Savour Fare » Seafood

Miso Shrimpo Po’ Boys — Summer Sophistication

Kate — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:46:13 +0000

In the summertime, I’m usually all about the simple food. The amazing fruits and vegetables practically prepare themselves for dinner, and a typical weeknight menu will look something like this: BLT, Caprese Salad, Sauteed zucchini on toast, pasta with tomatoes and olive oil, and another BLT (I really like BLT’s). But sometimes the occasion calls for a little more sophistication. Something that’s a little more exotic, that requires some more thought, some more layers of flavor. But at the same time, you don’t want to lose the wonderful casualness of summer dining — the feeling that every meal should be eaten outdoors and barefoot.

When I saw this recipe in last month’s food and wine, I knew I had found my summer dinner party dish. The prep is incredibly simple – no marinating required, no fancy cooking. And the flavors are fantastic — complex, bright, nutty, and utterly satisfying. The shrimp are intensely flavorful fro(...)
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Steamy Kitchen Cookbook Review and Garlic Butter Noodles with Shrimp

Kate — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:51:42 +0000

I have a little bit of a cookbook problem. You see, when we moved to our current home, we dedicated a reasonable sized bookcase to the cookbooks. It had four shelves, was about two and a half feet wide, and seemed perfectly fine. Until I started putting my cookbooks on it. There was a little overflow, a few cookbooks I put on another shelf, some books that I recategorized as “travel books.” But the problem only got worse. It’s not that I buy a ton of cookbooks — I mean, I do buy a few, sometimes to cook with, sometimes as a souvenir when I’m traveling, sometimes because I really can’t resist a used book sale. But I also receive cookbooks as gifts. And cookbooks have a way of finding their way into my house in other ways too. As a result, I have several cookbooks that are more for recreational reading than actual cooking, per se, and several more that never really see the light of day (but do look so ornamental on that bookcase. And the surrounding bookcases as well.)

The point is, I have a lot of cookbooks, and while I don’t mind this, my husband seems to think my collection is a bit … excessive. So you know a new cookbook is good when he comes up to me and says “You know, that cookbook really fills a niche that I think was missing from your cookbook collection.” This cookbook isn’t only endorsed by me, it’s endorsed by him, and that is a rare thing indeed, when it comes to cookbooks.

The cookbook in question is, of course, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair. People who are up on the food blogging community will recognize Jaden from her popular blog, Steamy Kitchen, and if you’ve met her in person or seen her on TV, you know that she has a lot of personal charisma and energy (Full disclosure — I met Jaden at the 2009 Blogher Food Conference, and I received a complimentary copy of the book through the conference after party), but even if you’ve never heard of Jaden Hair, this is a book you’ll want in your kitchen.
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My Love Affair with Gourmet — Crab Cakes with Spicy Avocado Sauce

Kate — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:59:52 +0000

I am often asked where I learned to cook. I am someone who cooks regularly, and enthusiastically and sometimes even ambitiously, so I suppose this is a simple and obvious question. But the answer is multilayered. I learned to cook from my family, though I don’t remember many sessions of standing by someone’s side as they explained some technique or recipe to me. I learned to cook from eating, since long practice and exposure to good food has given me experience in what tastes good. But most of all (and I suppose this is fitting given that I am the child of two English professors and a confirmed bibliophile) I learned to cook from the written word.
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Welcome to Paradise — Hawaii and Shrimp with Ginger Chili sauce

Kate — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:54:42 +0000

It has been hot as blazes in Los Angeles, and the thing about Los Angeles is it does hot extremely well. 3 digit temperatures, brush fires — a heat wave turns the City of Angels from a reasonably convincing rendition of paradise (OK, in some places) to a reasonably convincing rendition of hell.

So I think it’s time for another piece in the travel series, because when L.A. gets like this, I would certainly love to be anywhere but here. And I find myself (as I often do) dreaming of sea breezes and warm water and golden sand — in short — Hawaii.
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Small Comfort – Okonomiyaki

Kate — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:38:43 +0000

When people think of comfort food, they usually return to their childhood, and foods of the nursery. Macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, chicken noodle soup. The food of my childhood, while delicious, was not in the same vein. My mother was a child of California, and the 1970′s and 1980′s saw the rise of California cooking and a focus on health food. While I did have occasional macaroni and cheese, the foods I remember most vividly from early childhood are grilled steak, fresh cantaloupe, Caesar salad. Oatmeal cookies and Crystal Light lemonade on hot summer days by the swimming pool. Chocolate chip cookies made with whole wheat flour and raw sugar. Lamb steaks with red wine and garlic. These are the foods that evoke childhood for me, but I would classify them as staples more than “comfort food”.

Although I do occasionally, in times of distress, turn to foods of my California childhood, namely whole wheat toast, either buttered or spread with soft avocado and salt and pepper, as an adult, I have had to create my own idea of comfort food, and the world is a different place than it was in 1978. What’s more comforting than a steaming bowl of pho? Or a dish of perfectly puckered soup dumplings? Or some green corn tamales, dripping with melted cheese? When I want quick comfort at home, though, I turn to okonomiyaki.

I first encountered okonomiyaki on a cold day in New York. I had heard about a tiny place in the East Village that made octopus balls, and being interested in any curiosity, I sought it out. It was tucked on a side street, and miniscule – even in NYC, my closet was bigger than this place, which consisted of a counter (for ordering, there was no room to sit) and a galley style kitchen. The menu was equally tiny, consisting of the sought out octopus balls, or takoyaki, and okonomiyaki. The takoyaki were good, but it was the okonomiyaki that really caught my eye.

