I was tempted by a recipe I found on the web for Poor Man's Lobster which called for boiling sturgeon in lime soda. Intrigued but dubious, I chose a less bizarre preparation. I cut a hunk of sturgeon into 1-inch thick slices, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then pan-fried them in just enough olive oil and butter to keep them from sticking. That's all I did and it came out very nicely, indeed. Firm, delicious and not at all fishy. Fresh sturgeon's gooo-ood! Get one today!
For a side, I made pearl couscous with asparagus, shiitake mushrooms and tarragon. This was originally a New York Times recipe which called for wrapping the asparagus, herbs, mushrooms along with some prosciutto in parchment paper, baking in a low oven for an hour and serving over couscous.
I didn't want to turn the oven on so instead just quickly pan-seared the asparagus, then sweated them with the mushrooms and tarragon. I skipped the prosciutto. Also, I soaked the dried shiitakes in hot chicken stock and then boiled the couscous in that. If you'd like to try the original method, by all means give it a shot.
... and remind me to pick up some lime soda for next time.
(You can also hear the original broadcast of this week's Food for Thought by playing the attached audio.)
“Food for Thought” is a weekly KPLU feature covering the world of food as well as the thinking that goes into it. The feature is published here and airs on KPLU 88.5 every Wednesday during Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
