Friday, July 3, 2009
Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Frogmore Stew
N.B. Classic Frogmore Stew contains new potatoes so I've put that into the recipe but I don't like boiled potatoes so I normally leave them out.
Ingredients:
Crab boil (I use Zatarains) enough to season enough water to cover everything you'll throw into the pot
Corn on the cob - 1.5 ears, broken into pieces
Potatoes - 2 new, cut into quarters
Clams - 4 littleneck or other steamer sized clam
Shrimp - 4 to 5 medium sized, Easy clean but leave the shells on
Sausage - Spicy precooked cut into 2 inch pieces (I use andouille but you can use any hot sausage you'd like, it just need to be precooked)
Crab claws - 2 in the shell, if you like crab and want to add them, just don't use lump crab meat or surimi (faux crabmeat)
Preparation:
Bring seasoned water to a rolling boil, add the potatoes & corn & boil until potatoes are tender & corn is almost done. Add sausage and clams and continue boiling until the clams open, discard any that don't open after 10 minutes. Add the rest of the seafood and boil just until the shrimp and, crab (if using) are done. Drain the stew, the broth really isn't edible. Pour the drained food out onto the table in front of everyone and enjoy.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Recipe from the Twit Army Mess hall - Cioppino
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 1 Turkish bay leaf or 1/2 California bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups dry red wine, I use chianti
- 1 (28- to 32-ounces) can whole plum tomatoes, drained, reserving juice, and chopped
- 1 cup bottled clam juice
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 (1-pound) king crab leg, thawed if frozen and cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces, **
- 18 small (2-inch) hard-shelled clams (1 1/2 pound) such as littlenecks, scrubbed
- 1 pound skinless red snapper or halibut fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 pound large shrimp (16 to 20), shelled (tails and bottom segment of shells left intact) and deveined**
- 3/4 pound sea scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
Cook garlic, onions, bay leaf, oregano, and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half (it will start to look a little syrupy), this should take 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. At this point you can cool the broth & store it in the refrigerator until the next day. One hour before serving take out of the refrigerator and warm slowly over medium heat until just about boiling (so that the seafood will cook properly)
Add crab pieces or crab meat and clams to stew and simmer, covered, until clams just open, 5 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 5 minutes and transferring opened clams to a bowl with tongs or a slotted spoon. (Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes.) Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops with salt and add to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf, then return clams to pot and gently stir in parsley and basil.
Serve cioppino immediately in large soup bowls.
Serves 6 to 8
This recipe can be easily doubled if you have a large enough pot but not made smaller, you need to have that much broth for the seafood to cook properly.
** if king crab is not available you can substitute frozen crab meat (just not surimi it's too sweet) but then leave the shells on the shrimp. You'll have to clean the shrimp but you need to have the shells in the broth for the flavor.
