Seafood Recipes
You know one of the great things about being a home cook? You can basically do whatever you want in your kitchen. Mix up cuisines. Pair unlikely foods. As long as it tastes good and you like it, no great...
Have you ever seen a ling cod? They are almost primeval looking - huge, gaping mouths with sharp teeth. As with any fish, the most important factor for how good it tastes is its freshness. I picked up this fillet...
My father had never eaten scallops before this year, but he was so inspired by this scallop dish prepared by his friends Fred and Patricia, he has spent much of the last month experimenting with them. What I love about...
A dish doesn't have to be complicated, or take a lot of time, to be good. My father found this recipe for baked shrimp in a tomato sauce with feta cheese in a special publication by Fine Cooking (one of...
Some things taste so much better than they look. This is an odd looking dish with the orangey pink shrimp and the light yellow-y green tomatillos, speckled here and there with white Cotija cheese and green cilantro. And you might...
For most California girls, the idea of "digging for clams" isn't really part of our cultural makeup. But out in Rhode Island, and the beaches south of Cape Cod, digging in the sand for your dinner is apparently a regular...
Recently I spent an afternoon helping my friend Becca cook up a large batch of jambalaya. Becca is from Biloxi, Mississippi and has been making jambalaya for years.
According to tradition, there should be at least five different kinds of fish in a proper bouillabaisse. In Marseille, considered the mecca of bouillabaisse, they use at least seven, not counting the shellfish. The fish should be extremely fresh...
Squid can be cooked one of two ways: For the blink of an eye, or for a long, long time. Anything in between and it is rubbery. This dish, which is our version of a Southern Italian classic called calamari...
Still on vacation visiting friends here and here. Not much time to cook, too busy lollygagging. In the meantime, here's another favorite from the archives, ceviche, one of the best possible things one can prepare with a fillet of fresh...
When I put the call out a few weeks ago for July 4th grilling suggestions, Simple Recipes reader Chuck mentioned bacon-wrapped shrimp. I'm sure this is a standard fare for many of you, but I can't remember ever eating bacon-wrapped...
"I'll make cioppino," my brother John announced as the family discussed what to make over the holiday weekend. "Great!" said my father and I, relieved that someone else would do the cooking for a night. "Have you ever made cioppino...
When Garrett McCord told me he had the best mussels recipe in the world I was skeptical, that is until I tried it. Yikes this is good! ~Elise When I need a good party food or want to impress some...
Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen as she treats us to fabulous shrimp coated with panko and coconut flakes. ~Elise In my kitchen, there are a handful of Asian ingredients that I’m never out of. There’s the...
Preparation time: 40 minutes. Here is a delicious way to use up leftover fish or mashed potatoes. I made my first cod fish cakes after catching my first lingcod (which isn't actually cod by the way, but it still worked...
During the winter months, our local Whole Foods gets one or two shipments in a week of freshly cooked Dungeness crab. Like all seafood, crab tastes best when it is as fresh as possible. When buying crab, ask the guy...
All winter long it's Dungeness crab season here in the Pacific Northwest. Dungeness crabs tend to weigh in between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 pounds, and have perfect meat for making crab cakes. These crab cakes are a step-up riff...
Winter is fresh crab season here in Northern California. When our local Whole Foods gets in a shipment, we're first in line for the biggest (anything greater than 2 lbs) fresh, cooked crabs, already cleaned and broken. Dad calls it...
My friend and neighbor Molly passed along her mother's recipe for crab fondue the other day. It's a tradition in her family to prepare this hot crab dip while everyone is gathered for the holidays. Garrett and I whipped up...
I first encountered a crab mango salad at Fringale, the exquisite French-Basque restaurant on 4th St. in San Francisco. Recently at a restaurant in LA I had another delicious crab mango salad, this time with avocado and surrounded by peeled...
Most crab lovers know that fresh crab pairs well with avocado. But have you ever tried it with roasted hazelnuts (also called Filberts)? I got this idea from a crab hazelnut pear appetizer prepared by Oregon chef Jason Stoller Smith...
Shown cooked with brown rice pasta. We were recently sent a review copy of Dave's Dinners: A Fresh Approach to Home-Cooked Meals by Dave Lieberman of the Food Network. Honestly, I've never heard of Dave as I don't watch much...
My father has been making this soup for several years now. It is incredibly easy to make, given how tasty the results. The key ingredient is the clam juice, though I have prepared it for people with shellfish allergies substituting...
