Clams Casino

This recipe for Clams Casino was a favorite of my father-in-law. It's a favorite appetizer for us and the best part is that it can be made ahead of time and then baked just before serving.

The Mister thinks the recipe came from a friend of his father's who got it from a restaurant owner. So, uh, guess that's a friend from a friend.

We love this recipe but where this recipe can go wrong is adding too much breadcrumbs or vegetables. I recommend adjusting both of those to your taste. Also, Clams Casino tends to be on the salty side. So if you want to cut down on the saltiness, use lower sodium bacon.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb bacon, chopped finely

1 medium onion, chopped finely

1/2 red or orange bell pepper, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 small carrot, diced

3 (6 oz each) cans of clams (minced, chopped, whole, combination of)

1 tsp parsley flakes

1 Tbsp lemon juice

3/4 - 1 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, more to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.

Sauteed bacon in large pan until crisp. Add onion, red bell pepper, celery and carrot. Cook at medium heat until vegetables are soft (about 4-5 minutes). Drain and reserve the juice from 1 can of clams. Add clams with juice from 2 cans and 3/4 cups of breadcrumb to pan. Cook mixture for 2 minutes. If the mixture is too wet, add 1/8 cup of breadcrumbs at a time, mixing well after each addition. The texture should be similar to stuffing. I don't like too much breadcrumb filler but need enough to bring everything together. Add parsley, lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese. Mix well.

Transfer mixture to baking pan. I use a 9-inch Pyrex pie pan. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, the edges will turn slightly darker than the center. The main thing here is to heat everything all the way through and to slightly crust the top.

After removing from oven, if the mixture is too dry, pour some of the leftover clam juice over the mixture. At this point, it can be served as is with crackers or toasted bread (or anything else you like for that matter). Here's a picture of the center of the mixture after baking (sorry, a little unsteady with the camera).

Or if you want to get all fancy, put cleaned halved clam shells on a baking sheet and fill each shell with a scoop of the mixture. Then broil the clam shells for a couple of minutes to brown the top. Serve hot with lemon wedges and/or hot sauce.

We love it with lots of various hot sauce and Ritz crackers. This is how I eat it. You can see the chunks of clams, bits of vegetables and bacon.


Hope y'all are having a good week. Now go and eat well.

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Linguine with Lobster in Creamy Lobster Broth

For New Year's Eve dinner last week, I boiled some live Maine lobsters from 99 Ranch Market. It was a simple but very delicious dinner. I clarified some butter to go along with the tender and sweet lobsters. The Mister cooked some corn and we heated up the leftover baked orzo from Christmas dinner. Indeed we were eating well that night.

But a rare occurrence happened. We had leftover lobster (gasp!). After some rough calculations (a guesstimate is more like it), we had at least 2 lbs of lobster left. That kind of thing just don't happen with me around. Ever see Daryl Hannah's lobster dinner scene in Splash? Okay, I don't use my teeth to break lobster shell but, well, let's just say I love lobster.

Anyway, since leftover lobster was such a foreign concept to me, I struggled a bit as to what to do with it. Yes, the simple thing would have been for me to just eat it (duh!) but I wanted to make something with it that both the Mister and I could have for dinner. Lobster ravioli? Yes, I love lobster ravioli but I just didn't want to work that hard to *make* pasta, but it did sound good. Pasta also sounded good and since I had saved some of the carcass for stock, I thought maybe a lobster linguine dish would be a good choice.

So off to the Internet to search for some recipes. I didn't find anything that wow'ed me but did get a couple of ideas as to what I wanted to make. I settled on making a creation of my own. I know, it was risky but the results were fantastic (at least to me and the Mister). I thought adding a bit of heavy cream (not too much) would smooth out the lobster stock, add some richness without the heaviness of a cream sauce. Worked perfectly. So here it is. Linguine with Lobster in Creamy Lobster Broth. Note that this is more of a broth rather than a sauce, not thick. This recipe will serve 2 (maybe 3 if with other sides).

