Category Archives: Seafood

Seafood, Vegetarian

Shrimp with Chard and Ginger

June 3, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Shrimp with Chard and Ginger

Here’s another one adapted from Melissa Clark (my favorite chef) in the New York Times.

Ingredients:

1 lb. large shrimp
½ tsp. kosher salt for seasoning shrimp
1 bunch chard, washed (about ½ lb.)
Olive oil for frying
3 minced garlic cloves
1 thinly sliced hot chili (optional)
1 medium shallot chopped
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger root
2 tsps. Brown sugar
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tsps. white wine or sherry vinegar

Blot the shrimp dry and season with salt. Cut the stems off of the chard up to where the leaves begin. Roll a hand full of chard leaves like a cigar and cut it into ¼ inch strips.

Add some olive oil to a large skillet and on medium hear lightly brown the shrimp on each side. Remove the shrimp to a dish, add some more oil and add the garlic, chili (if you’re using), shallot and ginger. Sauté for about 3 minutes and then add the sugar and season with salt and black pepper.

Put the greens in the skillet with ¼ cup of water. Mix to coat them with the liquid in the pan. Cover and steam for a few minutes so the greens wilt. Return the shrimp to heat them, drizzle with the vinegar and serve.

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Seafood, Vegetarian

Barramundi

March 10, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Barramundi

Barramundi is a flakey white fish with a thin easily editable skin. It’s a new-to-the-market type of sea bass from the South Pacific and our imports come mainly from Australia.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter
1 minced clove of garlic
Salt & black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp. olive oil
Barramundi fillet

Melt the butter in a small pan on medium heat. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Sauté for a few minutes and then add the lemon juice. Stir, remove from heat and set aside. (This combination of ingredients works for lots of different types of fish. )

Blot the fillet dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Cook the filet skin side down for 3 minutes to crisp the skin.. Turn it over and cook the other side for 2 minutes.

Place the fish in a serving dish, pour the sauce over it and serve.

Shrimp Étouffée

February 26, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Shrimp Étouffée

Different families have different Étouffée recipes. I got this one from a friend with a Louisiana connection. Ideally, it would have been made with crawfish but they’re not so easy to get on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Shrimp is a good substitute.

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons butter
2 cups Cajun trinity
3 minced garlic cloves
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp. Panola or Tobassco hot sauce or to taste
2 tbsp. Cajun spice mix
Salt and black pepper
1 lb. shrimp, cleaned and shelled
2 scallions, green part chopped

Heat the butter in a large pan and add the trinity. Cook until it’s softens and then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the flour, mix and cook for a few minutes then add the tomato paste. Stir and cook for a minute.

Stir in the stock and 1 cup of water. Cook on medium until reduced by half. Now add the hot sauce, bay leaf, Cajun spice mix, salt, and black pepper. Raise heat and continue cooking until the sauce thickens.

Add the shrimp, reduce heat, and stir and coat with the sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the shrimp turn pink. Sprinkle the scallions on top and serve with rice.

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Seafood, Vegetarian

Seafood Sauce

January 1, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Seafood Sauce

For this one I used clams, mussels, shrimp and lobster tails. Add what you like, crabs, scallops, octopus, fish filets, etc. It’s important to steam the clams and mussels separate from the sauce. One sandy clam or mussel can ruin a whole pot of sauce.

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil
Salt, black and red pepper to taste
3 minced garlic cloves
½ tsp. oregano
2 – 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
12 little neck clams
18 mussels
1 doz. shrimp cleaned and shelled
2 lobster tails cut into 2 inch pieces
1 lb. linguine

Start a pot of salted water for the linguine.

Lightly sauté the garlic in oil in a pot large enough to hold the sauce and shellfish. Add salt, red, and black pepper to taste and the oregano. Add the crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

The clams and mussels need to be steamed in a separate pot in case any are sandy. Heat one & a half cups of water and add the shellfish. (Clams and mussels take different amounts of time so it’s easier to do them separately.) Cover the pot and let it steam 8 to 12 minutes (until they open). Discard any shellfish that didn’t open. Add the shellfish to the tomatoes sauce and carefully pour the remaining broth into the sauce leaving any sand behind.

