Oven Baked Corn Dogs

Ingredients

• 2 boxes corn muffin mix, 8 1/2 ounces each (recommended: Jiffy brand)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon chili powder, eyeball it in your palm
• 2 teaspoons cumin, eyeball it
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper sauce (recommended: Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 8 jumbo pork or beef franks
• Sweet Relish Slaw Salad, recipe follows
• 1 bag reduced fat potato chips (recommended: Cape Cod brand or Terra brand Garlic and Onion flavor Yukon chips)
• Sweet Relish Slaw Salad:
• 1 cup sweet pickle relish
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar, eyeball it
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, eyeball it
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 bay leaves, dried
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 pound shredded cabbage salad (slaw salad mix with carrots and red cabbage, available in produce department marked "Cole Slaw Mix" in 1 pound packages)
• Salt and pepper
• 4 scallions, sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a shallow dish, combine muffin mix with flour, then stir in eggs, milk and melted butter. Season the mix with chili powder, cumin, cayenne and scallions. The batter will be a thick, sticky biscuit dough. Place a hot dog in the bowl of batter and swoosh it around to coat it. Remove coated dog to a nonstick cookie sheet and use your fingers to spread batter on any exposed dog spots. Don't coat it too thick, just shy of 1/2-inch should do the trick. If it's too thick it will just slide off the dog while it's baking, leaving the dog exposed. If that happens don't sweat it, they will still taste great. Repeat until all 8 are coated. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until evenly deep brown all over.

Serve the oven baked corn dogs with your favorite hot dog condiments. Serve with Sweet Relish Slaw Salad and with some baked or reduced-fat chips alongside the dogs.

Sweet Relish Slaw Salad:

In the bottom of a medium, shallow bowl combine relish, vinegar, oil, garlic, bay and cloves. Let stand 5 minutes then fish out the garlic, bay and cloves. Add cabbage salad and toss, let stand 10 to 20 minutes in the refrigerator. Season salad with salt and pepper, toss in the scallions then serve.

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

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Salmon Spread

One of the tastiest appetizers you can prepare for a gathering is a simple salmon spread. Usually salmon spreads are little more than smoked salmon mixed with cream cheese. This spread uses a combination of smoked salmon and freshly poached salmon, mixed together with lemon juice, capers, Dijon, chives, lemon zest, and butter. It’s absolutely delicious on toasted baguette slices.

Salmon Spread Recipe

Yum

Ingredients

• 8 ounces skinless salmon fillet
• 8 ounces smoked salmon, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel
• 2 Tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon drained capers, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

• A baguette

Method

1 Poach salmon fillet by heating 1/2 inch of water in a skillet to boiling. Add salmon fillet; reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until salmon flakes easily when tested with a fork. Carefully remove salmon from water with a slotted spatula or spoon; drain salmon on paper towels. Transfer salmon to medium bowl; cool slightly.

2 With wooden spoon, stir and mash poached salmon until it almost becomes a smooth paste. Add smoked salmon, butter, Dijon mustard, capers, pepper, lemon peel, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons chopped chives; mix thoroughly.

3 Spoon salmon mixture into a serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving or until soft enough to spread. Sprinkle with remaining chopped chives and serve with sliced French baguette, toasted or plain.

Makes about 3 cups of spread, so depending on how thinly or thickly you put it on baguette slices, you could have 20-50 servings. For a lower-carb version, spread over slices of cucumber.

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Spicy Garlic Shrimp with Coconut Rice

Throughout the coastal areas of Latin America, you’ll find local variations of “Camarones al Ajillo”, freshly caught shrimp, fried quickly in olive oil with garlic and chiles. My friend Arturo grew up near the beaches of Acapulco and learned a way of preparing the garlic shrimp classic with jalapenos and coconut milk. The layers of flavor in this dish are fabulous – chile, shrimp, coconut, lemon grass (or lime). If you get the timing right, this dish cooks up quite fast. You can use either peeled or unpeeled shrimp. The peeled is easier to eat, but the unpeeled absorbs flavor from the shells while cooking.

