Crab-Stuffed Sole – Rolling in Excitement

There is nothing exciting about sole. It’s cheap, easy to find, has a mild, unremarkable flavor, and…that’s about it. It’s the Pabst Blue Ribbon of seafood. Which means it’s the perfect candidate for jazzing up by stuffing with crab.

The sole filets I used here were a little smaller than I would have liked, and I probably over-stuffed them a bit, which will increase the chances they will split along the natural seams in the flesh, especially if you roll too tight. As you can see, it’s not a big deal, and doesn’t alter the taste, but I did want to point it out.

As far as the trick I mentioned for covering cracks; all you need to do is save a little of your lemon-mayo mixture, and near the end of the cooking time (when the seams begin to split), pipe it into any unsightly crevices. Then, turn on the broiler, and give the top a quick browning to hide the evidence. I think these looked fine as is, and for a regular dinner I wouldn’t bother, but for those fancier parties, it’s not a bad idea.

I hope it’s pretty obvious that this technique would work for hundreds of other filling, as well as with any thin, white, roll-able fish. These are also great since you can make them well ahead of time, and then just sauce and bake when you’re ready to party. I hope you give these delicious crab-stuffed sole filets a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions:

6 sole filets (12 ounces)

salt to taste

For the filling:

4 oz crabmeat

2 tsp minced green onion

1 tbsp finely diced poblano pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp panko breadcrumbs

For the sauce:

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

cayenne to taste

- Bake at 400 F. for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through

Spaghetti Al Tonno – Nothing Fishy About This “Meat” Sauce

Spaghetti al tonno is one of my all-time favorite "go to" pasta dishes, and I hope this re-make of an old video helps make it one of yours. I did a very similar spaghetti with spicy tuna sauce for About.com a long time ago, but never got around to doing an official Food Wishes version.

Having said that, there really is no “official” recipe, as this is the type of dish that gets made a little differently every time. Not different on purpose, mind you, but different since that’s what happens when you cook without written recipes, which by the way, is the recommended method. 

I love a classic meat sauce as much as the next half-Italian, but when I want something quick and easy for a weeknight meal, I reach for the tuna. By the time you bring a pot of water to a boil, choose a wine, and cook your pasta, the sauce should be done. What if all that sounds great, but you don’t like fish? Then, this is perfect.

As I say in the video, the taste and texture is really closer to a veal sauce, than one made with fish. Above and beyond the non-fishy flavor, this is also lower in fat and calories, in case you’re into that kind of thing. So, the next time you’re in the mood for a quick spaghetti with “meat” sauce, I hope you give this delicious pasta sauce a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 Portions Spaghetti Al Tonno:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 anchovy filet

2 tablespoons capers

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup white wine (Note: if you can’t use wine, don’t. Use a splash of stock)

3 cups crushed San Marzano tomatoes

red pepper flakes, to taste

1/4 tsp dried oregano

salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste

7 ounces oil-packed tuna, drained (reserve and use oil!)

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

12 ounces dry spaghetti

Parmigiano-Reggiano for top

Trout Caviar “Fish & Chips” – And the Oscar for Best Hors d'Oeuvre Goes to…

Sure, you could serve some high-end Beluga or Ossetra caviar at your Oscars viewing party, but the problem with that plan is you’d have to get rich first. I’m not saying you won’t eventually be rolling in it, but the Academy Awards are Sunday, and we don’t want to rush you.

Instead, you can go with a more affordable option like the gorgeous trout roe seen glistening herein. This was only $25 for a 2-oz jar, and that’s purchased in San Francisco, one of the most expensive places on earth, so I’m hoping you can do even better than that.

It’s so obvious that I didn’t even mention it in the video, but of course this will work with any type of caviar. Having said that, when you consider value, it’s hard to beat these golden beads. Trout roe has a fresh, clean, briny flavor, and an absolutely beautiful texture. The feeling of those little, subtly salty eggs popping on your tongue is one of life’s great food experiences.

