Category Archives: seafood

After the Scampi

Posted on December 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

Cold Shrimp after Scampi

Salad with Cold Shrimp Sherry Lemon Vinaigrette

The day after the Scampi, Joel and I went skiing. After ski, I wasn’t in the mood to go out so we stayed in . We had actually cooked up some of the remainder of the 5 lbs. of shrimp we had taken out to cook the scampi. It was in the fridge cold. Joel was happy eating that with cocktail sauce, and I was happy eating that cold shrimp in a salad. I used the Sherry Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing that I already had made. It was delicious, light, and just what we were in the mood for, no fuss no muss, and sometimes you just need to eat lightly, forgo some of those calories. Even with working out all the time, skiing, and hiking the amount of calories can be daunting , it just helps us to indulge a little more frequently.  The thing with cold shrimp is you can’t keep it for too long in the fridge, so we had to eat it within 2 – 3 days of cooking it.

Here is my cocktail sauce, which I’m sure you know by now that we like it with a lot of kick. Just alter ingredients to your liking.

Heinz Chili Sauce ( available next to Heinz Ketchup)

White Horseradish

Heinz Ketchup

Just mix up about a cup of Heinz Chili Sauce, a cup of Ketchup and put in by the tablespoon the white horseradish till you get the consistency you like, and the flavor you like, I know by now how it should look, but you’ll have to taste. Be careful with the horseradish, but you can always add more ketchup to tone it down. These are just the 3 ingredients I use, Use as much or as little as you’ll need. It beats those store bought brands by a mile.

Cold Shrimp the next day

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Shrimp Scampi and Pasta

Posted on December 26, 2011 | 4 comments
It is Christmas Eve, and so many restaurants are closed for the night. We had some amazing shrimp that Joel was able to procure. *Beautiful Mexican White Shrimp under 10! So what else would you do? Shrimp Scampi,
*under 10 refers to 10 and under to a pound, these can cost a pretty penny so you can definitley substitute a smaller shrimp (under 15, under 20 ) etc. Both Joel and I were raised around shrimp our whole lives and have very particular taste where shrimp is concerned.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. shrimp ( we used under 10’s which are rather large ) you can use smaller ones. Joel prefers Mexican Whites, and you can ask for these ( Ocean Garden is our preferred brand) they come in a 5 lb. box and Joel cleans and deveins for me always. (that’s our deal) He cleans them and I cook them.

5 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup olive oil ( you may want to add more as you go)

3/4 cup dry white wine

*pinch of hot red pepper flakes ( optional) and Susan doesn’t like hot so we added a pinch and put red pepper flakes on the table

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ( again use your own discretion)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 lb. spaghetti ( we used a thin spaghetti) or angel hair, capelini etc.

1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley chopped

Directions:

Cook Pasta according to directions. Start boiling water for pasta as you start your sauce.

Heat oil in a heavy 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking. Saute shrimp, turning until just cooked through, about 3 – 4 minutes depending on the size of your shrimp. These were large and took a bit longer, they will start to curl and turn a pretty pink color. If you’re really not sure you can always cut into one and if it is translucent put it back till it is opaque in the inside, we don’t want to be serving raw shrimp to anyone. When shrimp is done remove with a slotted spoon to another bowl. Set aside.  Add garlic to oil, if you think you need more oil just put a bit in now, add the red pepper flakes now if you’re using them, wine, salt, and pepper and cook over high heat , stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes or so. Add butter to skillet , stirring until melted, and stir in shrimp. Remove skillet from heat. Drain pasta in a colander, and *reserve 1 cup of pasta water.  Toss pasta well with shrimp mixture  and add parsley in a large bowl, add additional reserved pasta water  if necessary to keep it moist.

* Just a little tip,  before the pasta is finished I scoop out some pasta water with a measuring cup, makes it easier than juggling boiling water while you’re draining it.

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Seared Spiced Rubbed Salmon (Mark Bittman, The New York Times)

Posted on December 17, 2011 | Leave a comment

Seared Spiced Rubbed Salmon

This recipe came out of my cooking class with Karen Lee on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It was a lovely day spent in her warm inviting kitchen. Karen’s classes always make for a day well-spent. (More information for Karen Lee Cooking Class (foodnow@rcn.com) or cookingwithcandi.com

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. salmon fillet, skin removed (organic or wild but the organic king farm-raised is great, when it is available and the wild salmon is best from April through September)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin or 1 tablespoon fennel seed ( we used cumin)

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

zest of 1 orange (you can substitute lemon or lime)

1/2 cup fresh orange juice, reduced to 2 – 3 tablespoons *see recipe below

2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Dunk salmon in a bowl of cold water for a second. Then let drain on paper towels. Rinse and dry salmon.

