Skate wings?

We've had a couple of really good restaurant dishes with skate wings recently. Every time this happens, I resolve to buy some skate and cook it, but I never seem to see it in the stores. Anyone here cook with skate, and where are you buying it?

I recently made my first trip to Isaacson and Son on Fulton (or is it Lake), on the northwest corner with Halstead. I got some shrimp there which were in my opinion an outrage (2 of 5 tasting like iodine)... But they also had some skate that looked pretty nice. I think I've seen it on the odd occasion at Whole Foods (Dearborn and Superior) but that's not recently.

I used to eat skate and ray with some regularity, both at home and in restaurants, when I lived in Belgium; they're much more commonly consumed fish there than here. And indeed good stuff. I've been neglecting it but confess to being increasingly unhappy with fish marketing in Chicago.

Time to travel...

Antonius

bibi rose wrote: Anyone here cook with skate, and where are you buying it?

Bibi,

I've had great luck with skate from Dirk's on Clybourn. As far as preparation, I go simple. Dredge skate in lightly accented flour and pan fry in a mix of olive oil and butter.

I go a couple of ways with saucing, though mainly stick with a simply adding a knob of butter to the pan, after I take out the skate, and a few toasted slivered almonds. Brown the butter a bit, squeeze of lemon, pour over the skate, and Bob's yer Uncle, skate on a plate.

Enjoy,
Gary

Dirk's Fish
2070 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL
773-404-3475

My favorite skate preparation is baked with a miso glaze al la Nobu (who uses black cod) or Aqua (Chilean sea bass).

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102851

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:My favorite skate preparation is baked with a miso glaze al la Nobu (who uses black cod) or Aqua (Chilean sea bass).

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102851

Bill/SFNM

Bill,

I visited the new Sea Ranch in Evanston, which opened 2 days ago. I picked up a couple of pristine sea bass filets and will use this recepie to prepare them tonight. Timing is everything.

The Evanston Sea Ranch is located on Dempster, just East of Chicago Avenue.

P.S. They didn't have any skate when I was there, but everything they did have was very fresh and sushi grade. I was very impressed with both the quality and the service (including the offer of a small ice pack to keep the fish cold on the way home...a nice touch). Call ahead. As they are have just opened, their selection may vary for a while until they get it "just right".

Sea Ranch
518 Dempster
Evanston, IL 60201
847-492-8340

I should visit all these places, even if they don't have skate. I'm in the suburbs, and about the only places we go for fish are Mitsuwa and Whole Foods, occasionally Burhops. We need to branch out. I drive right by Sea Ranch on Lake all the time. Never been in, or to Akai Hana either.

We love miso glaze! I confess I'm lazy and often buy pieces of fish (mainly black cod and salmon) sold ready to cook in glazes at Mitsuwa.

The tastiest skate I've had lately was at Retro Bistro in Mt. Prospect. It came with a crust of black "forbidden" rice and a beurre blanc sauce. I also had skate there just the other day, sauteed with a red wine sauce. I was a little concerned because I wouldn't think of red wine sauce for fish, but this one was very buttery and light on the red wine. I think they mainly used the red wine because they were doing a Beaujolais promotion.

Following up my own post, I've been buying skate at Whole Foods lately, up in Palatine. I asked the fish guys there (who are very nice) if they ever get skate and was told that they get it a lot on the weekends. Since I try to do my WF shopping at obscure times of the week -- man, that place is hard to navigate when it's crowded-- I'd missed the fact that they have more of a variety of fish on the weekends. I don't usually buy much fish there anyway because of the prices, but the skate is around $10/lb., which may still be expensive in market terms but for a 100% edible piece of fish, it seems OK.

No one else in my house seems to be interested in eating skate-- there's some pickiness about fish happening here-- so I get a piece for a few bucks and cook it up for lunch. It really is a dream to cook: nothing to trim or throw away, great with just a little butter and lemon as people have pointed out. I think it would be *fantastic* for that miso preparation or a sake-leek marinade or any of those other infused flavors, because of the unusual texture which I'm imagining would absorb flavors well. I'll try that when I get done with Weight Watchers. In more plain preparations, it's an awesome diet food.

My wife just bought skate at the Whole Food in River Forest about a week ago (somewhat in reaction to her mediocre skate at Le Coq). She sauted it in a light mixture of butter and olive oil and liked it a lot. One skate wing lasted two meals for her.

You might want to try The Seafood Plaice in La Grange. They carry a wide range of seafood, and their chef used to be the owner/chef at DKelly (which is now closed). He will prepare the fish for you to take home, or you can buy it whole and fix it at home.

Seafood Plaice
110 W. Burlington Ave.
La Grange, IL
579-3961

Thanks, KatyK. The Seafood Plaice must be worth a visit, with that name!

LTH,

In the above thread there's mention of numerous places to purchase skate, including my favorite Dirk's, I'd like to add one more to the list, Marketplace on Oakton.

The praises of this multi-ethnic store have been sung on LTH before, but I don't remember anyone mentioning seafood, including myself. Oakton Market's seafood counter is not allocated much real estate in the store, nor is it particularly deep, selection wise, but what they have is quite fresh.

I've been pleased with squid, red snapper and catfish, but had never bought skate, in fact, I never even noticed they had skate. The skate wing, including bone, cartilage, or whatever the hell the ray wing structure is called, is still attached, making the very reasonable price of $4.49 slightly less so, but the fishmonger will filet upon request.

Truthfully, Oakton's fishman is not quite up to Dirk's level of technique, there was still a bit of trimming for me to do at home, but the skate was very fresh and tasted wonderful, which is all that counts in the end.

Enjoy,
Gary

MarketPlace on Oakton
4817 W Oakton
Skokie, IL 60077
847-677-9330

I had skate at one of Mario Batali's restaurants recently and it was very good. He has a recipe for a skate dish on Food Network's website, right here. It's not the dish I had, but it looks interesting.

Whole Foods has had skate recently.