Category Archives: Seafood

Fruit, Quick and Delicious, Seafood

Seared Tilapia with Watercress and Mango Salad

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Real Simple, January 2010

Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

4 tilapia fillets (about 1 1/4 pounds total), halved lengthwise
Kosher Salt and black pepper
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 cups of watercress (from 1 to 2 bunches), thick stems removed
1 mango, cut into small pieces
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

Season the tilapia with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the tilapia and cook until opaque throughout, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with 1 teaspoon of the remaining oil and the remaining tilapia.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, honey, ginger, crushed red pepper, the remaining 1/4 cup of oil, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Divide the tilapia, watercress, mango, and onion among plates. Drizzle with dressing.

Emily Favorite, Quick and Delicious, Seafood, Soup, Uncategorized

My Favorite Mussels Recipe (So Far)

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I recall the time, waaaay back in the days of this past June, that I first tried to make mussels at home. Gosh, it seems just like yesterday doesn’t it? 

  

While I loved that first recipe, this delicious Mussels with Chorizo and Spicy Charmoula Broth concoction from Bon Appetit is light years (pun intended) ahead of all of the mussel recipes I’ve tried in the past (this one doesn’t count as one of my mussel recipes because it’s not just mussels, gosh I loved this recipe). According to the magazine, “Charmoula is a North African mixture of herbs, oil, lemon and cumin. The spicy charmoula broth needs to chill overnight so be sure to begin one day ahead.” I’ve seen charmoula-inspired sauces, broths and what have you used a lot recently and have tried it a few times, however it was most delicious on the mussels and once you mixed with the chorizo, whoa, it was perfect. If you do decide to try this, do yourself a favor and go ahead and cut yourself plenty of crusty bread. If you think you are going to eat two slices, make four. I’ll be the first to admit that I ate five pretty good-size slices of crusty bread with the broth and there may have been some slurpage even after that.
  
They don’t have the recipe online so here you go. If you are a mussels fan give this a try, it’s your density :). On one note, if you can’t find harissa paste which I luckily did at Central Market, in ten minutes you can make your own and let me tell you this would be good on LOTS of other food items (sandwiches, olives, roasted meats) so give her a try!
 

   

  

 Mussels with Chorizo and Spicy Charmoula Broth
Bon Appetit, December 2009 

1 cup of fresh cilantro sprigs 

1/4 cup paprika 

3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 

4 garlic cloves, chopped 

1 tablespoon tomato paste 

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 

2 teaspoons harissa paste 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

3 cups of vegetable broth 

3 ounces fresh Spanish chorizo. casing reomved, broken into pieces

3 pounds of mussels, scrubbed, debearded

Chopped fresh Italian parsley

Crusty bread

Puree first 8 ingredients in processor until smooth paste forms. Transfer to a large saucepan. Whisk in vegetable broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 20 minutes to blend flavors. Season charmoula broth to taste with salt and pepper. Cool broth slightly; cover and chill overnight to develop flavor.

Heat large pot over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook until browned, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 3 minutes. Add mussels; stir to coat. Add 1 1/2 cups of charmoula broth. Cover pot; cook until mussels open, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes (discard any mussels that do not open).

Transfer cooked mussels to large bowl. Season charmoula broth to taste with salt and pepper. Pour broth over mussels. Sprinkle with parsley and serve dish with crusty bread.

Asian, Dose of Veggies, Fruit, Global Flavor, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Seafood, Soup, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

My Super Slow-Roasted Sunday

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Austin’s weather today was soupy, cold and gray or the perfect weather to slow-roast the heck out of my entire dinner! Cooking Light did a whole slow-roasting recipe smorgasbord and you can just tell the test kitchen staff had fun with these recipes. It makes me wonder if they slow-roasted a lot of things and if so what didn’t make it to the magazine pages? I have to say whatever fun they were having translated into some amazingly delicious recipes. Let’s go through this slowly shall we lambs?

