Tag Archives: seafood

Impressive Dishes, Main Courses, Sandwiches, Seafood Dishes

Crispy Halibut Po’boy with Caper Aioli

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Nothing says summertime majesty like a tender fish filet in crisp, lacy batter, slathered in luscious tartar sauce.  Correction: nothing says the perfect time of year like the aforementioned fish.  A good piece of halibut, carefully breaded and fried, is a welcome addition year-round assuming that I can get my hands on some.

The secret ingredient that makes this recipe sing is the caper aioli – a homemade mayonnaise enlivened with capers, cocktail onions, tarragon and lemon, this condiment tastes of a majesty so great that one would think that you slaved over the stuff.  But that’s not the case.  Pop the ingredients into the blender and whirr away until the mixture thickens to absolute perfection. Continue reading Crispy Halibut Po’boy with Caper Aioli →

Appetizers and Small Plates, Easy to Prepare, Friends Recipes and Hacks, Impressive Dishes, Main Courses, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Classic Mussels with White Wine and Herbs

Today’s guest post is coming at you straight from NYC courtesy of my good friend Arber.  We met under non-culinary circumstances during my time as the master of web goodness at The City College of New York.  I had the dubious honor of serving as the advisor for his student organization, a cluster of entrepreneurs, programmers and designers who created the brilliant website, In Your Class.com.  Funnily, in order to get their student organization up and running as quickly as possible, they found it easier to take over an already established group rather that go through the appeals process to create a new one.  Thus, although I am out and out Brazilian/Italian/African-American, I soon discovered that I was the newest advisor to the Albanian Students Organization.  The founders (Arber included) were all Albanian, so to prove my mettle, I showed them all I learned from Wikipedia about Albania and had them fill me in on the rest of the important details.  I adored the multiculturalism mixed with the laughs, and was totally honored that they asked me to be their advisor in the first place. Continue reading Classic Mussels with White Wine and Herbs →

Appetizers and Small Plates, Holiday Dishes, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

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Like a true daughter of the Eastern shore, I love me some blue crab.  I once read an article that broke me into a fury as strong as the east coast-west coast hip hop beef.  Apparently Tupac thinks dungeoness crab is far better than Biggie’s favorite blue crabs, and that those little hard-shelled beauties from the Chesapeake Bay (and increasingly from the Gulf and around Texas) are too hard to crack and overrated.  To which I say, Tupac, that’s bollocks.  Come over for these crab-stuffed mushrooms anytime and I will change your mind.  And yes, I just offered the deceased crab stuffed mushrooms.

This recipe is incredibly simple, but can be pricey if you are making it outside the Chesapeake Bay area.  I lessen the blow by substituting half of the lump crab with claw meat – this briny, dark colored meat is far cheaper and works well as a mushroom filling.  If that’s still too expensive, employ a blend of a half pound of diced raw shrimp and roasted red peppers sautéed with an extra cup of panko, a few tablespoons of butter and enough chicken stock to moisten the stuffing.  Regardless of the seafood, the mixture is lightened by lemon zest and parsley, and has a dose of cayenne for kick.  Make a batch of these for loved ones, and I am sure that your street cred will go through the roof.  Homie? Homie.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

1 shallot, minced
4 tbs. of butter
8 oz. lump crab meat
8 oz. of crab claw meat
1 egg
1/2 tbs. of dijon mustard
2 tbs. of mayo
pinch of cayenne
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
1 tbs. of fresh thyme
2 tbs. of fresh chopped parsley
1 tsp of old bay, plus more for sprinkling
1 lemon
1/2 c. of panko, plus more for sprinkling
1 lb. of cremini or white button mushrooms

Wipe the mushrooms clean and remove the stems.  If you’d like, chop the stems and sauté with the shallots in the next step or save for another use (like a marinara sauce or a mushroom risotto).  Line a cookie sheet with foil and grease with olive oil or butter.  Place the mushroom caps on the cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 375°.

