Cioppino

The latest edition of Bon Appetit (March 2013) arrived in my mailbox and as usual, there were at least a dozen recipes I want to try.  This weekend I tried my hand at making Cioppino, an Italian seafood stew.  It's one of The Husband's favorite dishes when we go to seafood restaurants and I have never made it at home.

A trip to my favorite fish store, Fitts was in order and after getting all of the necessary ingredients, including their in-store made fish stock, I got busy in the kitchen.  The recipe calls for bottled clam juice but I figured fish stock would make a better soup. I also cut back a tad on the red pepper flakes but actually could have left the measurements as stated. It was a little on the mild side. I also omitted the step at the end that calls for adding butter to the soup.  Who needs the extra calories??  Though there appears to be a lot of steps to this recipe, it went together very easily.  This recipe states serves 6-8 so I cut it in half for the two of us and we'll have leftovers tomorrow. 

For the photo shoot, I left the seafood in their shells. But in actuality, when it came time to serve I deshelled the clams and mussels because really,  who wants to deal with those shells at the dinner table (or in the TV room if truth be told!)  I got the words of approval from The Husband when he stated "This is the best soup ever."  Praise indeed!

Cioppino
(Serves 6-8)
Broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup dry white wine
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
2 8-ounce bottles clam juice (or 16 ounces of fish stock)
4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
2 bay leaves
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 pounds any mix of mussels (debearded), clams, or cockles, scrubbed
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 pound firm skinless white fish fillets (such as sea bass), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails left intact
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
Flat-leaf parsley leaves (for serving)

Toasted country bread, rubbed with garlic and olive oil (for serving)

Preparation
Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes; stir until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add wine. Return pot to heat, bring to a boil, and cook until wine is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices, crushing with your hands as you add them.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 15-20 minutes. Add clam juice, parsley, bay leaves, and 8 cups water; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until flavors meld, 10-15 minutes more. Discard parsley sprigs and bay leaves. DO AHEAD: Broth can be made 2 days ahead. Let cool slightly; chill until cold. Cover and keep chilled. Reheat before continuing.

Soup
Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add shallot; stir often until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; add mussels and wine. Set over medium-high heat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shells open (discard any that do not open), about 4 minutes.

Add reserved broth; bring to a simmer. Add fish and shrimp. Cover; cook just until opaque, about 4 minutes. Stir in butter; season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls; top with parsley. Serve with toast.

Family, Fun, and Crabs

For 17 years now I have had the honor of attending The Husband's family crab feast in Astoria, Oregon.  Astoria holds a Crab Festival each year on the last weekend of April, which coincides with my father-in-law's birthday so the family celebrates both with a wonderful gathering.  Though the crowds have gotten somewhat smaller over the years, an air of festivity still abounds.

The main components of the day haven't changed much over the years.  Crabs are ordered through a local seafood shop and we pick them up, one per person, all cooked, cleaned, and ready for eating.  Food preparations start by boiling eggs, making dips, preparing the garlic breads, putting out relish trays, and making a big huge green salad with all the trimmings. The table is set including nut crackers and picks for all and we are ready for the big dinner.

Everyone has their own methods for how they eat their crabs.  There are the folks who like to pick and eat as they go and then there are the others (the patient ones) who prefer to pick all their crab meat into a nice tidy pile before eating.  I, if you hadn't picked up on it already, am of the latter category.  I learned after my first year to never leave your bowl of cracked crab unattended because there are those in the first category who have eaten all of their crab and will try to "borrow" some from their neighbors.

Some people come prepared for the meal with their own accessories, such as the wrist bands noted in the photo below which are used to soak up the crab juices that inevitably run down the arms.  It is a messy job with crab shells flying and more often then not, a sharp jab from a shell into a finger or two.  It's all worth it in the end though.

It is so comforting to have family traditions, no matter how big or small, to look forward to and participate in and I feel so lucky to be a part of this one every year.

A bonus photo taken on the following Sunday morning very early in Seaside, Oregon where the weather was absolutely perfect and the water was like a mirror.

A Cocktail of Another Kind

On a hot summer day, of which we have many looming ahead of us, there is nothing better than a cold seafood cocktail for dinner. Accompanied by a hard boiled egg, some olives and a piece of french bread, you have a perfect light dinner. My choice for a cocktail sauce is to make my own. I will share with you a delicious easy to make sauce that just takes a couple of minutes to put together and will make whatever seafood you choose extra special.Seafood Cocktail Sauce

1/2 cup catsup

1/2 cup chili sauce

1 tsp. hot sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3 Tbsp. prepared horseradish (less or more according to how hot you like)

2 tsp. lemon juice

Mix all of the ingredients together and let the sauce sit in the fridge for an hour or sauce to ensure all the flavors marry together. Serve with cold seafood such as shrimp, prawns, crab or scallops.

Stuffed Prawns

After a week of being under the weather, I finally felt like getting back into the kitchen and trying my hand at cooking again. We deserved a decent dinner so I splurged on some large prawns and tried out a recipe I've had on hand for months - stuffed prawns.

