13 February 2017 Linguine with Clams and Confit Garlic Sauce

Linguine with Clams and Confit Garlic Sauce

February 13, 2017 By

I was watching an old episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate – SAUCED last weekend where Chef Michael Psilakis talked about the linguine and clam sauce at Don Peppe in Queens, NY (watch the mouth-watering episode here). That’s basically all I could think of this whole past week so I decided to try to recreate the simple yet delish dish.

First, please use good quality pasta – my favorite is Delverde. Next, buy your clams from a reputable source. Last, take the time to really confit (slow cook for a long time) the garlic – it’s key in this recipe.

If you want a slightly thicker sauce, you could create a slurry of ¼ cup water and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and add right before step 4. I don’t think it’s necessary and some, I’m sure, would find this sacrilegious.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of linguine or fettucine, cooked 1 minute less than package direction, with ½ cup pasta cooking water reserved
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 10 whole garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 2 dozens little neck clams
  • 3 Tbsp. butter
  • Chopped Italian parsley, optional

Directions:

  1. In a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic cloves and allow to cook for 20 minutes. If the cloves are smaller and they begin to brown early in the cooking process, lower the heat to low – make sure the cloves don’t burn!
  2. Add the garlic cloves and the cooking oil to a large sauté pan that has a lid. Turn the heat to medium and add the ½ cup pasta cooking water, wine, lemon juice, red pepper, salt and pepper to the oil. Bring to a simmer and whisk to combine.
  3. Add the clams to the sauté pan, cover with the lid and cook for 3-4 minutes until the clams have opened. Discard any clams that didn’t open (unopened clams = bad clams). Remove the clams to a large serving bowl, leaving the sauce in the sauté pan.
  4. Lower the heat to low and add the butter, swirling until fully melted.
  5. Add the pasta and gently stir to coat in the sauce. Add the parsley, if using, then add the sauce and pasta to the serving bowl with the clams, tossing gently to combine.
  6. Serve with crusty bread.

Makes two VERY generous portions.

 

Filed Under: American, Entrees, Italian, Sauce, Seafood Tagged With: , , ,
29 January 2017 Buffalo Shrimp – Hooters Copycat

Buffalo Shrimp – Hooters Copycat

January 29, 2017 By

Buffalo ShrimpThe “big game” is next weekend and I’ve been trying to come up with a couple appetizers to make while we watch the game. Chicken wings are always a winner, but my all-time favorite Buffalo anything is by far Buffalo shrimp. I know I’m not supposed to like chain restaurants as a discerning foodie, but the Buffalo shrimp at Hooters at the greatest. I’ve used the breading and Buffalo sauce that my sister’s come up with in terms of Hooters wings copycat but simply used large shrimp in place of the chicken.

These are absolutely fabulous with the right amount of heat – tangy but not scorching. Pair these with the typical carrot and celery sticks and a pool of chunky blue cheese dressing.

Don’t like seafood? Use chicken tenders! Don’t like a heavy saucing like I do (see image below)? Add half the sauce!

Shrimp Marinade Ingredients:

  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
  • 2 tsp. each creole seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper
  • 1 pound large deveined peeled shrimp (I used 21-25 count)

Buffalo Sauce Ingredients:

  • ¼ pound butter (1 stick)
  • 1 cup hot sauce (I use Frank’s)
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Coating Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 2 tsp. creole seasoning
  • 1 tsp. black pepper

Marinade Directions:

  1. Heat the vegetal oil in a large, heavy saucepan (or use an electric fryer) until deep-fry thermometer reaches 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, mustard and spices to create a thick marinade. Toss the shrimp in the marinade to fully coat and set aside for about 15 minutes.

Buffalo Sauce Directions:

  1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over high heat. Add the hot sauce, garlic powder and lemon juice – whisk to combine. Pour the hot liquid to a heat-proof bowl.

Coating Directions:

  1. Add all the ingredients to a large ziptop bag, shake well.
  2. Toss the shrimp in the corn flour in the bag to coat well.
  3. Working in batches (I did three batches), shake the excess corn flour coating off the shrimp and carefully place in the hot oil. Cook each batch of shrimp for 4 minutes then drain on paper towels.
  4. Immediately toss shrimp in buffalo sauce.