Start to cook the linguine and at the same time add the lobster and shrimp to the sauce. When the pasta is done the sauce will be too. Put the pasta, and shellfish sauce in a serving platter and serve. Please, it’s seafood so no cheese on this sauce.

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Seafood

Shrimp and Vegetable Stir Fry

November 13, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Shrimp and Vegetable Stir Fry

This is a quick recipe and a great way to prepare shrimp. You can make it with 2 cups of any kind of frozen vegetables you like. If you don’t have toasted sesame oil, substitute olive oil.

Ingredients:

1 lb shrimp, peeled and cleaned
5 tbsp. sesame oil, divided
Salt
½ onion, diced
2 cups mixed frozen vegetables
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 minced garlic cloves
2 tbsp. toasted sesame oil

Heat 2 tablespoon of sesame oil in pan over medium heat. Put in the shrimp. season lightly with salt and cook for 1 minute on each side.

Remove the shrimp from the pan and put in the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil.

Add the onion, a pinch of salt and cook for a few minutes on medium heat until it begins to soften. Add in the vegetables, garlic and soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and cook about 1 minute.

Return the shrimp and toss until everything is well mixed and the shrimp is completely cooked. Serve with rice.

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Seafood, Vegetarian

Swordfish au Poivre

October 23, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Swordfish au Poivre

I found this recipe in the New York Times a few weeks ago. Steak au Poivre is fairly common but that technique also works with swordfish. Swordfish au Poivre, same recipe, different results.

Ingredients:

1 swordfish steak (about 1 lb.)
1 kosher salt
1 ½ tbsp. crushed black peppercorns
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
2 tbsp. butter
½ cup brandy
2/3 cup heavy cream

Blot dry and lightly salt the swordfish. Apply the pepper to both sides, pressing it into the fish. Heat the oil in a heavy pan and sear the fish on both sides. Remove it to a warn serving dish.

Add the butter to the pan and sauté the shallot for a few minutes. Add the Cognac carefully (it might ignite) and stir until the alcohol burns off. Then add the cream and parsley and stir for a few minutes. Pour the sauce over the fish, cut into portions, and serve.

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Seafood, Vegetarian

Sea Scallops with Brown Butter

October 16, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Sea Scallops with Brown Butter

This is an adaptation of Chef Lomonaco’s sea scallops with brown butter recipe. He was the chef at Windows of the World at the World Trade Center until September 2001.

Ingredients:

1 lb. sea scallops (about 14)
Salt and black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
3 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. finely chopped shallot
2 tbsp. capers
Juice of ½ lemon
½ cup chopped parsley

Pat the scallops dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pan on high heat. Sauté the scallops until browned. Don’t crowd the pan. If the pan isn’t hot enough or too crowded the scallops will over-cook without browning.

Remove the scallops from the pan and add the butter. When it melts add the shallot and capers. Cook for 2-3 minutes and add the lemon juice and parsley. Return the scallops to the pan and coat with the sauce.

I would serve 3 scallops for an appetizer and 7 for a main course.

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Miscellaneous, Seafood, Vegetarian

Whiting Stew Korean Style

September 9, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Whiting Stew Korean Style

There’s an H Mart not too far from where we live. That’s a national chain of Korean supermarkets. They have great produce and lots of Korean imports and specialties. We were browsing there when I came across a refrigerated package of ingredients for whiting stew.

According to the package, the ingredients included onion, scallion, mushroom, radish, red long hot, shrimp, watercress, sauce. There were also scallions, tofu, mussels, calamari, and some other veggies and greens that I didn’t recognize.

They gave me some simple instructions on how to prepare it. “Put it in a pot with three cups of water and simmer,” and that’s all I had to do to make Whiting Stew Korean Style.

The sauce they included was very spicy. A bit was all that was needed to give the individual servings a nice spark. It was delicious and we’ll make it again.

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Seafood

Rhode Island Calamari

August 19, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Rhode Island Calamari

Rhode Island Calamari – I didn’t know there was such a thing. At the Democratic National Convention last night, during the roll-call Democratic Party chair, Joseph McNamara, endorsed Joe Biden and praised his state’s official appetizer on a short video.

