A Seafood Take on Shepherd's Pie

Remember a few weeks ago I was raving about the Shepherd's Pie I had on my birthday?

Ever since, I've had this idea to make a seafood version, but I was deep in revisions and didn't want to take the time to cook.

But on Friday, my Fenway was having surgery to have a tumor removed from his leg. I wasn't really doing too well concentrating on writing, but once I knew surgery had been successful, it was time to cook.

Warning: I was loosely following a recipe, but emphasis on loosely.

Apologies in advance: I was distracted, so the photos really aren't the best quality.

First I cooked some haddock. I made two pieces so Fenway could have some for dinner. My Tennessee dog loves him some fish!

The recipe called for poaching it in milk, but I did it a little differently. I wrapped it in parchment paper and foil and baked it. Then, when it was done, I simmered it in the milk/wine mixture for a bit.

The recipe called for mixing white wine and milk, but that had me a bit wary. Some Googling suggested that you simmer the wine first, then add the milk at the last minute, so that's what I did. Oh, and I added in a nice big lump of butter and some garlic. I also tossed in some corn (because it seemed like the right thing to throw in).

And then there are the potatoes.

I do NOT recommend doing what I did for this part. 

I had some beautiful Russet potatoes, so I baked them. But because I was distracted waiting for the vet to call for me to pick up Fenway, I left them baking way too long. They tasted wonderful, but I lost a lot of potato because they shriveled and stuck to the skin.

I'm torn, because last time I used red potatoes and boiled them, but they didn't taste as good. So maybe the key is Russet, but not cooked as long.

Anyway, cook and mash your favorite potatoes. I also added some chunks of cooked potatoes to the fish/corn mix.

If you have a pretty ceramic dish, ladle the fish mixure in. I didn't have one small enough for one, so I used a pie tin. Then spoon the mashed potatoes on top. If you want to be really fancy, you can pipe them on, but I wasn't in that frame of mind. *worried about my pup*

The result tasted SO much better than I expected. You can also add in some other kinds of seafood like shrimp or lobster.

My brave boy. He hates that cone!

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!

www.MissyTippens.com

Crab Cakes, Oregon Style

Hello, everybody! Mary Jane here with some pictures of our beach trip. I HATE that we had to come back to 105+ weather. UGH. But, I just keep trying to remember that at least we have ice, unlike the pioneers. I can get a cold Diet coke with a lot of ice, instead of warm water from a canteen. Positive thinking, right?

 So, we went crabbing in Newport. $10 gets you a shellfish license for the season. Can you believe we were wearing light jackets?? *sigh*
                                                                
Hauling the traps up from the water builds muscles!!
                                                    
A Fish and Wildlife warden showed us the easiest way to pick them up. Here, Ana demonstrates her fearlessness.
                                         
I wondered if three large Dungeness would make enough patties for the nine of us...
                                
Time to get cracking!

 The boys went to work. My 12 year old is kind of squeamish and said, "No way, no how." But he didn't eat any, either, so that was fair, I guess.

 The three crabs gave about 1/2 lb of crab meat. I had a recipe that needed 1 lb, so I had to adjust a little.
3/4 cup mayonaise
5 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup panko crumbs, unseasoned
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
pepper and salt to taste

I like this recipe because it lets the flavor of the crab shine through, and it's not too overwhelming.
 

Fry on med high heat until golden on both sides. 

 Thank you, Mr. Dungeness, for your sacrifice!! You were delicious. :)

And my newest book releases on the 15th! You can check it out here.

 Vivacious Jamie Lawson has a lot in common with her first grade students. She’s bright, curious, energetic, has a big heart… and lacks any kind of filter. Her friends laugh about how she can’t help sharing what’s on her mind, but her mother warns her that trouble will find a woman who can’t hold her tongue.

The day Jamie accidentally breaks her best friend’s trust, she finally realizes that what is charming in a six year old, just isn’t as adorable in an adult. She vows that with God’s help, she’s going to listen more and talk less, especially around handsome Theo Delis. He’ll be helping her run the Lawson Family Blueberry Farm for the summer, and it will be the perfect time for Jamie to learn a little introspection. His serious, no-nonsense demeanor is the polar opposite of her gabby personality, and she’s sure he’ll be drawn to her new, aloof personality.

