11-30…SEAFOOD CHOWDER WITH ORZO

Obviously I’m still looking around for something new.

INGREDIENTS:

Sea scallops
Orange Roughy
Shrimp
Crab meat
San Marzano tomatoes
Garlic, onion
Olive oil
Bay seasoning
Corn (frozen)
Parsley, basil, bay leaves
Orzo
Chicken broth

PROCESS:

Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil before adding the tomatoes and herbs. Cook for about 30 minutes then add the broth, sea food, corn, and bay seasoning. Simmer covered for another 30 minutes or more.

Cook the Orzo separately, drain, and add to the pot.

COMMENTS:

Great cold weather dish, made even better with some of Kirchhoff’s French bread.

MIXED SEAFOOD IN TOMATO SAUCE...7-4

Patience and I had the pleasure of Laurie’s company tonight. Laurie lives in Minnesota with Lindy Loo's litter mate, Simmer, who is in heat. She will be with us for the rest of the week…the plan is for Simmer and Swede William to get down and dirty so Laurie and Patience can have this litter of wonderful whippets. All of this may be more than you wanted to know, but be thankful that I have spared you the details of the first time William gets laid.

Back to the pasta…MIXED SEAFOOD IN A TOMATO SAUCE



INGREDIENTS:

Linguine
Orange Roughy…2 fillets
Shrimp
Sea scallops
Basil, thyme, and parsley
Olive oil
San Marzano whole, peeled tomatoes
Crab meat (optional)
Bay seasoning
Garlic and shallots
Secret ingredients*

PROCESS:

Saute the garlic and shallots in olive oil with red pepper flakes. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley and thyme. After 405 minutes add the all of the seafood except the shrimp, plus the Bay seasoning. Cook for at least 15-20 minutes. During this period add the “secret ingredients”.

Add the shrimp about 5 minutes before the pasta is ready. Combine the pasta and sauce in suitable serving bowl.

COMMENTS:

This is so easy, and if you serve it to guests they will think you slaved for hours to prepare it. All the seafood is frozen, so just imagine how this would taste if fresh seafood was available. But that is part of the purpose of all of this...to show you how great pasta dishes can be prepared with the most mundane ingredients. Go for it!

*dash of Catsup and Cocktail sauce.

SEAFOOD PASTA IN THE HEARTLAND

Ebb Tide Pastel 20x30

Fresh seafood is difficult to find in western Kentucky. For this reason, as well as for convenience, I have used frozen seafood and canned clams in my pasta dishes and the results have been quite satisfactory. I try to keep the following on hand: frozen peeled, raw shrimp, frozen deep sea scallops, frozen orange roughy fillets, canned anchovie fillets with and without capers, and canned minced,or whole clams and baby clams. In addition there is Old Bay seasoning and clam juice in the pantry.

CLAMS W RED CREAM SAUCE

INGREDIENTS
clams-whole or minced w the juice
3-4 finely chopped anchovies fillets
Garlic-shallots
1-2 tablespoon tomato paste
Olive Oil
Herbs-parsley, tyme,
cream-about one half cup
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup red wine
red pepper flakes
thin spaghetti

While the pasta is cooking sauté garlic, shallots, anchovies, herbs, red pepper flakes, and tomato paste in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the clams and wine and cook to reduce the liquid. then add the butter and cream and stir constantly. Add the pasta and about 1/3 cup of the pasta water, mix and serve.

3 SEAFOOD PASTA IN CREAMY TOMATO SAUCE

I love pasta, all shapes, sizes and in all sauces!! I love pasta with fish sauce, with meat sauce, with vegetables and with nothing but olive oil and garlic. Growing up with pasta on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and all holidays, I don’t think I’ve every met a pasta that I didn’t like (excluding all canned pasta.)

Fortunately, I also love to cook pasta, and although we don’t have the rigid schedule of my childhood years, I’m certain we eat pasta a minimum of 3 days a week, and usually more. Even more fortunately, my dear wife Patience, a bona fide Anglo, not only loves pasta but can cook pasta as creatively as anyone.

I enjoy looking through the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry to see what is available, than putting something together for another pasta dinner.

Because my memory has become a thing of the past, I began recording these concoctions (I am reluctant to call them recipes because nothing is measured of closely timed.), and the guests that were there to share them. Did I mention that we live in a community of friends where dinners are freely shared?

Here is one of my “recipes”, and, as with everything I do, there is plenty of flexibility in the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS
scallops, shrimp, orange roughy
angel hair pasta
tomatoes-whole, or diced
white wine
garlic. shallots, 4-5 anchovie fillets (finely chopped)
butter
basil, paprika, parsley
red pepper flakes
heavy cream

saute garlic, shallots, anchovies, red pepper flakes and parsley in olive oil and butter. then add the seafood and cook on high for several minutes, adding paprika and basil for about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and add white wine and simmer for about 10 minutes. add the tomatoes and cook uncovered for about 20-30 minutes to reduce the volume of liquid. Add cream-about 1/2 cup- and stir till thickened.

Mix thoroughly w the pasta and serve.

served to T,P, Char and Jay on 12-7-04