We've tried to expose Madeline to a wide taste palette, including some foods that kids find tough to love, like fish. In Haiti, her favorite fish dish is pan fried local Woz fish with a key lime butter sauce. While back in North America, we have adapted Madeline's favorite fish recipe, and make this Simple Lemon Butter Salmon. Madeline likes this Lemon Butter Salmon so much her hands shake with enthusiasm in between bites, and quite frankly, we adults aren't too far behind her! 

Fish cookery and smoked foods don't have to be labor intensive and intimidating. Our recipe for Maple Juniper Smoked Salmon uses a simple Native American technique to easily bring lightly smoked, delicately cooked, flavorful salmon to your table (and impress your wife with your pioneering skills)! For those of you with maples growing in your backyards, its time to break out the clippers! The fish is grilled on a bed of freshly cut maple twigs and leaves, which allows the fish to gently cook while wrapping it in aromatic smoke. The glaze uses juniper and maple syrup to produce a subtle sweet and piney flavor. When buying fish, we try to make sure it is sustainably harvested (or farmed). Ask at your local seafood store, they are usually very knowledgeable. This recipe is based on one of my favorite cookbooks: Food of the Americas: Native Recipes and Traditions by Fernando and Marlene Divina. If you are interested, check out some of our other seafood recipes.

Louisiana is the home of many excellent things; delicious foods, our good friend Jeff, and the inventor of these exquisite Cajun Crab Cakes with Jalapeno Remoulade.  Whenever we travel to a coastal area, Paul starts researching regional takes on crab cakes, a particular favorite of his.   Our time in New Orleans last year was a definite button busting success of a food vacation, with one exception, Paul did not find the one perfect crab cake.  We returned home and proceeded to immerse ourselves (read: obsess) with Cajun and Creole cooking,  It was through a Louisiana native chef and cookbook author, Donald Link, that we found this dynamic crab cake recipe.  Cajun Crab Cakes with Jalapeno Remoulade feature some of the classic Cajun flavors with an incredible punchy hit of flavor.  These crab cakes are unique in their minimal use of filler and binding ingredients, making for a very loose cake and which allows the sweetness of the crab to shine.  These crab cakes do rely heavily on the quality of your crab meat, so make sure to get the best quality you can find.   

Following a weekend of holiday feasting, we usually find ourselves craving something light, and refreshing.  After we had stuffed ourselves to capacity,  these Crab Lettuce Wraps with Spicy Lime Vinaigrette were the refreshing light meal to bring us back from a carb induced holiday daze. While crab is a splurge, this dish allows the sweet and delicate flavor of blue crab to shine. It is worth every penny. If you're truly adventurous, you can buy crab fresh, cook it and remove the meat.  We generally buy a high quality canned crab, which is quick, easy and consistently available. To make these crab wraps, Rebecca used avocado, some stunning watermelon radishes, cucumber, and a sweet and spicy lime vinaigrette. She used hydroponic Bibb lettuce fresh from our CSA for the wraps.   We found these cute little lettuce cups were a neat way of holding this light and healthy crab salad together.

Masala Rubbed Halibut with Mango Salsa is perfect for fish-lovers and fish-skeptics alike. It has a balanced mix of warming spices adding depth to the clean buttery firmness of the halibut. The mango salsa contrasts with a strong acid brightness and fruity sweetness. Masala Rubbed Halibut with Mango Salsa is the culmination of my 10 year quest to make a fish main course that Rebecca loves. Success! This is Rebecca's gateway fish!