Serves 4 as appetizer portions.

Filed Under: American, Appetizers, Seafood, Snacks, Starters Tagged With: , , ,
20 April 2015 Lobster Thermidor Dip

Lobster Thermidor Dip

April 20, 2015 By

Lobster Thermidor DipWhen I was a small kid growing up in Quebec in the late 70s and early 80s, THE indulgent, luxurious dish one could treat herself to was Lobster Thermidor. I remember my mom raving about it and all I knew is that only the best restaurants served it.

According to Wikipedia, “Lobster Thermidor was created in 1894 by Marie’s, a Parisian restaurant near the theatre Comédie Française, to honor the opening of the play Thermidor by Victorien Sardou”.

In this dip, I used some of the flavors of the original dish to create a casual way to enjoy it. Don’t have any lobster on hand? Don’t fret – just use crab or shrimps.

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 3 Tbs. flour
  • 2 Tbs. dry sherry or brandy
  • 2 Tbs. dry white wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 Tbs. minced flat leaf parsley
  • 1 cup heavy cream (could use light cream)
  • 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 2 cups cooked fresh lobster meat, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • ½ cup grated Gruyere cheese

Directions:

  1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add the shallots and sauté 1 minute, stirring to ensure even cooking. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute. Add the sherry (or brandy), the white wine and the chicken broth and simmer 4 minutes, whisking frequently.
  2. Add the Parmesan cheese, the parsley, the cream and the Dijon mustard and simmer over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with the salt and pepper.
  3. Add the lobster meat and gently stir to coat with the sauce.
  4. Pour the lobster mixture in a shallow, oven-safe baking dish. Sprinkle with the Gruyere cheese and place under broiler for 1 minute or until cheese is melted and beginning to brown. 
  5. Serve with crackers and crudités.

6 servings.

Filed Under: Cheese, French, Seafood, Starters Tagged With: , ,
21 March 2015 Souper Easy Clam Chowder

Souper Easy Clam Chowder

March 21, 2015 By

Clam ChowderThere’s the constant debate of white or red clam chowder. For me, there’s no contest that white, thick, velvety New England-style chowder is where it’s at.

Ingredients:

  • 6 bacon slices, chopped
  • 1 1/2 large onions, chopped
  • 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes(2 large), peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 10-ounce cans baby clams, drained, liquid reserved
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup bottled clam juice
  • 2 15-ounce cans cream-style corn
  • 1 Tbs. Thyme

Directions:

Cook chopped bacon in heavy saucepan over medium heat until fat is rendered and bacon begins to brown.  Add onions and sauté 10 minutes.  Add potatoes and red pepper and sauté 1 minute.  Add reserved liquid, milk, and bottled clam juice.  Simmer chowder uncovered until vegetables are tender, 15 minutes.

Add corn and clams to chowder; simmer 5 minutes.  Mix in thyme and salt and pepper.

4 Serving

Filed Under: American, Potatoes, Seafood, Soups Tagged With: , ,
29 January 2015 Easy Valentine’s Day Menu and Wine Pairings

Easy Valentine’s Day Menu and Wine Pairings

January 29, 2015 By

happy valentines day 2014From experience, we all know Valentine’s Day at a restaurant can be hectic and restricted to fixed menus. For those of you who prefer to stay home and cook up a romantic meal, here is some inspirational recipes with affordable wine recommendations. 

BONUS – breakfast:  Waffles with Raspberries and Nutella

Whichever dish you decide to prepare for your loved one(s) this Valentine’s Day, I hope your meal is paired with love.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: American, Beef, Breakfast, Desserts, Entrees, French, Seafood, Starters Tagged With: ,
11 November 2014 Easy Shrimp Etouffee

Easy Shrimp Etouffee

November 11, 2014 By

Shrimp EtouffeeIt’s fall and that means time for comfort food at our home. One of our favorite comforting meals is etouffée, the rich, spicy dish that originated in Louisiana. While it looks a bit complicated, this dish is quite simple: Start with a deeply-colored roux (butter and flour mixture) then add the ‘holy trinity’ – celery, onion and bell pepper, and you’re almost all the way there! While we’ve enjoyed etouffée with crawfish and Andouille sausage, this version with easy-to-find shrimp is sensational. Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp. plus 1 Tbsp. butter, divided
  • 4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup diced celery
  • ½ cup diced bell pepper
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 cup bottled clam juice
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  • ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. Pork Mafia Memphis Mud or Cajun seasoning
  • 1 pound medium shrimps, shelled, deveined and cooked
  • 4 Tbsp. chopped scallions