Here’s the video (you can skip any ads).

If you’d like to try making it here’s a recipe from King and Prince Seafood.

Rhode Island Calamari — Rhode Island Style Calamari Rings and Tentacles #041250. Mrs. Friday’s. King & Prince Seafood, Brunswick, GA.

If you want to order it in New York, you can go to Café Fiorello near Lincoln Center. They just call it fried calamari on the menu and don’t mention Rhode Island but the peppers make the difference.

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Pasta, Seafood, Vegetarian

Easy Clam Sauce

May 8, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Easy Clam Sauce

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. So, when you can’t get fresh clams, use canned. You don’t need fresh clams for this one. Clam sauce and linguine traditionally go together but if you can’t get linguine use whatever pasta you like.

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil and more for drizzling
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
Salt, black and red pepper
1 can of clams
1 bottle of clam broth
½ half cup of chopped parsley divided
1 lb. linguine

Put up a pot of salted water for the pasta. You can make the sauce as the linguine cooks.

Heat the oil in another pot on medium heat and add the garlic, salt and pepper. Give the garlic a few minutes to flavor the oil. Strain the canned clams, saving the liquid and add them to the pot. Sauté for a few minutes, add half the parsley and the liquid from the canned clams and the bottle of clam broth. Let it simmer for a few minutes.

When the pasta is almost done add it to the pot with the sauce to finish cooking. Remove it to a serving dish, sprinkle with the rest of the chopped parsley and drizzle it with some olive oil. Most Italians agree that’s it’s a mortal sin to put cheese on seafood.

Click here for updated GALLERY III

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Shrimp with Chard and Ginger

Here’s another one adapted from Melissa Clark (my favorite chef) in the New York Times.

Ingredients:

Blot the shrimp dry and season with salt. Cut the stems off of the chard up to where the leaves begin. Roll a hand full of chard leaves like a cigar and cut it into ¼ inch strips.

Add some olive oil to a large skillet and on medium hear lightly brown the shrimp on each side. Remove the shrimp to a dish, add some more oil and add the garlic, chili (if you’re using), shallot and ginger. Sauté for about 3 minutes and then add the sugar and season with salt and black pepper.

Put the greens in the skillet with ¼ cup of water. Mix to coat them with the liquid in the pan. Cover and steam for a few minutes so the greens wilt. Return the shrimp to heat them, drizzle with the vinegar and serve.

Barramundi

Barramundi is a flakey white fish with a thin easily editable skin. It’s a new-to-the-market type of sea bass from the South Pacific and our imports come mainly from Australia.

Ingredients:

Melt the butter in a small pan on medium heat. Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Sauté for a few minutes and then add the lemon juice. Stir, remove from heat and set aside. (This combination of ingredients works for lots of different types of fish. )

Blot the fillet dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and black pepper.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Cook the filet skin side down for 3 minutes to crisp the skin.. Turn it over and cook the other side for 2 minutes.

Place the fish in a serving dish, pour the sauce over it and serve.

Shrimp Étouffée

Different families have different Étouffée recipes. I got this one from a friend with a Louisiana connection. Ideally, it would have been made with crawfish but they’re not so easy to get on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Shrimp is a good substitute.

Ingredients:

Heat the butter in a large pan and add the trinity. Cook until it’s softens and then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the flour, mix and cook for a few minutes then add the tomato paste. Stir and cook for a minute.

Stir in the stock and 1 cup of water. Cook on medium until reduced by half. Now add the hot sauce, bay leaf, Cajun spice mix, salt, and black pepper. Raise heat and continue cooking until the sauce thickens.

Add the shrimp, reduce heat, and stir and coat with the sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the shrimp turn pink. Sprinkle the scallions on top and serve with rice.

Seafood Sauce

For this one I used clams, mussels, shrimp and lobster tails. Add what you like, crabs, scallops, octopus, fish filets, etc. It’s important to steam the clams and mussels separate from the sauce. One sandy clam or mussel can ruin a whole pot of sauce.

Ingredients:

Start a pot of salted water for the linguine.

