Seafood

At Menton, this dish is garnished with caviar and chive blossoms.

Quick preserved lemon (it cooks for ten minutes) adds a fresh hit of flavor to this warm salad.

The rooftop of chef Rick Bayless's Chicago restaurant Frontera Grill is dedicated to growing tomatoes, hot peppers and herbs for fresh salsas. Multicolored heirloom tomatoes can be sweeter than other types, Bayless says, and they offer a hefty dose of infection-fighting vitamin C.

Fresh sardines are widely available in California, but can be more difficult to find in the rest of the country. If fresh sardines are not available in your area, you can make a terrific spread with canned sardines.

This Peruvian ceviche offers a plethora of interesting textures: the meaty chew of octopus, the refreshing bite of shrimp, and the marshmallowy smoothness of bay scallops. It's all bathed in the electric yellow glow of a sauce made with Peru's most common chile pepper, the aji amarillo. You can find jarred aji amarillo paste at South American markets. The pepper imparts a distinct fruity quality to this dish, and the addition of turmeric and ginger enhances this fruitiness while toning down the pepper's heat. The variety of seafood in the following preparation, along with its exciting color, is certain to be a favorite on your table.

I'm a huge fan of small fish such as anchovies, baiting, and, of course, sardines. Unfortunately, when many Americans think of sardines, they picture tiny fish drowned in oil, or some other saucy mixture, packed side by side in a small, flat can. But fresh sardines are a wonderful fish, nothing like their canned counterparts. Typically 5 to 6 inches in length, their flesh has a quite delicate flavor. If you can find them, sardines imported from Portugal have the best flavor. Because of their small size, it is easiest to leave on the skin of sardines—it also imparts a great flavor. That said, remember that it is extremely important to wash the sardines very well, rinsing off all their scales under cold water. Scoring the skin will allow the fish to more easily soak up the flavorful marinade. Don't marinade the sardines for any longer than 2 hours or they will become mushy and pasty. Just enjoy them as soon as they're done marinating, with a silky dollop of crème fraîche or sour cream.

This recipe epitomizes what a great ceviche should be—crunchy, sweet, savory, tart, and rich all in one bite. Corvina, a type of sea bass, is the most widely used fish in South America for ceviche, and is very forgiving for the novice. Its firm, lean flesh holds up better to acid and is easy to either thinly slice or dice. The combination of sweet potato and raw marinated fish is common in Peru, although there the potato might be roasted whole, sliced, and served fanned at the edge of a plate of ceviche similar to this crunchy, tart version. As you eat the marinated fish, pull away bites of sweet potato from the edge of the dish and enjoy both components at once. Don't be swayed to leave out the sweet potato garnish—you must try both the tart, firm fish and the potato in the same bite to really understand and savor how they work together. Leftover sweet potatoes make a great side dish for spicy foods.

Tomatillos are usually the star of salsa verde, but pureed zucchini makes a surprisingly convincing stand-in.

The sweet-tart pan sauce is a perfect partner for a rich fish like salmon.

Asian sweet chili sauce is available in the Asian foods section of many supermarkets.

Most freshwater and ocean fish can be marinated for only 30 minutes at most—or they turn opaque and are essentially "cooked" before you even go out to the grill. The exception, though, is strong-flavored, oily fish like amberjack, bluefish, salmon, mackerel, marlin, mullet, or even our old standby, farm-raised catfish, which can stand up to longer marinating. In fact, marinating these oily fish for a longer time makes them taste even better. Our Japanese-style marinade is not too acidic—it's the acid from citrus juices or vinegar that can "pickle" fish in minutes. Soy sauce and sake add a spirited flavor. Sugar and mirin, a sweet Japanese wine, give a glazed appearance to the finished dish. And fresh ginger makes it all come together.

Cut into rings and tentacles and deep fried, squid have claimed a top spot on restaurant appetizer menus as calamari. But why go out for calamari when you can grill them at home? Whole, marinated squid, done to a turn on your grill, can transform your backyard into a tapas bar. Just stir up a pitcher of sangria or chill a bottle of fino sherry, and you're good to go. The technique you use for grilling squid is the same as for whole baby octopus or cut-up octopus tentacles. You want to marinate them first to imbue them with flavor. Squid and octopus are not as delicate as fish, so you can marinate them longer—ideally, for 3 to 4 hours. Then, grill them quickly on an oiled, perforated grill rack (so they don't fall through the grill grates) over a hot fire; that way, they crisp up without getting rubbery.

It used to be that you could buy and eat oysters only in months with an "R" in them. That's because during the summer months of spawning, wild oysters develop an "off" flavor. Transporting oysters in hot weather, before the days of refrigerated trucks, was also problematic. Today, about 80 percent of oysters are farm-raised in submerged nets, dining on plankton in carefully controlled marine environments. They spawn at different times during the year, so there's always a variety available that's good to eat. When ready, they're harvested and shipped by air to seafood markets. If you're not comfortable shucking oysters at home, have the fishmonger shuck them for you and ask him or her to give you a half shell for each oyster.
In this recipe, you'll get smoky flavor from two sources: the wood-grilling technique and the chipotle chile in the vinaigrette.

The fillets are cooked in foil packets with a mix of herbs, citrus, beer, and wine, then served with maque choux, a Cajun succotash.

To make sure the fish doesn't stick to the grill, it's cooked in a metal grilling basket. You can use a fish-grilling basket or an adjustable or flexible grilling basket. The key is to use a basket that keeps the fish secure without smashing it. Look for grilling baskets at housewares and kitchen supply stores and online at cooking.com.

Great with the Caveman Porterhouse or with chicken, fish, or lamb.

Small whole fish like trout, char, walleye, bass, and even lake perch are excellent for planking, especially smoke-planking. They get the flavor of the wood plank on one side and a burnished golden color and smoky flavor on the other. An indirect fire is used to slowly cook the whole fish through. Char, in flavor and texture a cross between trout and salmon, is best planked whole. It's easier to fillet after it is cooked and stays moister that way. This method can be used with fish fillets and steaks, too. Whenever you grill fish, grill lemon halves alongside. The little bit of browning adds flavor, and the heat makes the lemons burst with juice. Suggested plank: 2 cedar grilling planks, soaked in water for at least 1 hour
Suggested wood: Sugar maple or apple chips, or chopped corncobs

Serve this with jasmine or basmati rice on the side.

The heat of poblano chiles can vary dramatically. Season to taste by adjusting the amount of crushed red pepper before adding the clams.

With a smoky paprika glaze, these Spanish-inspired skewers are irresistible.