SEAFOOD MARKET

We loved seeing all of you who were around during Spring Break and craving the food from the SEA~

We are still trying to determine the "right amount of fish to order" for you so we keep it running out each day...with fresh shipments each morning and so far...we are still selling out every afternoon...with maybe a bit to be "brought home to mama"...:)

ABOUT LUNCH
We had a great sushi chef coming in each day, and sold plenty, but we thought it was getting away from the theme of what we are trying to do here...

so will not be serving lunches...for now...
but will stick to fine tuning the things you need to go with your seafood meals and helping you create the best HOME DINING SEAFOOD EXPERIENCES for you and your family in a time when time for shopping and HOME COOKING is hard to come by.

As an example, we have ordered some great casseroles you can pick up to serve with your fish or shrimp.

I just watched a recipe on the food network..she was stuffing dressing in Salmon...
we happen to have a great dressing in the fridge..you can salt and pepper your fish really good..give it a slit (coat the inside too with spices of your choice) then maybe add some fresh mushrooms to this pre-prepared dressing...pop it in the oven wrapped in foil (after coating with olive oil and a sprig of your favorite herb) and wha-la...effortless..tasty stuffed Salmon. (this was a whole salmon)
We have pastas and rices, and marinades to help you create the perfect meal.

We now also have beer and wine. When the pollen clears, light a candle on the porch...uncork a bottle of wine to help take the stress off the day and add some heart-healty vino, pull out a light, healthy seafood meal, turn on a table top or wall water fountain and WHA-LA...escape from Bham immediately.

We do this with the kids too (minus the vino)..they love eating outside on the back deck...and don't really KNOW just how healty it is for them...:)

Blessings this week to you and your family.

The family that eats together....thrives.

Allison

Lemon Pepper anyone?

Great recipe from AOL Recipes for today...

here's the link!

http://ebm.cheetahmail.com/c/tag/hBJuRyDBASRaEB7gCgiBYzLQ18H/doc.html?RAF_TRACK=&email=chetti7@aol.com



Make sure you share your favorites!

"Pulling Mussels from a SHE----ELLLLLL" (imagine music :) )

This weekend, our friend, Will cooked some mussels on the stove (I'll get him to forward me what HE did) but they were AWESOME~
so am adding this recipe in case you want to try something different.


Mussels

Buy fresh and make sure they are alive- tightly closed-
Put them in cool water for 20 minutes and they recycle any grit still from the ocean
With Mussels (unlike with clams)-you need to take the beard out)
It looks like a string- grab with a towel and pull down
(don’t pull up or you damage the mussel)

Put butter in a cast iron skillet
Grate ginger root over the butter as cooks
(you can grate and freeze and put in bag for easier useage)

Add a bottle of ale (12 oz.) and put mussels into the pan (2 lbs.- 1 lb. per person)
Cover 3-5 minutes
Don’t cook longer than it takes for them to open their shells
Overcooking is the usual “mess up” with mussels
White miso (soy bean paste- mild- full of flavor)
Let reduce in water and whisk together and add watercress (chopped) and let it barely
Wilt up (4 oz. of it)
And pour over the mussels in a great looking dish
Beautiful!

Serve with bread and a light salad with a ginger dressing
for a light meal.

Paella Dinner Party

Easy Paella Dinner

This is a very easy dinner to prepare and serve. We do the wine tasting in the kitchen while I prepare the Shrimp Paella. Everyone seems to enjoy watching the paella being made.

Apperitif:
Wine Tasting of three (3) Oregon pinot noir wines

First Course
Gourmet Crab DipGourmet Crab Dip
1 pound cooked crab meat
1 (8-ounces) package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 garlic clove, minced
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
Few drops hot sauce, or to taste
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
A pinch of Cayenne pepper
Coarse salt
Baguette bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If using fresh crab meat, carefully clean the crab meat of any shells or cartilage.

In a medium-size bowl, combine cream cheese and sour cream until smooth and no lumps appears. Stir in garlic, lemon juice, horseradish, hot sauce, parmesan cheese, Cayenne pepper, and salt. Fold in crab meat until well mixed.

Place the crab dip in an ungreased small 2-cup baking dish. When ready to serve, bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until top is bubbly and just starting to turn brown. Serve with baguette bread slices.

NOTE: This dip can be prepared ahead of time, covered, and refrigerated until ready to bake. I also double this recipe during the holiday season and divide into two separate baking dishes. I then freeze one for later use. To use the frozen crab dip, remove from freezer and let thaw in the refrigerator before baking.

Makes approximately 1 cup.



Second Course
Avocado on the Half Shell

Jim Johnson of Mission Viejom, California sent me his favorite recipe:

I was stationed in Chile with the Army from 1968 to 1971. The best avocado appetizer I ever had was in Chile where the name for avocado is "palta".