Spicy Garlic Shrimp with Coconut Rice Recipe

• Yield: Serves 3 to 4.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
• 1 pound, about 20 large jumbo shrimp (peeled with tail on or unpeeled, but veins removed)
• 6 large garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 cup of water
• Salt
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, de-ribbed, julienned
• Juice of one lime (or 2 inches of white tender end of lemongrass, finely sliced)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 small cans (5.6 ounces) coconut milk
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of red chili powder or red chili sauce (to taste)
• Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Method

1 Start cooking rice, following package instructions.

2 Pulse garlic, water and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender, just a few pulses, so you can still see chunks of garlic. Pour over shrimp to marinate. Marinate for 10 minutes.

3 Strain the water from the shrimp and garlic mixture. Add the lime juice (or finely sliced lemongrass), jalapeño, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the shrimp mixture.

4 Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in high heat in large sauté pan. Add shrimp. Cook one minute. Add 1 small can of coconut milk. Cook 30 seconds more. Mix in a teaspoon red chili powder or sauce.

5 Put rice into a large bowl. Mix in the second 5.6 ounce can of coconut milk to the cooked rice.

Serve shrimp on rice. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro (optional).

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Smoky Paprika Shrimp Skewers

My dear friend, the ebullient, smiley, and somewhat wacky Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites has a new “schtick”, namely, food on a stick. On a Stick! is Matt’s new cookbook, aimed at the party crowd, and filled with every conceivable food one could put on a stick. There are the expected—kebabs, corn dogs and popsicles—and the whimsical—jello shots, potato chips, and my visual favorite, spaghetti and meatballs. All on a stick. It’s a seriously fun book, and even if you don’t ever try to make some of the more unusual stick foods, just the idea of them may make you smile.

At my last somewhat larger than normal gathering at my house, I decided to try out a few recipes from Matt’s book. This paprika marinated shrimp skewer recipe is the one that we all decided we liked the most. Spicy, smokey, garlicky, with sprinkle of lime. Best part? It was dead easy to make. Cooking for groups larger than say, 2 or 4, tends to fluster me, so when it comes to party food, for me the simpler the better. But those days of just putting out some salsa and chips are long gone. People have higher expectations! Even my parents. If I don’t tempt them with something good, they’ll just stay at home, where they know the food is good. They loved Matt’s shrimp, and went back for seconds.

Smoky Paprika Shrimp Skewers Recipe

• Prep time: 40 minutes
• Cook time: 8 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4.

If you are using frozen shrimp, defrost them safely by putting them in to a bowl of ice water.

Yum

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp sweet paprika
• 2 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 lb of large shrimp, cleaned and peeled, tails on

• Bamboo skewers

Method

1 Soak the skewers in water for at least a half an hour before grilling.

2 In a large bowl whisk together the spices—the paprikas, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper—and the lime juice and olive oil. Add the shrimp and toss to coat with the marinade. Keep chilled for half an hour to an hour.

3 Prepare grill for medium-high direct heat, or heat a grill pan. Thread the shrimp onto skewers (it helps to double thread with two skewers at a time to make it easier to turn over on the grill). Baste the grill grates with some olive oil so that the shrimp don't stick to the grill. Grill or cook a few minutes per side (2-4, depending on the size of the shrimp), until the shrimp are just cooked through. Remove from grill and serve immediately.

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Tilapia with Olives, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes

Tilapia, a tasty farm-raised fish originally from Africa, has become more and more popular here in the states. I recently brought home a whole tilapia from our local Asian fish market and made quite a mess of trying to fillet it myself. Dad pitched in, with no more luck than I, and we ended up throwing the pieces (you couldn’t quite call them fillets anymore) into a fish stew. Now we know better. Just buy the straight fillets.

Tilapia are mild tasting, and relatively inexpensive compared to other fish. Here is a quick and easy, one-pan way of preparing this versatile fish that we found years ago from Better Homes and Gardens. The preparation is similar to Veracruz-style, shallow poached on top of a bed of sliced onions, tomatoes, green olives and mushrooms. It’s fresh, easy, and delicious.

