Entree – Seafood

Salmon with Pesto

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You can keep pesto and grated Parmesan in the freezer and do this quick and easy dinner.

Ingredients:

  • 10 salmon medallions
  • 2 Tab crumbled firm textured bread
  • ¼ c mayonnaise or salad dressing (Miracle Whip)
  • 3 Tab purchased basil pesto
  • 1 Tab grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

  1. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow baking pan.
  2. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until lightly toasted.
  3. Place salmon on baking pan, tucking under any thin edges.
  4. Broil 4 inches from heat for 4-6 minutes per ½ inch thickness or until fish just begins to flake easily with a fork.
  5. Turn over 1 inch fillets halfway through broiling.
  6. Mix mayonnaise and pesto.
  7. Combine toasted bread crumbs and cheese.
  8. Spoon mayonnaise mixture over fillets.
  9. Sprinkle with crumb mixture.
  10. Broil 1 – 2 minutes until crumbs are lightly browned.

Serves: 10

Source: www.grouprecipes.com bluewaterandsand

Comments: This is one third of the salmon trio

Creamy Crawfish Dip

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I know, it looks like I didn’t really make the recipe – but you go with what you have on hand.  And I had lots of cream cheese spread on hand!

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tab butter (1/2 stick)
  • 1 bunch green onions (white parts only), chopped.  (I used purchased diced onions – about 1/4 c)
  • 1 small red bell pepper, chopped (I used the rest of a jar of pimento – you just need the color)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
  • 1 (8oz) package cream cheese (I used cream cheese spread – the soft cream cheese)
  • 3 Tab mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip)
  • 1 tsp creole seasoning, such as Tony Chachere’s (I only had Cajun seasoning so skipped the cayenne and added a pinch of basil)
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or more to taste
  • 1 12 oz pkg craw fish tail meat, thawed and drained (sure, everyone has that on hand!  Use cooked Bay shrimp- those tiny ones.)
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • Crusty bread and Louisiana-style hot sauce, for serving

Directions:

  1. In a medium skillet, melt the butter over moderate heat.
  2. Add onions and bell pepper and cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
  3. Add garlic and saute for another minute.
  4. Stir in cream cheese, mayonnaise, creole seasoning and cayenne.
  5. Whisk until smooth.
  6. Reduce heat to low.
  7. Add the craw fish tail meat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
  8. Season with salt to taste.
  9. Serve immediately with toasted bread slices and hot sauce.
  10. Garnish with green onion tops if desired.

Serves:  Makes 2 cups

Notes:  Frozen Louisiana craw fish tail meat is available at CajunGrocer.com.  or in the frozen seafood section of a well-stocked grocery store.  If using freshly cooked, whole craw fish, 5-6  pounds will yield 12 ounces of meat.

Source:  TheKitchn.com

Caramelized Onion Dip

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Way good dip – hot or cold.  You can top it with those crunchy onion bits that go on the green bean casserole at Christmas.

Ingredients:

  • 2 c onions diced (3/4# – 3-4 medium onions)
  • 2 Tab oil
  • ½ c sour cream
  • ½ c mayonnaise

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Add chopped onion and sauté 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  3. Reduce heat to low; cook 20 minutes or until onions are deep golden brown, stirring occasionally.
  4. Remove onion mixture from heat.
  5. Cool.
  6. Add sour cream and mayonnaise.

Serves:  2 cups

Source: tasteofhome.com.

Salmon in an Asian Soy-Honey & Ginger Sauce (Easy!)

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If you leave the salmon pieces whole, this makes an impressive entré.  Just use a larger diameter bread to serve the piece.