A half of an avocado is filled with the southern hemisphere equivalent of king crab "cangrejo" (but you could use any crab meat), and then lightly covered with thousand islands dressing.

Preparing Half Shells:

To pit an avocado, cut it lengthwise all the way around (working around the pit) and gently twist the two halves apart. Tap the blade of a heavy knife into the pit, and twist gently to release the pit from the flesh. You may use half-shells with or without skins (this is a matter of taste). To peel skin off avocado, place cut-side down, in palm of hand. Strip or pare the skin.


Third Course (Main Course):
Shrimp Paella

A good bottle of wine, salad, and bread are all you need to make a terrific dinner with this wonderful paella. You will need a somewhat deep cooking dish, large cast-iron skillet, or the traditional paella pan (paellera), a round flat pan with two handles. The size of the dish or pan depends on the number of portions you wish to make. The amounts of the ingredients are relative and it does not matter if you use more of one and less of another or chose not to use some at all. The vital thing is the preparation of the rice so that it comes out loose.

Shrimp Paella

1 to 1 1/2 pounds raw extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined*
Coarse salt
2 1/4 cups bottled clam juice or fish broth
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon crumbled thread saffron
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup uncooked Spanish or Arborio short-grain rice**
2 large tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons Spanish paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained (optional)
1 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)
Lemon wedges

* To add additional flavor, place the shells of the shrimp in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer over low heat approximately 7 to 10 minutes. remove from heat and strain the broth; discarding shells. Add shrimp broth to clam broth to equal 2 1/4 cups.

** Don't wash the rice, as it needs its outer coating of starch.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle the shelled shrimp all over with coarse salt; let sit 15 minutes. NOTE: The salt helps bring back the briny taste of the sea that most seafood, especially frozen seafood, tends to lose.




HINT: Have all ingredients chopped and measured before beginning the final cooking of the paella. It is a quick cooking dish that must have all ingredients ready to go.








In a large pan over medium-heat heat, heat the clam juice or fish broth, wine, and saffron; reduce heat to low and keep broth hot (not boiling).



In a large paella pan or heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil.

Add onion and red bell pepper; stir to blend and cook 3 minutes or until slightly softened.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in garlic and rice and continue stirring until garlic is fragrant and the rice is evenly coated with oil, about 1 minute. NOTE: Coating the rice with the oil before adding liquid helps keep the rice grains to stay separated.

Stir in tomatoes, paprika, and salt.

Stir in hot clam/saffron broth mixture.

Return to heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer (stirring and rotating the pan occasionally) mixture 10 to 15 minutes or until rice is no longer soupy but sufficient liquid remains to continue cooking the rice in the oven.

Stir in shrimp, artichokes hearts, and peas

Transfer paella pan to the oven and cook, uncovered, about 15 to 20 minutes until the rice is almost al dente and until almost all liquid is absorbed. NOTE: Never cook paella until the rice is completely done. If you do, it will be mushy by the time it reaches the table. Remove from the oven when the rice grains are no longer hard but still have more bite than you want and a crust forms around the edge of the pan.

Remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil, and let sit 5 to 10 minutes or until the rice is cooked to taste. NOTE: Paella must rest after being removed from the oven, during which time the final cooking takes place.

To serve, sprinkle with chopped parsley and arrange lemon wedges around the top of the paella. Serve immediately. To eat, sprinkle lemon juice over paella.

NOTE: Always bring the paella to the table in its pan for your guests to admire before serving. Traditionally, paella is eaten communally with everyone sitting around the pan and taking the rice directly from the pan with a spoon. Although you are not likely to serve it this way, do leave the paella pan at the center of the table so your family or guests can help themselves to more.

Makes 4 servings.

Hints and Tips:

If the paella is almost al dente and ready to be removed from the oven, but still seems to have liquid, return it to the top of the stove over high heat. Without stirring, heat until the liquid has evaporated. Then remove from heat and cover the rice and let it rest before serving.

If the paella seems dry before the rice is almost al dente, sprinkle with a few tablespoons of water and allow to cook in the oven 2 to 3 minutes longer. Then remove from oven and cover the rice and let it rest before serving.



Homemade Sourdough Bread (we cook bread daily so come in and grab a fresh loaf)






Comments from cooks:

Thanks for posting some great recipes! My friends and I get together every Wednesday night (round robin style) and cook each other dinner. Last night I whipped up the Easy Paella Dinner. I made the crab dip and the shrimp paella. Everything came out great. My friends were really blown away. Thanks again! - Ed Hoboken, NJ (3/22/07)

Crestline Seafood Company OPENS FOR BUSINESS

This week, despite storms and snow...we sold out of fish~
Crestline families dined on steamed shrimp- a few were frying them up~
and steaming mussels (that I happened to get to taste~ MMMM)

Next week, we will serve for lunch~
Sushi rolls (see our photos of our "sushi rolling" party where we perfected some fun rolls with the help of our friends)

We will have gumbo in bread bowls (still in keeping with our cold weather)
sushi~we are working on some seafood pizzas~
and plan to have West Indies Salad to get you primed for spring break which is right around the corner.