Tilapia with Olives, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4

Feel free to use any tender white fish fillet with this recipe, for example cod or red snapper.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, 1/4 inch slices, sliced lengthwise
• 1 clove garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
• 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup sliced cremini or button mushrooms
• 3/4 cup green pimento-stuffed olives, coarsely chopped
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 6-8 ounce tilapia fillets

Method

1 Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the canned tomatoes and their juices. Add the sliced mushrooms, chopped olives, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.

2 Lay the fish fillets gently on top of the onion tomato olive mixture and spread a little sauce over the fish. Return to a simmer (it's just the juices from the tomatoes that are simmering). Lower the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook or 8 to 10 minutes or until the fish easily flakes when tested with a fork. Use a wide spatula to lift the fillets from the pan to a serving plate. Spoon sauce over fish. Serve with rice, and/or crusty bread.

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Shrimp with Orange Beurre Blanc

At a recent cooking class at Scott’s Seafood (Folsom, CA), Chef David Lamonica set us to work preparing shrimp with orange beurre blanc (a French butter and shallot sauce). Chef David says the best shrimp to get are fresh, Gulf of Mexico White shrimp, still in the shell. Gulf white shrimp are firm and sweet. For this particular dish I used Gulf of Mexico Pink shrimp, which are pink even when they are not yet cooked. The are also sweet, but a little more delicate than the Gulf white. By the way, if you are processing a lot of shrimp, the shells can be saved and used to make bisque or stock.

When choosing shrimp, they should be firm and smell sweet. If you see any yellowing at all, pass on them.

Shrimp with Orange Beurre Blanc Recipe

Yum

Ingredients

Shrimp Ingredients

• Fresh Gulf of Mexico shrimp - 6 per person, or about 1/4 pound per person
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Sauce ingredients (Sauce also posted here. Makes 1 cup, enough for 4-6 servings. Divide or multiply to needs.)

• 2 oranges
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 teaspoons minced shallots
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• Salt and white pepper

Method

1. Peel and de-vein the shrimp. Work with the shrimp one at a time, leaving the rest in a bowl of ice water. Holding on to the body of the shrimp, use your fingers to pull off head if it is still attached, and then the legs. Starting with the head end, gently peel back the shell. Use your fingernails or a knife to cut into the base shell segment. Remove the shrimp from its shell entirely. Place shrimp down flat on a cutting board and use a small sharp knife to make a shallow cut down the back of the shrimp. You may see a dark, vein-like intestinal tract running through the meat. Use your fingers, or the sharp tip of a knife to remove. As you complete each shrimp, put into a bowl of ice water to keep cool. Set aside while you prepare the sauce.

2 Zest half of one orange (about 2 teaspoons) and juice the two oranges (about 3/4 cup). Put the juice, zest, wine and shallots in a sauce pan on medium high heat. Cook until it is syrupy and almost gone.

3 On low heat, whisk in the butter continuously and vigorously, 1 tablespoon at a time. Butter is the only emulsifier for this sauce, and if you slowly add it, continuously stirring, the sauce will achieve a silky smooth texture. Do not let the sauce boil. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm while you continue with the shrimp.

4 Heat a skillet on medium high heat. Drain the shrimp and coat with olive oil. When the pan is hot, add the shrimp and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp about 45 seconds on each side. Add some more olive oil if necessary to keep the shrimp from sticking to the pan. Do not overcook or the shrimp will be tough and rubbery.

Drizzle Beurre Blanc sauce over shrimp, or serve in a separate small container for dipping. Excellent accompanied by brown rice.

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Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich

Recently returned from a Louisiana trip where he enjoyed many a po boy, Hank put these together for us for lunch. So good! ~Elise

What’s not to love about the classic Louisiana po boy sandwich? Most are dead simple, and rely heavily on high-quality ingredients: Super-fresh, local seafood, Creole tomatoes, homemade remoulade sauce, and surpassing bread.

Po boy sandwiches are typically either seafood or roast beef (although I had a roast duck po boy near Grand Isle, Louisiana recently), and the best ones use remoulade, a Cajun version of the classic French mayo-mustard sauce.

But the bread is the real star in a po boy. Do your utmost to find really good bread, with a crackling crust and soft interior. Ideally you would use a French sandwich loaf, like a baguette, but wider and about a foot long. Without good bread, a po boy is pretty po’.

