Riverside Recipes2021-11-11T18:55:02+00:00

Riverside recipes created by chefs who joined Colin.

These are cooked over an open fire. Download the recipe for print and cook to enjoy!

Cornmeal Crusted Catfish Desert Solitaire

The origins of this recipe are said to have been attributed to Edward Abbey, the park ranger nature writer, who was like the Thoreau of the Wilderness Movement. On one of his more challenging trips, while floating Utah’s Green River, after five days and out of food rations, he created this dish from their reserve of bacon fat, a bag of cornmeal and catfish caught from the river. He wrote about this in his classic book Desert Solitaire.

The spicy, crunchy coleslaw is a nice foil to the smoky, bacon rich taste of the catfish—which should always be served with a great Tartar sauce.

Colin harvesting carrots at the Estia's Little Kitchen garden
Ingredients for Fireworks coleslaw
Placing catfish fillets into the cornmeal batter
Fireworks slaw
Cornmeal crusted Catfish with fireworks slaw
Catfish Recipe Card

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Long Island Clam Supper: Bucatini & Littlenecks

Feeding the family is fundamental. Nothing brings me more joy than planning a meal for the people that I love. Being the father of three girls, fishing hasn’t been the thing we automatically turn to when everyone’s in town. Cooking together, on the other hand, is a daily routine. We generally start the conversation at about 2pm, and by 6pm the marketing has been completed, including visits to farm stands, Quail Hill (our local CSA), Estia’s garden, and our favorite fishmonger. My kids are good cooks and love to rise to the challenge of preparing a meal. This one is a highlight in each of their own recipe repertoires which they carry forward and share with their friends to rave reviews.

As the summer wanes, my daughters, all in or out of college, are only home for a few more weeks, and they are craving my Long Island Clam Supper. This dish has been on their list since the 90’s—of course back then they didn’t love red chili heat like they do now, and the choice of pasta has evolved from spaghetti to bucatini.

Dinner on the patio is complete with a simple salad of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and feta, sliced baguette and, for this family, a bowl of freshly grated Parmesan—despite the naysayers about cheese with seafood pasta.

The Ambrose family enjoying a meal together
Long Island Clam Supper: Bucatini & Littlenecks
Recipe Bucatini & Littleneck Clams

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Mid Summer Garden Vegetable Escabeche

The garden at Estia’s Little Kitchen is in full production: carrots, flat beans, green beans, jalapeño peppers and cilantro all in abundance.

Here’s how to whip up a great, edible gift to bring to all the house parties that happen this time of year. These refrigerator pickles are also perfect to serve at home with burgers or grilled chicken as a quick meal.

Vegetable Escabeche made with mid summer flat and string beans, carrots, cilantro, garlic
Digging Carrots in Estia's Little Kitchen Garden | August 2017
Vegetable Escabeche made with mid summer flat and string beans, carrots, cilantro, garlic
Recipe for Vegetable Escabeche made with mid summer flat and string beans, carrots, cilantro, garlic

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Refrigerator Beet Pickles

Pickled beets make for a colorful addition to any summer table.

My grandmother would serve them over crisp lettuce, sometimes with cottage cheese. When we found them at the Hayward Farmers Market, I immediately added them to the Musky Country Salad recipe for color and sweet tanginess to balance the smoky bratwurst.

Now that the beet crop is in harvest mode from my garden, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to start refrigerator pickling for my guests at Estia’s and at home.

A 32 oz. jar provides enough pickled beets for a busy Saturday night special at the restaurant or for several days of snacking at home with my beet freak daughters.

Because the red beets “bleed” you should never mix the yellow ones with the reds, unless of course you want all red pickled beets. The yellow beets are lovely on their own with their lighter, softer flavor that is complemented by the small amounts of onion, chili and garlic in the recipe. With red beets, I choose to take it a step further by adding fennel, celery and shredded beet greens—love those healthy greens.

  • Refrigerator Beet recipe made with Estia's Little Kitchen garden harvest, July 17 2017
  • Pickled Refrigerator Beets
  • Finding pickled beets at the Hayward Farmers Market
  • 32oz pickling jar
  • Dried Chilis to use for pickling

I call them refrigerator pickles because they are not actually canned but instead stored in the refrigerator and so should be consumed within a week after preparation.

Sliced yellow beets almost 1/2 inch thick
Adding aromatics to the pickle brine
Red Refrigerator Beet Pickle recipe card

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Yellow Refrigerator Beet Pickle recipe card

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