Sauté the shallots in a small skillet with the butter until translucent.  Let cool to room temperature and then pour into a mixing bowl.  Blend carefully with the egg, mustard, mayo, cayenne, white pepper, thyme, parsley, old bay and the zest of 1 lemon.  Pick over the crab for any extra shells and gently fold into the stuffing mixture.  Fold in the panko.  Fill each mushroom with a few tablespoons of filling.  Sprinkle with panko and old bay on top.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden.  Cut the lemon into wedges and squeeze over the mushrooms before serving.  Eat and then bust a rhyme.

Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Poultry Dishes, Recipes, Rice Dishes, Seafood Dishes

Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya

For as long as I’ve known, my family has been whipping up several varieties of comforting rice dishes – I can recall many a time coming into the kitchen to a pan of Arroz con Pollo finishing up in the oven, or a pot of Jambalaya simmering away on the stove.  This version of the simple dish, a combination of rice, chicken, sausage, seafood and veggies, reminds me of home each and every time I whip up a batch.

This version is far from super traditional, but I love it because it is way easy to prepare and incredibly piquant and flavorful.  Some of the harder ingredients to find are substituted with pantry and supermarket staples.  Though cajun purists would call this Creole Rice for its inclusion of tomatoes, culinary great Paul Prudhomme puts tomatoes in his, so I feel that I’m not in the wrong.  Plus, this dish’s roots are born of the freshness and availability of ingredients, so use whatever suits your fancy – tasso ham (or smoked ham), seafood of any kind, smoked andouille sausage, duck, and homemade stock all have a place in this dish.  Case in point, this recipe originates from the Spanish classic, paella, and if it weren’t for a few noble chefs swapping out a few ingredients, we wouldn’t have the jambalaya that we know today.

Recipe for

Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya

Ingredients
1/2 lb. of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 kielbasa, thinly sliced into rounds
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into large chunks

2 tbs. of olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 scallions, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 plum tomatoes

1 can of tomatoes with chilies
seafood stock (can substitute beef or chicken)
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
1/8 to 1/2 tsp. of cayenne pepper (to taste)
pinch of oregano
1 tbs. of Worcestershire sauce

2 c. of converted rice (such as Uncle Ben’s)

splash of white wine vinegar
scallions or parsley for garnish

Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper.  Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven and add the chicken.  Brown very well on both sides and then add the onion, scallions, celery, bell pepper and garlic.  Once vegetables begin to soften, add the kielbasa, thyme and bay leaves.  Allow to cook for a minute and then add the chopped tomatoes, white pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne and oregano.  Stir in the rice.

In a 4 cup pyrex or a measuring cup, drain the juices of the can of tomatoes into the cup.  Dump the tomatoes into the dutch oven.  Add the tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce into the measuring cup, and then add enough stock to make 3 3/4 cups of liquid.  Add the mixture to the pot and stir.  Bring the pot to a boil, cover and turn it down to a simmer.  A trick, if you are careful, is to stick your ear to the bottom of the pot – you should hear a gentle bubbling.  If it sounds like hell boiling over, turn the heat down.  If you hear nothing, turn the heat up.  Cook for 20 minutes, undisturbed.  After 20 minutes, take the top off and add the shrimp.  Recover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and remove lid.  Stir a splash of white wine vinegar into the jambalaya and taste rice for doneness – it should be tender at this point.  If not, turn heat back to low and cook another few minutes.  If the rice is done but there is too much liquid, let rice sit, covered, for 5-10 minutes so that the liquid will be absorbed into the rice.

Serve with scallions or parsley and tabasco sauce.

Menus and Odes

Feast of the Seven Fishes

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Menu

Antipasto
Cold Seafood Salad
Bolihnos de Bacalhau
Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

Primo
Fettucine al Langostra
Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Secondo
Bacalhau Gomes de Sá
Tuna (or Swordfish) with Gremolata

Contorni
Sauteed Cavolo Nero

Holidays are about traditions – both making them and breaking them.  Given my wide splay of ethnic background, it tends to be the case that I manage to do both of these things each and every year with a slightly different celebration that meets one of our many traditions.  I feel like this is the way it is with most of us – over time we build up a collection of various customs that are an amalgamation of all of our traditions put together.