As far as portioning goes, if you use as much as I did on the first batch (pictured right), which was about 1 gram per chip, you’ll get between 50-60 hors d'oeuvres. If you want to stretch things a little further, then do smaller 1/2-gram portions, and get 100-120 still amazing tasting bites.

If you’re like me, and haven’t seen any of the movies yet, the only good reason to go to an Oscars party is for the food and drinks; and getting to enjoy something like these caviar “fish & chips” will make sitting through all those acceptance speeches almost worthwhile. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 100-120 bites (using 1/2-gram of roe per chip)

2 oz golden trout roe (or any other caviar or roe)

120 potato crisps or chips (I used original flavor Popchips)

about 1/2 cup sour cream

chives as needed

Pan-Roasted Halibut with Clamshell Mushrooms & Lemon Butter Sauce – Long in Name, Short in Shopping List

Above and beyond keeping things simple, and pardon the cliché, letting the natural goodness of the ingredients shine through, the beauty of a recipe like this pan-roasted halibut with clamshell mushrooms, is that there are just less things to possibly screw up. 

That should be great news to people terrified of making fish recipes. Brown some mushrooms, sear some fish, and finish with yet another simple and delicious pan sauce. That’s really it, and much like our famous, “Just Chicken and Mushrooms” recipe, I think you’ll be amazed at how much flavor these few components provide.

Speaking of flavor, you can certainly use a non-stick pan here, which pretty much insures your fish will go un-mutilated; but as you’ll see in the video, if you use cast iron, or stainless steel, a little bit of fish flesh will form a fond on the bottom of the pan, which will give you a much richer base for the butter sauce.

In case you didn't already know, mushrooms and halibut have a natural affinity for each other, and both are wonderful with the lemon-parsley butter sauce. So, whether you fear cooking fish, or not, I hope you give this super simple, yet fabulous recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter, melted in oil

2 (7-oz each) halibut filets

salt and cayenne to taste

handful of clamshell mushrooms, or sliced un-cool, regular mushrooms

1/4 cup water

juice from 1/2 lemon, or to taste

1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

1 1/2 tbsp butter to finish sauce

Shrimp Etouffee – Desperate Times Call for Delicious Measures

I won’t go into the sordid details of how I came into possession of substandard shrimp, but it did afford me the opportunity to demo a few tips in this shrimp etouffee video, just in case you ever find yourself in the same boat. 

I have absolutely no problem with frozen shrimp, which is a good thing, since that’s the only kind you can buy; but when making recipes like this, I prefer a larger size, and definitely with shells on.

Making a rich shrimp stock from the sautéed shells is one of the secrets to a great etouffee, but besides loss of flavor, I find smaller, already-peeled shrimp retain much more water, which leaks out when cooked; thinning and weakening every sauce in their wake.

A little sear can release a lot of this excess liquid, which can then be reduced in the sauce. This also makes the final moments of the dish pretty easy, as these small shrimp only take a few minutes to cook through. 

Of course, if you do buy some nice 16-20’s (jumbo-sized), go ahead and make the stock (see technique here), and give the shrimp a nice pan-sear first before finishing the recipe as shown. With Mardi Gras coming up soon, you have the perfect excuse to give this delicious recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes 4 large portions:

Spice Blend (everything is “to taste”):

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper

3/4 tsp paprika

Then:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 pounds peeled and deveined raw shrimp, seasoned with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp of the spice blend

3 tbsp butter

1/3 cup diced onions

1/3 cup celery, sliced thin

1/3 cup diced green pepper, sweet or hot
remaining spice blend

2 generous tbsp flour

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

2 cups chicken stock (including shrimp juices added in)

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

hot sauce to taste

salt to taste

1/4 cup sliced green onions

4 portions cooked white rice

Creamy Bay Scallop Spaghetti – An Almost Perfect Post-Holidays Pasta

After all those rich, complicated, and time-consuming holiday recipes, I’m always craving something light, fast, and easy; and this creamy bay scallop spaghetti is all that and more. Literally “more,” in that this is not light, but quite delicious, and in roughly the time it takes you to boil spaghetti, the sauce should be just about ready.

