I see fisherman fillet their fish, discard the head & frame! They're amazing at catching fish but have little experience fabricating or cooking the beautiful, fresh fish they get.             
I'm very interested in sustainability & respectful when I take a fish. I cook from head to tail... that's where the tender, 'chef' cuts are... cheeks, head, on the bones etc... which is perfect for salads, pasta, rice and this frittata.
The first time I ate this frittata, I actually thought it was crabmeat!

Striped Bass Frittata

I've heard that one of the ways to know if a chef is any good at their craft is to watch them prepare an omelette. I have to admit, I practice preparing omelettes often as it's very challenging-I'm talking about the beautiful, French 'rolled' omelette! This omelette is more rustic, like a frittata actually and the fun part is flipping it when it's almost done.

It's very important to have a pan which you are used to and accustomed to cooking foods in which 'don't stick'!

I try to avoid preparing an omelette in a pan which I haven't used... 

Whether you use a seasoned, omelette pan or one of the thin, non stick pans-it's important to invest in this important kitchen tool.      

Prep Time: 45 min

Cooking Time: 20 min  

Ingredients

Yield: 4 portions                                                                                                                     

1 lb             Striped Bass, cooked and shredded    (I bake the head and frame, cool it and scrape all of the tender meat for this recipe)                                               

4 oz            Olive oil

1 C               Onion, sliced thin

4 ea            Eggs

2 Tbsp      Soy Sauce               

2 Tbsp      Herbs, chopped (I like chives, Italian parsley, cilantro)                                                                                                     

t.t.             Salt & Pepper                                             

How to prepare a Frittata

Step 1
Gather your ingredients, this will be a very quick recipe to prepare.





Heat the pan, I like a 'non-stick' omelette pan. Place the onions in the pan and sweat to wilt, about 5 minutes at low temperature. Avoid browning the onions.

             

Step 2

While the onions are sweating, whisk the soy sauce into the eggs. I like to use chop sticks but a fork or whisk is fine.






It must be fully whisked or you will have egg whites and yolks separately cooking, they have different cooking times so it won't work very well.


Step 3      

Add the shredded seafood to the onions, season with salt and pepper to taste, heat for about 3 minutes, stirring with a rubber scraper.

You could use ham, bacon, cheese, chicken, crab, shrimp etc... if you prefer.



Pour the scrambled egg mixture over the seafood, sprinkle the fresh herbs on top and let it cook to set, this will take about 4 minutes at low heat. I cover the pan so the top gets firm as well. It's much easier to flip when the top is partially cooked.


When the eggs are firm, carefully run the rubber spatula around the perimeter to make sure it's loose (for flipping). I jiggle the pan gently to be sure it's not sticking.

If it's not quite firm, cook a little longer.

If it sticks, very gently run the rubber spatula underneath to 'unstick'.

Step 4      

To flip, hold the handle with both hands, jiggle the pan, tilting down so the omelette slides forward as much as possible without the omelette spilling out.

Give a gentle but firm flip-you really have to just do it-if you are too cautious, you generally get only a partial flip mess... You can also try using a rubber spatula and make 4 smaller omelettes-that's a great way to start and build your confidence.

Cook for about 3 minutes, slide onto a plate and enjoy immediately.

Soup; Pumpkin Soup

By Tom Griffiths • October 31, 2025
Every culture seems to have its own way of celebrating squash. Years ago, when I was invited to assist the amazing Puerto Rican Chef Alfredo Ayala at Worlds of Flavor at the CIA San Antonio campus. I spent the morning carefully preparing diced pumpkin and other mise en place for Puerto Rican Sofrito, Adobo & Habichuelas Guisadas (Bean Soup) Chef Ayala arrived in the kitchen with a paper bag of Ají dulce, (Rocotillo peppers) from Puerto Rico and the other Latin chefs went wild! When he came to greet me he tossed all of my pumpkin dice into the garbage, poured a few cups of rice onto the table and discussed how to peel garlic. He explained he had eaten this same, exact rice dish every day of his life and shared the pumpkin I had prepared was for Halloween; he needed butternut squash. I had told the procurement chef the same thing earlier but decided to keep that to myself… an absolutely amazing experience learning to cook pumpkin and rice with Chef Ayala, a true master!

