Despite bad fishing weather, fresh fillets and crab available

The weather hasn't been good for commercial fishing fleets either.

"The weather has been the biggest issue lately in the seafood world," says Dannon Southall of 10th & M Seafoods. "With the winds blowing at hurricane force and the snow that led up to those winds, there has not been much of an effort for fishing."

But the seafood coolers and tanks aren't empty.

Southall says 10th & M has fresh, whole cooked Dungeness crab available this week for $9.95 per pound. Also available this week are fresh fillets of rockfish ($8.85/pound), Dover sole ($8.95/pound) and catfish ($10.95/pound).

Fresh lutefisk is $16.95 each for a 1 3/4-pound package and salt cod is $12.95/pound in wooden boxes.

At the market

Today's Center Market at The Mall at Sears should have plenty of options for those wanting to shop for locally produced items.

Duane Clark, who is tending his own stand and that of Alex Davis, says Davis is highlighting duck eggs this week.

"The increase of ducks in the flock means more duck eggs at market," Clark says. "They are an excellent choice for folks who are sensitive to some chicken eggs. Duck eggs are used a lot in baking but really shine as deviled eggs, as they have a richer egg flavor."

Clark says the vendors appreciate the return of empty egg cartons to reuse. Davis' other products include pork and storage vegetable crops.

Clark's Country Health Foods will have Alaska grass-fed beef, locally produced free-range chicken, Alaska seafood, honey and holiday wreaths.

The Rempel Family Farm will also be at today's market with sugar pumpkins, stripetti squash, jumbo pink banana squash, green cabbage, carrots, parsnips, three varieties of beets and eight varieties of potatoes.

Northern Lights Mushrooms will also have its stand open at the market, which is 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.

Bread weeks

Rise & Shine Bakery is offering a pair of sweet treats for its customers in the next couple weeks. The bakery, which generally takes every other week off, is baking plenty leading up to the holidays, with bread available for pickup on Dec. 14 and Dec. 21. (Orders must be placed by the Sunday before delivery.)

And two of the bakery's most popular sweet loaves will be available both weeks -- the fruited almond and dark chocolate and cherry hearth loaves. Also available next Wednesday are onion rye, spent grain and levain loaves.

For more information or to set up an order, visit www.riseandshinebread.com.

New-look pork chops

This week's recipe comes from "Reinventing the Classics" from Food & Wine magazine. The cookbook, as its name suggests, takes traditional recipes and gives them a little twist. This week's recipe would work wonders with pork chops available at today's market. It replaces the standard applesauce with a cranberry relish.

Pan-fried pork chops with cranberry relish

2 cups frozen cranberries, thawed

1 serrano chile, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

Salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Four 5-ounce bone-in pork loin chops

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

* In a food processor, puree the cranberries with the serrano chile, sugar, orange juice, orange zest and 1 teaspoon of salt.

* In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until simmering. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, add them to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until they are browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the pork chops to a plate and let them stand for 5 minutes.

* Add the cranberry relish to the skillet and cook, scraping up and browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until hot, about 2 minutes. Add any pork juices to the relish and stir in the cilantro. Transfer the pork chops to plates and serve with the cranberry relish.

Wine suggestion: These rich chops need a red wine with firm acidity, perhaps Barbera d'Alba from Italy's Piedmont region. Consider the 2007 Bartolo Mascarello or the 2007 Conterno Fantino Vignota.

Source: "Reinventing the Classics: Simple and Creative Ways to Rethink the Recipes America Loves Best, With Wines to Match" by Food & Wine, edited by Dana Cowin (Food & Wine Books, $29.95)

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Steve Edwards lives and writes in Anchorage. If you have a suggestion for a future Market Fresh column, please contact him at sedwards@adn.com.