Referred to variously as Japanese pizza or a pancake, it’s a common street food in Osaka whose name roughly translates to “As you like it.” There are some basic ingredients that don’t vary, but additional ingredients can vary widely from seafood to cheese. The okonomiyaki I make at home is really a few fresh staples that I always have around, plus a few traditional Japanese toppings which are inexpensive and store almost indefinitely, and it comes together easily and quickly — the perfect thing for a Wednesday night dinner.
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Simple Meets Sublime — Roast Shrimp with Broccoli and Cauliflower

Kate — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:59:49 +0000

I think I may have mentioned this before, but my weeknights are awfully busy, what with getting home late, getting dinner on the table, spending some quality tickle time with my daughter and getting her to bed at a reasonable hour. To make life easier, I plan and shop for the week’s meals each Saturday. I sit down with my multiple cookbooks (for inspiration!), a blank piece of paper, and try to envision what my week will look like. I always factor in one or two nights of incredibly quick meals in case I have to work late, and I try to use up the more perishable meat or produce early in the week. Despite having an army of cookbooks and magazines and blogs at my disposal, I often find myself returning to the same old standbys – stir fries, soups, salads, made with chicken or beef or vegetarian. It’s hard to think outside the box when it comes to weeknight dinners – I want reliable. I want easy. And so I get into a rut.

Sometimes a recipe comes along that pulls me right out of that rut and sends me flying. This recipe – roasted shrimp with broccoli – does just that. I would never think to make it on my own. Shrimp seems so decadent for a weeknight, broccoli so time-consuming. I only made it because I noticed a breezy mention by Orangette, and a ringing endorsement by The Wednesday Chef and these ladies were right. You should make this, right now.

You see, it’s so much more than shrimp and broccoli. It’s the sweetness of shrimp and the richness of broccoli, brightened by lemon zest which is amplified with coriander and deepened by cumin (have you been cooking with coriander much? You really should. It’s such a lovely summer flavor.) I add cauliflower for its textural contrast, and because the Nuni eats it (she thinks it’s actually flowers), but this can easily be made entirely with broccoli.

And it’s so easy, it’s worthy of a weeknight. Especially if you buy the precut broccoli and cauliflower (I do, I admit it, I’m not proud) and frozen shrimp that has been peeled and deveined (unless you happen to live on the Gulf of Mexico, most shrimp you’re going to get has been frozen anyway, so you might as well buy it frozen. Just make sure it’s uncooked). It only dirties one pan (and if you line your cookie sheet with tin foil, not even that!) and it’s good for you — all those cruciferous vegetables.

This recipe has become a fixture in my weeknight rotation, a rut of its own, if you will, but that’s OK. Standbys become standbys for a reason, after all. And this is worthy of standby status.

Recipe
Roasted Shrimp with Broccoli and Cauliflower
Adapted from the Wednesday Chef
1 lb. broccoli, cut into florets
1 lb. cauliflower, cut into florets
¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp whole coriander seeds (you can replace this and the whole cumin seeds with ½ tsp. ground of each, but whole is better)
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot chili powder
1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 1/4 teaspoons lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly crush the spices with a mortar and pestle. In a large bowl, toss broccoli and cauliflower with half the oil, the coriander, the cumin 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and chili powder.
Spread the vegetables on a cookie sheet lined with foil, and roast for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine shrimp, remaining 2 tablespoons oil, lemon zest, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper. (You can use the same bowl). When vegetables have been roasting for 10 minutes, add shrimp to baking sheet and toss. Roast, about 10 minutes more until shrimp is opaque. Serve with lemon wedges or another squeeze of lemon juice. Serves 4 people of moderate appetite and 2 greedy people.

An Alternative for St. Patrick’s Day — Dublin Lawyer

Kate — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:35:28 +0000

If your market is anything like mine, you may have noticed (from the displays of Guinness, cabbage, and “Kiss me I’m Irish” aprons) that Tuesday is the feast of the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, or as many call it in the U.S., St. Paddy’s Day (quick aside from my dad’s arsenal of bad jokes: What’s Irish and stays out all night? Paddy O’Furniture. HA!). My husband and I both count some Irish heritage in our generally Western European mutt backgrounds, but neither of our families are of the “Boo Ya! We’re Irish!” varieties, despite the fact that both of us have Irish names. And yet we celebrate St. Patrick’s day, without fail, and now you can too.

The obvious menu is the one the market sells — Corned Beef, Cabbage, maybe some mashed potatoes. But much as I love corned beef, and I have definite opinions on how to prepare it (crock pot with a bottle of beer, on low for 8-10 hours), and serve it (with Colcannon and hot English mustard), and what to drink with it (I say dark ale, the husband is a Guinness devotee), but I thought I’d present you with something a little different, in case you don’t like corned beef, or don’t eat red meat, or it’s 6 pm on March 17 and you haven’t started cooking, or you’ve already seen sixteen trillion recipes for corned beef all over the blogosphere). And the one that caught my eye (natch) was Dublin Lawyer.

Now Dublin Lawyer is a simple dish – lobster cooked in butter, whiskey and cream (as an aside — whiskey from Ireland or America is always spelled with an “e”. Scotch whisky is “whisky” and don’t let a Scotsman see you spell it like those Irish pansies do). It supposedly got its name because lawyers are both rich and full of booze. Well, I don’t know if you’ve been following the latest news from the legal world, but the rich may no longer apply (the booze probably still does. Have you ever been to a law firm party?) so I set out to ease my pocketbook (and yours) with Dublin Lawyer — recession edition.

It really couldn’t be simpler — it has four ingredients and takes about 10 minutes to make and yields an elegant dish with a lovely presentation. In other words, I would eat before you hit the bars for the traditional green beer.

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