From Sea To Shining Sea: The Great American Seafood Cookbook [Paperback]

Susan Herrmann Loomis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 1988

For health, for variety, for flavor, seafood is the choice for an ever-increasing number of Americans. And this book is the seafood-lover's bible, featuring over 250 innovative and exciting recipes from homey fried clams to Aromatic Portuguese Hake to Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic Cream; instructions on checking for freshness; clearly illustrated directions for fundamentals such as cleaning, skinning, and filleting fish; and step-by-step explanations of basic cooking methods that any beginner can follow.

While writing the book, the author spent a lot of time with the people who make their livings from American waters, and her book is filled with their voices. With information, recipes, and thoughtful digressions about fish and the people who harvest them, plus a lexicon describing hundreds of species of edible sea creatures, The Great American Seafood Cookbook is a must for every seafood lover. Selection of the Better Homes & Gardens Family Book Service and Quality Paperback Book Club, and main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Homestyle Club. 130,000 copies in print.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Loomis scoured the country, interviewing fishermen, chefs, fishmongers, and others who share her enthusiasm for seafood. The result is a wide-ranging collection of enticing and diverse recipes backed up by excellent notes on choosing and preparing fish and shellfish of all sorts. The author's appealing writing style will make seafood lovers want to try her original dishes. Strongly recommended. JS
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Susan Loomis is one of those rare cooks who likes the people she meets and the research she does as much as the food she makes, making her a delight to read from and cook from. -BARBARA KAFKA

An enthusiastic cook teaches the art and science of seafood cookery. All the necessary preparatory steps are here-from how to choose the best at market to how to scale and clean, steak or fillet, shuck or shell. Advice on storage and home-freezing tells how to keep fish and shellfish sparkling fresh.

Detailed, easy-to-use techniques take the intimidation out of seafood cooking and prevent once and for all its two common problems: undercooking and overcooking.

Learn how to broil and grill superbly; saute and fry to greaseless perfection; poach, steam, braise, and bake with flair. Put a soul-satisfying chowder on top of the stove or bring a delicious and healthful seafood salad to a picnic.

And if nothing but Tuna with 40 Cloves of Garlic will do-and the fishmonger just sold his last tuna steak-an encyclopedic lexicon offers just the right substitute.

Selected Recipes From THE GREAT AMERICAN SEAFOOD COOKBOOK

Mussels in Balsamic Vinaigrette

Purslane and Smoked Trout Salad

Monkfish and Corn Chowder

Curried Scallops

Alvin Folse's Crawfish Boil

Alaska Spot Prawns with Lime Juice and Ginger

Rosemary Grilled Swordfish Kebobs

Salmon Piroghi from Alaska

Grilled Aweo-Weo with Garlic

Sotterly Oyster Pie

Orange Cake with Marmalade Fool

"A delicious book for true ichthyophiles; Susan Loomis has caught the essence of seafood cookery." -A.J. McClane, The Encyclopedia of Fish

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (January 7, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0894805789
• ISBN-13: 978-0894805783
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,363,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

SUSAN HERRMANN (formerly Loomis), BIOGRAPHY
www.onruetatin.com Www.nutsinthekitchen.com

I am a France-based, award-winning author with nine books to my credit, as well as a professionally trained chef and cooking school proprietor. Originally from Seattle, Washington, I moved to France in the early 1980's to study cooking, stayed on to open a restaurant, and then to work with Patricia on her first book, THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO PAIRS. I returned to live in France again in 1993, and opened my cooking school in 2001.
Included among my books are THE GREAT AMERICAN SEAFOOD COOKBOOK, FARMHOUSE COOKBOOK, CLAMBAKES AND FISH FRIES, FRENCH FARMHOUSE COOKBOOK, ITALIAN FARMHOUSE COOKBOOK, (all Workman Publishing, Inc.) and ON RUE TATIN (Broadway Books. 2001) a narrative about my life in France, with recipes, which won the IACP best literary food book for 2002. It was followed by a sequel, TARTE TATIN (Harper Collins UK, 2003), by COOKING AT HOME ON RUE TATIN, (William Morrow, May 2005)and most recently by NUTS IN THE KITCHEN (William Morrow 2010).
I contribute to many newspapers and magazines including COOKING LIGHT, METROPOLITAN HOME, THE NEW YORK TIMES, GOURMET, and BON APPETIT, and have appeared on Good Morning America (ABC), Home Matters, Epicurious/Discovery, The Splendid Table with Lynn Rosetto Kasper" (MPR); "Food Talk with Arthur Schwartz" (WOR); and "Good Food Hour with Evan Kleinman" (KSRO);
My cooking school in Louviers, Normandy and in Paris is a cultural and hands-on culinary program. Participants spend five delicious days cooking and enjoying the meals we've made together, along with wines from throughout France, visiting local markets and artisan food producers, and getting an in-depth look at and feeling for all that is wonderful about France. My cooking classes in Paris will be similar, with hands-on classes in Patricia's gorgeous kitchen, visits to producers, and an insider's look at Paris and its gastronomy. www.onruetatin.com I am also a founding member of notakeout.com a website devoted to making mealtimes manageable and delicious!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars GROSS!!!, September 6, 2009

By 

Chef Sean (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From Sea To Shining Sea: The Great American Seafood Cookbook (Paperback)

If you live in a part of the country where your only options as far as seafood are concerned are nasty old and stinky or frozen for three years then by all means cook some of the travesties presented in this book. If you have access to decent fresh fish then do yourself a favor, respect the creatures that gave their lives so you can eat, and don't smother them with cheese and heavy cream. With a few exceptions (butter and shellfish) heavy dairy products have no place on fresh seafood and this book asks you to to mask and violate the flavors and textures of quality fish with piles and piles of cheese (cheese and fish? GROSS!!) Like I said, if all you have is stinky, old, nasty fish then this book will provide you with great ways of disguising their flavors. If you have access to, and enjoy the flavors of quality fresh seafood please don't ruin it with these disgusting recipes. If this is "Great American" then this nation is in a sorry state.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a bit disappointing, October 4, 2006

By 

Vahnee (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From Sea To Shining Sea: The Great American Seafood Cookbook (Paperback)

A meandering journey through the world of seafood and the American way. It's a decent book, and an addition to my kitchen bookshelf, but here's why the two-stars: the author has virtually nothing to say about sustainability and a fair number of the hard-working American fishermen she references use destructive methods like bottom-trawling, or things like seine nets that frequently trap marine turtles. The sections on preparing seafood seem rushed through and the author uses terms, utensils and techniques that are never defined - a real pain-in-the-arse for the novice seafood cook. As if this weren't enough, most of the recipes are portioned for serving 6-10 people, making it one of the last books on my list to whip out on a Tuesday evening for a quick dinner idea for the spouse-unit and myself.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best recipes for Fish and Seafood, July 30, 2000

By 

Sandra L. Aumiller "Always Looking For the Best" (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Sea To Shining Sea: The Great American Seafood Cookbook (Paperback)

I love to cook! I always thought that fish prepared simply was best. This Loomis book really turned around my experience. She takes you on tour through areas where fish is caught and cooked. We get the recipes of fisherman (they know how to do this right) and also some incredible sauce recipes. I love Sauce Piquant with Redfish. Try it and see if you don't agree. I turn to this book so often for advice and recipes. It's a must have if you want to do Seafood right.