deliciousness

halibut baked in a bag

via Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef Takes Off
serves 4-6 

1 1.5-lb. filet of halibut (the book used whole sea bass instead of a filet)
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 bulb of fennel, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
sea salt, and ground black pepper
1 tbsp of fennel seeds
2 handfuls of fresh herbs (I used rosemary and (too much) dill)
2 lemons
olive oil 

Preheat the oven to 425. Tear off a piece of aluminum foil at least 3 times as long as the fish. (Note: book advises foil be 5 times as long and folding it in half to double thickness but I somehow had extra strength foil). In the middle of the foil, mix red onion, fennel, and garlic. Place fish on veg and season with salt, pepper, and fennel seeds, then top with herbs. (If using whole fish, stuff herbs in the fish.) Make sure there’s enough salt for the veg too! Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the fish, slice the second and distribute the slices over the filet, and pour over with olive oil.

Fold the foil over the fish and seal the three edges tightly, without piercing the foil. Tip: align the foil lengthwise first and fold the edges create a seal. Before rolling down the long edge, pat the veg from the bottom-up and outside-in to make the shape more cylindrical than rectangular (think burrito-makers when you order too much salsa/guacamole/sides/everything delicious). Then fold the three edges in, creating a tight fish-foil burrito. 

Set on a baking sheet and cook in the preheated oven for 10 minutes per lb. Please keep note if your filet is thicker in some areas than others - my 1.5 lb fish needed an extra 10 minutes in the oven and I removed the thinner tail end of the filet after 20 minute to prevent overcooking. Once removed from the oven, let the fish rest for 5 minutes before serving.

tom yam kung - spicy soup with lemongrass

via vatcharin bhumichitr’s gourmet thai in minutes
serves 4

2.5 cups chicken broth
1 lemongrass stalk, bruised and chopped into pieces
4 kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped
2 small fresh red chiles, finely chopped
button mushrooms
shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
cilantro leaves

in a saucepan, heat the broth to boiling. add lemongrass, lime leaves, chiles, and mushrooms, and return to boil. add shrimp, fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar and simmer until shrimp cooked (about a minute).

white wine and tarragon steamed mussels

adapted from jon shook and vinny dotolo’s two dudes, one pan
serves 4

olive oil, salt, pepper
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like spicy)
3 lb mussels, cleaned (see note below)
2 cups heavy cream
1 loaf bread
1 bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped
2 1/2 tbsp roughly chopped tarragon

NOTE: Make sure your mussels are ALIVE when you get home. They should be closed - if they’re open (and stay open when you tap them), they’re dead. Likewise, if they are closed after being cooked, they are dead. UNSALVAGEABLE! To clean mussels, dump in a big bowl of water with a little flour or corn starch mixed in. Rinse, then debeard - pull off the hairy threads that poke out around the tip.

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium high heat. Add shallots and garlic, lightly season (think of mussels as pre-seasoned), and cook until they begin to brown (2 min). Make sure you don’t burn the garlic! Pour in wine, scraping browned bits off the bottom of the pot, and stir in red pepper flakes.

Add mussels to pot, cover, and steam until just beginning to open (3 min). Pour in cream, cover, and cook until all mussels are open (3-5 min). Remove from heat, sprinkle with chives and tarragon and serve with bread.

frank’s clam chowder

adapted from jon shook and vinny dotolo’s two dudes, one pan
serves 8 

4 tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour
8 oz sliced bacon (i used pancetta)
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup bottled clam juice (i used 1 cup and still not clammy enough)
1 1/2 tsp chopped thyme
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 6.5 oz can of clams with juices
salt and pepper

Melt butter in dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, while stirring, until it bubbles (2 min). Scrape the roux into bowl and set aside. Wipe out pot and turn up heat to medium-high. Add bacon and cook until brown and crisp (8-10 min). Set aside on paper towel-lined plate to drain. 

Add potatoes to bacon fat and cook, stirring often, until they begin to turn translucent around edges (2 min). Stir in carrots, celery, and onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until potatoes start to brown (4 min). This is where the finely chopped part becomes important - my pieces were not small enough and everything took double the time to cook. Smaller pieces of potatoes ended up turning into much, thickening the chowder too much. Add clam juice and thyme and simmer until broth reduced by half (4-6 min). 

Pour in cream and milk, season, and bring to a boil. Simmer until carrots are tender (10-15 min). I also added uncooked pasta with the cream and milk. Cooks along with the veggies in same amount of time. Stir in roux a little at a time until chowder is thick and hearty. Stir in clams with juices and crumbled bacon. Cook for 1-2 min until heated through, then serve. With all the cream and milk, the original receipe was grossly under-seasoned. Clams and juice were not enough to season. Actually, you need at least double amount of clam meat to keep this from tasting like cream of veggie soup with hint of clam.

spaghetti with white wine and shrimp

serves 4
adapted from giada de laurentiis’ everyday pasta

1 pound spaghetti (3/4 pound if your family likes the sauce/stuff more than the pasta)
olive oil, salt, pepper
2 shallots
2 garlic cloves
handful of sun-dried tomatoes, sliced (also used 1 14-oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained)
1 1/2 cup white wine
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (she also used 2 cups of clams)
2 large handfuls of argula

Boil large pot of salted water and cook pasta according to instructions.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil (use oil from sun-dried tomatoes jar for more flavor) over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic, turn down heat to medium, and cook until tender but not brown. Add both tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened/heated through. Add wine and shrimp (and clams if you want), and bring to a boil. REduce heat, cover, and simmer until cooked, 7 minutes. 