Rub down the salmon fillet on both sides with olive oil. 

Mix together the salt and the cayenne pepper and rub onto both sides of the salmon then rub in the fennel seed or ground cumin, rosemary and orange zest. Press mixture onto both sides of the fillet.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place in a well seasoned iron skillet or steel fish skillet over high heat for about 2-3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (you may need a bit more.)

Using a fish spatula, slide the salmon into the skillet. Sear for 2-3 minutes. Place the spatula under the salmon and jiggle to loosen. If it resists, then leave it for another minute or so. Continue to saute until the salmon gets very dark and well-seared. Flip the salmon and sear on the other side for another 2-3 minutes.

Place the salmon on a shallow roasting pan and roast in oven for an additional 1-3 minutes. (How long you roast will depend on how thick your fillet is and how you like your salmon cooked.) After fish comes out of oven, using a pastry brush, brush with the reduced orange juice.

(When sauteing the salmon, you may want to lower the heat to avoid burning the spices.)

*to reduce orange juice just put in a small saucepan and boil it down (a slow boil as opposed to a rolling boil,) until orange juice is reduced.

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Lobster Cobb Salad and Honey Lime Vinaigrette

Posted on November 16, 2011 | 1 comment

This is a delicious, tart salad dressing.  The flavors are perfect together and I will be making this delicious salad this Sunday for my Mother’s Day Brunch!  Just the perfect combination of tart and sweet. I served this lobster salad with baby greens, beets, lobster, corn, chopped eggs, tomatoes,  bacon (on the side) and, of course, avocado.  I bought the lobster (already cooked) You can purchase at your local fish store and specialty stores like Graces Marketplace. I cooked and  cut up beets, made some hard-boiled eggs and cut up tomatoes along with other ingredients. When I make it this Sunday I will put all the other ingredients in little bowls and let everyone choose what they like . I set up a make your own salad bar. So those who are vegetarian pick their ingredients and everyone is happy.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (1 small lime)

1/2 cup olive oil

kosher salt (approx. 1/4 teaspoon, maybe a bit more)

freshly ground black pepper

*you may want to double for large crowd. This will make approx. 1/2 cup salad dressing

Directions:

Whisk the vinegar, honey and lime juice together in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the Salad:

You can feel free to add and subtract ingredients:

I use any type of greens –usually Romaine and a dark green mixture of greens

I used corn, beets, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, avocados, and bacon. Sometimes I use shredded cheese or blue cheese (even though I really don’t like blue cheese at all) and black or green olives cut up are delicious in here as well. And feel free to substitute chicken for the lobster and add and subtract whatever you’d like.

When I serve for brunch I put all the ingredients in separate little bowls and let everyone choose their favorite ingredients. Dressing on the side–of course.

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No Fuss, No Muss Salmon

Posted on August 24, 2011 | 1 comment

This is really the easiest way to grill salmon and truly my most favorite way to cook and eat it! It really takes no time and the ingredients are simple, fresh and tasty. That’s why I call it No Fuss, No Muss Salmon. I suppose you can cook this in the oven. Just bake it in a baking dish at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes depending on the size of the piece of fish.

INGREDIENTS:

I use 2 1/2 lb salmon filets (1 per person)

1 lemon

Capers

Dijon mustard

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Take a piece of aluminum large enough to hold 1 filet. Put the filet on aluminum and fold up edges (as pictured), making a little tray out of foil.

First pat salmon dry with a paper towel and very lightly sprinkle salt and pepper on each filet (it really doesn’t need it, but I use a little bit). Next, spread dijon mustard on the filet with a butter knife (all over the top). Sprinkle a few capers on each–as many or as little as you like, I don’t use a lot; just a few is good. I cut the lemon in 1/2 and then squeeze a little all over each piece (1/2 lemon is good for the 2 pieces) and then I slice very thin slices from the other 1/2 of the lemon and place them right on top of the salmon.

