Tag: main course
New England Clam Chowder
New England Clam Chowder
I absolutely love chowders of all types; especially clam chowder. Quality clam chowder can cost you an arm and a leg. This chowder is so good that you’d think that it came from a high-end restaurant. For what you’d normally pay for 2 servings eating out, this recipe will yield enough to serve 8.
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon diced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 small white onion diced
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1/3 cup flour
- 4 cups half and half
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 8 oz clam juice
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 lbs red potatoes diced
- 16 oz chopped clams
Instructions
- In a large pot, brown the bacon until crispy. Remove from the pan, reserving 2 tbsp of the bacon grease.
- Add in the butter. Sauté the onions and celery for 5 minutes over medium high heat.
- Add in the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, oregano, parsley, thyme, and smoked paprika. Cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the chicken stock and half/half.
- Stir in the clam juice and bay leaf. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring.
- Add in the potatoes and continue simmering for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the clams and half of the cooked bacon. Simmer for no more than 5 minutes.
Garnish with more crumbled bacon. Serve with oyster crackers.
Octopus with Spanish Chorizo
Octopus with Spanish Chorizo
Octopus sautéed with dried chorizo and crispy potatoes is a classic Spanish dish that May looking intimidating to make, but is actually pretty simple and straightforward. The key here is to find good quality precooked octopus tentacles. If you can only find fresh octopus, you will have to boil them on the lowest setting your oven can go for an hour. Beyond that, once you add the cooked octopus to the dish, you only should cook it 2-3 minutes max or you’ll be chewing on rubber.
Ingredients
- 1 lb red potatoes diced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 6 oz dried Spanish chorizo small dice
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 24 oz cooked octopus tentacles cut into 1/2” pieces
- 1 tsp Spanish paprika
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Simmer the potatoes for 10 minutes until they are just cooked through. Remove from the pot and drain.
- Toss the potatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, thyme, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, cook the dried chorizo and garlic for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Add in the potatoes and onion. Sauté until the potatoes are crispy for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the octopus and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chorizo back in and cook for a minute. Turn off the heat.
- Stir in the parsley. Season with the paprika and cracked pepper.
Louisiana-Style Catfish Nuggets
Louisiana-Style Catfish Nuggets
Catfish gets a lot of hate, but it is one of my favorites. The nuggets are usually pieces from catfish fillets that fishmongers trim off to make the fillets looks pretty. Louisiana-style catfish nuggets are coated in flour, then dipped in buttermilk seasoned with hot sauce, then dredged in cornmeal and fried. If you can’t find nuggets, you can cut up small pieces of catfish fillets; or you can leave the fillets whole. Serve the nuggets with remoulade sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 lb catfish nuggets
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp Louisiana-style hot sauce
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 tsp creole seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- vegetable oil for frying
- remoulade sauce for serving
Instructions
- Coat the catfish nuggets in flour.
- Mix the buttermilk with the hot sauce. Place the catfish nuggets in the buttermilk.
- Season the cornmeal with the spices. Dredge the catfish nuggets in the cornmeal.
- Heat up a 1/2” of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Place the nuggets in the oil, making sure to not overcrowd the pan. You will have to cook the nuggets in batches.
- Fry the nuggets for 5-6 minutes a side.
- Drain the nuggets of grease on a wire rack.
Remoulade Sauce
Remoulade sauce has French origins and is a staple of Creole and Cajun cuisine. The zingy sauce is mayo based, flavored with ingredients such as hot sauce, lemon juice, creole mustard, just to name a few. The sauce pairs great with catfish, shrimp, crab cakes, and just about anything fried and crunchy.
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp creole mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped
- 1 tbsp Louisiana hot sauce
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 green onion finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together.
