Shrimp Cocktail

 From Cook’s Country; Dec/Jan 2013

Shrimp

• 2 lbs shell-on jumbo shrimp
• 2.5 Tb salt
• 10 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tsp peppercorns
• 3 bay leaves
• ½ tsp celery seeds
• 8, two-inch strips lemon zest plus ¼ cup lemon juice, spent halves reserved
• 8 cups ice

Cocktail sauce

• 1 cup ketchup
• ¼ cup prepared horseradish
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp Old Bay
• ⅓ tsp cayenne

For the shrimp, use kitchen shears, cut through top shell of shrimp along vein line. Leave shell on and remove and discard vein. Combine shrimp, 4 cups cold water, salt, thyme, peppercorns, bay and celery seeds in pot. Set over medium high heat and cook, stirring occasionally until water registers 170 degrees and shrimp are just beginning to turn pink - 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove from heat and add lemon zest, juice, and spent halves. Cover and let sit until shrimp are completely pink and firm, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir ice into pot and let shrimp cool completely, about 5 minutes. Drain shrimp in colander and peel, leaving tails intact. Refrigerate shrimp until ready to use.

For sauce, whisk all ingredients together until combined. 

Potato-crusted Halibut with Tartar Sauce

 From Cook’s Country, Oct/Nov 2011

• 1 cup mayo
• 3 Tb finely chopped dill pickles, plus 1 tsp pickle juice
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 Tb capers, rinsed and chopped fine
• Salt and pepper
• 1 Tb lemon juice
• 2 tsps Dijon mustard
• ⅓ tsp cayenne
• 4 six-oz skinless halibut fillets, 1 inch thick
• 2 cups crushed potato chips

Heat oven to 450. Combine ¾ cup mayo, pickles, pickle juice, shallot, capers, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper in bowl and set aside.

Combine remaining ¼ c mayo, lemon juice, mustard, and cayenne in second bowl. Pat fish dry with paper towels and season with pepper. Brush top and sides with mayo mix and coat with potato chips, pressing to adhere. 

Place fish on foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet and bake until fish flakes apart when gently prodded with paring knife and registers 140 degrees - 12-15 minutes. Serve with tartar sauce. 

Any firm white fish like cod, haddock, or mayo works here. Test kitchens favorite potato chip is Lay’s Kettle Cooked Original. 

Pan seared shrimp or scallops

I do this for stir fry.

Melt some coconut oil in skillet, add sliced carrots, salt, tumeric, pepper. Pinch of ginger. Fry a bit, add zucchini, boy choy, whatever else you have, fry a bit. Add a small can of bean sprouts. Heat, pour into a serving dish. Add more coconut oil or ghee to pan.

Toss shrimp, scallops, salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar in a bowl. Add to pan, NOT crowding (you might need to do two batches). Cook until spotty brown and edges turn pink, about 1 minute (I had some BIG shrimp and scallops, so I counted two minutes). Turn with tongs and cook another minute (or two) until all but very center is opaque. Turn off heat and cover for another minute or two. Ready to serve. Oh. My. Goodness.

Add anything else you can eat for goodness.
Garlic
Onion
Snow peas
Bamboo shoots

World's Best Salmon

 Broiling the salmon is absolutely the best way to go. Oven 500 degrees.
Lay foil on a baking sheet and pour a little olive oil on. Smear the salmon on it, and turn it over and smear it on the other side.
Mix 1/2 mustard and 1/2 maple syrup and spread about half of this on the salmon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Broil until done - I had a one inch hunk that was partially frozen and it took nearly 20 minutes, but I'm sure that would be too long for a normal broil. Just watch it. GARY ATE THIS!!!!!

This one I have not tried yet
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (NOT pancake syrup!) or honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2-3 cloves minced garlic
12 ounces fresh or thawed salmon

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a gallon-size ziploc bag, shake it up, and then add the salmon. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for an hour, turning after half an hour. Pour the salmon and the marinade into a baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven, covered with foil, for 15 minutes. The salmon is done when it flakes easily at the thickest part. Enjoy! Makes (4) 3 ounce servings.

Or this one from Calm Belly

Maple-Marinated Salmon with Sesame-Spinach Rice

Adapted from The Low-FODMAP Cookbook
To make it weeknight-friendly, the recipe calls for instant rice. You could just as easily cook up a pot of rice the traditional way, or make it ahead of time. To garnish, I reserved a few sesame seeds and used fresh pea shoots...totally optional but cute!
Serves 4            

Ingredients

1/4 cup garlic-infused oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce or tamari (I used low-sodium)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 (4-oz) salmon fillets, skin removed
Cooking spray
1 3/4 cups water
1/2 to 3/4 tsp kosher salt (to your taste)
2 cups instant brown rice
4 cups baby spinach leaves
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp dark/toasted sesame oil
4 scallion tops, sliced

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic oil, maple syrup, soy sauce and black pepper. Place salmon fillets in a large zip top bag and add garlic-maple mixture. Toss to coat and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil and mist with cooking spray. Place salmon on baking sheet and drizzle a bit of the marinade over the top. Bake until salmon is opaque in thickest part and reaches 145F on an instant read thermometer, 12 to 18 minutes, depending on thickness.