Pork Mafia SpiceDirections:

  1. Over medium heat, melt four tablespoons of butter in a large cast iron pan then add the flour. Whisk the flour mixture, known as a roux, frequently until it is the color of peanut butter, about 10 minutes.
  2. Add the celery, bell pepper and onion to the roux and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute.
  3. Add the clam juice and broth to the vegetable mixture and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen up all the brown bits. Add the tomatoes and seasonings and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  4. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir.
  5. Serve the etouffée over white rice and garnish with scallions.

Makes 4 servings.

Filed Under: American, Entrees, Seafood, Starters, Vegetables Tagged With: , , ,

5th Annual Food & Wine Chickie LobsterFest

July 8, 2014 By

LobsterThis past weekend, I hosted my annual Lobsterfest on one of the nicest evenings of the season. I must be living well as I got cloudless skies and 75 degree weather.

This year, I started our meal with one of my favorite summer shareable dishes, simply-grilled bread with a spread of sheep’s milk ricotta drizzled with good Greek olive oil, red pepper flakes, lemon zest and salt and pepper. It could also be made with farm-fresh cow’s milk ricotta. It’s light and flavorful – a winning combination.

Ricotta Spread

Ricotta Spread

My starter was a crisp, ice-cold wedge with blue cheese dressing then topped with yellow chopped tomatoes and crispy bacon. While not very original, my guests commented on how great the super cold salad was on a warm evening.

The main course, of course, was Maine lobsters. My guy sets up a giant pot over a propane-fueled burner and we cook the crustaceans outdoor preventing my home from smelling like a seafood market for days – I highly recommend this technique if you can swing it.

Wedge

Wedge

I’ve shared the perfect way to boil lobsters in the past (Lobster Boiling 101), it’s an oldie but a goodie. I served my 2 1/2 pound lobsters simply with Basmati rice right out of the steamer and my family’s prized Lemon Butter Sauce.

For dessert, and to continue with the Maine theme, I made a Crumb Top Blueberry Pie – what a gorgeous and delicious pie!!! I’ll be fixing this again over the summer as it was simply outstanding.

Blueberry Pie

Blueberry Pie

All in all, it was a great summer night spent with dear friends that reminded me a bit of summers spent in Maine during my youth. It’s making me look forward to going to the Maine shore in a couple weeks even more.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: American, Cheese, Desserts, Entrees, Fruits, Seafood, Sides, Starters Tagged With: , , , ,
12 June 2014 Blue Apron – My Experience

Blue Apron – My Experience

June 12, 2014 By
Delivery Box

Delivery Box

A couple weeks ago, I was offered a trial shipment of Blue Apron food through my blogging efforts. As an avid cook, I wasn’t sold on the idea of receiving “pre-packaged” food in the mail, but after reviewing the online program offered by Blue Apron, I decided to give it a go.

Delivery Ingredients

Delivery Ingredients

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Apron endeavors to make cooking fun and easy by providing clients all the ingredients they need to make a delicious meal in exactly the right proportions. The name Blue Apron comes from the apron originally worn by apprentice chefs in France – a symbol of lifelong learning in cooking.

Detailed Recipe

Detailed Recipe

The fresh, seasonal ingredients are sourced from artisanal purveyors with emphasis on sustainable practices. Clients receive carefully-packaged ingredients (many not found in standard supermarkets) in a refrigerated box for ensured freshness. Clients choose their delivery days and can skip weeks where food delivery isn’t needed. Meals are based upon dietary preferences.

What I find super is that even novice (or pre-novice) cooks can achieve complete meals with little efforts. The week’s step-by-step recipes come with the food delivery and can also be accessed online. The original recipes help cooks create complete meals with 500-700 calories per serving that typically take less than 30 minutes to prepare. The pre-portioned ingredients help save time for clients and also help reduce waste.