This year, we decided to give a shout out to Sicily (both my husband and I are of Sicilian decent) with the Feast of the Seven Fishes.  A custom with origins in Southern Italy, a series of fish dishes (and no meat) are prepared for Christmas Eve.  The number of dishes varies – some say it’s seven for the seven sacraments, or 10 for the commandments.  It’s at the point now where people come up with a number of dishes between 7 and 15 and assign a biblical association for that number.  At the heart of the celebration is a gathering of family and friends for a delicious meal and (hopefully) fine company.

One of the must-haves for the Feast of the Seven Fishes is baccalà or salt cod.  In another cultural twist, our Feast of the Seven Fishes contained two preparations of baccalà in the traditional Brazilian manner (called bacalhau), fried into small balls and baked with garlic, onions, potatoes and hard boiled eggs.  There’s something about the blended traditions that truly makes it a holiday for me.

If you’d like to get on a little fish action yourself and create a new family tradition of your own, here is the road map for our Feast of the Seven Fishes.  Have fun with it, add as many or as few fish as you’d like, and chow down Sicilian style.

Antipasto

Cold Seafood Salad

One of my husbands early memories was of his father making a special seafood salad at Christmastime.  He did a little research and found a close version online, that we adapted to make it like the one he knew as a child. I’m lazy and I don’t like to spend my entire life cleaning seafood, so we purchased the squid pre-cleaned and the octopus pre-cleaned and cooked at Whole Foods (the octopus was in the Seafood Salad area of the store).  The rest of the goodies are poached in a flavorful liquid of herbs and vegetables and then tossed with a light vinaigrette and crisp veggies.  Despite the sheer number of ingredients, this is one of the most beautiful things you can put on your table.

Bolihnos de Bacalhau

These croquettes of salt cod are crispy and light on the outside, and tender and moist on the inside.  Soaking the cod for a goodly while gets rid of the fishiness and elevates the taste of this festive, bite-sized treat.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Growing up so close to the Chesapeake Bay, blue crab is more of a right than a privilege for me, and what seafood feast would be complete without it.  These dainty suckers leverage lump crab for sweetness and claw meat for cost efficiency.  The seasoning is traditional, eastern shore, crab cake style, as yet another shout out to the land of my ancestors.
Recipe for Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Primo

Fettucine al Langostra

Who doesn’t love lobster?  Strangely, my sister doesn’t.  But this incredibly simple and delicious preparation of fettucine with tender lobster meat was gobbled down by her and won her praises.  If that’s not a Christmas miracle, then I don’t know what is. Use good egg fettucine for the pasta and fresh basil to brighten things up.  To save time during the feast (since you are cooking most everything at once), I used a jar of Rao’s Arrabiata sauce, which is delicious, but way too expensive at $9 a jar.  I found a bottle of White Linen Gourmet Marinara at Costco for $4 that actually tasted BETTER than the Rao’s – no joke.  If you go that route, just make sure to add a heavy dose of crushed red pepper for kick.

Linguine alle Vongole

Linguine with white clam sauce, for me, is comfort food at its best – it doesn’t take a hell of a long time to prepare, it’s got a healthy dose of garlic and red pepper for kick, and at the end of the day, who doesn’t want to tuck into a mound of tender pasta. I use my Poorman’s Linguine with Clam Sauce for this one, but add fresh clams to the mix.  Simply heat some olive oil and garlic in a saute pan and when hot, pour in a cup of white wine.  Add a pound of small clams (I use manila clams) and pop a lid on the pan.  Let steam in the wine garlic mix for a short 5 minutes and then scoop out the open clams and put them on top of the pasta.  Discard any clams that haven’t opened after cooking.
Recipe for Linguine alle Vongole