Shrimp po boys are served everywhere in Louisiana, but you can also do the same things with crawfish tails, catfish fillets or oysters—all are common in the Sportsman’s Paradise. Most are fried, but I’ve seen grilled seafood occasionally.

A word on the peanut oil: It is a very common cooking oil in Louisiana, and adds a flavor that will make your shrimp taste more of the Bayou. Personally, if I could not get peanut oil, I’d use lard. But that’s just me. Any vegetable oil will work just fine.

Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich Recipe

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 15 minutes
• Yield: Makes 4 large sandwiches.

If you cant get peanut oil, use any other vegetable oil or lard. And if you don't feel like making remoulade, smear the top of the bread with mayo and the bottom with mustard.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1 pound medium shrimp, shelled, deveined and with tails removed
• 3/4 cup fine cornmeal
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Peanut oil for frying
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 2-3 tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 4 small French sandwich rolls

Remoulade

• 1/4 cup mustard, preferably Creole mustard
• 1 1/4 cups mayo
• 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
• 1 teaspoon pickle juice or vinegar
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce (Crystal, Tabasco, etc)
• 1 large garlic clove, minced and smashed
• 1 Tbsp sweet paprika
• 1-2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

Method

1 If you are making your own remoulade, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and set aside for 30 minutes or so; you don't have to wait that long, but the sauce will be better over time.

2 Pour enough peanut oil in a large frying pan to come up about 1/4 inch, and set the pan over medium-high heat until a small amount of flour sizzles immediately when you drop some in.

 

3 Mix the cornmeal, flour, Cajun seasoning and salt in a large bowl. Working with a few at a time, dredge the shrimp in the egg, then in the cornmeal-flour mixture. Shake off any excess and fry until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes total. Set the fried shrimp aside on paper towels to drain.

4 To assemble the sandwich, slice the sandwich loaves almost all the way through and smear remoulade on both the top and bottom. Lay down a layer of shredded lettuce on the bottom of the sandwich, then arrange the shrimp on top. Lay 3-4 slices of tomato on the shrimp and press the top of the bread down on the bottom, compressing the sandwich a little. Serve at once with hot sauce and a beer.

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Shrimp Pasta Salad

The heat has finally arrived in Northern California, and with it, the need for some cooling pasta salads. Here’s a simple and easy shrimp pasta salad made with those little pink shrimp that you can find in the freezer section of almost any grocery store. While our gulf shrimp fisheries are suffering at the moment, these little shrimp come from sustainable fisheries in the cold, sub-Arctic oceans, either Atlantic or Pacific. They’re called boreal shrimp, Maine shrimp, or just “pink shrimp” because they’re pink even when they’re raw. But you won’t buy them raw. Pink shrimp come already cleaned, processed, and cooked, ready to eat. We’ve made this salad a couple of times already, most recently for a potluck where it was a big hit. Fresh basil, red bell peppers, red onions, and a lemon and olive oil dressing with just a sprinkle of red chili pepper flakes dance well with the shrimp and pasta. We think you’ll like it.

Shrimp Pasta Salad Recipe

• Yield: Serves 4 as a main course, 8 as an appetizer.

Defrost frozen shrimp by placing them in a bowl of cold water. Keep chilled until used. You can easily double the pasta amount if you want to stretch the salad further. The salad is best the same day it is made, otherwise the basil is a bit wilt-y, and the pasta a bit sticky.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound bow-tie (farfalle) or orecchiette pasta, or other short pasta
• Kosher salt
• 2 pounds small pink shrimp (also called Maine shrimp or boreal shrimp, comes already cooked)
• 1 diced red bell pepper
• 1 diced red onion
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1 cup chopped basil leaves (loosely packed)
• 1/3 cup high-quality olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
• Black pepper to taste

Method

1 Cook the pasta in well salted water (like sea water) until al dente, a bit firmer than you would normally eat. (The pasta will absorb some of the salad dressing and soften further after cooking.) Rinse the pasta in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well and put into a large bowl.

2 Rinse the shrimp and drain well. Add them to the bowl and mix. Add the remaining ingredients and gently mix until well combined.

Serve chilled.

