I use a lot of different flours when I fry fish and seafood, although good ole' all-purpose flour is still my mainstay. Matching a flour to a cuisine is an easy way to add another layer of flavor to what can otherwise be very simple dishes. For example, a simple fried fish with lemon will taste different depending on whether you use regular flour, chickpea flour, whole wheat, barley, rice or corn flour. Each grain adds something unique. Click through for more information about how best to use different flours with fish and seafood.

Photo copyright 2009 Holly A. Heyser

Wow. I knew aquaculture was getting big, but this is a sobering thought: About half of all fish eaten globally are farmed. Catfish, tilapia, trout, oysters, clams, shrimp, salmon -- chances are that here in this country, if you're eating these species, they're probably farmed. A new Stanford University study says that aquaculture is placing a heavy burden on the oceans -- ironically enough -- because fish low on the food chain are being vaccumed up to be turned into fish meal for other fish. It's a bad deal, and is why I avoid most farmed fish. A notable exception are clams and oysters, which are actually good for the environment, as shellfish farms tend to replace fished-out natural shellfish beds. Bottom line: Limit your farmed fish meals but eat all the farmed shellfish you want.

A friend of mine, Amy Sherman, tipped me off to this awesome contest: it is an all-expense-paid "cuisinternship" in which the lucky winner gets to learn the ropes (literally) aboard a charter boat on the Oregon coast. You will learn to handle the boat, fish the bountiful waters for salmon, rockfish, lingcod and other fascinating (and delicious) species, as well as gorge yourself on seafood -- and get a first-hand look at how fish gets to your table.

Entry information is here. The deadline to enter is Friday, so get cracking! Good luck!

OK, so this is what I did with my chanterelles last week. The floral, almost apricot-like aroma and firm texture of these mushrooms calls out for white wine and a mild, firm-fleshed fish, like halibut. I seared the fish hard to develop a nice crust, and then served it with a simple saute of chanterelles, grated ginger and lemon. Here is the recipe.

Photo copyright 2009 Holly A. Heyser

Seafood and mushrooms may not seem like they go together, but the whole "mare e monte" thing -- meaning "ocean and mountain" -- is huge in Europe. I love seafood and I love mushrooms, and one of my favorite recipes is this porcini mushroom dish with seabass.

I just got a big batch of golden chanterelle mushrooms (pictured), and I was thinking about ways to pair them with fish or seafood. So here's my question, readers: What would you do to use chanterelles and seafood in the same dish? Put your suggestions in the Comments section below. Can't wait to hear from you!

Photo copyright 2009 Holly A. Heyser

I am seeing a lot of sablefish in markets these days, which is a good thing. Sablefish, also known as black cod, is rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, has a silky sweet taste and holds up well to both powerful sauces and delicate seasonings. One of my favorite ways to cook black cod is a classic: glazed with a savory-sweet miso sauce and served simply.

Photo copyright 2009 Holly A. Heyser 

Summer is the time to cook simple. I love long braises and four-hour dishes as much as the next person, but I don't want to be doing that in August heat. With summer ingredients like fresh herbs, tomatoes, zucchini and peppers coming hard and fast, now is the time to highlight them.

Grilled tuna kebabs is one way, but so is simple grilled salmon, maybe with a dollop of chimichurri sauce to go with it. The trick to grilling a meaty fish like a salmon is to sear it hard on the meaty side first -- that way the uncooked skin can hold the fish together when you flip it. Want to try it? Here is the method.

Photo copyright 2009 Holly A. Heyser

I wrote back in May about Alice Waters, the famous owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA, a restaurant that is an icon of local, sustainable -- even humane -- food, saying that she would want shark fin soup as her last meal on Earth.

What's the big deal? Millions of sharks are "finned" every year for this appalling soup: Finning is where fishermen, usually on factory trawlers, slice off the finds of live sharks and toss them alive back into the water. The sharks then spiral into the deep to die, unable to move. It's pretty horrible.

It seems that someone finally told Alice about this: "Not long ago I learned that every year tens of millions of sharks, their fins brutally sliced off, are thrown back into the ocean to die, and that many shark species are now seriously threatened," Waters says in a Humane Society news release. "I support Humane Society International's efforts to end this unsustainable practice, and I encourage other chefs and culinary industry leaders to do the same."

Mmm-hmmm. Waters' whole life is sustainable food and she only learned how shark fin soup is made "not long ago?" I don't buy it. But better late to the party than not at all, Alice.

Not all sharks are endangered, and if you make shark fin soup from a fish you legally caught and ate the rest of, good on you -- you used every bit. But that is rare. And sharks aren't the only fish in trouble: Here is a list of fish to avoid when you hit the fish market next. When you're there, do me a favor: Skip the shark fin.

Photo copyright 2009 Getty Images

Gotta love having friends who fish. I haven't been able to get out lately, but the albacore tuna are running in California. This is the most sustainable, mercury-free tuna in the ocean, and it is delicious on the grill. My friend Jon recently swung by with a big piece of albacore, and I decided to make what for me is a perfect weekday summer meal: Grilled tuna kebabs with sweet peppers and sweet onions. It's easy, it's low-fat, and it takes maybe 15 minutes from start to finish. What's not to love?

Photo copyright 2009 Holly A. Heyser

After two years, I finally got a chance to fish for salmon this past weekend. The salmon season near where I live has been closed for two years, so we went up to the Trinity River in Northern California and caught three fine king salmon -- that's nearly 30 pounds of meat!

After filleting them, I made a salmon salad with some of the trimmings, made crispy-fried salmon skin with what I cut off to make skinless fillets, and am planning on eating French salmon cutlets and broiled salmon with cilantro sauce later this week.

After so long without, it's time to gorge on chinook salmon!

Photo copyright 2009 Holly A. Heyser