Shellfish – Page 3 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Very Garlicky and Very Shrimpy Pasta

They key to this dish wasn’t as much as the garlic as it was the shrimp flavor from the head and the shells. I spent some time shelling and deveining a pound of shrimps, and my arm hurt from pressing them to get the juice out, but all the work was worth it. I used rigatoni pasta but they turned out to be too big for the small pieces of shrimps. When you try this, use penne instead. You can also substitute the vermouth with white wine. I just didn’t want to waste a perfectly good and pricey Chateauneuf-du-Pape white–we needed another bottle of it after this very garlicky and very shrimpy pasta was done.

Ingredients:
1 pound large shrimps, peeled, deveined, tails removed, cut into 3 pieces; heads, tails and shells reserved
1 medium-sized head of garlic, peeled, smashed, sliced
1 box of penne, cooked al dente, saving some of the pasta water
1 can of clam juice
1/2 cup dry vermouth
2 tsps flour
half a bunch of parsley, finely chopped
a small knob of butter
lemon wedges, plus some of its juice
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
oil, salt

1. Marinate shrimps. In a large glass bowl, combine shrimp meat and a third of the garlic with some olive oil and a dash of salt. Set aside while you do steps 2 and 3.
2. In a large skillet, heat some oil. Add another third of the garlic with the shrimp heads, tails and shells. Cook and toss until garlic is light brown, about 8 minutes. Add clam juice and vermouth and let it simmer. Using the back of a large spoon, smash the heads so that the fat comes out.
3. When half of the liquid has evaporated, turn off the heat and remove the garlic and shells using a slotted spoon and transfer to a mortar and pestle in batches. Save the liquid from the skillet and transfer to another large bowl. Continue to get the remaining juice out of the heads and shells by pounding them with the pestle and transferring the juice back to the bowl. Discard shells when done.
4. Turn the heat back on and add a little oil. Sauté the remaining garlic. Add the shrimp-flavored liquid and let it simmer until somewhat reduced. Then add the marinated shrimp and toss for about 2 minutes. Drop in the butter, flour and red pepper flakes and mix until butter is melted. Add salt and lemon juice to taste. Add pasta. If it gets too thick, add a drop or two of the pasta water. Turn off the heat and mix in the parsley.

Cockles in White Wine Sauce

The Dr. requested seafood for dinner in exchange for his accompanying me to Roosevelt Island. While preparing for our meal, I entertained him with a smoked salmon appetizer. With a roasted branzino stuffed with lemon slices, I also served cockles in white wine sauce.

Ingredients:
1 bag of cockles, cleaned and scraped off
1 cup dry white wine
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
a handful of flat parsley, chopped
olive oil

1. In a large pot, heat some oil and sautÃ© garlic and shallots. Add the cockles and toss until a majority of them open up. Shake the pot to be sure that all the cockles are getting equal heat. Add white wine and cover for about 3 minutes to let the wine simmer.
2. Drain the cockles into a large bowl, saving the liquid. Discard unopened cockles. Return the liquid to the pot and bring to a boil. Add chopped parsley. Pour this sauce over the cockles and serve immediately.

Pasta with Baby Octopus

This recipe was adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Babbo Cookbook, from one of my favorite chefs, Mario Batali. He used bavette, a thin, ribbon-shaped pasta, but I substituted spaghetti instead because it was all I had handy. He also used jalapeÃ±o pesto, but I doubled the amount of red chili flakes from what I would normally add to give it that kick without the hard work. I did make my own basic tomato sauce though, because, well, I usually do.

If you can’t find fresh baby octopuses, you can certainly used the frozen ones. Those are already cleaned. If you buy the fresh ones, all you have to do to clean them is to turn the head inside out and wash the entrails. Then pull out the eyes and remove the mouth which is found at the center of the octopus where the tentacles meet the head and body. It’s as easy as cleaning fresh squid. If you can only find large octopus, cook that longer until it’s tender and just slice it in smaller pieces before tossing with the pasta.

Ingredients:
2 pounds of baby octopuses, cleaned, washed, drained
1 bundle of spaghetti
2 cups basic tomato sauce
12 fresh mint leaves
3 tbsps red wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
red chili flakes
olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Using a large pot, cook pasta al dente in boiling salted water for about 8 minutes. Remove and drain. Set aside. You will cook the pasta more later.
2. While cooking the pasta, cook the octopuses. In a large saucepot, combine octopuses with the red wine vinegar and just enough water to cover. Cook uncovered and immediately remove from heat as soon as the octopuses change color. Drain and set aside to let cool.
3. In a large skillet, heat some olive oil. SautÃ© the garlic until golden brown. Add the tomato sauce and chili flakes and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes. Add the octopuses and the pasta. Toss over high heat for about a minute with the mint leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

Cod and Shrimp Stew

Gourmet Magazine published this Moqueca Capixaba Brazilian fish stew in their food and travel issue. I remember reading the recipe on my way home and my mouth started watering. I knew the cilantro and lime were going to be key here so I ended up putting double the amount for both. This became one of my favorite dishes this spring.

Ingredients:
2 pieces of cod fillets, pat dry with paper towel
1/4 pound of shrimps, peeled and deveined
juice from 2 limes
1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large red onion, chopped
2 yellow plantains, peeled, halved and cut into 8 pieces
5 cloves of garlic, minced
red pepper flakes
salt, olive oil

1. In a shallow bowl, stir together lime juice and red pepper flakes, garlic and salt. Pour over cod fillets and shrimps. Cover and marinate while you prepare the vegetables.
2. Put tomatoes in a large Dutch oven. Top with the onions and bell pepper. Place plantains on top and season with some salt. Arrange the fish and the shrimps on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle cilantro over the fish and pour over lime-garlic marinade with some oil.
3. Bring to a simmer and then cover the pot. Adjust heat to gently simmer for about 20 minutes, until vegetables are soft and fish and shrimps are cooked through.

Related post/s:
Fish stew, Korean version

Adobong Pusit, Braised Squid

Cameron asked me what else she can do with squid. Xe Lua does a really great crispy squid appetizer but most restaurants treat squid like shrimps–they overcook them until they’re chewy and rubbery. And really, calamares can’t be the only way. I once read that you either cook squid for two minutes or two hours. Once you cross that overdone threshold, you have to keep cooking it to soften it.

For this Filipino adobo recipe, you cook the squid for about ten minutes. My father would tell you that you just know when to turn the heat off. Don’t be afraid to poke them with your fork to check the tenderness. At least I can tell you how to clean the squid: slice across the tentacles near the eyes to pull out the innards and the plastic-like spine. You’ll see a small pocket in there which holds the ink. I keep a couple of them intact for color. Discard the rest but keep the tentacles. It’s okay for the tentacles to completely separate from the body. Rinse thoroughly.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound fresh squid, cleaned
1 medium head of garlic, peeled, crushed
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
salt

1. In a saucepan, bring squid, peppercorns and garlic to a low boil for 5 minutes. The squid will make its own juice from the ink pockets you left intact, so no need to add water. Do not stir.
2. When squid is tender, add vinegar and bring to a second low boil for about 5 minutes. Do not stir. Season with a little salt. Add a little more vinegar to taste.