Add pasta to shrimp mix and combine so that pasta soaks up some wine sauce. Gently fold in arugula. I know it’s taboo to mix seafood and cheese, but I added a lot of grated parmesan cheese to the pasta before folding in arugula. Add in some pepper flakes if you want some heat too.

shrimp tacos

serves 4
adapted from sunset fast & fresh

1/2 lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined
olive oil, salt and pepper
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tomato, chopped
1 4 oz. can of diced green chiles
corn tortillas
whatever condiments you want (tapatio chipotle hot sauce and mango peach salsa for me)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread shrimp out on a baking sheet in a single layer, and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes until cooked through.

Meanwhile, rinse or soak red onions in water to get rid of some of the burn/rawness. Cover tortillas with a damp paper towel and microwave for 1 minute until warm.

To assemble tacos, spoon shrimp into warm tortillas and top with red onions, tomato, green chiles, and condiments.

oven roasted shrimp with red chile oil

via bobby flay
serves 8

24 large shrimp, shelled and deveined
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Red Chile Oil, recipe follows
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Toasted Garlic Chips, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Place the shrimp in a cazuela or an ovenproof casserole and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Drizzle olive oil over shrimp, add crushed garlic, and toss to coat. Roast in the oven until pink and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drizzle generously with Red Chile Oil and sprinkle with thyme. Serve with crusty bread.

Red Chile Oil:

1 cup olive oil
6 dried chiles de arbol, lightly toasted and crushed
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Pinch salt
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed

Blend all ingredients including the thyme leaves in a blender until smooth.. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.

Notes: Because I had to share oven space with the potatoes, I roasted the shrimp at 400 until they were pink. For the red chile oil, I added more garlic and some red pepper flakes and let it simmer, instead of blending it.

roasted shrimp and orzo

via ina garten
serves 6

salt & pepper
olive oil
3/4 pound orzo
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
2 pounds (16 to 18 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup minced scallions
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
3/4 pound feta cheese, large diced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and a splash of oil, and bring the water to a boil. Add the orzo and simmer for 9 to 11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it’s cooked al dente. Drain and pour into a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Pour over the hot pasta and stir well.

Meanwhile, place the shrimp on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 5 to 6 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through. Don’t overcook!

Add the shrimp to the orzo and then add the scallions, dill, parsley, cucumber, and onion. Toss well. Add the feta and stir carefully. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend, or refrigerate overnight. If refrigerated, taste again for seasonings and bring back to room temperature before serving.

Note: i liked the ratio of orzo to shrimp in the recipe. usually there’s way too much orzo or pasta and not enough of the other ingredients in the salad. forgot to add lemon, which i’m sure would have added some lightness and freshness (lemon + seafood = tastyness). also didn’t add as much herb as prescribed since my family doensn’t like herbyness. didn’t realize that the scallions had gone bad so i used a little more red onion. but i forgot that red onion has a much rawer/harsher onion taste. next time i’ll either quick-pickle the onions, or just add only scallions. also no feta since my mom’s not fan. in spite of forgetting lemon and scallions, still ended up deliciousness overall. maybe next time i’ll add more cucumber and some (deseeded) tomatoes.

hong kong pan-fried noodles

via sugarlens
serves 2

1 16oz pkg. Hong Kong Style noodles (I used a bit more than half)
1 small chicken breast, sliced thinly
15-20 small shrimps, peeled and deveined
1 king oyster mushroom, sliced thinly
1 stalk bok choy, cleaned and cut
2 cloves garlic, minced

Marinade A:
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
Salt/pepper to taste

Marinade B:
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sesame oil
Salt/pepper to taste

Sauce:
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 cup water
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of cooking wine

Thickening:
1 tbsp of corn starch
2 tbsp of water

Add oil to a heated pan. Add noodles. The noodles should brown very quickly. Use a pair of chopsticks or a spatula to make sure the noodles are getting browned evenly. If you need to, use the spatula to press the noodles against the pan or add some more cooking oil to make sure you brown most of the noodles. Plate the noodles and set aside.

Marinate chicken with Marinade A. Set aside. Marinate shrimps with Marinade B. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients for Sauce. In a smaller bowl, combine corn starch and water. Set aside.

Add oil to a heated pan and saute garlic until lightly brown. Add shrimps and cook thoroughly. Dish out.

Add oil to a heated pan and cook chicken until done. Dish out.

Add oil to a heated pan and cook bok choy and oyster mushroom. Add salt to taste. Cook until done. Add shrimps and chicken back to the pan. Stir well. Add the Sauce mixture. Bring it to a boil.

Add water/corn starch and give a quick stir. Bring it to a boil.

Pour gravy on top of the noodles. Serve immediately!