Ingredients:

Lobster shells (I had shells from 2 lobsters; can also use shrimp or crab shells)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 cup white wine
6 cups water
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf

1 lb cooked lobster meat
2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper (you can substitute with other types of ground chili pepper or omit)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 lb cooked linguine
Fresh chives, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat (I used an 8-quart saucepan). Cook onion, carrot and celery until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the lobster shells and cook for a few minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the water, garlic and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain stock and discard the stuff in the strainer. You'll have more stock than what the linguine dish will need but you can freeze extra stock for later use.

Bring 2 cups of stock to a boil in a medium saucepan and reduce to half, about 20 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream and ground chipotle pepper. Add the chives and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble the dish, divide cooked linguine into 2 bowls. Add lobster meat on top of the linguine. Ladle the cream broth on top, covering lobster and pasta. Sprinkle with fresh chives.

Hope everyone's first full week in 2009 is off to a good start. Now go and eat well.

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Chinese Hot Pot

I had a craving for hot pot a few weeks ago when the weather finally started to feel like Winter. Hot pot is something that can very simple or elaborate, depending on the occasion. Growing up, my family traditionally celebrate Chinese New Year with hot pots with 20 different dishes (for over 30 people) but they really can be, and has become, more than just for celebrations. With restaurants like Little Sheep, hot pot should be enjoyed whenever you like!

My homemade hot pots are pretty standard. A plate of 2-3 different meats. On this day, I bought some shabu shabu sliced prime steak and ribeye as well as Birkshire pork (all on sale at Marukai that week).

I also picked up pea sprouts, various mushrooms, kamaboko, fish balls, and frozen taro.


I also love cellophane noodles with hot pot. One of my favorites next to the kamoboko and fish balls.

The broth I use at home is very simple, store bought low sodium chicken broth. Can't get any easier than that. I had debated about getting one of those yin-yang hot pots like the ones at Little Sheep but decided against it. I really just like it simple when making it at home. I'll leave the fancy half-half for when we got out for hot pot!

I use an electric wok as our hot pot. Works great. I can adjust the temperature as needed and the width of the wok makes it easy to access everything.

I also concoct a very simple dipping sauce: sesame paste, soy sauce, chili garlic paste. The dish with what looks like soy in that last picture was a shabu shabu sauce I picked up on sale at Marukai. It tasted a bit like ponzu sauce but think I'll pass on it the next time.

There really isn't else much to say about hot pot. It's that simple and very fulfilling on a cold (and maybe wet) dreary day. So what are you waiting for? Go and eat well.

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Thai Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)

One of my favorite Thai dishes is Pad Kee Mao, also known as Thai Drunken Noodles or Thai Spicy Noodles. I've been playing with the idea of making some Thai dishes at home since a friend of mine said it was easy. I've tried making Shrimp Pad Thai (the Mister likes Pad Thai) and although it turned out pretty good, the recipe needs some adjustment for my taste. So I'll wait to post on that once I get the right adjustments in place.

But I think I'm pretty close on the Pad Kee Mao as to how "I" like my Drunken Noodles. As usual, I searched various food blogs and recipe sites as a starting point. One thing I learned was that there are as many variations of Pad Kee Mao as there is Pad Thai and meatloaf. So the task at hand was to figure out which recipes sounded good to me. Keep in mind that I'm not too fond of very vinegary type dishes so I knew I had to make adjustments some of the recipes. I narrowed it down to 4 different ones and started my plan of attack. I made my grocery list and headed over to 99 Ranch Market for supplies.

For some reason, I was a bit out of sorts that morning and had a hard time finding things on my list. I arrived at 99 Ranch a little later than I typically do so maybe the crowd was throwing me off. Anyway, I had sen-yai noodles (wide flat rice noodles) on my list but I just couldn't seem to find them on the shelf. So rather drive myself nuts, I settled on a bit wider rice noodles than those you normally have with Pad Thai. I also decided to go with fried tofu instead of firm tofu. I don't know why, it was just some spontaneous moment lapse of judgement. I decided to go with shrimp since that's what I usually order at restaurants and the shrimp looked good that day and on sale, double bonus!