Ingredients:

  • 8 7-8 oz salmon fillets (the ones in the freezer section in a bag)
  • 4 Tab hoisin sauce
  • 4 Tab soy sauce
  • 2 Tab fresh lime juice
  • 1 Tab honey
  • ½ tsp chili flakes, to taste
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tab grated ginger
  • ½ c Miracle Whip
  • 2-3 green onions, finely sliced or chopped (keep white and green separate)
  • 1 baguette, cut into ¼ inch slices

Directions:

  1. In a bowl combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, and chili flakes.
  2. Stir well to dissolve the honey.
  3. Add the ginger, garlic, and white parts of the green onion (save the green parts for serving).
  4. Briefly rinse salmon fillets.
  5. Pat dry.
  6. Dredge the salmon, turning pieces in the sauce to saturate.
  7. Place pieces in a foil lined, rimmed baking sheet.
  8. Cut each fillet into half lengthwise and then into 5 crosswise. Leave close together.
  9. Cover with foil and allow to marinate in your refrigerator at least 30 minutes or longer.
  10. When getting close to your desired cooking time, preheat oven to 350°.
  11. Bake at 350 degrees 20 minutes, or until sauce is lightly bubbling and salmon has firmed up (inner flesh turns from translucent to opaque when nicely cooked).
  12. Remove from oven.
  13. Spread baguette slices with Miracle Whip and toast on one side.
  14. Place a piece of salmon on each piece of baguette.
  15. Spoon some of the sauce over each piece
  16. Top with a sprinkling of reserved green onion.

Serves Makes 80 pieces

Source About.com Thai Food, Darlene Schmidt, Patassy Vineyard

Sautéed Shrimp with Orange-Chipotle Honey Mustard Sauce

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One of the best shrimp appetizers.  Just enough sweet, just enough hot.

Shrimp Ingredients:

  • 2-3 Tab vegetable oil
  • 2 lbs raw shrimp (31-40) peeled and deveined, no tails
  • 1 ½ c orange sauce (see Ingredients below)

Shrimp Directions:

  1. Heat oil in large, heavy skillet over medium high heat.
  2. Continue with the next quarter, and so on, until all the shrimp have been cooked.
  3. Place the cooked shrimp in a large bowl.
  4. Heat the orange sauce.
  5. Pour the orange sauce over the shrimp.
  6. Toss to combine well and serve the shrimp warm with toothpicks.

Orange Chipotle-Honey-Mustard Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 6 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
  • 2 Tab chipotle chilies & juice (from 7 oz can of Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce (you can freeze the rest of the can for next time.)
  • 2 Tab honey
  • 2 Tab Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, packed
  • 2 Tab fresh lime juice
  • ½ tsp salt or to taste
  • 2 – 3 Tab vegetable oil

Directions – Orange Sauce:

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

Makes: 1½ cups.

Serves: 10-12

Source: The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook Spirited Southwestern Recipes Susan Curtis

 

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

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Bacon – Shrimp – What can be bad!!

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs Shrimp, cooked (31 – 40 count)
  • 3 lbs bacon – the thinnest you can find.
  • 2 clove garlic, mashed to a paste
  • 1 c tomato based chili sauce
  • 1 large cabbage
  • small wooden toothpicks soaked in water

Directions:

  1. Remove shrimp tails.
  2. Cut bacon strips in half
  3. Cook bacon strips in a frying pan over medium heat until limp.
  4. Stir together garlic and chili sauce until well blended.
  5. Dip each prawn in the sauce to coat,
  6. Wrap a half slice of bacon around shrimp and secure with toothpick.
  7. At this point you may cover and refrigerate until next day.
  8. To cook, place shrimp on a broiler pan or rack over shallow baking pan. (Help clean up – line it with foil)
  9. Broil 6 inches below preheated broiler unit, turning once, until bacon is crisp (about 5 minutes).
  10. Insert the shrimp toothpicks into the cabbage on tray
  11. Place extra wrapped shrimp around base of cabbage.

Serves: 60-80

Shrimp With Creamy Sriracha Cocktail Sauce and Easy Aioli

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These sauces/dips are killer!  Good for veggies too.  Try artichokes.

