Southwestern Flavors Complement Fresh Seafood

New Mexico highway I-25 curves northeast from Albuquerque and heads into rolling, scrub-covered hills. It’s hot - a dry, intense blast. The high desert air smells of sage. And like a subtle vegetable-dyed rug, the landscape is terra cotta, maize, rosy pink and olive.

Our destination is Santa Fe, the highest state capital and one of the least populous. It also lacks a major international airport; an advantage, perhaps, for this low-key city of smooth adobe houses and trailing bougainvillea nestled at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Suddenly a white Seattle Fish Company truck whizzes by in the fast lane.

Seattle?

Fish?

We are 7,000 feet above sea level. The closest body of water is the Rio Grande.

Later that evening, in the comfortably crowded Cafe Pasqual’s, everything begins to make sense. The couple next to us is enjoying pan-seared salmon and fire-roasted vegetables with blackened tomato-tequila vinaigrette. We cannot resist ordering the same thing. It turns out to be just as good as it looks.

The next day, a brisk hike through fluttering green-gold aspens sharpens our appetites for a visit to Mark Miller’s Coyote Cafe, where we are again attracted to seafood dishes enhanced by local Southwest ingredients.

Sauteed halibut with tortilla-pinon crust and wild mushroom and sun-dried tomato salsa pairs fresh Alaskan halibut with native pinones (pine nuts) and wild mushrooms, both staples of Southwest Indians. This, like all the Coyote entrees, is elegantly presented on oversize plates colored turquoise, yellow, pink or forest green.

So where does all this great seafood come from?

“I get my scallops out of the Northeast, tuna and mahi from the Gulf, and salmon and sturgeon out of the Pacific Northwest,” says Daniel Kitson, owner-operator of Santa Fe’s Above Sea Level, a local seafood wholesaler. “In the past two years, my business has almost tripled.”

In 1919, a teen-ager named Moses Iacino started bringing salmon and halibut packed in ice and sawdust from Seattle to Denver by rail car. The Seattle Fish Company was born. Six years ago, the family-owned wholesale business expanded to Albuquerque.

“We’re bringing in fish from all over the world,” says Craig Risk, general manager of The Seattle Fish Company of New Mexico.

“The richness of salmon, bass, shrimp and scallops goes with our style of food,” says Coyote Cafe’s Mark Kiffin. “We use very intense, flavorful food like chiles. Something like a mellow Dover sole isn’t going to work.”

On our last evening in Santa Fe we returned to one of our favorite restaurants, Santacafe, where Hungarian-born chef Laszlo Gyermek is a wizard at combining local chiles with seafood.

Gyermek insists that some of the fresh paprikas in his hometown of Budapest are a match for the hottest in New Mexico. But, he explains, the hot ones won’t enhance delicate seafood such as crab and lobster: “Habanero powder on a crab would just blow it away.”

Instead, Gyermek complements his crab cakes with a trio of sauces: a chunky cilantro-spiked pineapple salsa, a green onion aioli and a vibrant red chile mustard. The whole arrangement is strikingly displayed on a bed of wild greens.

The next morning, armed with an assortment of chiles, I’m headed back home to Seattle to match local seafood with the flavors of Santa Fe and the Southwest.

Pan-Fried Crab Cakes with Green Onion Aioli

For an outstanding appetizer, make the crab cakes bite-size and serve with a small dollop of sauce on top.

1/3 cup sour cream

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon minced or pressed garlic

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon mild red chile powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound crab meat

1 cup plain dry bread crumbs, plus extra for coating

3/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (green part only)

6 tablespoons olive oil

Mixed baby salad greens (about 8 ounces)

Green Onion Aioli (recipe follows)

Stir together sour cream, egg, garlic, pepper, curry, chile powder and salt. Add crab, 1 cup bread crumbs and green onions. Stir gently to combine. Form into 12 patties about 2-1/2 inches across and 3/4-inch thick. Coat patties with bread crumbs, shaking off excess.

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of crab cakes and saute until golden brown, about 1-1/2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining oil and crab cakes. Arrange salad greens on individual plates. Top with crab cakes. Pass green onion aioli alongside.

Yield: 4 servings.

Green Onion Aioli

1 teaspoon minced or pressed garlic

1 egg yolk (see note)

1/4 teaspoon ground dry jalapeno chile or Tabasco sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 small bunch green onions, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1 cup olive oil

Salt, white pepper

Combine garlic, egg yolk, jalapeno, vinegar and green onions in food processor and process 2 to 3 minutes. With motor running, slowly add olive oil in thin stream (mixture will thicken and emulsify to make a mayonnaise.) Season to taste with salt and pepper. Any leftover aioli will be delicious spread on sandwiches or used in flavorful dips.