Now it has been written on Cooking Inside the Lines before that I hate salmon. Not dislike or despise, hate, so what compelled me to try this Slow-Roasted Brown Sugar and Dill Cured Salmon recipe? Well, it is in an instant favorite amongst Cooking Light staff, which I always trust, and the flavors of dill and brown sugar made me think it would cover up the salmony flavor that I’m not a fan of. Also, it mentioned that slow-roasting the fish gives it a velvety texture which is definitely what I need if I’m going to try salmon. The result? We have a winner! Now I’m not going to join the salmon cha-cha line but I might be intrigued to shake my hips with this recipe. The brown sugar and dill lended a beautiful flavor to the salmon and they were right, the texture was velvety and made it so much more enjoyable.

To accompany the salmon, I also made the Aromatic Slow-Roasted Tomatoes which, as they mention, brings out the natural sweetness of the plum tomatoes. As I was eating these on top of fresh watercress I thought these would be amazing on top of a pizza or food processed and used for a tomato sauce on top of pasta with Parmesan. I ate them on top of salad and they were delicious, delicious, delicous.

Finally, for dessert, I made the Slow-Roasted Grape and Yogurt Parfaits. Through roasting, the grapes still retained their burst-y (yes that’s a word) texture and it does sweeten them overall. With this recipe they had me at Greek yogurt and honey which is one of my favorite combinations. With the crunchy, toasted walnuts in the layers of parfait you’ve got a perfect, crunchy, creamy, sweet, good-for-you dessert.

On a cooking note if you should desire to recreate this entire meal, I started curing the salmon this morning and then cooked the grapes and tomatoes at the same time and then simply removed when they were complete. Once the salmon was ready I cooked per the time instructed and placed the tomatoes and grapes in around 20 minutes or so at the end with the salmon to warm them up.
As a final side note (sorry for the long post but hey at least it’s about food and not calculus right?), I made a delicious Thai Coconut Lime-Soup with Chicken from Bon Appetit. Now I didn’t have kaffir lime leaves (who does?) or sake (gosh, but I should have that on standby always – tee hee hee) but I made this soup anyway to enjoy for lunch today and tomorrow and it was still awesome. I couldn’t find the recipe online so here you go. Enjoy!
Thai Coconut-Lime Soup with Chicken
Bon Appetit, December 2009
8 First-Course Servings
2 stalks fresh lemongrass
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
4 red Thai chilis or 2 red jalapeno chiles, thinly sliced into rings, seeded (I used jalapenos)
3 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup sake
4 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk (I used the low-fat version)
8 kaffir lime leaves
3 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves plus sprigs for garnish
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons sugar
8 ounces skinless boneless chicken breast halves cut crosswise into thin strips (y’all I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken)
Chopped green onions
Discard all but bottom 4 inches of lemongrass stalks. Peel off tough outer layers. Mince lemongrass. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and ginger; cook until onion beings to soften, about 3 minutes. Add chilis and lemongrass; stir 1 minute. Add broth and sake; simmer 5 minutes. Add coconut milk, lime leaves, fish sauce, cilantro leaves, lime juice and sugar; simmer 30 minutes. Add chicken and simmer just until cooked through about 4 minutes.

Divide soup among bowls. Garnish with green onions and cilantro sprigs.

Everything is better fried, Global Flavor, Includes Alcohol, Seafood

Cooking Light’s Beer-Battered Fish and Chips

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Well, Cooking Light and I are having a blessed day of cooking aren’t we? Let’s see, we’ve gone to Miami, now let’s go across the pond to the U.K. shall we? This was sort of a random lunch as I had some leftover cod from a recipe I tested last night and decided on the spot to make their Beer-Battered Fish and Chips.

YUM! I am most certainly not a fish and chips expert nor do I normally seek them out, so you can imagine how surprised I was that I loved these so much. The breading was perfect and with a bit of lemon juice (they didn’t recommend it but I wanted it anyway), salt and malt vinegar, these were delicious and the small batch of perfectly baked fries really rounded out this traditional meal.