Our Virgin Adventure - Day 8

Breakfast: Shake
Lunch: Salad and strawberries for Gary, Ham, avocado, orange, cherries and zucchini chips for me
Dinner: Nut breaded baked flounder, spinach, sweet potato fries, beans, leftover lentil dish, grilled onions and zucchinis, and tomatoes. It was not too bad, and beautiful pictures are below.

Weigh in day - Gary has lost 9 pounds and me 3 pounds. VERY good. He went to walk 4.2 miles again this morning as I vacuumed, worked on laundry, and peeled paint off the porch. Hanging upsidedown trying to peel it off from under the railings makes me dizzy, so when we went to Bryant's Hardware to get a nozzle for the water hose, we went ahead and got the name of a fellow who might do this porch painting for me. I hate being old and infirm!

While fixing supper, our housesitter, Brian, came upstairs and talked a wild streak. He is really very interesting to talk to. Gary asked him to eat, but he had a little Caeser's pizza downstairs.  Murder!

Gary's dish. He had sweet potato fries, fish, fresh tomatoes, spinach in the middle, and beans.

The Sweet Potato fries recipe is from Virgin's book. Cut one potato and toss it in a mixture of 1.5 TB coconut oil, 1/2 tsp paprika and 1/2 tsp salt.  Before you put the potatoes on the pan, oil it a bit.  At 400 degrees (my oven), bake fries for 10 minutes, turn, and bake for about 8 more minutes (I baked them for 10 more and they got a little black).
Official recipe:

1 pound sweet potatoes (peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/4 in thick wedges.

1 T Malaysian red Palm fruit oil (this stuff is HIDEOUS)

1/2 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne

Oven 450

Oil 2 baking pans.

Combine potatoes and oil in large bowl; mix spices together and add to potatoes, toss to coat. Bake in single layer, turning ounces until crisp, 20-22 minutes.

My dish. I had grilled zucchini and onions, fries, left-over lentils, and fish. I can't eat spinach or tomatoes like Gary can - at least not going to try it yet.

The nut-baked flounder is a variation from Virgin's book. I rolled the fish (two pieces) in a mixture of almond flour and salt, and then pressed them into chopped nuts. Put on an oiled baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees. We liked it but decided to get wild-caught cod when our flounder is gone.

Stella Steely's Salmon Patties

Thanks, Stella (my across-the-street neighbor)!

2 cans pink salmon
3 beaten eggs
bread crumbs (Italian style)
Crushed crackers
Onions, chopped and sauteed
Plain corn meal

Shape into patties and fry or grill. Salt and pepper to taste.

I made these with one of the small packages of salmon, a couple hands full of Club crackers, about 1/3 onion (not sauteed first), 1 egg and no corn meal. Pretty tasty!

But MOM's were better!!
14.75 oz can salmon, undrained
1/2 c cracker crumbs
1/4 c cornmeal
1 lg. egg, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
oil
Drain salmon, but save the liquid. Remove skin and bones and flake it up. Mix crackers with reserved liquid and let stand 5 min. Stir in salmon, cornmeal and egg and spices. Shape into 6 patties. Fry in hot oil until brown.

Captain George’s Fish Stew

2 jumbo onions

2 bell peppers

1 pint crushed tomatoes

1 Cup tomato juice

2 lbs potatoes

2 Cups celery

1 pint ketchup

1 ½ lbs fish

Chop everything into big chunks. Cook everything but fish in large pot until veggies are tender. Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Add fish and continue to cook 10 to 15 minutes – but not too long as fish will get rubbery.

We had this in a restaurant on Edisto Island and I have made it at home as well.

Tuna a la King

Thank Heaven for canned tuna. This dish was one of the ways I could afford to feed my family fish. (And my Mom's family before that!)

1 can tuna, drained
2 or 3 boiled eggs, cut up
½ C peas
 2 C milk
¼ C flour
¼ C shortening
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
• In a medium saucepan, melt shortening. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Use a wire whisk to keep from getting lumpy. Cook until smooth and bubbly, gradually adding milk a little at a time. Heat up until boiling and it thickens.
• Add peas, tuna, and eggs. Serve on toast.