We are working on the recipes so you can snatch one and take it home to try your hand at some fun recipes. Let us know if you have some you would like to share.

We will also have some cookbooks at the store for you to dig through~

Allison

Easiest Recipe with one pot to clean~

Crestline Seafood Company is READY to help you savor the tastes of the sea.
Come in and try a new recipe..we'll try to keep you informed of some good easy ones that will make you feel the breeze of the coast~

If you aren't sure what to cook~
When the weather warms up...spread out some newspaper~
cover the back deck table and
get you one big pot...fill it with small potatoes, corn cut in halves and
a few pounds of shrimp and dump it on the table after it boils and the shrimp float
to the top (add them last) with plenty of good cajun seasoning..

and you have yourself an old fashioned "boil".

Make it fancy? Serve it on your fine china and forget the paper products :)

Blessings from the sea~

When crawfish season starts...add in a few of those~
We'll have everything you need to make a full meal..
add a salad if you like too.

Beer Braised Shrimp with La. Salsa and Rice and Fried Green Beans with bacon

For the first recipe...we are doing a summary of Rachael Ray's 30 minute recipes~
Straight from Bayou Country-
You will need these items:
For Rice and Salsa- celery, hot pepper for salsa, green pepper, thyme, lime juice,
Butter, chicken stock, red jalapeno if you want a kick on this cold afternoon (the seeds are where the fire is)

Bowl to mix salsa in
Tomatoes, grated garlic clove and one onion

Rice

To begin:
Put dash of oil and butter (couple of pats) in a skillet- hot for the veggies
Chop your veggies (celery (chop 6-8 pcs. into small pieces) leave the greens on there for flavor;
bell pepper and onion and a bit of garlic)
Put the celery into the oil and a bit in the bowl for salsa
Put 1/2 the chopped red onion in the oil on the stove and other half in the salsa

Chop the green pepper~ into small pieces and put into the oil
and then add some into the salsa

Fresh thyme can be added to both mixtures

Same veggies that are cooking are in the salsa- but now we add thin sliced red jalapeno peppers in the salsa bowl
take ribs and seeds OUT if you don't want it spicy
Add tomatoes in every color to the salsa bowl

Trick to cut little round tomotoes in half? Put them on a deli lid..cover the top of them with another deli lid and then run your knife through there and WHALA~ 8 - 10 at once sliced into two neat halves

Add lime to your salsa- cut in half then work over with a fork to get the juice out..if they don't seem to have much juice pop them in the microwave a few seconds

Lime is a good replacement for salt so lightly sprinkle..
and the salsa is done.

TO THE SKILLET THAT IS ON LOW COOKING THE VEGGIES:
Add a cup of rice to the mixture
cover with the oil and butter and let it brown a few minutes...
Add 3 cups of water or chicken stock if you want it richer
stir and let come to boil then cook on lower for about 15-18 minutes

NEW SKILLET:
Bacon Green Beans
drizzle of oil
thick cut smokey bacon- 1 lb. of green beans for every 4 people
6 slices of bacon
cook the bacon, drain some of the fat, but leave some for flavor (3 tbsp)
1 teaspoon of coarse black pepper
a sprinkle of sugar,
dash of vinegar later

If like tender green bean..cook in salted water first then toss in pan with
fried bacon
cook on Med high


SHRIMP- NEW SKILLET
2 pounds of shrimp- any size will do
beer- hot sauce 1/4 cup, worchestershire sauce, seafood seasoning blend
Put the shrimp in (shells on) and spice up with tbsp. seasoning
add worchestershire
add hot sauce and let cook up
at end add 1 bottle beer (pale ale good suggestion- most of alcohol cooks off..get a tangy flavor
and let it finish cooking and let reduce
at end finish with 1/4 cup scallions and a bit of butter to gloss them up

Back to the pot of bacon and green beans~
add vinegar and sugar to beans when start turning brown on the ends


Rice in other pan- stir up

Spoon into a serving bowl (rice)
and in another bowl put the shrimp
another platter, the green beans

The salsa is great to put on a sandwich or chips

On a PLATE~
bed or LA style rice, make a well in middle for the shrimp add extra sauce from
under the shrimp, then top with a bit of salsa and decorate edges with crispy
green beans

Beautiful!

See it on Rachel Ray's website for more details.

(taken from summary of the TV show :) )