Seafood Night!

Missy Tippens

I'm sharing this today because I felt really clever when I made these dishes! :)

I decided to have a seafood night and picked up some good shrimp (I was craving shrimp cocktail) and a couple of lobster tails on sale at the grocery store. When it got to be time to cook, I had to figure out how I was going to cook everything. And I came up with an idea.

First, I seasoned a pot of water with Old Bay and the juice of a lemon. I put the water on to boil.

Then I added the shrimp. It only takes 2- or 3 minutes to cook them (until they're pink). These were huge, so I think I did it more like 3-4 minutes.

Then I scooped the shrimp out of the water and put them in the refrigerator to chill. I poured off about half of the water and put the rest of the nice shrimpy/spiced water back on the stove to keep boiling. I put a steamer insert into the water.

Then I laid the lobster tails into the steamer basket.

I covered the pot and steamed the tails (they were pretty thick so I let them steam for a few minutes but kept a close eye on them). While they cooked, I melted butter in small bowls for each of us.

I took them out when they looked done (no longer translucent).

I felt very clever for re-using the flavored water this way! And it really did give the lobster tails a great flavor.

Here was our seafood feast for two!

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A Taste of Maine

Today's post is brought to you thanks to an extended vacation and an old family recipe.


Still haven't done much cooking. That may be the best part of vacation.

Not really. For me, the best part of this vacation was the long walks with Fenway on the beach every night. For most of the summer, dogs are barred from the beach, but every night from 6 - 8 they are allowed on leash. My silly dog who hates HATES getting his feet wet, and balks at walking in the rain, LOVES the beach. All he has to hear is me say, "Fenny, want to go to the beach?" and his tail starts wagging and his face breaks into a grin. From the moment we exit the car, he is yanking me toward the water. It's funny to watch him approach the water and then dance out of the way of the incoming waves.

Do we really have to leave?

I took this video of him charging ahead of me. He loves to sniff the seaweed.

SO on to food.  Since I'm talking Maine and seafood and beaches, I thought I would share a favorite recipe from a few years ago.

One of our favorite places to eat a casual meal while we're here is the Maine Diner.  I had a wonderful lobster roll for lunch there, but my favorite dish to get is their lobster pie.

The first time I ordered it, I was anticipating something along the lines of of chicken pot pie but with lobster. It turned out not to be nothing at all like that, but it was so much better.


After my first bite, I turned to my husband and said, "This tastes like Sam's fish."

Sam was an elderly man who cooked for my husband's even more elderly mother and aunt back when we were first married. They lived on a gorgeous estate on Cape Cod - 2 sisters and Sam and his wife.

My husband LOVED Sam's fish, so with my newlywed enthusiasm, I tried everything I could think of to replicate it. I bought every type of bread crumbs I could find, but the response was always, "Good, but not like Sam's."

Finally, in desperation, I told Sam my sad tale. He laughed and took me into the pantry where he shared his secret crust - Ritz crackers and butter. Yup. That was all. He'd smash the crackers, mix with melted butter, and layer onto the fish. So simple, but SO tasty. My marriage was safe!


So when I took that first bite of lobster pie this summer, and it tasted like lobster with Sam's crust, I was highly suspicious that I knew the special family recipe. In the name of research, I went into the gift shop and bought a cookbook of diner recipes which included the lobster pie. Sure enough - Ritz crackers and butter!

My Friday night dinner!

It was very good. Yum.

I haven't made Sam's fish in many years (in the name of low cholesterol and all that jazz), but after we returned home, I decided to give it a try for old times sake (and to post here). So without further ado - the 4 step fish recipe.

1. Smash the Ritz crackers. I do it in a baggie with an ice cream scoop.
2. Melt butter in microwave and mix in the cracker crumbs.
3. Spread on the fish (I used haddock. Sam always used sole.)
4. Bake. You can broil briefly at the end if you feel the need to brown the crumbs, but be careful!

Enjoy!

I'm curious. Have any of you ever made this?


As you can probably tell from the photo above, the lobster pie uses fresh lobster rather than haddock and they cook it in a mini casserole dish. So.much.goodness.

I'll leave you with some more photos of my favorite beach,

 And these from the Marginal Way.

Romantic Dinner for Two! Lobster Tails in Lemon Butter

Missy Tippens 

This past Tuesday I cooked a special dinner for my husband for Valentine's Day. I was excited to surprise him with lobster tails! I had gone to my new favorite store, Sprouts, and found they had discounted the lobster tails for the holiday. Only $5 each! I decided to cook lobster for the first time in close to 30 years.

Last time--back before we had kids, I bought a live, fresh lobster. I was so excited to cook something so fancy! I went home and got out my big soup post. I put the water on to boil. Then... well, I realized I had to put that poor thing in the water. But I'd seen it done on cooking shows, so held my breath and dropped it in.

And those claws clacked against the sides of that pot.

As Ruthy would say... Oh. My. Stars.

I screamed, I cried! I nearly got sick. And when my husband came home, I told him the lobster was all his. I could not eat one single bite of it. LOL

I've eaten lobster a time or two at restaurants since then. When I saw these tails, I figured I could handle that. This method worked much better for me. :)

First, I found a recipe to use to get some idea of how to cook the meat. I found one from Giada De Laurentiis. Click here to see the original recipe, Lobster Tails with Clarified Butter on FoodNetwork.com.

Now here's my version...

I clarified butter by cooking on the stovetop until it bubbled and separated. Then I skimmed off some of the foam. Then I poured it into a glass measuring cup and let it sit for a few minutes. The milk solids settled to the bottom.

I skimmed off some more foam, then poured the clarified butter away from the solids.