Lightly sauté the garlic in oil in a pot large enough to hold the sauce and shellfish. Add salt, red, and black pepper to taste and the oregano. Add the crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

Start to cook the linguine and at the same time add the lobster and shrimp to the sauce. When the pasta is done the sauce will be too. Put the pasta, and shellfish sauce in a serving platter and serve. Please, it’s seafood so no cheese on this sauce.

Shrimp and Vegetable Stir Fry

This is a quick recipe and a great way to prepare shrimp. You can make it with 2 cups of any kind of frozen vegetables you like. If you don’t have toasted sesame oil, substitute olive oil.

Ingredients:

Heat 2 tablespoon of sesame oil in pan over medium heat. Put in the shrimp. season lightly with salt and cook for 1 minute on each side.

Remove the shrimp from the pan and put in the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil.

Add the onion, a pinch of salt and cook for a few minutes on medium heat until it begins to soften. Add in the vegetables, garlic and soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and cook about 1 minute.

Return the shrimp and toss until everything is well mixed and the shrimp is completely cooked. Serve with rice.

Swordfish au Poivre

I found this recipe in the New York Times a few weeks ago. Steak au Poivre is fairly common but that technique also works with swordfish. Swordfish au Poivre, same recipe, different results.

Ingredients:

Add the butter to the pan and sauté the shallot for a few minutes. Add the Cognac carefully (it might ignite) and stir until the alcohol burns off. Then add the cream and parsley and stir for a few minutes. Pour the sauce over the fish, cut into portions, and serve.

Sea Scallops with Brown Butter

This is an adaptation of Chef Lomonaco’s sea scallops with brown butter recipe. He was the chef at Windows of the World at the World Trade Center until September 2001.

Ingredients:

Pat the scallops dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a pan on high heat. Sauté the scallops until browned. Don’t crowd the pan. If the pan isn’t hot enough or too crowded the scallops will over-cook without browning.

Remove the scallops from the pan and add the butter. When it melts add the shallot and capers. Cook for 2-3 minutes and add the lemon juice and parsley. Return the scallops to the pan and coat with the sauce.

I would serve 3 scallops for an appetizer and 7 for a main course.

Whiting Stew Korean Style

There’s an H Mart not too far from where we live. That’s a national chain of Korean supermarkets. They have great produce and lots of Korean imports and specialties. We were browsing there when I came across a refrigerated package of ingredients for whiting stew.

According to the package, the ingredients included onion, scallion, mushroom, radish, red long hot, shrimp, watercress, sauce. There were also scallions, tofu, mussels, calamari, and some other veggies and greens that I didn’t recognize.

They gave me some simple instructions on how to prepare it. “Put it in a pot with three cups of water and simmer,” and that’s all I had to do to make Whiting Stew Korean Style.

The sauce they included was very spicy. A bit was all that was needed to give the individual servings a nice spark. It was delicious and we’ll make it again.

Rhode Island Calamari

Rhode Island Calamari – I didn’t know there was such a thing. At the Democratic National Convention last night, during the roll-call Democratic Party chair, Joseph McNamara, endorsed Joe Biden and praised his state’s official appetizer on a short video.

If you’d like to try making it here’s a recipe from King and Prince Seafood.

If you want to order it in New York, you can go to Café Fiorello near Lincoln Center. They just call it fried calamari on the menu and don’t mention Rhode Island but the peppers make the difference.

Easy Clam Sauce

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. So, when you can’t get fresh clams, use canned. You don’t need fresh clams for this one. Clam sauce and linguine traditionally go together but if you can’t get linguine use whatever pasta you like.

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil and more for drizzling3 cloves of garlic, slicedSalt, black and red pepper1 can of clams1 bottle of clam broth½ half cup of chopped parsley divided1 lb. linguine

Put up a pot of salted water for the pasta. You can make the sauce as the linguine cooks.

When the pasta is almost done add it to the pot with the sauce to finish cooking. Remove it to a serving dish, sprinkle with the rest of the chopped parsley and drizzle it with some olive oil. Most Italians agree that’s it’s a mortal sin to put cheese on seafood.

Reveries and Recipes

¼ cup olive oil and more for drizzling
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
Salt, black and red pepper
1 can of clams
1 bottle of clam broth
½ half cup of chopped parsley divided
1 lb. linguine