The preparation of the prawns themselves is somewhat time consuming as they have to be shelled and deveined(one of my least favorite things to do.) Once this is accomplished however, the rest is fairly easy. I prepared all of the stuffing ingredients in advance, including making homemade breadcrumbs. This involved putting four slices of white bread into the food processors, giving it a few pulses then baking the crumbs at 375 degrees on a cookie sheet for approximately 8 minutes, until nice and golden brown.

The prawns were delicious and the side dishes of rice pilaf and spinach with a glass of nice dry, white wine made me glad I felt like eating again!Stuffed Prawns

1 lb. extra large prawns (14-16 per lb.)

fresh breadcrumbs (made from 4 slices of white bread)

1/3 cup clam juice

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

1/4 cup finely chopped chives

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tsp lemon zest

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the prawns by shelling, deveining and cutting a 1 inch slit entirely through the prawn. Set aside. Prepare the stuffing by mixing all the rest of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until it comes together in a moist mixture. You may need a little more clam juice to bind everything together.

Press approximately 1 Tbsp of stuffing into each prawn. Bake on a covered baking sheet at 275 deg. for 20-25 minutes. When finished baking set the broiler and place sheet under the broiler until stuffing turns golden brown.

30 Minute Pasta

Pasta can be such a quick and easy way to make a luxurious dinner. This dish is one that can be put together in no time with just a little prep work and pre-planning to make sure you have the all the ingredients on hand. One thing needed is creme fraiche, which is an unctuous sour cream kind of sauce. This can be purchased at bigger grocery stores or you can make your own which I did. Chop and grate a few things, cook the pasta, saute the scallops, combine it all together and voila, dinner is ready.Fettuccine with Lemon, Parmesan and Scallops

1 lb. fresh fettuccine (dry can also be used)

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. lemon zest

1 cup creme fraiche, at room temperature (to make your own, combine 1 cup heavy cream with 1/3 cup sour cream and leave at room temperature up to 6 hours then refrigerate)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. medium scallops (16-20 per lb)

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Coat saute pan with 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil and heat until very hot then add scallops and cook 2 1/2 to 3 minutes on each side. Take scallops out and put on a plate, drizzle with 2 Tbsp. lemon juice and lightly season with salt and pepper. Set aside.Cook fettuccine in a large pot of boiling salted water and cook until pasta is al dente. Drain pasta well and return to the pot. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in the microwave and then add the lemon zest. Pour this over the pasta and toss to mix well. Add the creme fraiche, half of the Parmesan and half of the dill.

To serve, mound some pasta into 4 shallow bowls. Top each serving with 4-5 scallops and then sprinkle each bowl with remaining cheese and dill. Serves 4.

Seafood Au Gratin

I recently saw Ina Garten of the Barefoot Contessa show on Food Network make a scallop gratin which looked so amazing. In the past I have also seen her make a similar shrimp gratin so I decided to experiment with her recipes and combined the two and make my own rendition of a seafood gratin.

This was a splurge recipe as the cost of decent seafood is not cheap, despite the fact that we live only 50 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Off to my favorite seafood store, Fitts, I went and purchased 8 large prawns and 8 large scallops to make this glorious dish. One of things Ms. Garten calls for in her scallop dish was the liquor called Pernod, which has a anise flavor. I opted not to put that in and instead, added a bit more white wine in the topping. This dish would be showstopper at a company dinner and it will be forever in my recipe repertoire.Seafood Gratin

1/2 lb. large prawns (15-16 per lb)

1/2 lb. sea scallops

3 Tbsp butter

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 large shallot, minced

3 Tbsp. minced parsley

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Zest from 1/2 lemon

6 Tbsp. good white wine

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

3/4 cup Panko Japanese bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place gratin dishes on a baking sheet and put 1 Tbsp of white wine in each dish. Set aside.In a mixing bowl, beat butter until soft. Add the garlic, shallot, parsley, lemon juice and zest, 4 Tbsp white wine, salt, and pepper and mix together. Add the Panko bread crumbs and mix until well coated. Pat the seafood dry and place in the gratin dishes. Spoon the topping all over the top of the seafood. Bake the seafood 12-15 minutes then place under broiler until topping is golden brown. Serve with a green salad and a good french bread. This recipe serves 2 as a main course.

Lemon Shrimp Linguine

Last night's dinner along with the previously posted Risotto filled baked tomatoes included a lemon shrimp linguine dish which was fast, easy and very flavorful. I adapted this recipe from one I saw on an Ina Garten episode on Food Network. To make things quicker, I purchased cooked, peeled and deveined prawns. There are times when I don't mind making the effort and doing all that prep work but we have a wonderful fish store in town, Fitts Seafood, who will do all of that for you (for a price of course).

If you are looking for a quick dinner involving pasta and prawns, this one fits the bill.