Ta da! It worked pretty well! I impressed myself. :) I added a squeeze of lemon juice to this butter and set it aside for dipping later.

Then I took more butter, melted it on the stovetop, and added a squeeze of lemon juice as well as a dash of garlic salt. This butter would be for cooking the lobster.

Like Giada said to do, I took my kitchen scissors and cut along the back of the shell. I placed each tail on a sheet of foil. Then I brushed butter on the whole tail, as well as into the cut shell, coating as much of the meat as I could. I poured the rest of the butter over them and then wrapped the foil tightly. I nearly had a fail, though, because while trying to hold the shell open for the butter, the edges cut the foil. Butter started running onto the counter.

So I folded the packets into another layer of foil. In Giada's recipe, she cooked in a fire pit on the beach. I used my stove top grill pan and cooked on medium heat for 10 minutes. These were small, 4 ounce tails (wish I had bought two for each of us!), so they cooked quickly.

Once done, I served with the clarified butter. An amazing dinner!! I'll definitely do it again sometime.

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Fish Chowder and My Daughter's Nut and Seed Bread

Full disclosure, it's been a rough week around here. The cute doggie did not respond well to the 2nd chemo, and we almost lost him over the weekend. He's doing a bit better now, but my heart is sad at the thought of losing my buddy.


Fenway in happier times (on vacation at the beach and in the Maine snow!)

So cooking wasn't really on my mind.

I had this vague idea that I was going to make some healthy Valentines treats to share.

Sorry, not happening.

My daughter offered to share the bread recipe she made today. It's a vegan/paleo/gluten-free nut seed pumpernickel loaf.

She adapted the recipe from The Organic Dietitian.

Doesn't it look healthy?

I started wondering what I could have it with.

Then it hit me - Ash Wednesday. My favorite haddock chowder recipe. Perfect combination.

Back in 2014, I celebrated my sale to LIS with dinner at my favorite lobster house in Maine. We started off the meal with their fabulous fish chowder. Ever since then I'd been craving haddock chowder.

I was finally smart enough to look up a recipe. Haddock isn't easy to find around here, but Costco has been carrying it and the recipe is delicious.

Down East Chowder

@ 1 pound of haddock fillet
4 cups of water

You boil the haddock in the water. I like to use my Dutch Oven for this. You have to skim off the foam, but after boiling it for about 10 minutes, you have a nice fish stock.

You remove the fish and break it into bite-sized pieces. Then add about 3 cups of chopped potatoes, 1 cup chopped onion and 1 cup chopped celery. Cover and simmer until tender.

When everything looks ready, add the fish back in. You can add some salt and pepper at this point, and then swirl in 1 cup of milk/cream/half and half (depending on richness you want) and a pat of butter.

I thought I had taken pictures of the process, but I hope you'll settle for pictures from my celebratory dinner.

Is fish chowder one of your favorites? 

Family Fish Recipe

During my down time, I've been working on a series set in Maine. Those of you who know me well, know I love the time I spend there, so this series is just fun to work on.

One of the characters in this series owns a diner, so this summer while we were in Maine, I took advantage of research to eat several meals at a favorite diner.

There's some history here. Last Thanksgiving, we rented a house in Ogunquit and headed up to spend the holiday with our daughter (who lives up that way). The plan was to pick her up after work, and then pick up dinner at the diner.  My mouth was watering in anticipation of their famed lobster pie.

Problem was, there was this rather unexpectedly strong snowstorm!

The morning after!

Driving was so bad, we had to get off the interstate and hope for better luck on the back roads. I'd called ahead to make sure the diner was going to be open, but when we got there, we couldn't even find it. I've never seen such total darkness. We gave up looking and headed to the deli counter at the supermarket. (Where we were just about the only people in the store!)

It turned out, a car had taken out a pole and caused a blackout in the area. That was why we couldn't find the diner. No lobster pie for me.

Fast forward to this summer and I was determined to get my lobster pie.

Except it turned out not to be at all what I was expecting.

I had anticipated something along the lines of of chicken pot pie but with lobster.

Not.

After my first bite, I turned to my husband and said, "This tastes like Sam's fish."

Sam was an elderly man who cooked for my husband's even more elderly mother and aunt back when we were first married. They lived on a gorgeous estate on Cape Cod - 2 sisters and Sam and his wife.

My husband LOVED Sam's fish, so with my newlywed enthusiasm, I tried everything I could think of to replicate it. I bought every type of bread crumbs I could find, but the response was always, "Good, but not like Sam's."

Finally, in desperation, I told Sam my sad tale. He laughed and took me into the pantry where he shared his secret crust - Ritz crackers and butter. Yup. That was all. He'd smash the crackers, mix with melted butter, and layer onto the fish. So simple, but SO tasty. My marriage was safe!


So when I took that first bite of lobster pie this summer, and it tasted like lobster with Sam's crust, I was highly suspicious that I knew the special family recipe. In the name of research, I went into the gift shop and bought a cookbook of diner recipes which included the lobster pie. Sure enough - Ritz crackers and butter!

It was very good. Yum.

I haven't made Sam's fish in many years (in the name of low cholesterol and all that jazz), but after we returned home, I decided to give it a try for old times sake (and to post here). So without further ado - the 4 step fish recipe.

1. Smash the Ritz crackers. I do it in a baggie with an ice cream scoop.
2. Melt butter in microwave and mix in the cracker crumbs.
3. Spread on the fish (I used haddock. Sam always used sole.)
4. Bake. You can broil briefly at the end if you feel the need to brown the crumbs, but be careful!

Enjoy!

I'm curious. Have any of you ever made this?