Seafood Cioppino (Soup)

Seafood Cioppino - Northern California Seafood Stew

Serves: 8+

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Olive Oil
4 cups medium Yellow Onions (diced)
1 1/2 cups Fennel (thinly sliced)
1 cup Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
1/2 cup minced Garlic
1/2 cup Tomato Paste
1 1/2 cups Dry Red Wine
6 cups Tomato Sauce (or blended whole tomatoes)
1/2 cup Clam Juice
Juice of 1 lemon
1 quart Water
2 Bay Leaves
2 tablespoons Red Chili Flakes
1 tablespoon dried Oregano
1 tablespoon dried Basil
2 tablespoons fine Sea Salt
1 tablespoon freshly cracked Black Pepper
1 package seafood mix, approx. 2lbs (purchased from Costco, includes calamari, mussels, shrimp)
1 bunch of coarsely chopped Flat-Leaf Parsley

Directions:

Chop all your vegetables.

In a large stockpot over medium heat, heat the oil and cook the onion, fennel, red pepper, and garlic until lightly browned.

Add the tomato paste and cook until it browns, stirring often. Add the wine, tomato sauce, clam juice, lemon juice, water, bay leaves, chili flakes, oregano, basil, salt, pepper. Cook out the tomato paste for at least 5 minutes until it is the color of rust.

Simmer for 1 hour. 

Add the seafood and cook 4 to 5 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Do not stir.

Remove the bay leaves, stir in the parsley, and serve immediately (with bread if desired).

This recipe was adapted from: Guy's Nor Cal Cioppino Recipe

Yaki Udon with Teriyaki Salmon

Yaki Udon with Teriyaki Salmon

Ingredients:
2 bundles organic udon noodles
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
4 salmon fillets - 4oz each
1 julienne zucchini
4 oz sliced mushrooms
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup broccoli slaw mix
4 scallions chopped


Salmon marinade / sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Instructions:
 
Marinade salmon fillets in sauce for 30 minutes.

Place a small amount of oil in a wok or skillet and cook salmon fillets for 2-3 minutes on first side, and 1 minute on the second side, getting good color on both sides. Remove.
 

Add garlic, 2 of the chopped scallions, ginger and cook for 2 minutes. Then add your mushrooms and cook till softened, add zucchini and cook for a few more minutes, and then your broccoli slaw.
 
In the meantime, add your udon noodles to boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and reserve.
 
Take about half of your marinade, add some water, and add to the wok to deglaze.


Add in your noodles and toss to coat.

Turn off heat and stir in baby spinach.

Top with salmon and enjoy!

Smoked Salmon Canapes

Smoked Salmon Canapes

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients:

1 smoked salmon fillet

3 cucumbers - sliced thin

1 box of fancy crackers of your choice

1 tub of whipped cream cheese (chive flavor if you can find it)

1 lemon

fresh dill

salt and pepper

Take your smoked salmon fillet and slice on a bias into very thin (sashimi style) pieces. Use a sharp knife. Make sure that your salmon is cold, it will slice easier.

Then take your very thinkly sliced cucumbers and pat dry with papertowels to remove excess moisture to prevent cracker from sogging.

Take your cream cheese mixture and zest the lemon into it. Then take a pinch of salt and pepper and a few pieces of dill and finely chop into it. Squeeze about 1/4 of the lemons juice into the whipped cream cheese - just enough for flavor but not too much to change the consistency. At this point you could also add capers, but since I hate capers and cannot get over my hatred for them, I didn't.

Place a small dallop of the cream cheese on the cucumber and then place the cucumber slice on the cracker. Finish with the slice of salmon and a small piece of dill for garnish.

Keep cool before serving.

Linguine with Clams

Linguine with Clams

Serves: 2 -more if you don't inhale it :-)

Oh man are you in for a treat, this dish came out sooo freaking good we couldn't stop eating it until it was completely gone!

Ingredients:

2 cans of chopped clams

1 jar of clam juice

5-6 roasted garlic cloves in olive oil (See recipe:)

Fresh parsley

Linguine (I use dreamfields low carb pasta - its fantastic)

2 Tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon 

Bay leaves

1 Shallot - minced

2 teaspoons anchovy paste

Parmesan Cheese - freshly grated

crushed red pepper

Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

In a bowl placed minced shallot, a pinch of crushed red pepper, chopped parsley, garlic cloves (minced) salt and pepper into a bowl.

Then take a large skillet, place a few tablespoons of oil and butter, and heat on medium high. Add the anchovie paste and stir into oil for a few minutes.

After its cooked for a few minutes, add in your minced spices and garlic. Cook for several minutes, keep stirring.

Then add your white whine and allow it to cook down for a few minutes. Open your cans of clams and drain them. Pour your drained clam juice, along with the 2 bottles of clam juice into the pan. Add bay leaves.

Once your liquid has reduced by half, place your linguine in a pot of boiled, salted water, and cook until al dente - don't cook completely through - it will finish in the sauce.

Then take your remaining parsley and chop finely. add about 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs and a pinch of crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Then in a small skillet heat remaining 1 tablespoon of butter till melted, add bread crumb mixture and toast. Once golden brown, turn off heat and reserve.

Then add your chopped clams to the skillet and heat thoroughly.

Drain your pasta, do not rinse, and add to your skillet turning to coat. Remove your bay leaves.

Once plating, add the bread crumb mixture on top. Then serve with crusty bread to soak up the deliciousness. 

Pan Fried Whole Rainbow Trout

Pan Fried Whole Rainbow Trout
Serves: 6

My parents went fishing at Grand Lake last weekend, and brought home a huge bounty of Rainbow trout. My Dad, not being a fish eater gave them all to me, and I decided to force him to come eat them with us for Dinner :-)

(Which of course he loved - which is why we are going back this weekend)

Ingredients:

6 full trout fish, cleaned, descaled and heads removed
flour
panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon each garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika
Egg wash: 1 egg, dash of milk, dash of hot sauce

Instructions:

Mix dry ingredients in to a casserole dish
Make egg wash

Dredge trout on each side in flour mixture, then in the egg wash, and again in the flour mixture.
Heat up a large skillet with olive oil on high heat. Fry the trout on each side for three minutes.

 Heat up some butter, and chop in some chives to pour over your fish to serve.

I served them with butter roasted green beans and yellow wax beans along with roasted potato wedges. Delish!