Lemon Shrimp Linguine

3/4 lb linguine (fettuccine or spaghetti noodles would also work)

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced (more garlic to taste)

1 pound of large shrimp/prawns -peeled and deveined if purchased raw

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/3 cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Zest of 1/2 lemon

salt to taste

1/8 tsp hot red pepper flakes (or more to taste)

Heat a big pot of water with 2 Tbsp salt for linguine. Once boiling add noodles and cook until done according to package directions.

Heat butter and olive oil together in a skillet. Add minced garlic and saute just until you can start to smell garlic. Add the salt, pepper, shrimp and saute until shrimp just turn pink. If shrimp are already cooked, just heat through. Remove from heat and add parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Drain pasta and put back in pan. Pour sauce and shrimp over pasta and toss well. Serve immediately.

Poached Scallops with Garlic-Parsley Butter

I am in vacation mode and not in the right frame of mind for writing much today. Our Sunday night dinner was moved to Saturday night as we are off on a mini-vacation to Wildlife Safari near Roseburg, Oregon tomorrow. I've never been and am looking forward to the adventure. We are in an animal mood as last Monday we had the day off and went to the Portland Zoo.

Today I went to the local seafood market to see what "caught" my eye and I decided on the big bay scallops to use in a recipe I have made a number of times and it is always tasty. Served with the scallops, we had couscous with spinach and lemon zest and steamed green beans, our first harvest of them. It was a nice, light summer dinner and very quick to prepare!

Poached Scallops with Garlic-Parsley Butter

12 scallops (approximately 3/4 lbs of 1 inch wide scallops)

salt and pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp minced shallots

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

3 Tbsp chopped parsley

1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered

2 Tbsp dry white wine

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Pat scallops dry; sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat oil in non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. Add scallops and cook, turning once until opaque but still moist looking, approximately 4 minutes total. Transfer scallops to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add 1/2 Tbsp. butter, garlic and shallots to pan and saute for approximately 2 minutes until translucent. Add remaining 2 Tbsp. butter, chicken broth, parsley, tomatoes, white wine and lemon juice; bring to a boil and cook 2-3 minutes. If desired, a dollop of cream can be added at this point to make a richer sauce.

Serve scallops over couscous with the sauce drizzled over the top.

Crepes Marie Suzanne

I promise dear readers (all two of you), that I am not going to blog every cookie, cake, or crepe I make, but Sunday's dinner was so unusual that I must discuss.

I have been thinking about making crepes for some time, actually since a couple years ago when I had some delicious Crepe Suzettes at a brunch at a local winery. They seemed a bit daunting, all of that batter and swirling of the pan to get the perfect, impossibly thin pancakes. I felt ready for the challenge though and got my ingredients together to make crepes filled with seafood, a savory instead of sweet option.

The crepes were not difficult at all. They were somewhat labor intensive as you must stand over the stove, one crepe at a time, but the outcome was most satisfying. The beauty of these crepes is that they can be made ahead of time, separated with foil and reheated in a low oven right before serving. I imagine they could be refrigerated or frozen too but we will use the leftovers for dessert another night, perhaps filled with some ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce.

The filling was my own creation utilizing a basic bechamel sauce (white sauce) that I have been using for years. To make it much more healthy, I use skim milk and still get a rich tasting, smooth sauce. In that base, I added medium sized prawns, small scallops, baby spinach leaves, unmarinated artichoke quarters and white cheddar cheese.

This turned out to be a yummy dinner despite the fact that when I took the plated crepes into the "dining room" (actually the TV room where we sit in front of the boob tube stuffing our pie holes) I dropped one of the plates and the contents, where all the unctuous sauce and filling went face down on the carpet. I should have taken a photo to share of that appetizing hot mess!

Crepe Recipe
1 cup sifted all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter
Extra melted butter for cooking

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl and break egg into it. Gradually beat milk in to dry ingredients to make a smooth batter, then stir in 1 tbsp. melted butter.














Heat an 8 inch non stick frying pan over medium heat and lightly brush with butter. Add approximately 1/4 cup batter to hot pan, swirling batter to cover bottom of pan. Cook until the underside is golden brown, then flip over and briefly cook the other side. Repeat with the remaining batter to make approximately 8 crepes. Keep crepes separated by a piece of foil or wax paper.















Seafood Filling
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1/2 lb. raw prawns, peeled and deveined
1/4 lb. small bay scallops
3/4 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
1 cup quartered unmarinated artichoke hearts
2 cups baby spinach leaves

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Take off heat and vigorously stir in flour to make a smooth paste. Slowly add in 2 cups of milk, stirring to remove any lumps. Add salt and pepper and put back on medium high heat. Stir constantly until mixture boils and thickens. Lower heat to medium and add prawns and scallops. Cook until prawns turn pink then add cheese and stir until melted. Add artichoke hearts and spinach and heat until spinach leaves wilt. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper to your liking.

Put a crepe on serving plate and add approximately 1/2 cup of filling in the middle then fold both sides over to close. Put a bit of the sauce over the top and garnish with lemon and parsley or chives. Enjoy.