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Shrimp and Avocado Salad

What better way to cool down in the heat of summer than with a delicious cold salad? Freshly cooked shrimp and creamy avocado are a perfect match, especially with a crisp vinaigrette. The best news? It only takes a few minutes to prepare.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad Recipe

• Yield: Serves 4.

Preparation time: 10-15 minutes.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb small or extra small shrimp, cooked, peeled, and de-veined
• 2 ripe avocados
• Lettuce - preferably butter lettuce or red leaf lettuce

• Optional - 2 Tbsp chopped roasted walnuts or pistachios
• 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• Lemon slices for garnish

Method

1 Combine oil, vinegar, and green onions in a bowl. Chop shrimp into 1/2 inch pieces and add to oil mixture.

2 Arrange leaves of lettuce on individual plates. Cut avocados in half and remove pits. Remove some of the avocado around the pit area and mix in with the shrimp. With a spoon, carefully scoop out avocado halves from their skins in one piece. Place avocado half on plate with lettuce.

3 Spoon shrimp mixture on to avocado. Sprinkle with walnuts and cilantro (optional).

Serve with lemon slices for garnish.

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Shrimp Quesadilla

Quesadillas have to be my favorite go-to food for lunch. They’re just so easy to make! Especially when you have tortillas and cheese in the fridge, which we almost always do. Recently I had lunch with an old friend at Buck’s of Woodside, a rather famous hang-out for Silicon Valley venture capitalists, and had a spectacular marinated shrimp and Jack cheese quesadilla, smothered in avocado and creme fresca, served on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce. I’ve created my own version here, inspired by that wonderful lunch at Buck’s. I could eat these all day.

Shrimp Quesadilla Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes
• Yield: Serves one.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1/4 pound of medium-small shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 Tbsp of lime or lemon juice
• 1/4 jalapeno or serrano chile, finely minced and/or dash of chile powder
• 1 Tbsp chopped green onion
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
• Salt and pepper
• 2 medium-sized flour tortillas
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 avocado, sliced
• Dollop of sour cream or crema fresca

Method

1 If you are starting with frozen raw shrimp, defrost them by placing them in a bowl of ice water until defrosted. Then poach the raw shrimp for 1 to 2 minutes in boiling water, remove from pan with a slotted spoon, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. If you are starting with frozen cooked shrimp, you can defrost them in a bowl of ice water or lemon juice with ice.

2 Place strained cooked shrimp in a bowl. Add lime or lemon juice, some chopped fresh jalapeno or serrano chile and/or a dash of chile powder (can also use chipotle chiles or chipotle chili powder) to desired level of heat, green onion, and cilantro. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let marinate for 10 to 30 minutes. Strain out the juice.

3 Heat a cast iron or stick-free skillet on medium high. Add a small amount of oil (about 1/2 teaspoon) and spread it around the bottom of the pan with a spatula (you could use butter as well). Place one flour tortilla on the skillet. Flip the tortilla over a few times, 10 seconds between flips. Air pockets should begin to form within the tortilla. Remove the tortilla and repeat with the second tortilla. Leave the second tortilla in the pan and reduce the heat to medium.

4 Sprinkle the tortilla with the grated cheese. Distribute the shrimp mixture on top of the cheese. Place the other tortilla on top. Using two spatulas (one to hold the top in place) flip the quesadilla over when the bottom tortilla is nicely toasted and the cheese has begun to melt. Remove the quesadilla from the pan when the now bottom tortilla has toasted sufficiently.

You can also use just one tortilla instead of two, and fold the tortilla over itself like an omelette.

5 Cut like a pie into six pieces. A pizza wheel works well for this. Place on a serving plate. Serve with avocado slices and sour cream. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

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Salmon with Tomato, Onions, and Capers

Every year in mid September, my friend Jim organizes a group of his friends to go salmon fishing off the coast of Marin, north of San Francisco. For the second year in a row, I didn’t a catch a fish; Jim however was luckier, and I lucky to be his friend as I got to take some gorgeous salmon home with me. Here is how we cooked it up today – poached in a tomato, onion, lemon, and caper sauce.

Salmon with Tomato, Onions, and Capers Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4.