This felt way more indulgent than it really is and I’m sure it is way healthier than the real version. I can see this being a good alternative to fish sticks because it really doesn’t have a fishy taste and gives a satisfying salty, crunch.
Now I managed to get through this post without doing anything stereotypically British, although I must admit that in my head I was using my British voice – you know you have one – while typing this. I did want to share one of my favorite commercials that has a funny British twist.
Here is the recipe, enjoy!
1 pound cod fillets, cut into 3-inch pieces (they recommend Alaskan Cod and I used it too)

 

1 cup dark beer (such as Negro Modelo), divided
1 pound baking potatoes, cut into (1/4-inch) strips
1/4 cup canola oil, divided
3.38 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
Preheat over to 450 degrees. Combine fish and 1/4 cup beer in a medium bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Place potatoes on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oi, and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned and crisp, stirring after 10 minutes. Drain fish; discard liquid. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine remaining 3/4 cup beer, flour, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a medium bowl.
Add fish to beer mixture, tossing gently to coat. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from bowl, shaking off excess batter. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Turn fish over; cook 3 minutes or until done. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve immediately with chips.
Emily Favorite, Everything is better fried, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears, Seafood, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

I Heart Portland (Maine that is)

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Can I share a vision in my mind with you? I envision Portland, Maine as this super duper gentle place full of delicious food and chilly, fall days with beautiful coastlines. I know they have summer but shushie we are in my vision. Maybe something like this…

Now, I have never been to Maine, let alone Portland (someday lambs, someday), but I am still quite happy for the city to receive the honor of America’s Foodiest Small Town 2009 from Bon Appetit. I kind of hate that word foodie or foodiest but that’s another story, because I would go there in a heartbeat after reading about the food.

Wanna hear why? An excerpt from the magazine article to tickle your tastebuds:

First, it’s got great product, from oysters to fiddlehead ferns. Second, the town has attracted stellar chefs who know how to turn these resources into great food. Third, it even has a signature meal, breakfast, that turns the first fare of the day into a celebration of all this bounty. And finally, it has citizens who expect a lot, and get even more.

They had me at breakfast.

The magazine featured this absolutely bonkers recipe from a local restaurant in Maine called Cod with Mussels, Chorizo, Fried Croutons and Saffron Mayonnaise. I say bonkers because wow you guys did I pick a lengthy recipe for the week night or what? What was I thinking? I’ll tell you exactly what I was thinking, I had to try this now and nothing was going to stop me. I also use the word bonkers because the combination of these ingredients was intense, just look at the title of the recipe to paint your own mental picture.

Yes, there was a lot going on here but it all really came together for me to truly love it. From the creamy, saffron mayonnaise and delicious, moist cod that has been roasted in clam juice (hold on it’s not bad) and white wine (see I told you) to the spicy chorizo and succulent mussels with their delicious broth plus the fried sourdough croutons that soaked up said broth to absolute perfection. Wow.

Wow.

I’ll pack the bags you go start the car.

(Recipe photo from Bon Appetit.com)

Seafood, Soup

R.I.P. Mr. Lobster

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I decided to go on an East Coast journey with two dishes from Cooking Light which were the Lobster Rolls and the Roasted Corn, Pepper and Tomato Chowder recipes.
SO I make the lobster filling and chill it for an hour as suggested and then proceed to dedicate my evening to making the chowder. The chowder was very, very good. It had a nice sweetness to it and the bleu cheese and chives really made this dish sing.
As I was finishing up my chowda I pulled out my lobster roll filling and set it on the counter. As I was walking away I heard a loud crash, and at that moment realized that my entire lobster filling had crashed to the floor. Of course my funny little cat, known as Gabriel, smelling lobster ran straight towards the kitchen where I squealed and scooted him out. Look at that face, can’t let my little one get hurt!

Although I was seriously disappointed in my complete idiocy, I did get to taste the filling before it chilled and it was so, so, so good…sigh. Maybe y’all should try it and let me know how it really turns out. :(
I highly recommend the chowder recipe and I have plenty of leftovers for the next few days!
Emily Favorite, Global Flavor, Quick and Delicious, Seafood, Spicy, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

Flexing My Cooking Mussels!

