Janelle Maiocco

Hi.

Welcome to my blog. I live in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle on an Urban Farm (w/ five laying hens and a huge garden). I am a trained chef (w/ a certificate in food preservation), taught at a cooking school & like to share 'kitchen hacks' - culinary tips that save time, money & maximize flavor. If that isn't enough, I also run a food+tech startup called Barn2Door.com - a platform to help everyone easily find & buy food directly from farmers, fishers & ranchers (from CSA's to urban farm eggs to 1/2 a grass-fed cow).

conversation gone sideways

conversation gone sideways

fish on plate
fish on plate

Looks like a conversation gone sideways.

Hehe, couldn't resist. It would take me hours to fillet this pile of fish. It is on my life's 'bucket list' to master the art of prepping, cooking [and eating] seafood. At some point I hope to work for a fish monger, as a means to this proficiency. Are you fantastic at wielding a fillet knife? Do you often cook muscles and clams, pluck out crab, de-vein shrimp and boil live lobster? Where did you learn?

School? Yes I learned in culinary school, but truth be told we hardly touched on seafood. We included it here and there, but not nearly as in-depth as I had hoped. But that is part of culinary school: you are introduced to a lot of things, once. But if you really want to become proficient it is all about repetition, practice, pursuit of mastery.

Sure, I can buy fish already cleaned and deboned and ready-to-cook. But that isn't enough for me. I want to get to know my fish, to handle them from the start, to know a good one from a bad. You get the drill.

I will say, if ever you wanted to try one of my recipes, and seafood IS your thing, try this Soy Glazed Salmon with Lemongrass Buerre Blanc. IT IS DIVINE. And just one more reason why I want to cozy up to the bar... or should I say beach?

Do you have go-to recipes that include fish, shellfish or any other sea-living creatures? If so, please include a link in the comments below. I would love to hear about it!

what are your favorite kitchen tools?

what are your favorite kitchen tools?

Foodbuzz 24x24: Returning to America

Foodbuzz 24x24: Returning to America