Yum

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
• 2 large fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• The juice of one meyer lemon, or half a regular lemon with a teaspoon of sugar
• 2 Tbsp of capers, drained
• 1 teaspoon of chopped jalapeño peppers (no seeds, no stem, no ribs) either fresh or pickled
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper
• 2 fresh salmon fillets, 1/2 lb each

Method

1 In a large, wide (at least 12 inches wide) saucepan (one that comes with a cover), heat olive oil on medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the tomatoes, thyme, lemon zest, lemon juice, capers, and jalapeño peppers. Simmer for 10 minutes, adding a little water if needed to prevent the sauce from getting too dry. Salt and pepper to taste.

2 Add 1/3 a cup of white wine - a simple Chardonnay will work. Add 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a simmer. Place the fillets in the pan on top of the sauce, skin side down, if the fillets are still in their skin. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the cuts of fish are. Poke the fish with a fork and look for doneness. The fish should still be somewhat rare in the middle, but not raw. Serve immediately, with tomato sauce generously applied.

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Sautéed Petrale Sole in Herb Butter Sauce

Raised Catholic, I grew up eating fish every Friday (not just during Lent as the custom goes these days). Often it was just a simple tuna macaroni salad, but we kids were exposed to a variety of fish and seafood on a regular basis. Thank goodness! We still eat fish almost every Friday (old habits die hard) and are always looking for new ideas to cook with the fresh fish we find at the market. Here is a recipe for petrale sole (a Pacific flounder) that is served with a quick sauce made with shallots, white wine, and butter. You could use this sauce over any mild fish fillet. This recipe we adapted from a recipe in a newsletter from a favorite local bistro, Paul Martin’s which focuses on using organic, local ingredients.

Do you have a preferred way of preparing sole fillets? Or other Lenten dishes? If so, please let us know about it in the comments.

Sautéed Petrale Sole in Herb Butter Sauce Recipe

• Yield: Serves 4.

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh petrale sole fillets
• Salt, to taste
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp minced shallots
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 Tbsp, cut into 4 pieces, cold, unsalted butter
• Fresh thyme leaves (or any fresh herb for flavor)
• Minced fresh chives
• Lemon wedges (use Meyer lemons if available)

Method

1 Pat the sole fillets dry with paper towels. There is a lot of moisture in petrale sole, so you might have to pat them dry twice. Lightly salt the fillets on both sides.

2 Heat oil in a large, stick-free skillet on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, carefully add the fillets to the pan. Brown the fillets gently on both sides. Fish is cooked when it flakes easily and is no longer translucent. Sole fillets will cook up very quickly, no more than a few minutes on each side, so don't walk away from the pan while cooking. Once done, remove the fillets from pan and place on a warm plate.

3 Add shallots to the pan and sauté until soft. Deglaze the pan with white wine and scrape up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Add butter and gently swirl to make a sauce. Add herbs, and squeeze a little lemon juice into the sauce. Spoon over the sole.

Serve immediately.

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Salmon Mousse

From the recipe archive. First posted in 2003.

Remember those retro fish molds? I have two of them, both of which I have used to make this salmon mousse over the years. But try as I may, it’s almost impossible to make salmon mousse in a fish mold look good. These days I take the easy way and just pour the mousse mixture into serving bowls, chill until set, and serve. This doesn’t mean the fish molds are retired, I just have to be up for a decorating challenge if I use them again. In any case, this is an easy-to-make, delicious salmon mousse, not too rich, and quite flavorful. The recipe comes from my friend Tina Seelig’s book The Epicurean Laboratory, now long out of print (but a great book if you can get a hold of a used copy.) This mousse was presented to a flock of teenagers who hungrily ate it up with loud exclamations of “This is GREAT!”

Salmon Mousse Recipe

• Prep time: 6 hours, 25 minutes
• Yield: Serves 12 as an appetizer.

You can either pour the salmon mousse mixture into a mold, and then chill it and un-mold it when set, or you can pour the salmon mousse mixture into crocks, tureens, or attractive bowls and serve it as is.