Well, summer has finally come to Sacramento. After weeks of remarkably pleasant 80-degree weather, the hundreds have arrived. Yesterday 108°F. Today, 104°F. And when the mercury goes up, the grill comes out. Who wants to heat up the kitchen when...
In Mexico, practically every meal is accompanied by a stack of fresh warm corn tortillas, much in the way that bread is served here in America. As you eat, you can wrap whatever is on your plate in a fresh...
This simple but delicious salmon recipe comes via my friend Heidi in Carlisle, Massachusetts, who got it from the Boston Globe (Thanks Heidi!). Because there are so few ingredients, the recipe relies completely on the freshness of the ingredients.
Please welcome Hank Shaw as he takes us through the steps of grilling a whole fish, using sustainably farmed branzino. ~Elise Branzino. Sounds kinda like a the name of a 1940s prizefighter. If it’s ringing a bell, that’s because this...
One of my favorite ways to eat oysters (especially those strongly flavored big ones) is grilled. Guest author Jaden shares a personal lesson from the Shuckmeister on how to do it. Enjoy! ~Elise Even though I live all the way...
In case you haven't heard, we've been having some awfully weird weather here in Northern California. Late May and it's been windy, rainy, and (gulp) cold for weeks. Practically unheard of for Sacramento. I've been walking around in denial, refusing...
My father walked through the door the other day with half of a fresh whole wild salmon, announcing to me that he would like me to grill it. Sure dad! When someone presents truly fresh fish to you, there really...
Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen who shares one of her mother's favorite dishes for Chinese New Year. ~Elise Last week, I called my Mom asking for advice on what to cook for Chinese New Year. She...
Confession time. I am a lover of tartar sauce. I think the seafood eating world is divided into two camps, those who enjoy tartar sauce with their fish, and those who will have nothing to do with it. I am...
Years ago, my first job out of college was in Boston; I lived in the North End, above D'Amore's Italian restaurant on Salem Street, right across from a little fish market. This was a magical time, to be in one's...
Years ago, on a little island off the coast of Marblehead, Massachusetts, a friend's aunt showed me how to eat a lobster, including the fine art of sucking the tender meat and juice out of the spindly legs. It was...
My friends Becca (Biloxi, Mississippi) and Carole ("Nawlins", Louisiana) are probably scratching their heads reading this ("What? You need to show people how to peel a shrimp?") But if you, like me, did not grow up on the Bayou or...
A few weeks ago I spent a morning with Chef David Lamonica of Scott's Seafood in Folsom, California, learning all about preparing seafood and sauces that work well with seafood. Of everything we prepared that morning, simple pan fried haddock...
We recently found this recipe using halibut in Real Simple magazine and decided to give it a go, but with ling cod instead. Mom and I loved it, dad wasn't so sure. For me, it was reminiscent of our favorite...
What's there to say about this Italian-American classic other than, "red or white?" Linguini with clam sauce comes in either a red tomato-based version, or a white version with cream or white wine. Today we present to you a red...
It seems like every culture with a coastline has their version of a seafood stew. The French have bouillabaise, the Portuguese bacalhoada, New England "chowdah" and San Francisco cioppino. In Brazil, they make moqueca (pronounced "mo-KEH-kah"), a stew made with...
My first job out of college was in Boston, in the financial district downtown. My local friends did their best to inculcate this wide-eyed Californian to New England traditions of every sort, especially food. We feasted on indian pudding at...
Beurre Blanc is a French sauce ("white butter") based on a reduction of shallots and an acid such as vinegar, citrus juice, or wine, mixed in with cold butter. Its creamy tanginess works well with mild fish such as trout...
My dad pulled out a favorite recipe today to make and share with "the people on the website." A "discussion" then ensued between the rental units for at least half an hour along the lines of "What do you mean...
When I told my friend Becca that I had made oyster stew, she looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and asked, "well, did you like it?" As I nodded yes, she added laughing, "it's a lot better...
Escabeche is a dish of Spanish origin in which fish is marinated in an acidic marinade. Somewhat similar to ceviche, but the fish is cooked a bit first. Because of the acidity of the marinade, the dish lends itself to...
"Bacon" variety avocados are in season in the winter; lighter in flavor than the more popular Haas variety, these large, thin-skinned avocados are exceptionally creamy and are perfect for using in sauces. While remoulade is typically made with mayonnaise, in...
Panko is a Japanese type of bread crumb that is especially light and crunchy, popular these days with chefs because it doesn't get soggy. What I love about this way of preparing salmon is that the panko topping seems to...