Shrimp:

  • 4 lbs frozen cooked shrimp, 31 to 40 count – no tails, thawed overnight in the fridge.
  • Drain well. Put them between a double layer of paper towels and press down with the towel to absorb the extra moisture.
  • Creamy Sriracha Cocktail Sauce
  • Easy Aioli

Creamy Sriracha Cocktail Sauce

Creamy Sriracha Cocktail Sauce Ingredients: 

  • 1 c mayo or light mayo
  • ¼ c ketchup
  • 2 Tab fresh squeezed lime juice
  • 2 Tab Sriracha Sauce (more or less to taste)
  • ½ c finely chopped green onion

Creamy Sriracha Cocktail Sauce Directions:

  • Finely chop the green onion.
  • In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the mayo and ketchup.
  • Stir in the lime juice, Sriracha sauce to taste, and finely chopped green onions.
    (If you’re not familiar with Sriracha, start with a couple of teaspoons and taste it before you add the full tablespoon. This will get more heat as it sits in the fridge.)

Serves: 1 ½ cups

Sorce: KalynsKitchen.com.

Easy Aioli

Aioli Ingredients:

  • 4 garlic cloves, pressed
  • ½ Tab coarse kosher salt
  • 1 c mayonnaise
  • ¼ c olive oil
  • 2 Tab fresh lemon juice

Aioli Directions:

  1. Mash garlic and ½ teaspoon salt in small bowl until paste forms.
  2. Whisk in mayonnaise, olive oil, and lemon juice.
  3. Season to taste with coarse salt and pepper.
  4. Cover and chill.

Serves: Makes about 1 ¼ cup

Source: Amy Finely, Bon Appétit | July 2008

Can be made 1 day ahead.

Crab Pizza

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Pretty impressive for as simple as it is.

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz soft cream cheese
  • 2 Tab milk
  • cocktail sauce, the bolder the better (or tomato sauce mixed with horseradish)
  • ½ lb crab meat (fake ok)
  • 1 T. fresh parsley, minced
  • zest of one lemon
  • Club crackers, or any other plain cracker

Directions:

  1. Mix cream cheese with enough milk to make it spreadable.
  2. On a large plate or pretty platter, spread cream cheese into about a 9 inch circle or square.
  3. Spread with cocktail sauce, maybe about 1/2 cup, just depends on how much you like.  But do be sure it is bold with plenty of horseradish!
  4. Sprinkle with crab meat followed by a sprinkling of parsley and lemon zest.
  5. Chill until ready to serve.

Serves: 8
Source: Big Red Kitchen, Robin Sue

Shrimp à la Fein

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The Court of Two Sisters is one of those OLD New Orleans restaurants that you have to go to if in The Big Easy – and it does serve a really good meal!

Ingredients:

  • 6 strips bacon
  • 3 Tab butter
  • 1 lb peeled raw shrimp (31-35 size) with tails removed
  • 6 Green onions, chopped fine
  • salt, pepper, paprika
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • Tobasco sauce
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Baguette loaf

Directions:

  1. Dice bacon
  2. Saute in skillet until half cooked.
  3. Pour off excess fat.
  4. Lower flame and add butter, peeled raw shrimp, green onions.
  5. Season to taste with salt, pepper and paprika.
  6. When shrimp are turning pink, add lemon juice and two dashes each of Tobasco and Worcestershire sauce.
  7. Slice baguette 1/4” thick, butter, and toast
  8. Serve shrimp in chaffing dish with toasted baguette.

Serves: 10

Source: Court of Two Sisters, New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans Hot Crab Dip

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A good change from the hot artichoke/spinach dip- a bit up scale too.

Ingredients:

  • ½ lb lump crab meat
  • 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • ½ c mayonnaise
  • ¼ c Parmesan cheese
  • 3 Tab minced green onion (green and white parts)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tab lemon juice
  • 1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
  • ½ tsp hot sauce
  • salt and pepper
  • plain white crackers and/or toast points

Directions:

  1. Combine ingredients.
  2. Place in heat proof dish.
  3. Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes.
  4. Serve hot with crackers and/or toast points

Serves: 1 ½ cups

Source: Carolyn Reichert

Comments: To make toast points cut the crust off thin sliced white bread and toast both sides in the oven. Cut into 4 triangles.