On 12/10/2015 1:12 PM, sf wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Dec 2015 13:52:55 -0700, Abiquiu > wrote:
>
>> http://www.abalonefarm.com/recipes/
>>
>> Abalone with Ginger Butter Sauce
>>
>> Ingredients:
>>
>> 1/2 cup plus 2 T. unsalted butter
>> 2 small shallots, minced
>> 3 T. dry white wine
>> 3 T. white wine vinegar
>> 1 t. heavy whipping cream
>> 2 t. ginger purée
>> 6 - 8 abalone steaks
>> 1/2 cup flour
>> Viola flowers or pansies for garnish (optional)
>>
>> Melt 1 T of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the
>> shallots and sauté until transparent. Add the wine and vinegar. Cook
>> until the mixture is reduced to about 1 T and is syrupy. Whisk in the
>> cream. Reduce the heat to low.
>>
>> Set aside 2 T of the butter. Cut the remaining butter into pieces. Whisk
>> in the butter, piece by piece, working on and off the heat as necessary
>> to keep the butter from melting before it is emulsified. Whisk in the
>> ginger purée. Remove from heat. Keep warm in a very low oven or in the
>> top of a double boiler over simmering water.
>>
>> Lightly pat steaks dry with a paper towel. Coat both sides of steaks
>> with flour and shake off excess. Melt the remaining 2 T of butter in a
>> medium size skillet over medium-high heat. Place enough abalone in the
>> skillet to cover the bottom. Cook for 30 - 60 seconds on each side until
>> golden brown.
>>
>> Immediately transfer the abalone to a warm serving platter. Pour the
>> ginger butter sauce over the abalone. Garnish with flowers. Serve
>> immediately. Serves 2.
>
> Thanks, too bad abalone costs a bloody fortune these days! Even
> thought they are farm raised now I still see AQ on the menu, which is
> aka: poached (after dark, using scuba gear) in my lexicon.
>

My brother-in-laws would dive for abalone in Half-Moon bay. They free
dived with wet suits. This was during the late 80's. That was a scary
thing (sport?) to do due to the great white sharks in those cold, dark,
waters. Those guys would always do crazy-assed things back in the day.

Candy stores over here used to sell whole dried abalone back in the
60's. As I recall, they were about the size of a golf ball. My older
brother would carry it in his pocket. When he wanted a snack, he'd shave
off a bit with a pocket knife. Just make sure your knife is sharp so you
can cut through that hard golf ball. My guess it was one of the
filthiest snacks around, being in a kids's pocket for days and all.

I never had one of those balls because I was too little to carry a
knife. OTOH, there are two kinds of people in this world: ones that feel
inclined to carry a knife with them and ones that won't. To this day I
won't carry a knife but my brother always does.

I was at the supermarket yesterday. In the poke section of the store was
a new product: sliced imitation abalone for $8.99/lb. I asked for a
sample and it was pretty good! Beats the heck out of me what I was
eating but it was probably some kind of sea snail or somesuch ugly
beast. No matter, I thought it was just tasty and tender. And that's
what it's all about, isn't it?