Coconut and Basil Steamed Mussels

How are we feeling? Have we eaten enough the last few days?  I know I have.  I started eating at a Thanksgiving pace on Veteran’s Day so I should probably get it together before the onslaught of Christmas.

Here’s an easy, light dinner for you (me).

I was pretty nervous about cooking mussels.  My previous experiences with non-shrimp seafood dishes had turned out well (here and here) but I was still anxious.  What if I can't tell if they are open or not and I butcher the 'throw-away-any-mussels-that-don't-open' rule?  What is this debearding business?  How strict is the rule about soaking them in water to remove any salt water?  And so it went. I even planned this dish around vacations.  I purposefully waited until all travelling was over for a bit before making these because I didn't want to cause a bout of food poisoning for Robbie or me.  Bless my heart.

Once we - (let's be honest, this was my paranoia) - once, I figured out the perfect timing to prepare the meal, I ignored my fears that had been harboring (ocean reference!).  I didn't do any debearding as I didn't see anything that seemed to need any debearding and I didn't soak any mussels in water.  Just a quick rinse turned out to be ok for my batch of mollusks.  And, those little suckers are pretty transparent.  This may come as a shock to you, but I could clearly tell the open mussels from the closed ones and was able to throw the latter out accordingly.  

And it's been some time now and no one has gone to the hospital.  I'd say we narrowly escaped that one.  

Coconut and Basil Steamed Mussels

Adapted from Cooking Light

2 teaspoons canola oil

1/4 cup shallots, minced

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup light coconut milk

2/3 cup water

1/3 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup fresh basil

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1/2 to 1 teaspoon Sriracha

1 pound of mussels, scrubbed and debearded (if indeed, you see beards)

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat.   (Side note – I love any recipe that lets me use my Dutch oven.)  Add oil to pan. Add shallots and garlic and cook until tender.  Tear your basil.  Stir in coconut milk, water, chicken broth, newly-torn basil, lime juice, brown sugar, fish sauce and Sriracha.  Bring this mixture to a boil.  Add your mussels to the Dutch oven and cover.  Cook about five minutes or until shells are open. Discard any unopened shells – whether or not they are open will be very clear to you.

Divide mussels between 2 serving bowls and keep warm. Bring broth mixture to a boil once more and cook for five more minutes.  Divide sauce over each bowl (or until you have your desired amount – it makes a lot of sauce).  Serve with a chunky piece of bread because I hear that is what you do with mussels in order to soak up the delicious sauce.  Rice would also work.  

Sautéed Halibut with Mushrooms

I am afraid that I don't have much of a story about this recipe.  I made it to maintain my one-seafood-recipe-a-year trend.  And, just like the other two recipes, the recipe was easy, quick, and delicious and made me wonder why I don’t cook with seafood more often.  Then I remembered – it costs a lot.  These halibut filets?  Were embarrassingly expensive.  When I went home and Googled ‘Halibut’ to confirm my assumption that they were made of gold, I discovered the opposite.  They are not made of gold (they are actually quite ugly looking) and they are ginormous.  Which explains their scientific name Hippoglossus.   I love Wikipedia.  When one fish averages 24 – 30 pounds, one would think the cost of four 6-ounce filets would be cheap.  Maybe they cost more because their eyes migrate from one side of their head to another.  (Again, I love Wikipedia.)

Anywho, impress your significant other or just perk yourself up on a random weekday night and make this restaurant-quality dish.  The original recipe called for bass which my grocery store didn’t have so I had to adapt quickly – both to a new fish and to filets with skin on one side.  After a quick call to my omniscient mother, I was good to go with slightly amended instructions. 

Sautéed Halibut with Mushroom Sauce

Generously adapted from Cooking Light

2 teaspoons canola oil

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

4 (6-ounce) halibut filets

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons bottled ground ginger

¼ cup water

¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over the skinless side of fish.  Add fish to the pan, skin side down; cook for two and a half to three minutes on each side or until the fish meat flakes easily with a fork.  Place the fish on a plate and cover to keep it warm.  Add mushrooms and sesame oil to the same pan and sauté for a two minutes.  Add the ginger and garlic to the pan.  Sauté for another minute.  Add the water, soy sauce and lemon juice to the pan and sauté for two minutes.  Arrange each piece of fish on a plate and pour some of the mushrooms with the sauce onto each filet of fish.

Serve with a green salad garnished with citrus fruit and vinaigrette of your choosing.  And a glass of white wine.

