Seafood Orgy

Moderation was abandoned. Although I think it's a good idea not to overconsume certain resources, we ate seafood every night on Cape Cod: halibut, scrod, scallops, lobster, haddock!

For Father's Day we had halibut, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and a Razzleberry Pie. Of course, you bought the pie from Marion's Pie Shop, so you know all about it. What a great Father's Day present.

Improv

Cooks improvise and substitute constantly in their cooking--the alternative is slavishly following written recipes and running to the store for every missing item.

I began to make bouillabaisse today for our Easter dinner and discovered I had no fresh fennel, no leek, and no celery for the broth (note to self: read recipe before shopping). Instead I used anise seed, onion, and celery seed. There's plenty of flavor in this dish already with saffron, wine, and fish stock. For seafood I used two crab legs, scallops, shrimp, and tilapia. It was good.

Grandma made bread and lemon pudding, I made the soup, and Dad made the salad. Mary Ellen brought champagne and red wine and we had an excellent party. Happy Easter to all. I missed dyeing and hiding eggs, though.

Bouillabaisse

Norm and Jane from Washington came for dinner and to spend the night. Norm is a vintner and brought two delicious bottles of his wine, an unusual Petit Verdot and a Voignier. Here was our Valentine menu.

Bouillabaisse

Homemade Bread

Salad from the Garden

+++

Brownies

Strawberry Ice Cream

Fresh Blackberries

This soup is wonderful for guests because you can make the broth ahead, and then throw in the fish for five minutes right before serving. The flavor of the broth is lovely, starting with fennel and leek instead of the usual carrots, onions, and celery. The recipe is mostly from the 1997 Joy of Cooking.

Bouillabaisse

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 leek, cut into 1/2-inch half rounds

1 small fennel bulb, cored and sliced

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

1 star anise

Peel of 1/2 orange

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil and butter and gently saute the above ingredients for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender but not browned. Then add

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Saute a further 2 minutes, then add

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup dry white vermouth

Boil gently for 3 minutes. Stir in

1 one-pound can diced tomatoes

3 cups Fish Broth*

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3/4 teaspoon salt, depending on the saltiness of your broth

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer gently for 20 minutes. You can stop at this point if you want.

Just before serving time, stir in 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of mixed fish and shellfish, cut in similar sizes so they will cook in the same amount of time--or else put the larger items in first. Cook up to 5 minutes or until just cooked. For this batch I used:

1/2 pound shrimp (I used the shells in the broth)

1/2 pound cod in 1-inch chunks

3/4 pound bay scallops

2 Australian lobster tails, cut in half lengthwise

1 can chopped clams

*I made this particular fish stock by simmering the shrimp shells, the juice from the can of clams, and a couple of tablespoons of fish sauce with water.

PS: We had the leftover soup for lunch today with Grandma and it was still excellent. Be careful not to reheat too much.

Getting over Thanksgiving

Like you, I have had to overcome a mountain of calories (and, by the way, leftover gravy, due to my advance gravy binge) and get back to my true cooking roots. In this house, that means seafood, tofu, and vegetables.

Last night we had curry-seared scallops, a very quick treatment. I especially like to use this with huge scallops cut in half horizontally so they sear quickly.

Curry-Crusted Scallops

12 ounces sea scallops

1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder

Rinse scallops. Dry thoroughly on paper towels. Dredge all sides in curry powder.

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

Heat a olive oil in a skillet and cook the scallops for 3 minutes per side. Season with salt and pepper, remove to a bowl and keep warm.

2 tablespoons apricot or other jam (I used plum)

3 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons sliced scallions

Deglaze skillet with the jam and a little water or wine. Add cream and boil briefly.

Serve sauce over scallops and garnish with scallions. I served mine with brown rice.

***

By the way, I think I should get some kind of honorary degree in Southern cooking. I made pimento cheese from scratch because I couldn't find any here. I used pickled sweet peppers from the olive bar.

Cape Cod Eating

I wish I had a picture of the counter at Chatham Fish & Lobster, with its bins of gleamingly fresh fish and shellfish--haddock, scrod, swordfish, sole, cod, tuna, salmon, bluefish! We bought and cooked scrod and haddock. Here are some of the other things we ate on the Cape and in Boston:

• Lobster-filled Ravioli in White Wine Sauce
• Crab Crepes
• Cioppino
• Smoked Salmon
• Butternut Squash and Sage-filled Ravioli topped with Duck (!)
• Shrimp Scampi
• Swordfish
• Kale, Sausage, and Lentil Soup made by Andy, absolutely delicious, to accompany the football game

Okay, I didn't order all these things myself, but I did taste them all. The most wonderful thing I had was a Fried Scallop Roll at Sir Cricket's, which perhaps you'll remember is the best fried clam joint in Orleans, near Gramp's nursing home. The scallops were large but not huge, and "fried" in this case involved only the barest whisper of coating. Of course they were served on that ridiculous soft white roll--that's a New England kink I don't quite get yet, but I'm working on it.