With some similar recipes to this, the chef will have you remove the scallops as soon as they’re seared, to be added back right at the end. Sounds smart since these little mollusks only take a few minutes to cook, but I think it’s a mistake. Yes, the scallops will be smaller and firmer using my method, but the trade-off is a much more flavorful sauce.

Sometimes cooks are so afraid to overcook and ruin something, they never extract as much flavor as possible. Sure, if you boiled these bay scallops another ten minutes or so, they’d get start getting dry and rubbery, but here they’re still plenty tender and moist enough, and I think you’ll agree the sherry sauce benefits significantly.

Regarding the sherry wine: If you can’t have or don’t want to use it, you’re on your own with replacements. While this would probably still work with none, or any number of sort-of-sweet, sort-of-acidic substations, I make mine with sherry, so I can’t tell you what will happen if you stray.

The meat’s another story. Feel free to switch out the scallops with any cubed protein, so really, if you think about it, I just shoed you like a dozen new recipes. You’re welcome! I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 appetizer-sized portions:
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 pound bay scallops

2 tbsp butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp lemon zest

pinch red pepper flakes

1/3 cup sherry wine

1 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

juice of 1 lemon or to taste

8 oz cooked thick spaghetti

2 tbsp Italian parsley, divided

Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste

Crab-Stuffed Deviled Eggs – I Love to Say I Told You So

I love deviled eggs, and have probably had fifty different versions over the years, but these crab-stuffed beauties may be my favorite. The sweet crab is a perfect compliment to the spicy eggs, but above and beyond the delicious flavors, these just look extra special. Okay, that’s enough about the recipe…now, on to more important matters.

Considering the fact that we’ve done almost 1,000 uploads, we’ve had very few controversial recipes. And by “controversial, I mean videos that caused vigorous debate about whether the recipe actually works as shown. One such video was our “How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs.”

While most had no issues, a small but vocal group claimed the recipe didn’t work at all. Some went so far as to say the video was a hoax, as if the egg industry had gotten to me, and convinced me to trick my viewers into wasting eggs to increase sales. I’ll admit, it is a brilliant plan, but it’s not true.

To prove my innocence, I’ve used the exact same method here, and once again, perfection. As long as you’re using a decent pot (as in not paper-thin), enough water, and can manage to successfully set a timer, I’m not sure what can go wrong. By the way, I used cold eggs, so that’s not an issue, as some surmised after the first tutorial. To summarize: I told you this works.

Regardless of how you cook your hard-boiled eggs, this would make a stellar hors d'oeuvre for any special occasion meal. You can be as frugal or extravagant as you want, and the garnishing options are pretty much limitless. Speaking of garnishes, that is a lemon, and not an orange! It's actually a Meyer lemon which have a much warmer color than standard lemons. I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the bottoms:

*6 large hard-boiled eggs (makes 12 pieces)

2 oz fresh crab meat, chopped

3 or 4 tbsp mayonnaise, or enough to achieve desired consistency

few drops of Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp chopped tarragon

1/2 tsp hot sauce or to taste

pinch of old bay

salt and pepper to taste (don't be shy with the salt)

For the crab topping:

2 oz fresh crab meat, shredded slightly

1 or 2 tsp crème fraiche or sour cream

lemon zest of one lemon

Aleppo pepper to taste

salt if needed

Fresh chives

Cayenne

* I only made 12 portions, but this method will work with more. Just be sure your eggs are cover by at least an inch or two of cold water, and proceed as show.

Coquilles St-Jacques – Hey, Have You Tried That New Saint James Diet?