Seared Scallops with Cauliflower Puree

I've always envied those grocery store shoppers who can walk up to a meat or seafood counter and demand specific cuts or filets with the confidence that suggests they sautee sirloin or roast oysters on a nightly basis. I've only recently gathered the gumption to walk up to the deli counter to request turkey slices for my lunch sandwiches. I used to go for the over-priced pre-packaged stuff in the front of the deli case until I realized the stuff in the case was often on sale and you get a free sample if you ask for it.

This past weekend I got to be that person at the seafood counter. I proudly walked up to the seamonger (right terminology?) in Whole Foods and said "I would like a pound and a half of your jumbo scallops please!" And then about passed out when I saw the price slapped on the package he handed me.

Needless to say, this was the first time I had ever cooked with scallops and OMG, why have I not done this before? (The expense being the number one factor, but still . . . ) This dish was unbelievably easy -- so easy you wonder if you are doing it right and if that really is all there could be to seared scallops. Even I couldn't screw this up and the smell . . . oh let me tell you . . . when you place the scallops in a hot pan with oil the most delicious aroma occurs. Even Newt-the-cat came out from his evening nap to give his accolades.

And this dish, although appearing fancy schmancy, is like the people's champion of meals because it is special enough for a weekend dinner but easy enough for a weeknight. Either way, nothing brightens up a dreary Tuesday (or Wednesday, or Thursday as is the trend this week) than to say "I think I'll sear some scallops tonight. And I'll make cauliflower puree to go with it." Oh yes, you can be that person too.

Seared Scallops with Cauliflower Puree

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, March 2011 Issue

Available online here.

2 cups cauliflower florets

1 cup cubed peeled Yukon gold potato

1 cup water

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon canola oil (or enough to coat a saute pan large enough for your scallops)

1 1/2 pounds sea scallops

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Bring first four ingredients to a boil in a saucepan; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until potato is tender. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes, uncovered (I may have left mine covered and it did not make a difference). Heat a large skillet over high heat and add oil, swirling to coat. Pat scallops dry with paper towels and sprinkle with some of the salt and pepper. Add scallops to pan; cooking 3 minutes on each side or until you feel they are done enough. (Mine were pretty spot on with the three minutes/side.) Pour cauliflower mixture in a blender -- reserve some of the liquid. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, butter and red pepper. Remove center piece of blender lid to let steam escape and secure lid on blender. Blend until smooth. Add reserved liquid bit by bit to get the puree to your desired consistency. Serve puree with scallops.

Shrimp and Orzo Skillet

I have been looking at this recipe for the past six months it seems and finally got a chance to make it Friday night . . . at 10 pm . . . to be put immediately in the refrigerator so that it could be eaten for dinner this week. So I don't now how it tastes hot off the stove -- but reheated in the microwave it is delicious! It was super-easy to make and although there was an issue with splattering oil the second the shrimp hit the hot skillet, it was quickly controlled and the recipe progressed flawlessly.

I got this recipe from a Pampered Chef cookbook. Those folks know what they are doing! Beyond handy kitchen gadgets that make the home cook feel like they've grown a second set of arms to do difficult prep work like buttering corn and cutting an apple in different pieces while getting rid of the core (I should note that both of these tasks can be done simply with one of these . . . but I digress) . . . they also make great recipes.

The lemon flavor is more powerful than the mint and the only moderation I made upon reheating the dish was to add a little salt. But let's be honest, I add salt to almost anything. My grandmother always told me that "A Mullinax can have as much salt as he or she would like." Ironically, she was not born a Mullinax but I never questioned her logic -- Mimi knew best.

Shrimp and Orzo Skillet

from The Pampered Chef 29 Minutes to Dinner

8 oz. large uncooked shrimp (21-25 per pound)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon sugar

8 oz. orzo pasta

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup clam juice

1 lemon

1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh mint

1 cup frozen peas

1 tablespoon butter

For shrimp, peel and devein shrimp. Add oil to skillet and heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. As skillet heats, combine salt, black pepper and sugar; add shrimp and toss to coat.

Arrange shrimp in a single layer over bottom of skillet and cook about 1 minute or until one side is browned and edges are pink. Remove skillet from heat and turn shrimp over. Let stand an additional 30 seconds or until centers are opaque and shrimp is cooked through. Remove shrimp from skillet and set aside.

For orzo, in same skillet, combine orzo, pressed garlic, broth and clam juice. Bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 10-12 minutes or until orzo is cooked through. As orzo cooks, zest lemon to measure 1 tablespoon zest; juice lemon to measure 1 tablespoon juice. Thinly slice mint.

Remove skillet from heat and stir in peas, butter and lemon juice. Arrange shrimp over orzo and cover. Let stand 3-5 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with lemon zest and mint before serving.