Monthly Archives: May 2012

Seafood StirFry

31 Thursday May 2012

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Today’s fridge has 16 fresh large shrimp, 1/2 lb. swordfish, a bell pepper, oyster mushrooms. On a beautiful day, quick stir fry over rice would be nice.

Shell, devein, clean the shrimp, cut swordfish into cubes. Marinade the swordfish and shrimp in teriyaki, ginger, sesame oil, hot pepper flakes mixture to taste, so sauce just covers the seafood. Refrigerate.

Went to the farm stand and Hadley grass looked gorgeous, so cut some spears. When ready to go, need only 20 minutes. Prepare favorite rice. 10 minutes before it’s done, coat a wok with vegetable oil on high heat. Stir fry the julienned bell pepper, halved mushrooms, asparagus tips first. Add and quickly toss in the shrimp, swordfish and sauce/marinade and stir for 2-3 minutes. Serve veggies, seafood, sauce over the rice.

Ben Piccata

19 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in Meat Street, Recipes

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mAdBen son came home from Manhattan craving my variation on veal scallopine piccata. Dr.Husband procured the finest milk-fed veal cutlets from Frigo’s Italian market in Springfield, Massachusetts. The owner, Joe, likes to pound them. I prefer them unpounded. It’s an ongoing battle, but I usually win. So, the cutlets are like 1/2″ thick. If they are too thin, they overcook in a second. Thicker means moister. I made mAdBen take the photo.

I use the same basic method each time, with fresh ingredients that can change depending on what’s in the pantry. Last night, I made it this way:

Dredged 2 lbs. cutlets in egg/milk batter, then flour. In a very large skillet, browned cutlets in olive oil, both sides, quickly and in stages so not touching. After each stage, deglazed and scraped with dry white wine (could use broth). Set aside cutlets in a bowl with deglazed juices until all cutlets were browned.

To the skillet added 1/8 lb. butter, tiny asparagus tips, chopped shiitake mushrooms, stirred until firmly soft. Added the cutlets back in with all of the juices/wine, scraped bits. Poured juice of 2 lemons and 3 hefty tablespoons capers, over the cutlets, put on simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile made Fettucine, tossed with chopped sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil. Pour veal and sauce over the pasta. C’est ca.

Hadley Grass

17 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in Recipes, Via Veggie

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It’s that time of year again. Our native Hadley asparagus, called ‘grass’ is early this year. Stalks are tight and sweet. Eat a lot of it from the local farm stand, so cook it many ways. Although, it is perfect just quickly steamed au naturel. Another great method is to roast the stalks a la “Alison’s Awesome Asparagus” on Via Veggie page. Last night, made with a shallot, brown butter sauté over pasta:

Cut the tips off a bunch of small stalks, so that the most tender part only is used. Finely chop 1 large shallot. In a small skillet on medium high, melt 1/8 lb. salted butter with shallots and asparagus tips. When butter foams, stir until it turns a nutty brown. Serve over pasta or rice as a side dish.

Photo: James Baigrie, Saveur 2007

Succulent Salmon

11 Friday May 2012

Posted by in Fish, Recipes, SurfSide

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This is a fool-proof way to cook salmon so that it’s moist and tender every time. You can choose from a myriad of toppings. Make up your own.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, bake. Yes, that’s correct. 200 degrees. Drizzle olive oil over the bottom of a shallow oven dish. Place a 1 – 2 lb. salmon filet over the olive oil, skin down. I keep the skin on, it peels off easily after it’s done. But you can have the skin removed, so skin-side down. Top with more drizzled olive oil and either:

1) crumbled croutons, butter, lemon slices, capers.
2) dill weed, lemon slices, garlic powder, pepper.
3) soy sauce, sesame oil.

Cook for 45 minutes at 200. It will be moist and flakey. I usually pop it under the broiler until just brown, but you don’t have to. Always perfect.

Morning Muffin

06 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in Recipes, Waffle Way

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This is a pedestrian play on the French morning bun. It’s just for you once a week, when you can’t get to the nearest bakery. Tear an English muffin and place nook-and- cranny-side up on a little pie pan. Put butter on top, then sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mix over the butter. Pop under the broiler until sugar and edges of muffins are browned. If you want to be more authentic, squeeze a little juice of an orange on top, but no need. Yum.

Sea Scallops Unplugged

06 Sunday May 2012

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1 lb. of the freshest, sweetest sea scallops you can find. Clean and dry. Heavy skillet should be big enough to accommodate all scallops not touching. Heat olive oil to coat bottom of skillet on medium high heat. Brown scallops, 2 minutes each side, sprinkled with black pepper. Place them on a plate. To the pan, add 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth or dry white wine. Scrape, stir and deglaze on medium heat for a minute. Add 1/4 cup capers with a little juice. Stir. Add 2 pats butter. Stir. Place scallops back in pan and squeeze juice of one lemon over them. Serve over linguine, using all the juices, scraped bits, of course. Serves 2.

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