Yield: About 1 cup or 16 (1-tablespoon) servings.

Note: If you are concerned about safety of raw eggs, omit egg yolk and olive oil and add remaining ingredients to 1 cup prepared mayonnaise.

Pan-Seared Salmon with Blackened Tomato-Tequila Vinaigrette

Salmon steaks are coated in mild chile powder, which when seared, gives a distinctive, spirited flavor to the rich salmon.

Blackened Tomato-Tequila Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

4 (5- to 6-ounce) salmon fillets, pin bones and skin removed

3 tablespoons mild red chile powder

6 tablespoons olive oil

Prepare tomato-tequila vinaigrette and set aside.

Rub salmon fillets with chile powder. Heat olive oil in nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add fillets without crowding and sear 3 to 4 minutes per side, depending on desired degree of doneness.

Place salmon on 4 plates. Stir vinaigrette and spoon over top.

Yield: 4 servings.

Blackened Tomato-Tequila Vinaigrette

4 Italian plum tomatoes (about 8 ounces)

1 serrano or jalapeno chile, coarsely chopped

1/4 red onion, coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic

1/3 cup tequila

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

To blacken tomatoes, preheat cast-iron skillet or other heavy pan over high heat. Add whole tomatoes and cook, turning occasionally, until skins split and are blackened, about 5 minutes. Remove and let cool. Peel tomatoes, discard stem ends and coarsely chop.

Combine tomatoes, chile, onion, garlic, tequila, salt and pepper in a nonreactive saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour contents into blender or food processor and process 1 minute. Strain through fine-mesh sieve into bowl. Add vinegar and olive oil and mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Yield: About 3/4 cup.

Sauteed Halibut with Tortilla-Pinon Crust and Wild Mushroom and Sun-dried Tomato Salsa

Adapted from “Coyote’s Southwest Pantry, Easy Seasonings and Flavoring Techniques,” (Ten Speed Press). This recipe is based on a spectacular Coyote Cafe dish in which tender halibut is coated with an unusual crisp crust of finely ground corn tortillas.

1 (24-ounce) halibut steak or 4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets

1/2 cup pine nuts

Oil

12 corn tortillas (see note)

1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)

2 eggs

1 tablespoon water

1/2 cup flour

Cilantro sprigs

Lime wedges

Make wild mushroom and sun-dried tomato salsa and set aside.

Cut halibut steak into 4 equal pieces. Remove bones and skin. Set aside.

Scatter pine nuts in pan and toast at 350 degrees until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes, shaking pan occasionally so nuts brown evenly. Take care not to overcook or nuts will be bitter. Set aside.

Heat 1/2-inch oil in wide skillet over medium-high heat. Fry tortillas 1 or 2 at a time, until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Cool. Crumble tortillas into work bowl of food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add toasted pine nuts, cilantro, cumin, salt and lime juice. Pulse until well blended.

Whisk together eggs and water in small bowl. Dredge halibut pieces in flour, then in egg mixture. Coat completely with tortilla mixture.

Heat 1/2-inch oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add halibut and saute until golden brown and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per side for fish 1 inch thick. Let drain briefly on paper towels, then transfer to individual plates. Spoon salsa alongside fish. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and lime wedges.

Yield: 4 servings.

Note: 1 (4.5 ounce) package of 12 taco shells can be substituted for the fried tortillas.

Wild Mushroom and Sun-dried Tomato Salsa

Instead of grilling the mushrooms over a charcoal fire, you can also cook them under the broiler in your oven.

1/2 cup (about 1 ounce) sun-dried tomatoes (dry, not oil packed)

8 ounces fresh chanterelles, oyster mushrooms or other wild mushrooms

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 shallots, peeled, halved and minced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves

Place sun-dried tomatoes in small dish. Add boiling water to cover and set aside 25 to 30 minutes (or plump according to package instructions). Drain well and chop. Heat charcoal grill until coals glow red with white ash around edge.

Wash mushrooms gently. Drain and shake off as much water as possible. Place damp mushrooms in bowl and sprinkle with salt. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and toss well. Arrange mushrooms and shallots on skewers or use fine-mesh grill rack. Grill about 4 inches from heat, turning frequently and brushing with remaining oil, until mushrooms are lightly browned and slightly soft, about 8 minutes. Cool.

Chop mushrooms into 1/2-inch dice. Combine mushrooms and shallots in bowl with sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar and any remaining oil. (Salsa can be made ahead to this point and refrigerated in airtight container.) Add basil just before serving. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: About 2 cups.