But as the heat of an Arcadia Valley summer settles in, Jamie discovers there’s more to wisdom than silence and more to love than mystery.

Until next time!!

Chef Tina has a HEAT WAVE!!!

We're having unseasonably warm temps this first week of June in Phoenix. The house central air is on 74 degrees 24/7. However my south facing office stays warm, even with three fans going. 

 My husband's recent trip to the Northwest and his old stomping grounds, inspired a chilled seafood dinner and tonight is the perfect opportunity to prepare it!

Crab Louie is a recipe that's been around since the turn of the century. 

From Wikipedia:

 A typical Crab Louie salad consists of:

Crab meat,
Hard boiled eggs,
Tomato,
Asparagus,
Served on a bed of Iceberg lettuce with a Louie dressing based on mayonnaise and chili sauce on the side.

Here's the price of Dungeness crab in Bothel, Washington two weeks ago. 

And this is a native Crab Louie salad served by terrific friends on Whidbey Island. The shrimp and crab are fresh!

 Here's our land-locked Arizona version (where Dungeness crab costs $19.00 a pound).

We used frozen shrimp (no tails-ready in ten minutes), and canned crab meat.

Along with:

Romaine lettuce
Onions
Tomatoes
Hard boiled eggs
Sliced olives
Avocado
Cheddar cheese
Garbanzo beans (that Italian touch!)
Thousand Island Dressing

Any crab and shrimp fans out there? How's this recipe tantalize your tastebuds?

Tina Radcliffe lives in Phoenix, Arizona where there are two seasons: hot summer and cold summer.

Her 2015 Love Inspired release, Safe in the Fireman's Arms is a 2016 Bookseller's Best Finalist as well as a 2016 Holt Medallion finalist. You can get your copy here.

Colossal Scallops!

Sautéed Scallops

Missy Tippens

I found some amazing wild caught colossal scallops at the grocery store last week. And I splurged. These beautiful things almost covered my palm.

Remove the small half-moon shaped muscle on the side of each scallop (that's what makes them end up looking a little flat on one side). Then rinse and pat them dry on paper towels. Make sure they're nice and dry so they'll get a good sear.

Set a skillet on medium-high to high heat and add:
2 tsp butter
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Sprinkle the scallops with kosher salt and pepper. Place in the smoking hot  (literally!) skillet.

For these large scallops, cook about 2 minutes and then flip. Cook another 2 minutes or until as done as you like. You want that gorgeous caramelization but don't want them overcooked in the middle.

Since the scallops cook so quickly, you'll want some quick side dishes.

Frozen green beans that you can steam in the bag with butter added on top.

Sweet potatoes cooked in the microwave for about 5-7 minutes. Split, and add butter and brown sugar. I actually use the Splenda Brown and really like it.

Yum. Now I'm hungry for scallops again! I may have to buy them again next week. :)

Cast Iron Cooking (again), civilization and the Southern Oregon Coast

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have updates to my cast iron cooking post.  Let's just say nobody starved but we sure were glad to get back to civilization. I don't mean the picture below. That's where we live. 

Sort of civilized.

                                       
                                          Sort of not when it's 106 and above! (Someone asked me if this was real temp or heat index. I don't know what that means. It's the temperature. I guess in some areas the temperature isn't really the temperature but much hotter? Yuck. I'll stick with our 100-110F in the summer.)

 I love vacations. I really do. I like planning and plotting and packing and getting the kids all prepped with studying the sights we'll see. But then by the time we come home, we all feel like this.
                                                                     DONE.

 So, after a good twelve hours (no, it doesn't really take that long but we wandered a bit to get there  and small people have small bladders, so lots of stops) we made it to our first destination, a campground on the coast, way down south, nearly to California. (I love these shoes. My friend sent them to me from Texas because they're teal. ha! My favorite color.)
                                     
I already talked about the yurt, so here is our cast iron cooking action. Waffles, a sandwich, a pan heating for hashbrowns, and a hot dog. (Can't remember who was eating a hot dog for breakfast. Probably the picky eater of the bunch.) The kids loved cooking their own food but it did require a lot of supervision. We didn't want anyone branded.
                                                    
My mom has a home on the coast a few hours from there and she brought us this cast iron oven and these berries from their property. YUMMY. So glad they weren't in Arizona! But like us, with the summer heat you look for cooler climes. (This shot is of blueberries, marionberries, raspberries, strawberries, and a gold raspberry hybrid.)
                                                    
And that recipe worked! It was absolutely delicious! Berry buckle for the win.
                                         
We spent the first week in the camp, on Eel Lake, with the Dunes in the other direction. There's a whole long story about getting lost there at sunset but I won't bore you with that.

