Gamberi e mitili in brodo del vino (Shrimp and mussels in wine broth)

Growing up, I was willing to try pretty much anything, especially when it came to seafood.

My dad and I could have eaten some type of seafood everyday, and whatever he was having, I was having. I remember sitting down with him to share a lobster when I was about 8, just because I wanted to try it. I ate shrimp by the handful and steamers by the bucketload. If it was seafood, I was IN.

So as an adult at a restaurant, I'm instantly drawn to the seafood section of the menu. At a particular Italian eatery, my husband and I love a dish of mussels and broth. We end up eating it very quick and using our bread to soak up the buttery broth every single time.

But since we can't afford to go out to eat every night, I had to figure out a way to make the dish at home. And since mussels, while delicious, aren't all that filling as a dinner meal, I tossed in some shrimp. Next time I'd also like to add some scallops; I think they'd add even more flavor to the dish.

You can serve the broth separate like I did here, or pour it over the shellfish. I've done it both ways, but separated it here to show you what it should look like. I highly recommend serving this with some bread -- once you try the broth, you won't leave a single drop in the bowl.

Enjoy!



Gamberi e mitili in brodo del vino (Shrimp and mussels in wine broth)
Serves 4-6

2 pounds of live mussels (approximately 75 shells), scrubbed, debearded*
1 pound of peeled, deveined raw shrimp
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion or shallot
4 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup white wine
3 tablespoons garlic*
1 tablespoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Tools
wire/bristle brush
large sautee pan with lid

With sautee pan on medium heat, melt butter, then add lemon juice, salt, pepper and wine (carefully). Toss in onion and cook until translucent. Add half of the garlic to the broth and watch to make sure it doesn't burn. Cook until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes.



Toss mussels into pan, distributing as evenly as possible around the pan. Spoon remaining garlic and olive oil over shells and cover. Cook for 15 minutes.



Remove lid and toss shrimp on top of mussels, cover. Cook for additional 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove from heat.



Spoon shrimp and mussels onto large platter.



Before serving, ensure all shells have opened -- discard mussels that remain closed. Top with broth from pan or serve with broth on the side (you can add any other flavors you like -- parsley, red pepper flakes, basil, etc., at this time).



Notes
Mussels -- At our supermarket, you can buy a 2 lb. bundle of mussels in the seafood department. Though it won't look like it at first, this is about 75 mussels.



The tricky thing about mussels, and the reason many people don't cook with them, is that they do require a fair bit of preparation. When you unbundle them, you have to scrub them, as they accumulate a fair amount of dirt/sand on their shells. Then, and if you're squeamish, look away -- you have to "de-beard" them. What's a beard you ask? It's a group of fibers the mussel has used to hold on to rocks in the ocean.



You have to grip the beard and yank it out of the shell. The creepy thing (for some, I'm past it!), is that as the mussel is live, you may feel it... "tug" back a little. Certainly, once you begin to pull the beard and let go, you will see a portion disappear back into the shell. In any event, you want to remove this beard, or as much of it as you can, because what you don't clean off the shells and out of them is going to end up in your mouth.



The other tidbit about mussels... you have to quite literally trust your gut. The LAST thing you want to eat is bad shellfish, and so you have to apply the open-closed theory of discarding the "bad" ones -- if you see shells OPEN before you cook the mussels, throw them out. If any remain CLOSED after you cook them, throw them out. If any shells have chunks mussing or exposed mussel showing, throw them out. Trust me on this one -- better safe than sorry!

Garlic -- Just to restate what I've said in almost every recipe I've made using garlic, you can feel free to use jarred or fresh garlic. I prefer to use the jarred as it keeps longer, I don't have to cut it up, and it seems to be more flavorful. If you use the jarred garlic, use 3 tablespoons. If you use fresh garlic, use 4-5 cloves, depending on their size.

Recipe #26: Shrimp Scampi

This recipe is what my husband calls "an Amy classic." No one ever taught me how to make it -- in fact not a lot of the people in my family actually like seafood -- it's just something I love and can do well. I made it for my sister last summer, and it got rave reviews. (Chrissy, let me know when, and I'll make it again! :))

Enjoy -- hope it becomes one of your classics as well!



Shrimp Scampi
Cooking time: About 25 minutes
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
8 ounces dry spaghetti (half a regular-sized box)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
8 ounces peeled, devained raw shrimp*
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup white wine*
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ shallot
Salt to taste, additional to salt pasta water
½ cup reserved pasta water*
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion salt
¼ cup chopped tomatoes (optional)

Tools
Large skillet or non-stick pan
Large pasta pot

Fill pasta pot with water, and add generous amount of salt. Prepare pasta as directed, drain in colander, reserving ½ cup of the salted water pasta cooked in. Do not rinse! While pasta is cooking…

Heat butter in large skillet or non-stick pan on medium heat. Toss shallots into butter, and cook until translucent. Add olive oil and garlic, and turn down heat to medium-low to avoid burning garlic. Add shrimp* and allow to cook for 2 minutes. Turn in pan to cook on both sizes. Add white wine*, lemon juice, garlic powder and onion salt and cook until shrimp are pink and no longer translucent. Toss with half of the parmesan cheese. If using tomatoes, add them now and allow to cook for a minute or two.



Once pasta is drained, add to pan with scampi, and pour in reserved pasta water.