I then place the salmon on a hot grill in aluminum, lower heat to a more moderate heat and cook for about 20 minutes. Next, remove from heat, fold up sides and just let it sit for about 5 minutes. When you open up the aluminum and take the salmon out, it should lift right off the skin but you may have to play with it. The skin is actually very crispy at this point. Salmon should be light pink and flaky.

I served this with a beautiful salad, gazpacho and homemade macaroni salad. We sat  outside and ate. It was a beautiful night.

No Fuss, No Muss Salmon

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Grilled salmon with a Fruity side

Posted on June 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

 

Salmon with fruity peach sauce

This recipe comes from our friend, diane wallace. we went to her house for dinner and it was so yummy that i asked her for the recipe for the fruit sauce, and she gave it to me, so thank you diane.

ingredients:

salmon filets: I used boneless wild salmon

approx. 1/2 lb. per person. go a little over, b/c it’s great cold the next day. you can do a large piece or smaller ones. obviously the more people, the larger the piece; and it is easier to cook than a lot of little pieces.

use heavy duty aluminum foil and place the salmon—skin side down—on foil. squeeze fresh lemon juice (liberally) ,salt and pepper.and sprinkle a little fresh dill on salmon.

preheat grill to high, and right before you’re putting salmon on grill turn down the grill to more of a medium heat.  cook salmon for about 10 minutes, you’ll have to check with a knife after about 8 minutes, depending on your individual grill and the size of the filet will determine cooking time. i undercook it a bit and wrap in foil and it continues to cook a bit. For 1 1/2 lb piece of salmon (pretty thin) it only took 8 minutes. Salmon should come right off skin when you lift it off. it came off pretty easily.

Now for the best part:

fruit sauce topping:

whatever fresh fruits are in season is what you should use: peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, etc.  please try and support local farms whenever you can. how many pieces of fruit you use will obviously depend on the size of your crowd. one fruit per person is a good rule of thumb. I made this evening for just the two of us and I  used 2 nice size peaches.Slice peach into nice size slices not too thin b/c they will fall apart.

a sprinkle of soy sauce (about 1 tablespoon)

 2 tsp. of honey

1/4 cup of white wine

2 Tbsp. of Jam ( I used Peach b/c I had it in the house, but you can use apricot, etc.

I used 1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger ( or powdered ginger)

juice of 1 lemon

raisins are optional but a nice touch (eyeball the amount) eyeball the amount you like

these ingredients can be altered for how much fruit you use.

over low to medium heat, cook fruit ‘til it starts to thicken. don’t overcook or you’ll end up with a mushy mess and lose the look of having the fresh fruit. I cooked it for about 1/2 hour to 40 minutes. I turned off the heat and covered it, and heated it up right before I needed it. ( it was perfect) the peaches weren’t so ripe and they cooked up beautifully.

spoon fruit mixture over the cooked salmon when plated.

just delish!

perfect with a grain of your choice and a side salad.

 

 

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Shrimp on the Bar-B (marinade)

Posted on June 26, 2011 | 1 comment

Shrimp for the BBQ

Joel cleaning shrimp for me!Shrimp for BBQ

For shrimp I use Under 12’s, that’s about 12 to a lb. You can use whatever you like. The larger the shrimp, the easier it is to skewer. Since I am married to a shrimp expert, I am a bit choosy about my shrimp. This advice comes straight from Joel: always ask for mexican, shell-on, white shrimp. For size, ask for under 15, under 12, or under 10. Of course, you will have to peel and devein these babies but they’re worth it. I left the tail on this past weekend for grilling.

Marinade: I put all ingredients in a glass measuring cup and use a whisk to mix together.

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tablespoons dijon mustard

3 cloves garlic, minced

juice of 2 limes (this past weekend, I used lime; but you can also use 1 lemon and 1 orange or just lemons, oranges, or limes. ) you’ll want the citrus flavor

1 tsp. dried basil

2 tablespoons white wine (whatever is open)

I use about 1 tsp. kosher salt (I think you can add more, depending on your preference.)

freshly ground pepper

Marinate shrimp for about 1/2 an hour, then put on long skewers (I use metal b/c they’re easier to maneuver on the grill) and grill about 4 minutes each side. I put them on hot sprayed or oiled grill. you can take a shrimp off and cut into it, if it’s translucent leave it on grill for another minute or so.

 

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