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I love mussels, especially with some warm, toasty bread so you can dip it in the delicious broth once you are done…exquisite. I have never attempted to cook mussels at home and I have to admit this was very similar to my scallop-phobia which I have quickly overcome. Was I as successful with mussels? It is a resounding yes my friends!
I came across this Coconut and Basil Steamed Mussels recipe in Cooking Light and the dialogue in my head was something like:
Emily: “I love mussels but would I dare try to make them at home? I will probably massacre the poor little buggers.”
Emily: “Maybe, but you never know unless you try.”
Yoda: “Do or do not, there is no try.”
I don’t know why Yoda popped in my head but that green, big-eared creature is right, I must just do it!
I was certainly surprised at how super-easy and delicious this turned out. I love the flavor combination of chicken broth, coconut milk, fresh basil, fish sauce, lime juice and Sriracha (spicy!) and it worked beautifully with the mussels. I served this with a side of scallion rice and sauteed spinach as suggested.
I also enjoyed this with a crisp and light Montecillo 2006 Rioja white wine that complemented the flavors really well and is on sale for $10 at Whole Food Market. From the back of the bottle “It is a dry, smooth and fruity wine with notes of pear and wild apple. Suited for drinking as an appertif or with grilled or sauteed fish, seafood, pasta or paella or Emily’s amazing mussels”…ok last part was a stretch.
I will now seek out mussel recipes and see what else can be done, maybe next time with some toasted bread?
Emily Favorite, Fruit, Quick and Delicious, Seafood

It’s SO Easy Being Green!

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I’ve been on a scallop kick lately and if these gentle magazines don’t stop coming up with delicious recipes for these tasty little suckers well then you are just going to have to get used to it!

This Grilled Scallops with Honeydew-Avocado Salsa from Food & Wine magazine is my favorite scallop dish I’ve tested so far. Not only is the ingredient list short and there are only two steps, but the flavors were out of this world. The salsa is fun twist on a traditional salsa verde with honeydew melon and fresh avocado, plus a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. I did add a smidge of honey at the end and folded into the salsa just for good measure. Then you simply grill (or grill on a grill pan inside your house…sigh) the scallops and that’s it. This was on the table in no time and I LOVED it!

Asian, Quick and Delicious, Seafood

Sauteed Scallops with Watercress and Ginger

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I was on a watercress kick last week with the world’s best pizza and all, but I also made this Sauteed Scallops with Watercress and Ginger from Everyday Food which was really good.

This recipe was so super simple for a weeknight meal and had it on the table in about 25 minutes. I did add a dash of red pepper flakes at the end for a little bit of heat. I still can’t find this recipe online so here you go.

Serves 4

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon of peeled minced fresh ginger

3 bunches of watercress (about 5 ounces each), thick ends trimmed

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

1 pound large sea scallops (about 12)

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add garlic and ginger and cook until garlic is lightly golden. 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/2 of the watercress and cook until wilted. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining watercress. Stir in lemon juice and sesame seeds and season with salt and pepper. Wipe skillet clean.

Pat scallops dry with a paper towel; season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in skillet over medium-high. Add scallops and cook until browned on one side, about 3 minutes. turn and cook until opaque throughout, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Serve scallops with watercress.

Emily Favorite, Fruit, Quick and Delicious, Seafood

Strawberry-Avocado Salsa

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So after a quick but intense trip to New York and a looooong drive to and from my hometown I was super beat last night but nothing, I repeat nothing, would stop me from making this.

I came across this Strawberry-Avocado Salsa in this month’s Cooking Light and literally squealed with glee and clapped my hands together. It just sounded so good! This salsa was super easy to make and everything melded so nicely with the creamy avocado, crisp red onion, spicy jalapeno and of course delicious and sweet strawberries. I served over a sauteed piece of halibut and dinner was done in 15 minutes. I wish I had made more so I could eat with tortilla chips but I have learned my lesson for next time. Make this immediately!