Secondo

Bacalhau Gomes de Sá

Though this dish is Portuguese in origin (Porto to be exact), it’s a favorite among Brazilians as well.  The dish was supposedly created by a wealthy cod distributor’s son, who after being disowned, was forced to work in a restaurant.  His legacy was this dish, a delicious combination of cod, tender potatoes, sautéed garlic and onions, and topped with hard boiled eggs, olives and parsley. This recipe reminds me of whenever my great grandmother would come into town with heaps of bacalhau ready for the cooking.  Upon her arrival, it was a sure thing that Gomes de Sá was going to be prepared shortly thereafter.

Tuna (or Swordfish) with Gremolata

Nothing says majesty like fresh fish with a lovely topping of lemon, garlic and herbs.  Simplicity is the focus, so the freshest of fish is necessary in this one – get sushi grade (or Grade #1) tuna, or the brightest, firmest fillets of whatever you’d like.  While you can spread the fish with the gremolata and then broil them, with the tuna I like to sear them in a pan to control the doneness (I like the steaks rare) and then slather the hot fish with the lemon mixture so that it melts into the fish. Gremolata is traditionally a combination of lemon, parsley and garlic, but here, I add rosemary instead of the parsley as it is hardier and holds up to the many other bold flavors at this feast.
Recipe for Swordfish with Gremolata

Contorno

Sauteed Cavolo Nero

Called black kale or dinosaur kale, this leafy green is a fabulous taste sensation for anyone that loves bitter greens.  Plus, it matches up with the sweetness of the seafood and sauces with outstanding strength.  This recipe comes straight from one of my favorite foodie websites, Chow.com, and utilizes orange juice, garlic and onion to create the most perfectly rounded flavors in this dish.  A major keeper, I didn’t even have to tweak this recipe one bit, which absolutely NEVER happens when I’m in the kitchen. If you have any leftovers, you can fold them into a delicious soup, like a Caldo Verde (Portuguese Sausage and Kale Soup) or a Ribollita (Italian Kale and White Bean Soup with Croutons).
Recipe for Cavolo Nero at Chow.com

Appetizers and Small Plates, Friends Recipes and Hacks, Seafood Dishes

Har Gow (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings with Bamboo Shoots)

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I came across this recipe the other day in finding a cheaper way to nosh on the addictive Crystal Shrimp Dumplings from China Fun here in the city – the darn things are so delicious that when I eat them piping hot, the filling all falls out for lack of letting them sit and chill.  Waiting is overrated.

This recipe can be found on the lovely blog Rasa Malaysia – she has you make the dough in her recipe, but in the version pictured below I used the pre-made Yasoya Wonton Wrappers (available in most grocery stores where they keep the tofu).  Not 100% identical, but a heck of a lot easier, especially if you can’t get your hands on wheat and tapioca starch.  If you have an aversion to triangle-shaped har gow, use a round cookie cutter to make perfect wrappers of your own.  Fry the extra bits that you cut off and use as crispy noodles in some wonton or hot and sour soup.  Done and done.  Truthfully, though, the star of this recipe is the filling, particularly the luscious quality of the shrimp and bamboo shoots, so don’t go crazy with the wrappers.

Check out the recipe now >>

Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Main Courses, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Rosemary Lemon Swordfish

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Fish gets a bad rap – no matter what anyone tells you, it’s not hard to cook.  In fact, it takes such a short time to cook, all that you need to do to cook it well is to untrain your brain into its natural inclination to overcook meat.  Give it only a little time, only a little seasoning and it is perfection.  I love swordfish because it’s forgiving, takes seasoning well, and comes out deliciously restaurant-worthy without any fuss.  Not to mention that it’s meaty – a manly fish meant to be tucked into like a steak.