Coquilles St-Jacques is the kind of unapologetically rich shellfish dish that we used to be able to enjoy, before the book-writing dieticians and celebrity chefs ruined it for everybody. 

Fats of all sorts were demonized, and young cooks far and wide were told to never, ever, under any circumstances, cover-up the delicate flavors of seafood with heavy sauces, especially ones containing cheese.

So, an amazing recipe like this went from classic French treat to crime against nature, and it slowly but surely started disappearing from menus. You can still find it in a few of the braver bistros, but to enjoy on any kind of semi-regular basis, you’ll need to master it at home. The good news is that’s very easy to do.

By the way, this is a great recipe for entertaining larger groups during the holidays, since it can be prepped well ahead of time. For this reason, Coquilles St-Jacques has always been a favorite of caterers and banquet chefs, and below the ingredients list, I’ll give some instructions on how they do it.

You can use sea scallops like I did, or the smaller, sweeter bay scallops, which are really nice in this. Of course, if you use bay scallops, you’ll only need a minute in the simmering wine, so be careful. No matter what you use, be sure they haven’t been dipped in a preservative solution. If you buy them frozen, which you should, the label should only say, “Scallops.”

The shells can be easily found online, or at your local restaurant supply store. Otherwise, simply use some small, shallow gratin dishes, which will work exactly the same. Find something, and give this “scallop recipe that time forgot” a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 cup diced shallots
8 oz button mushrooms, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup white wine

1 pound sea scallops (about 3 scallops per person)

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg yolk

cayenne to taste
2 tsp minced tarragon

1 tsp lemon zest

1/4 cup grated Gruyère cheese

Broil on high, about 8-10 inches under the flame, until the scallops are hot, and the cheese is browned and bubbling. Because of the sugars in the wine and cream, the edges will brûlée or burn, but this is not a problem, and actually how it’s supposed to look.

NOTE: You can make these ahead, and refrigerate until needed. Since they will be cold, you’ll need to bring back to temperature before you broil them. Preheat oven to 350 F. and bake for about 12-15 minutes (will depend on how you constructed them), or until the centers are just warm. Switch oven to broil, and broil on high as shown. 

Grilled Salmon with Warm Bacon and Corn Relish – It's a Noun and a Verb

This grilled salmon with warm bacon and corn relish is another installment in our long-running series, “Salmon Recipes for People Tired of Salmon Recipes.” No one eats as much salmon as I do, and so I’m always on the lookout for new ways to make it seem a tad more exciting.

In the business, this is known as “elevating” it, and as you may already know, nothing elevates like bacon. It’s the helium of smoked meats. Combine that bacon with sweet, almost raw corn, and you have a relish worthy of its verb. I mean, if your not going to relish your relish, what's the point?

I mention in the video that I like the taste and texture of white corn, but prefer the sunnier appearance of yellow corn. That trade-off is always an interesting discussion, with some saying taste always trumps looks, while others will insist that the appearance effects how the flavor is perceived, so even if slightly less sweet, the golden colored one may be enjoyed more.

Like most food-related arguments, both sides are right and wrong, and I tend to oscillate between the two schools, although when in doubt, I’ll generally lean toward taste. Anyway, no matter which color corn you use, you’re sure to enjoy this new, and hopefully slightly more exciting way to serve salmon. Give it a try soon, and enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 Portions:

2 center-cut, boneless salmon filets (8-oz)

salt and pepper to taste

For the relish:

corn kernels from 2 ears of sweet corn, plus any juices

6 stripes bacon, sliced

1/4 cup green onions, white and light parts (reserve green for garnish)

1/4 cup diced red pepper

salt, pepper, cayenne to taste

2 tsp olive oil (optional depending on how much bacon fat you had)

1 or 2 tbsp rice vinegar (or other vinegar, or acid like lemon, lime, etc)

*I didn’t have any in the garden, but a little fresh tarragon is great in this too.

View the complete recipe