Good Morning.
Most families are divided into those who eat fish and those who don't, not because some are vegetarians but because they
just don't like fish. They never tasted my dad's swordfish on the grill, basted with butter, white wine, and Worcestershire sauce, but for our purposes today, we will concentrate on shellfish that make any meal memorable.
We begin with a recipe called Simply Scallops although there's nothing simply about them.
1/4 cup olive oil
3 strips of bacon, cooked crisp, drained, and crumbled
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Kosher salt and and freshly ground pepper
1 pound sea scallops
In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped shallot and cooked until tender. Add the bacon pieces, wine, and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the cream, return to the boil, reduce, and simmer until the sauce is slightly thickened. Whisk in the butter until melted. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Taste and add salt and pepper. Keep the sauce warm on a back burner. Heat up another skillet, preferably cast iron, add the remaining olive oil, and when hot, throw in the scallops. Cook 2 minutes per side, quickly searing them to a nice golden color, and remove. Do not overcook or they'll be tough as doorknobs. Toss them with the warm sauce and serve immediately to 4 people.
Now we have Puerto Vallarta Shrimp.
2 dozen jumbo raw shrimp
Olive oil
Kosher salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
4 tbsp. olive oil
10 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
Fresh chopped cilantro
In a saucepan, melt the butter with the oil over low heat. Add the garlic and a sprinkle of salt and cook until the garlic is just tender, about two minutes. Stir in the lime juice and remove from the heat. Shell and devein the shrimp. In a little olive oil, quickly saute the shrimp in a large skillet until tender and pink, about 3 or 4 minutes. Now add the sauce and coat the shrimp. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.
When I was in Puerto Vallarta I went to a great little bistro called Senor Pig's and found out that lime juice goes into a lot of things besides a pie and a Margarita. At Senor's, the waiter squeezed fresh lime on my baked potato dressed with butter and salt and it was delicious. That potato would go well with these shrimp, and so would a Margarita and Key Lime Pie for dessert.
Here's a Spicy Shrimp with an entirely different flavor.
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. soy sauce
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 pound uncooked, large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Lemon wedges
Combine the olive oil, Cajun seasoning, lemon juice, chopped parsley, honey, soy sauce, and cayenne in an oblong glass baking dish. Whisk to blend well. Add the peeled, deveined shrimp and toss to cover. Refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake shrimp in marinade about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with the sauce over Jasmine rice and provide a lemon wedge for squeezing. Jasmine makes all the difference but suit yourself. This recipe will serve 2 serious shrimp eaters. You know who you are.
And for brunch, we offer Crab and Asparagus Scrambled Eggs.
2 king crab legs
4 or 5 spears of fat, fresh asparagus, chopped into one inch pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
3 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
5 eggs
1/8 cup Half and Half
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Heat the crab legs in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. This is against my religion but I'm following a recipe given to me by
someone else. Cut the crab into small chunks. Saute the chopped vegetables in the butter in a skillet for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the crab and stir. In a bowl, combine the eggs, cream, and a good shake of salt and pepper. Pour over the mixture in the skillet. Add the cheese and cook until set but still moist. Add some fresh fruit and a basket of homemade muffins or croissants and you have a dish that could be served in a multi-star hotel to the darling couple who did up the town the night before and are seeking a certain comfort the next morning.
For a classic dish, we have Clams Casino.
2 dozen large clams
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper. The recipe calls for green but I don't like green.
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup Panko
4 slices bacon
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tbsp. finely grated Parmesan
Dash of paprika
More olive oil
Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, drain, and crumble. Set aside. Wash the clams. Place them on a cookie sheet and heat them in a preheated 350 degree oven until they open, maybe 2 minutes. Discard any clams that do not open. Carefully remove the meat from the shells, chop, and set aside. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the butter to a skillet. Saute onion, pepper, and garlic until tender, remove, and cool. In a bowl, mix up the Panko, crumbled bacon, oregano, cheese, vegetables, and clams. Fill baking shells with this mixture and place on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with paprika and drizzle with just a bit of olive oil. Bake at 450 degrees for about 7 minutes. These sublime treats really need to be presented in baking shells. I've had mine for fifty years and they can even go in the dishwasher.
And finally Crab Quiche, part of the foodie rage during the 1980s.
4 oz Gruyere, shredded
A 9 inch pie shell, pricked with a fork and partially baked
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, cut into one-inch pieces
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 large eggs, beaten
Sprinkle the cheese over the bottom of the pie crust. Top with the crab and sprinkle with the onion. In a bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, lemon juice, dry mustard, Old Bay, salt, and eggs. Pour this mixture into the pie crust. Bake until custard has set, maybe 40 minutes but longer if necessary. Let rest for ten minutes before slicing. You can easily combine the crab with other seafood if desired - lobster, scallops, or shrimp.
There once was a restaurant in my city called The Maine Lobster. It had a rustic sort of bar frequented by the after five
crowd and a dining room area with tables and booths that was packed for brunch on the weekend because of the
Seafood Quiche. It was absolutely the best thing I've ever tasted and I've never been able to quite duplicate the recipe. The Maine Lobster went out of business after several years for reasons that I cannot imagine and I still mourn its passing. My two other fondest seafood memories are the Saffron Shrimp at a scrumptious local French restaurant that went kaput when the chef couple got a divorce and moved away to lick their wounds and the Prawns Voltaire at the Northern Hotel in Billings, Montana. The Northern is still up and running but the prawns are no longer on the menu. Times and menu items change.
Some should not.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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