Here's a little secret: olive oil-packed canned tuna, chili pepper flakes, and pasta is a master combination (and classic Italian). One of my favorite dishes on this site is the tuna, arugula, chili pepper, pasta recipe. So when I stumbled...
Canned tuna has never tasted this good. I came across this recipe on Sher's What did you eat? blog, where she got it from the San Francisco Chronicle. You make a sauce for the pasta with tuna, olive oil, garlic...
My friends are so very patient with me. BFF Steve-Anna first emailed me this spicy, peppery shrimp recipe, a favorite of hers, four years ago. And then again, at least two or three more times, when I declared I couldn't...
This poached salmon recipe is one of the first recipes my father taught me a few years ago. It's his favorite way to prepare salmon because not only can it be prepared in 10 minutes or less, but it doesn't...
The first time my friend and fellow food blogger Fernanda mentioned wanting to make a Portuguese salt cod stew, I was skeptical. (Though given how well Fernanda's salmon fish stew had turned out what was I thinking?) Salt cod isn't...
Hank made this seafood bisque for us the other day and it was so outrageously good I begged him to make it again. I served some of it to a friend from Provence whose eyes lit up upon tasting it...
My sister Karen (Austin's mom) is in town, flush from completing a grueling, 500 mile bike ride from San Francisco to LA. Karen has always been a super athlete, and with her current passion for triathlons takes a lot of...
In Bahia in Northern Brazil, there is a savory fish stew called "Moqueca" that they make with local fish. Fernanda Guimaraes Rosa, who writes the Brazilian food blog Chucrute com Salsicha, brought a Vancouver friend's salmon version of Moqueca to...
I distinctly remember the tall cans of dark pink salmon that used to be in our pantry when I was a kid. Although we could any time open a can of tuna or sardines and eat to our hearts content...
You know, I think it's almost impossible to make salmon mousse look good. Let it be known that in this case, we tried. I used a fish mold, appropriate for the salmon fish mousse. If we use a mold like...
Raising six kids on a teacher's salary, my parents were always cooking on a budget. Being Catholic, with the Lenten requirement of meatless Fridays, this meant that we ate a lot of tuna macaroni salad and fried fish. Frequently mom...
Here's a salmon dish made for summer. Fresh tomatoes, fresh chopped herbs, a few shallots, lemon juice, balsamic and olive oil make a perfect sauce to accompany baked salmon fillets.
Hot days are upon us. A great way to cool off is with a refreshingly chilled salmon salad. This salad is also one way to use up leftover salmon from a summer barbecue. Easy and quick.
One of the tastiest appetizers you can prepare for a gathering is a simple salmon spread. Usually salmon spreads are little more than smoked salmon mixed with cream cheese. This spread uses a combination of smoked salmon and freshly poached...
Now that grilling season is officially upon us, I've been experimenting with teriyaki salmon skewers. Last night's version (frozen salmon, canned pineapple) got two thumbs up from the rents, but there were too many leftovers for me to be convinced...
Every year in mid September, my friend Jim organizes a group of his friends to go salmon fishing off the coast of Marin, north of San Francisco. For the second year in a row, I didn't a catch a fish...
Raised Catholic, I grew up eating fish every Friday (not just during Lent as the custom goes these days). Often it was just a simple tuna macaroni salad, but we kids were exposed to a variety of fish and seafood...
Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen as she tempts us with "Floribbean" tropical shrimp. ~Elise I’m a crazy-lucky gal, living in tropical Florida. With the abundance of fruits all year round, we don’t do much canning or...
A few years ago my father discovered scallops, not that he didn't know about them before, it's just that some light bulb went off in his head one day and he decided that he had to cook them. So for...
After completing graduate school in the late 80s, I spent a year studying martial arts at Kyoto University in Japan. The school cafeteria served many things that one would never encounter in the states (natto spaghetti for example), but one...
Recipe and photo updated July 25th, 2011 One of the benefits of having your own cooking website is that your friends and relatives start sending you recipes to try. The basis for this recipe comes by way of my cousin...
Fish sticks don't have to come from a box; they're easy enough to make. A friend recently gave me a great cookbook for kids (thanks, Nicky!) that had this fun-sounding recipe for sesame fish sticks, just the thing you might...
One of our hands-down favorite recipes is this one for shrimp cakes. My father pulled the original recipe from Bon Appetit magazine years ago, which he has since changed just ever so slightly. Dad doesn't even like shrimp, and usually...