The one thing I've learned about working with rice noodles is that you kind of have to work quickly with it or else you risk of creating a gigantic clump of sticky mess. So I pre-measured all my ingredients before cooking, but with more ingredients within quick reach for taste adjustments. I also boiled a pot of water and then turned the heat off so it will be all ready to cook the rice noodles. Don't blink because the rice noodles will cook that fast, which is why I have the pot of hot water ready and waiting.

With very little hiccup, the final product turned out better than I had expected. Not that I expected to completely bomb but I wasn't sure how close these recipes were to the restaurant Spicy Noodles that I love so much. I think I came pretty close. On a scale of 1-10 for heat, this was about a 2-3. I usually like it around 5 so that's definitely something I'll play with more in the future. But I really enjoyed the overall taste and the Mister gave it a thumbs up. Here's the final product.



CAB's Shrimp Pad Kee Mao

Ingredients:
8 ounces (about 1/2 package) of sen-yai rice noodles or other wider rice noodles
1/2 lb of shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4 cup of firm tofu, cut into small cubes
2 cloves of garlic, minced and split into 2 piles (1/2 for shrimp, 1/2 for noodles)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thinly
1 Tablespoon of minced onion (I took some of the onion slices and minced)
2 Tablespoon Canola oil (1 Tbsp for shrimp, 1 Tbsp for sauce/noodles)
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons fish sauce
1 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoons oyster sauce
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons of palm sugar (or brown sugar)
2 Tablespoons ground red chili (adjust to desired heat level)
1/8 teaspoon (a dash) white pepper
1 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (optional, adjust to desired heat level)
1/2 cup fresh Thai basil leaves
1/4 cup of chicken broth (as needed to keep noodles from sticking)

Directions:
Soak the rice noodles in water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Start a pot of water (about 4 quarts) to boil. Turn heat off.

In a bowl, combine rice vinegar, fish sauce, lime juice, palm or brown sugar, dried ground chili and white pepper. If you are adding tofu, you can marinade the tofu in the marinade to enhance the flavor. Leave the tofu in the marinade as you prepare the rest of the dish.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in wok on medium high heat. Add 1/2 of the minced garlic and the minced onions and cook for 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook until all pink and almost done. Remove from heat and set aside. Don't cook the shrimp all the way through because you will be adding the shrimp back in with the noodles at the end.

Add the soaked rice noodles into the hot pot of water. Taste the noodles at 60 seconds to test for al dente. Don't let the noodles cook too long or else you'll end up with mushy noodles. As soon as noodles are al dente, drain and rinse with cold water. The cold water will stop any further cooking.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to wok and heat for 30 seconds at medium-high. Add the sliced onion, jalapeno and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Don't brown the garlic.

Before adding the rice noodles to the wok, check to see if there are any sticking. If so, rinse with cold water to break up any sticking of the noodles.

Add noodles and tofu and marinade to wok. Turn the heat to high. Stir frequently. As the sauce begins to reduce, add basil leaves, oyster sauce, soy sauce and cooked shrimp. Combine thoroughly and heat through. If the noodles start to stick, add chicken stock to help loosen up the noodles. Taste and adjust with more fish sauce and chili pepper flakes as needed. Serve hot.

I think this is one of those dishes where it'll continue to evolve and change as I tweak it based on what my taste is on that day. But this certainly provides a good foundation to work from.

Have a wonderful week. Now go and eat well.

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Fish and Chips

With the arrival of my new Staub 5-quart French oven (Dutch oven if you will), I decided to test it out on frying foods. After all, that was the primary reason why I got it. For my first fried food test, I decided to make Fish and Chips. Well, the chips was really Ore-Ida® Zesties!® baked in the oven but if you're in the mood for some homemade fries, you can follow the recipe for my Sweet Potato Fries. Just substitute it with Russet potatoes. I was just a little lazy after coming home from a not-so-hard-but-boring day at work. Also, I love Ore-Ida Zesties and felt like some zestie fries without the fuss.

