Afternoon Delight: Seafood and Wine

To finish up our series profile on Isaacson and Stein, nothing would be better then to show a little party which sprung from a visit there. Last Friday, my friends Meena and Anki (in town from Paris) wanted to hang out, but I needed to do a bit of blog work. Well, we, at Forkable, love to multi-task, so why not hit two birds with one stone! I&S is such a fun place to visit, I brought them along with me and let them peruse the goods while I got a few photos.


Searing our scallops for a delishous afternoon treat.

After I was done, we walked around and picked out a few morsels to bring home to snack on. Of course, our eyes were bigger then our stomaches and we ended up leaving with a bag full of shrimp, scallops, mussels and ahi tuna steaks. OH DELISH! We weren't complaining.

The wonderful thing about the seafood, is it can be prepared very easily in no time at all. We got the tuna in a soy-miso-vinegar marinade and set it aside in the fridge. Anki, quite diligently worked on de-viening the shrimp, while Meena prepared a garlic butter for the scallops. Meanwhile, I got the mussels steaming with white wine and butter. Once we were ready, we got two pans fired up on the stove, we seared the scallops-rubbed in garlic butter, and the tuna with a miso rub.


Shrimp a la flambe!

Once these were done, we quickly added some more garlic butter to the pan with the scallops, and did a quick saute with the shrimp. We added some lemon juice and a bit of rum (Anki wanted to start a fire!) and finished them off with a dramatic flambe. At this point, the mussels were done, we finished up the toast we had under the broiler, and we took our fest outside to nosh!


Anki makes sure Meena's not running on empty. What a decadent spread!

What a luxurious afternoon! Only 20 minutes of cook time in the kitchen, $12 each for the supplies, and we were eating like kings. Yum. We had so much fun working together and our Garlic scallops, Tuna steaks, mussels in a white wine butter dipping sauce, and shrimpies a la flambe were c'est magnifique! . Can you get any more decadent?


Lets play the game "what would you pay for this plate at a restaurant"? More then $12. I think that's a big yes!

Well we also had raddishes with salt and lime, fromage de gruyere (we're putting on french airs to impress Anki), sun dried tomatoes and my homemade pickled green beans. We had a great time from start to finish, and in true french form, quite a bit of wine was drank throughout the process. Sorry the pics are a bit blurry. What can I say. Que sera sera. Oh wait that's Spanish. Hmm. C'est la vie! There we go. Who said "Amurican's" were ignornt.

Where Can I Find Fresh Fish In Chicago? Hellya: Isaacson & Stein!!

We get a lot of seafood sympathy from our seaboard friends for Chicago being landlocked and so far away from the coasts? (Lake Michigan grunts. Sorry Dude, you know what I mean). While its true, you'll never see lobster for $3.00 lb here, not all the sympathy is warranted. So, is it possible to find fresh, reasonably priced fish in Chicago?

Ugh!! Did I hear you say Whole Foods? I'm sorry you've been paying so much! No, no no! The answer is Isaacson and Stein's!



This has to be one of my favorite spots in Chicago, which the Yelper, Emily L. rightly describes as "Holy Foodie Heaven!" Isaacson and Stein, a fish wholesaler in the meatpacking district (Fulton off Halsted) which is, as it's sign reads, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!! If you've never been here, its worth a trip, just to look at the fish!



Ohh! Wild Caught Red Snapper!

"Ah, the smell of fish on a sunny afternoon. Once your nose adjusts to the waft of fish stank (if that is possible), this place is really a gem."
-Scott A.

This store's one big room is a weekly conduit of over 10 reeking tons of the most beautiful fresh fish and seafood in the city. If its good enough for the best restaurants in Chicago, its good enough for me! I'm no snob.



Their selection is awesome, ranging from the exotic to local, with rare South American varieties next to locally caught whitefish and perch. Classic seafood options are almost always available, including my favorite fresh muscles, succulent scallops and shrimpies of various sizes. Most of the fish is sold whole, but as the week wears on, you'll see more and more piles of fillets all cleaned and prepped that day.

Whole fish? Don't worry, after you buy the fish, you can take it over to the two cleaning stands and have one or their amazing mongers gut and clean everything for you, so you get to leave with the freshly cleaned fillets ready for your dinner.



Action shot: Cleaning an Alaskan Halibut! I'd never seen even a partially whole halibut before. This fish is huge and he filleted it in one solid quick motion. These guys really know how to wield a knife!

Okay, I know I sound like a paid commercial, but I'm not alone. People freak out about this place. Don't believe me? Check out their 4 1/2 star yelp page.

"I LOVE this place...minus the fish juice I get on my shoes (don't go in there in flip flops!)"
-Cat B.

Ha! Thanks Cat for the great tip! Speaking of tips, check our User's Guide to Isaacson and Stein so you can make the most of your I&S fishing expedition!