Seafood Platter

This started as a joke one morning and its now the second time we're doing it in two weeks. One of the those meals that just says, "I'm a grown up and I can eat whatever I want for dinner".

Serves two

Ingredients

Caesar Salad (We just got one of those bags. What do you want from us on a school night?)
1/2 pound shrimp
Old Bay seasoning
1/2 pound tuna (1 steak)
Dozen Oysters
1 Snow Crab Cluster

For the sauces

Tataki for Tuna

Cocktail sauce for shrimp. Ketchup + Horseradish (how much depends on how horsey you want it). Sprinkle paprika, a little hot sauce, squeeze of lemon juice. Pepper.

Butter for crab

Mignonette for Oysters

Preparation

Oysters. I'm gonna let Andrea take this one. I've tried shucking oysters twice and both times resulted in me screaming profanity and giving up.



You need an oyster knife, a towel or two, and possibly a scrub brush. There are two places we get oysters around here, and from one of them, the oysters come really dirty. And since I haven't figured out how to shuck them without getting a ton of sand in the liquor, I've realized its easier to clean them off before I start.

The only real trick to opening an oyster is finding the sweet spot, hehe. If it doesn't open immediately, you're not doing it right. You shouldn't have to fight it open. It should pop open, and then you may have to pry the top shell a little.

Crab. Steam it for 5 minutes or until warm. Done.

Shrimp. Add 1-2 tablespoons of old bay to pot of water and boil. Add Shrimp and boil for 3 minutes or until pink and firm.

Shrimp and Corn Chowder with Bacon

We've been on a little hiatus here for this small gathering that we host called the Clay. But now that that's done, we are back in the kitchen.

This is the soup I want when I'm sick. I do love homemade chicken noodle, but I can't seem to make it like my dad does, so its just not as good. Corn + potatoes + bacon works though :)

Ingredients, makes 6-8 servings:

6 ears of corn
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half (or quarters if they are really big)
2 baking potatoes
6 scallions
4 strips of bacon
2 tablespoons of flour
2 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of cream
1 teaspoon of Old Bay
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
splash of white wine
Salt
Pepper
olive oil (optional)



First, you strip the corn off of each cob. After you've cut the kernels off, take a spoon and collect as much pulp still on the cob as you can. It helps thicken the soup.



Then, fry the bacon in a dutch oven (or other pot, though its the same one you are going to cook the soup in so it needs to be able to handle a lot of liquid). I cut up the bacon before I fried it, but that was a pain in the ass to make sure it was cooked evenly. Just cook the bacon in strips and crumble it at the end when you are done.



While the bacon is frying, give your potatoes a small dice.



Also, the white part of the scallions.



Take out the bacon, and set aside. Add the white scallion parts and the potatoes to the pot of bacon greasy goodness. Here is where I added the splash of white wine to deglaze the pan. I also added a bit of olive oil because there wasn't enough grease to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan.



Then you add the milk and cream. Then the Old Bay, thyme, salt and pepper.



Bring to a boil, then simmer.



When the potatoes are soft, add the corn, shrimp, and the green parts of the scallions. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until the shrimp are cooked through.



Add the bacon to the top and serve! PS- you need to cook more bacon when you eat the leftovers, this is only enough bacon for your first serving.