'Fines Herbs': Freshness, Balance & Cooking

By Tom Griffiths • October 30, 2025
Fines Herbes: Freshness, Balance, and History Art and Science of Growing & Cooking with 'Fines Herbs'

Seafood; Salmon Fillet

By Tom Griffiths • October 21, 2025
I was very fortunate to spend several months on a cruise ship traveling around Alaska and Canada. I was able to learn how fisherman caught salmon and the native Alaskan people canned salmon. There are five types of salmon, the guides loved to share the 'salmon fingers trick'. King salmon is considered the most flavorful salmon with a fatty, buttery flavor. (This is the longer, middle finger) Coho or Silver salmon is firmer with a milder flavor (ring finger for silver); Sockeye salmon (pointer finger) is lean and has a darker red color. Pink salmon (pinky finger) is most common and used by Alaskan people for canning and Chum (thumb) salmon is mild and seems to be the least popular. I prefer farm raised, Atlantic salmon for forcemeats due to the milder flavor and fatty texture. I spent a week fishing for halibut in Alaska and we rigged up the belly of a chum salmon for bait... it worked really well!

Corn Fritters

By Tom Griffiths • October 17, 2025
My mother liked to cook a variety of fritters, with leftover holiday ham or turkey but in the summer she prepared delicious squash flower or corn fritters which were more like savory pancakes and inspired this recipe.

Beyond Pesto: The Art and Science of Growing & Cooking with Herbs

By Tom Griffiths • October 17, 2025
Beyond Pesto: The Art and Science of Growing & Cooking with Herbs 

Dessert; Fresh Fruit Crostata

By Tom Griffiths • October 8, 2025
I've been growing figs for more than 50 years! In fact, I have about a dozen fig trees in my yard. Several are from cuttings propagated from trees at my parent's home and one fig tree is from a cutting of a fig tree in Monticello! I like to think Thomas Jefferson and I enjoy delicious figs from the same tree...

Beginners recipe: Corn

By Tom Griffiths • October 8, 2025
I liked to begin each class day of Skills Development class at the CIA with a quote. One of my favorites went something like this, 'You can walk to the corn fields but you must run back to the kitchen'. Basically it speaks to the sugars in sweet quickly converting to starch when it's harvested. We Chefs know a thing or two about food chemistry...
image of traditional paella

How Our Kitchens Have Lost Their Soul-What We’re Losing and Why It Matters

By Tom Griffiths • August 13, 2025
More and more the loss of technique and understanding of traditional ingredients is destroying the soul of American kitchens. But there is hope.

Beginners recipe: Pesto

By Tom Griffiths • July 17, 2025
I agreed to be the Chef Advisor for the Gourmet Society at the CIA, an amazing honor to work with some of the best and brightest students. We planned to demonstrate preparing pesto with a mortar and pestle and also with a food processor-then evaluate them both side by side. We all suspected that the food processor would aerate the pesto, possibly the heat generated would be a problem- One student brought in a molcajete, the traditional mortar from Mexico, made from volcanic rock used for grinding spices, making salsas, moles, etc... I'm not sure this was the preferred mortar and pestle to use, these days I often use a marble mortar and pestle and make small batches. The 'mortar and pestle' pesto was much more delicious than the food processor version at the CIA that day.

Beginners Recipe: Chicken Sauté

By Tom Griffiths • July 17, 2025
I was born to sauté... I remember thinking this and smiling when I finally made my way up in the kitchen brigade to the Saucier spot. I loved the pulse of the kitchen, working the saute station with a dozen sauté pans on the flat top, delicious stocks and mother sauces held hot in the steam table and carefully prepared mise en place so I could make delicious meals for the customers... one order or two at the time. Everything was cooked with love and respect.