Yum

Ingredients

• 1 lb freshly cooked or canned boneless salmon
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced green pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese
• 1 can concentrated tomato soup or 8 ounces of puréed tomato sauce
• Tabasco sauce
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 4 teaspoons (2 envelopes) unflavored, unsweetened gelatin

• One greased or stick-free 6 cup mold, or a few serving bowls.

Method

1 In a bowl, mix salmon, celery, green pepper, onion, dill, mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice.

2 In a saucespan, melt the cream cheese. Add the tomato soup or tomato sauce and continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add several dashes of Tabasco sauce. Pour the cream cheese and tomato soup mixture into the salmon mixture and mix thoroughly.

3 Pour the cold water into a small pot and stir in the gelatin. Be sure to use cold water. Gelatin needs this to disperse properly. Slowly heat the water and gelatin just until the gelatin dissoves. Do not boil the gelatin or it will not gel properly. Add the dissolved gelatin to the salmon mixture and mix well. Pour the mixture into a decorative mold or into serving bowls and refrigerate for 6 hours, or until firm.

4  If using a decorative mold, unmold the salmon mousse by placing the bottom of the mold in hot water for a few seconds and turn the mold over onto a large serving dish to release the mousse. The surface of the mousse may appear a bit ragged. If you cover with plastic wrap and re-chill in the refrigerator, it should become more smooth.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve salmon mousse with sliced avocados, celery sticks, lettuce leaves, tomatoes, olives, slices of baguette, and/or crackers.

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Broiled Lobster Tail with Brown Butter Sauce

Broiled lobster tail—the quintessential fancy dinner menu item, isn’t it? Unlike whole boiled or steamed lobster, which is almost impossible to eat delicately, with broiled lobster tail the work has already been done for you. The perfectly cooked meat sits atop the lobster’s bright red shell. All you have to do is cut and eat. Of course this requires a bit more effort on the part of the one preparing the lobster tail. The lobster’s hard shell must be cut open, the meat dislodged from the walls of the shell and pulled out to rest on top before broiling. But in the end, you have a lovely meal that doesn’t require bibs, nutcrackers, or wads of napkins.

For this lobster tail recipe we are using a sauce of browned butter with parsley, lemon zest, shallots, and some toasted hazelnuts. If you don’t want to go to that trouble, you can just use plain melted butter with some salt, pepper, and maybe a little paprika to dust the top of the lobster meat before broiling. But I highly recommend browning the butter first. Just that extra step will intensify the butter flavor which goes so well with lobster. I’ve made broiled lobster both ways and will not go back to plain butter. Browned is so much better. Toasted hazelnuts are also rather buttery in taste add a lovely crunch to each bite. Do you have a special way of preparing lobster tails? Please let us know about it in the comments. Thanks!

Broiled Lobster Tail with Brown Butter Sauce Recipe

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 25 minutes
• Yield: Serves 2.

If starting with frozen lobster tails, prepare a bowl with 2 quarts of cold water and 1 Tbsp salt. Stir to dissolve the salt. Place the lobster tails in the water. Add a few ice cubes. Let sit for half hour to an hour until defrosted.

This recipe calls for lobster tails that are 6 to 8 ounces each. If you are cooking smaller or larger lobster tails, you'll need to adjust the broiling time down or up. For example, a 3 ounce lobster tail should take 3 to 4 minutes to broil.

The trickiest part of working with lobster tails is opening the shell and loosening the meat enough to pull it through the cut you've made in the shell. Depending on at what point of the lobster's molting cycle the lobster was caught, the shell can be either really thick and strong, or thin and easy to manipulate. Take care if working with an especially hard shell so you don't cut yourself, and use a strong hand. (I recommend watching this video for a good explanation of the technique.)

Yum

Ingredients

• 2 lobster tails 6-8 ounces each, fresh or frozen
• 1/4 cup unsalted raw hazelnuts
• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp minced shallots
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Pinch of salt

Method

If starting with frozen lobster tails, while the lobster tails are defrosting, prepare the hazelnut brown butter sauce.

1 Toast hazelnuts in a small skillet on medium to medium high heat. When fragrant and lightly browned, remove hazelnuts from pan and place in the center a dry, clean dish towel. Rub the hazelnuts together inside of the dish towel to remove as much of the papery dark skins as you can. Coarsely chop them and set aside.