So on to the Fish. I've made the fried fish (cod) twice now, trying to perfect the beer batter. I think if I was to use tilapia, I would soak it in buttermilk for about 30 minutes to eliminate any "muddy" taste that tilapia can sometimes have. Same goes for catfish. I used Alton Brown's recipe the first go-around but the batter was way too thick. His recipe also didn't specify the exact amount of beer to use. I just used 1 bottle of beer.

I did a test fry and the coating was thick and not cooked completely through even after 4 minutes of frying. I added some water to the batter to thin it out and it was better but still on the thick side. The fish was moist but it lacked flavor. I don't think there was enough salt or seasoning for my taste. The Mister liked it a lot but for me, just missing something. So back to the test kitchen.

Last night, I decided to use the same technique as the chicken fingers in order to turn it up a bit (ha, bet you thought I was going to say notch, didn't you?). I ended up seasoning the fish and the batter. I suppose I didn't have to add the spices in the batter but I really liked the color the cayenne pepper gave the batter. I also ended up with a bit more batter than I needed, but it's better to have too much than not enough in this case. I also switched from cornstarch (as per Alton's recipe) to mochiko flour for dredging because the cornstarch created a rather thick coating on such thin strips of fish. The mochiko flour provided a very nice, thin coating. The results? Awesome!! The Mister and one of the Eating Machines said it was a keeper!

As for my new French/Dutch oven (oh heck, I'm just going to call it Dutch oven--DO for short), I was really amazed how well it kept the heat. I've used cast iron skillet, stainless steal pans, and electric wok for frying and none of them kept the temperature as well as my DO. It was pricey but I think it's worth every penny. I've even made a No Knead rustic crusty bread in it, but that is another post to come. I should probably do a whole post just on my DO. But for now, I give you fried fish.

For Frying:
I used about 1/2 gallon of peanut oil but I probably could have used a bit less, probably 1/3 gallon. Two 24-oz bottles should do the trick.

For the batter:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 to 1 1/2 bottles of cold beer (I used some Belgium blonde beer that the Mister had in the fridge)
1 1/2 pounds firm-fleshed whitefish (tilapia, Pollock, cod), cut into ~1 oz strips
Mochico flour for dredging

For Fish Seasoning:
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning


Heat oil in a 5-quart Dutch/French oven over high heat until it reaches 350F degrees. I used a candy/oil thermometer to monitor the oil temperature. I was aiming for anywhere between 350-360F degrees (the sweet spot).

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Whisk in the beer until the batter is free of lumps and has a smooth texture. Use enough beer to obtain a consistency similar to a pancake batter that's on the thinner side. I had to use about 1/4 of the second bottle to get it thin enough. (Use a beer that you like so you can finish up the remainder!) It should run off the whisk fairly quickly, not globby (if you know what I mean). Refrigerate for 15 minutes. You can make the batter up to 1 hour ahead of time, just keep it in the fridge until you need it.

Liberally cover the fish strips with the fish seasoning. Lightly dredge fish strips in Mochiko flour. Work in small batches, I did about 4 strips at a time. Dip the fish into batter and gently immerse into the hot oil. Make sure you immerse the fish going away from you to prevent oil splashing onto you. Safety first!

Once the the batter is set and turns a light tan, turn the pieces of fish over and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. I recommend using a splash guard to keep the mess down a bit. Note: Alton's recipe said 2 minutes but I found 3 minutes produced a much nicer and thoroughly cooked coating. The fish was not dry at all.

Drain the fish on a rack with some paper towels underneath it. I find laying down the paper towels help wick condensation away from the fish. It's best to serve the fish within 3-5 minutes. Serve with malt vinegar and/or tartar sauce.

Have a wonderful weekend. Now go and eat well.

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