Rosemary Lemon Swordfish © Spice or Die

This barely qualifies as a recipe below in terms of ingredients – all the work is in the technique.  Basically, you are forming a paste out of the lemon zest and garlic that is then slathered onto the swordfish.  If you haven’t invested in a microplane yet (and you really should), you will need to use the finest setting on a box grater for the lemon zest.  As for the garlic, you will need to mash it with some kosher salt until it forms a paste – not hard, but so much easier if you pick up a microplane. Continue reading Rosemary Lemon Swordfish →

Main Courses, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Spicy Stuffed Flounder

I wish that eating fresh seafood didn’t seem like such a luxury – fish is easy to prepare and readily available where I live.  Plus, it’s so good for you, there’s really no excuse for not working it into the menu more.  I treat it like a grilled cheese sandwich at times – I’d rather have someone make it for me than do it myself so that it seems that much better.  It’s stupid, given that we can all prepare fish just as well as most restaurants (if not better), and all for a lot less money.

Spicy Stuffed Flounder © Spice or Die

This recipe was born of the high price tag for stuffed delicacies at upscale seafood restaurants.  On top of that, the dishes were often drowned in butter, making the fish taste gorgeous, but at the expense of my waistline.  Stupid personified.  The flavor in this dish comes from a good dose of savory veggies that are simmered in stock rather than sauteed in butter.  Flaky, moist flounder is topped with spices and lemon and nestled above a lovely stuffing of tender shrimp, herbs, vegetables and bread crumbs.  It tastes like a million bucks and a million calories, but it is just plain good for you eatin’!

Here in NYC, they charge way too much for lump crab, but if you are near the Chesapeake, definitely substitute the shrimp with crabmeat if you’d like.  It’s just such a lovely addition to the dish, and the price down there makes so much sense.  Same thing for you folks on the Pacific Coast that can get your hands on inexpensive king crab.  In addition, you can mix it up and do a seafood medley of shrimp, crab and scallops – all work well in the stuffing.

Spicy Stuffed Flounder

2 c. of vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 of a bell pepper (I use red, but green is ok), finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 cl. of garlic, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. of black pepper
1/4 tsp. of white pepper
1/4 tsp. of salt
1 tsp. of sherry or white wine
1/2 tbs of good dijon mustard
1 tsp of fresh thyme
1 tsp. of fresh rosemary
1/2 c. of parsley leaves (loosely packed), chopped
2 c. of bread crumbs
2 tbs. of butter (I use Smart Balance for this to keep the bad fat down)
1 lb of raw shrimp, cut into small bite-sized pieces (can substitute 8 oz. of lump crab, bay scallops or even 8 oz. of sliced mushrooms)
3 portions of flounder (preferably 7-8 oz. each)
1 lemon
1 tsp of cajun seasoning (or a pinch each of salt, white pepper, black pepper and cayenne)

Preheat oven to 375°.  Spray a baking sheet with Pam and set aside.

In a sauce pan, bring your stock to a boil.  Add bell pepper, shallot, garlic, celery, white pepper, black pepper, salt, sherry or wine, mustard, thyme and rosemary.  Stir and then turn off the heat.  Stir until the butter has melted and then toss in the parsley and shrimp.  Stir in the bread crumbs until moistened and then set aside.

Take a flounder filet in your hand and mound it with a heaping cupful of the stuffing.  Flip over and place on the baking sheet, stuffing side down.  Repeat with the other filets.  Halve the lemon and squeeze over all of the fish.  Sprinkle a teaspoon of your favorite cajun or blackening seasoning on top of the fish (or use a combo of peppers and salt as listed above).

Place sheet in the oven and bake fish until flaky and cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.  Squeeze the other half of the lemon on top of the fish and serve.

Main Courses, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Poor Man’s Linguine with Clams

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Despite all of my champagne wishes and caviar dreams, I am no Warren Buffett when it comes to grocery shopping.  Or I should say that I have no Buffett budget, given that the man eats a DQ cheeseburger and a cherry coke every night.  Though I am such an ingredient purist time in and time out, occasionally, I make an exception or two.  One example would be in this recipe that uses *gasp* canned clams!