2 In a small stainless steel saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat. (Use stainless so you will easily be able to tell when the butter is browning.) After the butter melts, it will foam up, and recede. The milk solids will fall to the bottom of the pan. Continue to heat and the milk solids will start to brown giving the melted butter a wonderful nutty aroma. Let most of the milk solids brown and then remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, to remove the browned milk solids.  Remove 2 Tbsp of the melted browned butter and set aside (they will be brushed on to the lobster tails before broiling. (See more details in How to Brown Butter.)

3 To the remaining brown butter, add the chopped hazelnuts, parsley, shallots, lemon zest and salt. Set aside.

  

4 Place rack in medium position in oven. Preheat broiler. Place a layer of foil over a broiling pan or roasting pan. Using kitchen shears or strong scissors, cut the top side of the lobster tail shells lengthwise, from open end to the base of the tail. To help make the shell easier to teal with, put the tail upside-down in the palm of your hand and squeeze to break the translucent bottom shell (see this useful video I found on YouTube). Grip the sides of the shell and pull open by about an inch or two. Using your finger, carefully wiggle between the lobster meat and the shell and separate the meat from the shell.   Then gently pull the meat up through the crack you've created, keeping the meat attached to the tail, and let the lobster meat sit on top of the shell. Place the tails on the foil-lined broiling pan.

5 Pull back the lobster meat to expose as much of it as possible. Brush the exposed lobster meat with the unadorned browned butter you set aside in step 2. Broil for 7 to 10 minutes until the meat is cooked through (less time for smaller lobster tails), and the shells are bright red. I recommend using a meat thermometer, which should read 145°F when the lobster is done.

6 When the lobster tails are done, remove from oven and place on serving plates. Spoon the browned butter hazelnut sauce over the lobster meat of the lobster tails to serve.

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Sesame Fish Sticks

Fish sticks don’t have to come from a box; they’re easy enough to make. A friend recently gave me a great cookbook for kids (thanks, Nicky!) that had this fun-sounding recipe for sesame fish sticks, just the thing you might be able to convince a kid to try cooking. I didn’t have any kids close by to corral into cooking today, but made some for my folks (do they count as kids?) who loved them. The original recipe calls for serving them with tartar sauce or ketchup, but I think the sesame coating goes well with an orange or Asian dipping sauce; I’ve included recipes for both.

Sesame Fish Sticks Recipe

• Yield: Serves 4-6.

If you don't want or have sesame seeds, just dredge the fish sticks once more in the flour after you've coated them with egg, for plain fish sticks.

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Ingredients

Fish Sticks

• 1 1/2 lbs fish fillets (cod, tilapia, red snapper, halibut)
• 3/4 cup flour
• Salt and pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup sesame seeds
• Vegetable oil

Orange marmalade dipping sauce

• 1/3 cup orange marmalade
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon of powdered ginger or 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• Pinch of salt

Spicy sweet and sour dipping sauce

• 3/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons red chili pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 large clove garlic, minced

Method

1 Rinse the fish fillets in cold water. Cut them into approximate 1 inch by 5 inch pieces, following the lines of the fillets. Remove any bones that may remain in the fillets. Lay out 3 separate dishes for dredging, one with flour that has salt and pepper sprinkled and mixed in, one with beaten egg, and the last with sesame seeds. Dredge the fish sticks first in flour, then in beaten egg, then in sesame seeds. Reserve to a plate.

2 Put enough vegetable oil in a large skillet to generously coat the bottom of the pan (about 1/4 cup). Heat the skillet on medium high until the oil is shimmering. Test the oil by dropping a bit of flour into the pan, if it sizzles the pan is ready. Working in batches, add the fish sticks to the pan, leaving enough room around them so that they aren't crowded. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until they are well browned on all sides. Remove the fish sticks to a plate lined with a paper towel. Keep warmed in the oven at 160°F while you finish frying the other batches of fish sticks. Add more oil as necessary to the pan to keep the bottom of the pan coated as you fry subsequent batches.

3 To make either of the dipping sauces, put the sauce ingredients into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, let cook for 4 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat and let cool a little before serving.

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