With the warm days of summer upon us, a great way to cool off is with ceviche. Ceviche is typically made with red snapper that is "cooked" by the acidity of lime and lemon juice (see this ceviche recipe.) This...
Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of the oh-so-steamy SteamyKitchen.com as she shares an oh-so-spicy shrimp cocktail recipe she found on a trip to Asheville, North Carolina. ~Elise I’ll be honest with you, I never order shrimp cocktail at a...
Another great dish from Hank. Enjoy! ~Elise Even though I grew up in New Jersey, and my mother is from New England, I still think Louisiana has the best food in America. Every time I cook Cajun or Creole I'm...
Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen who is doing a series of Chinese American food recipes for us here on Simple Recipes. ~Elise The first time I attempted to cook fried rice on my own, I was...
The heat has finally arrived in Northern California, and with it, the need for some cooling pasta salads. Here's a simple and easy shrimp pasta salad made with those little pink shrimp that you can find in the freezer section...
Recently returned from a Louisiana trip where he enjoyed many a po boy, Hank put these together for us for lunch. So good! ~Elise What's not to love about the classic Louisiana po boy sandwich? Most are dead simple, and...
Quesadillas have to be my favorite go-to food for lunch. They're just so easy to make! Especially when you have tortillas and cheese in the fridge, which we almost always do. Recently I had lunch with an old friend at...
Have you ever had a food epiphany? Years ago I had a seafood risotto at a restaurant on the Grand Canal of Venice (back in the cushy days of business trips with expense accounts) that was so silky, so luscious...
Do you have a favorite meal for those need-something-quick-and-don't-want-to-have-to-plan-or-work-too-hard days? I like keeping a bag of shrimp in the freezer just for those times. I'll put some frozen shrimp in a bowl of ice water, and if I'm serving them...
Okay, pardon me in advance, but I think I've just had a Sandra Lee moment with this dish. Wait, the parsley is fresh from the garden, does that count? Let's look at the ingredients - shrimp (best to get frozen...
What better way to cool down in the heat of summer than with a delicious cold salad? Freshly cooked shrimp and creamy avocado are a perfect match, especially with a crisp vinaigrette. The best news? It only takes a few...
At a recent cooking class at Scott's Seafood (Folsom, CA), Chef David Lamonica set us to work preparing shrimp with orange beurre blanc (a French butter and shallot sauce). Chef David says the best shrimp to get are fresh, Gulf...
A little trivia here. What makes a bisque a bisque and not a chowder? Both bisques and chowders are made with seafood and vegetables, with a cream base. Chowders tend to be more stew-like or chunky, and bisques puréed. Bisques...
What I love about this recipe, other than the ingredients (smoked salmon, pine nuts, yum!) is that it can be pulled together so quickly and it's not particularly heavy, as so many cream sauce pastas can be. There's also room...
One of the challenges of the holidays is keeping everyone fed when the family comes to town. We're always looking for dishes that can feed lots of people well, without a lot of hassle, and that are relatively easy to...
My dear friend, the ebullient, smiley, and somewhat wacky Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites has a new "schtick", namely, food on a stick. On a Stick! is Matt's new cookbook, aimed at the party crowd, and filled with every conceivable...
The big food thrill of winter in Northern California is that it is Dungeness Crab season. There is simply nothing better than fresh cracked crab, but you have to make sure the crab is very fresh. During the season we...
Throughout the coastal areas of Latin America, you'll find local variations of "Camarones al Ajillo", freshly caught shrimp, fried quickly in olive oil with garlic and chiles. My friend Arturo grew up near the beaches of Acapulco and learned a...
Do you like fried calamari? If so, just imagine the lightest, crispiest, melt-in-your-mouth-iest coating over the most tender squid, and this would be it. The tempura version. I love fried calamari, but you know what? After this tempura, I'm not...
Tilapia, a tasty farm-raised fish originally from Africa, has become more and more popular here in the states. I recently brought home a whole tilapia from our local Asian fish market and made quite a mess of trying to fillet...
Almost every other Friday growing up my mother would serve the family this tuna macaroni salad. With six kids she loved this standard; it was easy to make, filling, relatively inexpensive, and best, we all gobbled it up.
Tuna patties! All you have to do is say these two words and I'm flooded with childhood memories. We kids are only a few feet high, have tiny feet, scabbed knees, and boundless energy. In between chasing each other around...
My parents started making tuna fish salad sandwiches this way years ago, and as far as I'm concerned theirs is the best and only way to make a tunafish sandwich. First it helps to start with high quality canned tuna...