(stateparks.com I had my own pictures but... well... that story is coming up)

Let me just say... never separate! Even if a five year old is discovered to be holding only one of his shoes and you let the faster people walk ahead because the five year old holding your hand is slower and it's really lovely with the frogs croaking and the sun setting and the breeze on your sunburn. There's a reason people die in the Sahara and a reason you do not take three hours to stop wandering and start yelling.  Enough said. Moving on!
                                         
After that, I told my husband I needed a day to sit on the beach and drink coffee while the kids played in the tide pools. So I did. He, of course, scaled the cliffs and I pretended not to notice (and worry).
                                              
Living in the land of tumbleweeds and 100F temps, I forgot how normal it is to see rhododendrons and other water-loving plants just growing naturally. And moss. And ferns. It was a feast for the eyes. Ahhhh.
                                    
Our town has a few big trees in the main park. But in the forest they're everywhere. The kids get a kick out of them every time.
                                                      
Speaking of flora, we had to stop at the Darlingtonia Preserve. (That link is the wiki article. So interesting.) My kids think I'm crazy but I keep insisting these carnivorous cobra lilies are cool. I mean, giant pitcher plants that are only found in a few places in the world? YES, we have to stop and look! Also, they remind me of Little Shop of Horrors, so they make me smile.
                                                                  
We tried to throw in a few kids but they fought back.
                                      
So, we finally said good bye to the yurt (some of us were more happy than others) and headed up the coast to Florence. There's a seafood chain there called Mo's.

It's loud, crowded and full of tourists. And we love it.

Remember we'd been living off  s'mores and grilled cheese sandwiches...
                                                    
Slumgullion was like food from heaven. We were ALL SO HAPPY not to be camping. OK, maybe the little kids would have preferred marshmallows for lunch but the rest of us were thrilled.
                                    
There are a lot of commercial fisherman, right alongside some funny people who dock their pirate boats. I've never wanted a pirate ship, but it's apparently a thing. We met the sweetest older couple who sold their home after retirement and... built a pirate ship to sail up and down the coast. Funny!
                              
Once we made it to the beach house, we hit the farmer's markets. Wow, these onions are much bigger than ours. But not as sweet.
                                           
I was loving civilization but my hair wasn't loving the humidity. Good thing I brought my hairdressers! They're spendy, but worth it.

We met up with some friends and they took us crabbing. We caught lots of crabs... and none were big enough to keep. Which was probably good since I don't think my kids would have eaten them anyway. but it was super fun and ended with ice cream!

At low tide we walked down and gathered mussels for paella (recipe in the link, it's delicious!) We also found a purple starfish! The last few years there haven't been any starfish because of a virus that swept the coast so we were thrilled to see them on the rocks!

We also steamed at enjoyed them straight, but you can imagine a few of the kids preferred hot dogs. And that was fine as long as I didn't have to build a fire! (Unless it was on the beach. Then I was up for it.)

We also went clamming but I don't have any pictures of that because at this point, I fell into Yaquina Bay. It wasn't too bad. Nice and warm. I decided to go with it and swim toward the bank until I realized MY PHONE was in my pocket. Ah well... Luckily I'd been sending pictures to a private album on facebook so I had a few. 

We thought we might travel up north even farther after the week in the beach house but I was tired. Actually, I wanted to come home after two days. I missed my desk, my coffee just the way I like it, my kitchen. I've become a homebody. Even though the yurt was doable and the beach house (we've been there before) was lovely.... it's just not home. The kids are already planning the next trip (maybe to Lake Louise in Banff National Park in Calgary?) but I'm content in my little town... even if it is 90F at 8AM. 

 Until next time!

 BOOKS! 
My newest release, These Sheltering Walls!

Coming July 30th, Only Through Love!