Pan Fried Orange Shrimp

Pan Fried Orange Shrimp

Prices for the service start at $9.99 per person per meal which might appear steep at first glance but isn’t once the first tasty meal is on the table. The first dish I prepared using my Blue Apron delivery was the  

To get started with the program, please click here. It’s a great way to learn how to cook healthy meals for the family without the worry of recipe testing.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: Asian, Entrees, Other Neat Things, Seafood, Vegetables Tagged With: , ,
7 May 2014 Easy Shrimp Scampi

Easy Shrimp Scampi

May 7, 2014 By

Updated January 17, 2022

The other night, the fridge was sort of bare but I had a pound of large shrimp so decided to use a few pantry ingredients to make a quick shrimp scampi.

I like to use elephant garlic as it’s milder than standard garlic and won’t completely overpower this dish. I’d say if you’re calorie-conscious and trying to not use all the butter listed in this recipe, don’t really bother with this one – it’s meant to be an indulgence!

I served the dish with a half of a pound of cooked linguini that I tossed in the sauce at the last minute. Would be good with rice or just steamed vegetables also.

Ingredients:

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 elephant garlic clove (or 8 regular garlic cloves), minced
  • 1 pound large-jumbo shrimps, peeled and deveined
  • Juice of 2 lemons, about ¼ cup
  • ½ cup clam juice or vegetable/chicken broth
  • Dash of Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ tsp. paprika
  • ¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • ½ tsp. each salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to broil.
  2. Melt butter in a medium ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until lightly golden, 3 – 4 minutes. Add shrimps and cook until well coated with butter and garlic, 1 to 2 minutes. Add lemon juice, clam juice (or broth) and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 2 minutes.
  3. Uncover the skillet and sprinkle the shrimps with paprika. Transfer skillet to broiler and broil until shrimps are lightly browned and cooked through, 5 minutes.
  4. Remove skillet from broiler, top with breadcrumbs and drizzle with oil. Return skillet to broiler and broil until breadcrumbs are lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; serve immediately.

Serves 2 as entrees or 4 as starters.

Recipe adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe.

Filed Under: Entrees, Italian, Pasta, Seafood Tagged With: , , , ,
18 February 2014 Easy Crawfish Etouffée

Easy Crawfish Etouffée

February 18, 2014 By

EtouffeeOne of my favorite restaurants in Fort Lauderdale, where I lived for over 20 years, was Creolina’s and it served some of the best crawfish etouffée I’ve ever had. I enjoy making this deeply-flavored dish at home as it seems rewarding for me to make a roux, let the holy trinity (typically onion, green bell pepper and celery) cook in the hot butter/flour and simmer crawfish in the concoction.

Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity

This version doesn’t go through the process of making a homemade stock from the crawfish heads and peels. The roux isn’t cooked for 45 so it’s lighter in color and flavor yet still delicious. Another tweak to the tradition recipe I’ve made here was to use red bell pepper instead of green as I like the flavor better and the red color looks pretty in this dish. Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • 4 Tbsp. flour
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • ½ cup celery, diced
  • ½ cup red bell pepper, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. thyme, chopped
  • 1 cup clam juice
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup tomato, diced
  • 1 Tbsp. creole seasoning
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 pound cooked crawfish, shells and heads removed
  • 1 tsp. hot sauce (I use Crystal)
  • ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • ¼ cup scallions, chopped

Roux after 10 Minutes

Roux after 10 Minutes

Directions:

  1. Melt the butter in a large cast iron pan over medium heat and cook until it starts to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and whisk to incorporate and break up any lumps. Simmer over medium-low heat until it turns the color of peanut butter, about 15 minutes, whisking frequently.
  2. Add the onion, celery and red bell pepper to the roux and cook until tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for an additional minute.
  4. Whisk in the clam juice and broth ensuring any clumpy roux is broken down, Add the tomatoes, creole seasoning and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.
  5. Add the crawfish and cook about 3 minutes to just warm the crawfish.
  6. Season with hot sauce, salt and pepper then add the butter and lemon juice.
  7. Serve the etouffée over white rice and garnish with scallions.

Serves 4.

Filed Under: American, Entrees, Seafood, Vegetables Tagged With: , , ,
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