Along with the lamb from the previous post I also grilled up some littleneck clams and made a nice herb butter sauce to go along with them. This was the surprise dish of the weekend and it turns out I should have bought more clams, these guys disappeared as quickly as they came off the grill. The butter sauce complimented the clams perfectly and grilling the clams made them come out tender not chewy. Give them a try this summer at a BBQ to impress your friends and family.
Monday was Cinco de Mayo so I decided to get into the spirit of the day and made Shrimp tacos. This dish is light and refreshing and I will be making it quite a few times this summer as the heat sets in. Along with the tacos I also made the refried bean again which are fast becoming a go to side dish because of how easy they are to make and how delicious they are. Give these a shot some time this summer and enjoy them with a nice cold beer or margarita!
Earlier this year I went down to Richmond, VA to visit my sister. While I was there we went to Edo’s Squid, a hole in the wall restaurant in Richmond. While we were there my sister got an amazing tuna dish and I asked the waitress how they made the sauce that was served with it. This was my attempt at their dish, and from what I can remember it came very close to the one I had in Richmond. To cook the tuna I used the Himalayan salt blocks and seared the tune for a little over a minute a side. To make the Tamari butter sauce I combined butter Tamari soy sauce, lemon juice, and black pepper; then I reduced the sauce and added a bit of flour to thicken it. This sauce is not as salty as soy sauce because the Tamari soy sauce adds a deeper richer flavor that regular soy sauce. I served the tuna over wild rice. Enjoy!
I was in the grocery store the other day and saw they had lobsters on sale so I picked one up. This grilled lobster dish is a very quick and easy lobster recipe. Turn on or light your grill. Take a knife and kill the lobster then cut it in half. Grill lobster over medium heat for 4 minutes. Flip the lobster and baste with the Garlic Thyme butter (recipe below). Then move to indirect heat for three minutes and baste with butter again. It is a very simple dish to make and tastes incredible. The lobster I used weighed 1.5 lbs so if your lobster is larger the cooking time may vary. Enjoy!
Garlic Thyme Butter:
1 Stick Butter, melted
2 Cloves Garlic
Juice of Half a Lemon
2 Tbs Fresh Thyme or 1 Tbs Dried Thyme
Combine ingredients in small bowl.
Yesterday I tweaked the Cajun Shrimp recipe and served it over pasta. Like the original recipe I poached the shrimp in the water, wine, pickling spice mixture. I also sauteed up a bunch of veggies like peppers, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and spinach. You could add any other vegetables you want. To make the sauce I combined four tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup sherry, 2/3 cup shrimp stock, and 2 tablespoons Cajun spice; stirring until the butter melts and everything is incorporated. When you saute the vegetables use the Cajun sauce instead of butter or oil. Cook the shrimp, vegetables and pasta then mix together and pour sauce over. This was a last minute throw together dish last night that turned out surprisingly well. It’s relatively simple and allows for a lot of creativity, Enjoy!
Over the weekend I went back and made some improvements to the poached shrimp in Old Bay butter. In the end I completely changed the recipe and the results were even better than I expected. I used the same poaching method to cook the shrimp. However for the sauce I changed nearly everything. Instead of using Old Bay I switched to a Cajun seasoning, which kicks up the spice level. I also switched to a oil and butter base, which does a better job at coating the shrimp and is great for dipping bread. I also added in some chopped up hot banana peppers, an idea I came across when I ordered the Cajun shrimp appetizer at The Irish Rover Station House. Give this recipe a try, it’s quick and easy to make and is a real crowd pleaser, Enjoy!
I was in the grocery store last week and saw that they had some soft shell crab. I bought a few and decided to fry them up for dinner. I decided to go with a simple tempura style batter. The batter was very light and turned out much better than I thought it would. The next time I make this I would try to incorporate some panko bread crumbs into the batter. I also threw together a nice Asian coleslaw to serve with the crabs. You can find the recipes below.
I had a few crabs left over and decided to make a soft shell crab sandwich the next day. The coleslaw worked well with the crab and I made up a nice wasabi soy mayo to put on the bread. It turned out to be a great way to use up the left over crabs. Enjoy!
Earlier this week I made up a nice surf and turf with a ribeye steak and some sea scallops. I also experimented with some grilled potatoes that I marinated in a chipotle sauce. For the steak I just sprinkled on some kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper then cooked it to a nice medium rare.
For the potatoes I wanted to try something different and looked up a few ideas for grilled redskinned potatoes. Most of the recipes I found were pretty basic so I modified a few to add some spice to the potatoes. I thought they turned out quite well and were a nice change up from a regular baked potato.
I cooked the scallops on Himalayan salt blocks. If you can I highly recommend getting one. They cook some of the best scallops I have ever eaten. They are also good with tuna and thinly sliced pieces of beef. The most important part of cooking with a salt block is to make sure you heat it correctly. You need to take your time to not damage the block. I go over the proper way to heat a salt block in the recipe for the scallops.
The salt blocks give the scallops a fantastic sear and a light and salty seasoning. Enjoy!
Whenever I think of squid I think of the classic fried calamari at most Italian restaurants. The other day I saw a recipe for grilled squid in Cooking Light magazine and adapted it with what I had available. Instead of making the chili sauce I used a chili garlic sauce you can find in most grocery stores then added a few spices and other things to it. This dish is very simple to make. You throw the marinade together, put the squid in it and let it sit, then start up the grill and cook the squid for 2 minutes a side.
The squid came out with a great texture, not the rubbery overcooked texture you find out there. It cooks very quickly so the 2 mins a side will give the squid good grill marks and cook it perfectly. If you are looking for a new way to have squid or calamari give this a shot!
This past weekend I went down to Baltimore with my roommates from college for our annual crab feast. The past few years we have gone to a crab house but this year we decided to buy the crabs from a seafood market and have them at our buddy’s house. We got the crabs from The Crab Depot, The crabs were steamed perfectly and the crabs were all quite sizable.
To go with the crabs we grilled up some corn and other veggies then put down the newspaper and started the feast. It turned into an epic battle of man versus the sea and lasted over 3 hours. It turned out to be a great weekend full of good food, good beer, lots of beer, and good friends. I can’t wait till next year!
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