Linguine with White Clam Sauce © Spice or Die

Don’t give up on me just yet.  I love love love Linguine alle Vongole, or linguine with white clam sauce.  I crave it and when I do, I want it ASAP.  And yet, I don’t have the time or money to go clamming every time I have a hankering for some goodness.  And so I have created this version over the years that is an altered version of my Dad’s recipe.  The sentiment is still the same, however – you take a jar of white clam sauce, add an excessive amount of red pepper for heat and extra canned clams for awesomeness, and you serve atop boxed linguine.  You can scoff, but it beats the hell out of spending $20 on the clams alone, and all of the ingredients are readily available in your pantry and fridge.  No shame in my game. Continue reading Poor Man’s Linguine with Clams →

Easy to Prepare, Main Courses, Recipes, Seafood Dishes

Steamed Mussels with Tarragon and Shallots

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A pot of mussels, for me, is a treat worth sharing with special folks around.  It’s rare these days that we get to partake in such a tactile experience – a large pot is slapped in the middle of a table, and folks collectively tuck in with their hands, scooping, dipping and munching on sweet mussels and typically a tangle of crispy fries or crusty bread.  Mussels come in a million preparations, but this little bivalve is ever so easy to prepare.  You’ve just got to know all the tricks.

Steamed Mussels with Tarragon and Shallots © Spice or Die

When you get your mussels, they need to be alive before you cook them.  A dead mussel in the pot will make your tummy unhappy later.  As you go through them, mussels should be closed and if open, should close after you agitate them a bit.  I usually just tap them on the counter and wait for them to close slowly.  If they refuse to close, chuck ’em before cooking.

After you cook the mussels, it’s the opposite deal.  If they stay closed after cooking, they are bad.  Don’t eat them for fear of even more tummy unhappiness.

As I mentioned before, there are tons of way to sauce these guys – this recipe is based on one of my favorite preparations as featured by The Smith here in NYC.  They bathe their bivalves in a lovely combo of shallots, thyme, wine and cream.  It’s a luscious sauce that is meant to be sopped up with bread, fries, or whatever carb you can grab the fastest.  I enhance my own with a heaping spoon of dijon mustard and a bit of garlic – deliciousness for an incredibly low price.  If you can believe it, restaurants charge $17 or more per pound of mussels, whereas you can purchase them for as little as $2 a pound to cook at home!  Outrageous!  Not to mention the fact that you can be assured that your mussels are clean and fresh before cooking – not the case when you eat them out.  If ever there was a case for cooking at home, this is it.  Include this recipe on the menu for your next date night and savor the simple pleasure of a shared dish and company close at hand.  It’s a dying art, I tell you.

Steamed Mussels with Tarragon and Shallots

2 lbs. of mussels, scrubbed of barnacles
3 tbs. of butter
2 shallots
2 cl. of garlic, smashed
1 c. of dry white wine
bunch of tarragon
2 tbs. of dijon mustard
1/2 c. of cream
salt and pepper

Check mussels to make sure that they are still alive – mussels should close after you tap them on the counter or rap them a bit with your finger.  Clean mussels of any grit or barnacles on the shells and put into a large bowl.  Fill bowl with cold water and let the mussels sit for a half an hour.  This allows them time to expel any sand or grit – you’ll actually hear the mussels bubbling around in the water.

In a large pot or huge skillet, chuck in 2 tbs. of butter and melt on low.  Turn up the heat to medium and add shallots and garlic.  Cook until translucent and then crank the heat to high.  Dump in wine, tarragon, and mussels and cover the pot.  Cook 5-6 minutes or until mussels open up.  Remove mussels from the pot and set aside, discarding any mussels that didn’t open in the cooking process.  Boil sauce down, whisking in mustard and cream.  Allow to reduce by 1/4 and then taste for salt and pepper.  Pour sauce over mussels and serve, making sure to sop up the sauce with bread or crisp fries.