to the fire bit by bit as you turn the spit. Maintain a slow fire throughout roasting, about 1 hour. Chicken is ready when skin looks golden and juices run clear. Remove from fire and let sit 10 minutes before carving.
To make the sauce, preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Chop chicken bones into walnut-sized pieces and place in shallow, ovenproof pan with olive oil. Roast until bones begin to brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add onions, carrots, and celery and continue roasting until golden brown. Remove pan from oven and place over high heat. Add Gamay Noir and deglaze. Add chicken stock and bring to boil, skimming off fat. In mortar and pestle, crush together garlic clove, peppercorns, juniper berries, and bay leaf. Add to pan along with sage. Cook slowly for about 1 hour. Pour sauce through fine sieve into clean saucepan and return to medium-high heat to reduce liquid until thickened, about 5 minutes.
In another saucepan, combine wild grapes and maple syrup, cooking over medium heat until a glazed consistency develops, about 5 minutes. Place mixture in blender and blend until smooth, then strain through cheesecloth. Add grape pure to chicken sauce at the last moment, along with chopped fresh sage leaves. Serves 4.
source: "Eigensinn Farm", alive #310, August 2008
While sablefish’s texture and fat content stand up admirably to the heat of the grill, this firm fish is also delicious poached. For this recipe, sablefish’s luxurious taste is combined with a light fragrant broth of lemongrass and ginger punctuated with the heat of Thai chili. Sustainability status Sablefish, also known as butterfish or black cod, is a rich and satisfying fish, plentiful in omega-3s and sourced sustainably from the Pacific Northwest. Skin and bones Sablefish has large pin bones. Ideally, your fishmonger will remove them, but if not, before you begin, locate them along the fish’s centreline and, using a pair of needle nose pliers, grasp them firmly to remove. You can leave the skin on for this recipe, which may help the fish hold together a little better while cooking, but it can be tricky to peel the skin away from the cooked fish and discard before plating. I opted to remove the skin first and simply keep a close eye on the cooking time, being careful to remove the fish from the poaching liquid before it flakes apart.
These mildly spiced salmon tacos served with sweet and spicy pumpkin seeds will bring a party together. Make a small quantity of salmon go further when you pair it with a fresh red cabbage slaw featuring citrus and cilantro. Drizzled with some bright lime yogurt, the flavours come together perfectly. Sustainability status Wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska are considered among the most sustainable, as the fishery is subject to limited harvests. With salmon stocks in decline, supporting managed fisheries such as these can help maintain populations into the future. That may also mean eating salmon less often than we do now. Salmon is a favourite Salmon is the most popular variety of fish in Canada and the second most popular in the US.
B12-rich mussels are a very good and economical source of protein and iron. Steamed mussels are a classic way to enjoy seafood—and so is this rich, aromatic broth of tomato, fennel, and saffron. Be sure to allow saffron to fully infuse to get the full flavour benefit, and finish off the dish with the fragrant fennel fronds. Sustainability status Farmed mussels are considered highly sustainable due to their low impacts on the environment. They are easy to harvest, require no fertilizer or fresh water, and don’t need to be fed externally, as they get all their nutritional requirements from their marine environment. Mussel prep Selection: Look for mussels with shiny, tightly closed shells that smell of the sea. If shells are slightly open, give them a tap. Live mussels will close immediately. Storage: Keep mussels in the fridge in a shallow pan laid on top of ice. Keep them out of water and cover with a damp cloth. Ideally, consume on the day you buy them, but within two days. They need to breathe, so never keep them in a sealed plastic bag. Cleanup: In addition to being sustainable, farmed mussels tend to require less cleaning than wild mussels. Most of the fibrous “beards” that mussels use to grip solid surfaces will have been removed before sale. But if a few remain, they’re easily dispatched: grasp the beard with your thumb and forefinger and pull it toward the hinge of the mussel and give it a tug. Afterward, give mussels a quick rinse and scrub away any areas of mud or seaweed, which, with farmed mussels, will require minimal work.
The delicate flavour of shrimp is highlighted with just a touch of lemon and a hint of mustard, while radish and celery give some fresh crunch to this dish. Eat it in lettuce cups, on top of greens, or served on whole grain bread for a filling snack. Sustainability status Both wild and farmed shrimp can be sustainable depending on where they’re caught and how they’re raised. See our article “Sea Change” for more information about choosing ethical shrimp.