Top with remaining cheese, toss with sauce to evenly coat. Serve immediately.



Comments
*Frozen shrimp: Please use whatever size shrimp are available to you. I hate recipes that specify sizes. Generally, I don’t use anything below 16-20 count, but it’s totally up to you, and if you’re making this more budget-friendly… use what’s on sale.

*White wine: You can use any type of white wine for this recipe. I prefer chardonnay, because if I drink wine, it’s my preferred variety. I wouldn’t cook with a wine I wouldn’t drink. You don’t have to spend $30 on a bottle, or even $20, but I would avoid the $3 shelf.

*Pasta water: As you read that, you might wonder why I ask you to reserve and use some of the water the pasta has been cooked in. I do have a reason. Adding pasta water lends a starchiness and flavor that you can’t get from regular water, and adding it to the scampi cuts the butter/oil texture from this recipe, so you aren’t left with half an inch of oil in the bottom of your pan. Just trust me on this one.

Note: You’ll see some of these pictures have tomatoes in them while some don’t. My husband refuses to eat his scampi with tomatoes. Loathes it. I have no idea why, since I’ve been eating tomatoes every which way since I was a kid. So the tomato-less scampi is my husband’s while the tomato-full scampi is mine.

Recipe #12: Fish Tacos

If you've never lived on or visited California, I know what you're thinking -- "That sounds disgusting." That's what I thought too. I was so wrong.

What I pictured was a fillet of broiled fish in a hard shell taco with lettuce and tomato. The Californian (Baja style) fish taco could not be any more different. It's actually beer battered cod, minus the lettuce and tomatoes. One delicious, crispy, salsa and cabbage-laden taco from Rubio's was all it took -- I was hooked for life.

When I moved from California (Hi Mary, Keala, Traci, Christin and Savannah!), I can't tell you how much I missed fish tacos. I tried a bunch of times to replicate the recipe, but before I had a deep fryer, it was really difficult to try to get the fish crispy but not drenched in oil. Finally, I have.

Many of the ingredients below are just what I serve with the tacos. A proper fish taco from Rubio's is fish on a corn tortilla (though you'll see I use flour -- none of the corn tortillas I have tried from around here have the same consistency as theirs. Better to just go with flour), cabbage, a dab of white sauce, smothered in one of their salsas from the salsa bar (I prefer the hot. If you'd like the recipe I make, you can find it here). Trust me, it takes a little effort, and you *do* deal with your kitchen smelling oily for a few hours, but it's TOTALLY worth it.


Fish Tacos

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes (for all fish)

Ingredients
1/2 pound cod* (this is about one fillet)
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons onion salt
1 12-ounce can of beer*
1 lime*
2 cups grated cabbage
8 flour tortillas*
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons unflavored plain yogurt

Tools
deep fryer (or shallow non-stick pan with at least 3" sides)*

For batter: In a small mixing bowl, mix flour, garlic powder, minced onion, paprika, onion salt. Add can of beer 4 ounces at a time, mix until the batter coats the back of a fork or spoon.



Heat deep fryer or oil in pan to 375 degrees. Place fish in batter bowl, coat liberally with batter. Slowly place into oil/deep fryer. Be careful not to drop or oil will splatter. Use a fork and carefully release fish from fork to avoid splatter or fish sticking to the bottom of the pan or basket. Cook until golden brown, and drain on a plate covered with paper towels.



To serve with the fish: Grate or finely chop cabbage -- red or green -- and cut a lime into 8 even pieces. In a ramekin, mix yogurt and mayo to make white sauce. If making larger proportions of fish, use equal parts yogurt and mayo, mix until the mixture is thinned.

Heat tortillas in microwave for 20 seconds, serve all ingredients -- tortillas, fried fish, cabbage, salsa, limes -- on a platter. Guests can assemble their own tacos. Optional: serve alongside chopped cilantro. Makes 8 tacos.



*Comments:
-Fish: I used cod fillet, because that's what Rubio's uses, and what we had at the grocery store the day I made this. If you cannot find fresh cod at your seafood counter, use any white fish. I've also made this with flounder, and it worked very well. Don't bother buying frozen boxed fish, as the fish's texture has totally changed, even during the thawing process. Frozen fish from the seafood counter is okay though. But do NOT let this thaw at room temp, unless you enjoy a very fishy-smelling house. Let it thaw, still wrapped, in the refrigerator for a day. Also, I used one fillet (1/2 pound) for this dinner, and got 8 tacos out of this. This is because I cut the pieces small, knowing they'll puff significantly during frying. Here's how big each piece of fish was, and this made 8 good sized tacos:



-Beer: We happened to have Budweiser in our house, but you can use any beer you have lying around (not actually lying around -- eww, skunky). I have used Bud, Bud Light, and Corona to make this, and they were all equally good. As common sense would tell you -- lighter beer, lighter-tasting batter. Darker beer, heavier-tasting batter.

-Tortillas: If you really prefer store-bought corn tortillas, go ahead and use them. While that is what Rubio's serves, none of the ones I can find at any store here are worth it. They are all far too powdery and dry. I used Old El Paso flour tortillas made for "Soft Tacos and Fajitas." According to the package, they're 6-inch round tortillas.

-Deep fryer/hot pan with oil: Just a few safety tips here, because I have made some mistakes before getting the hang of how to fry things withOUT ending up with burn marks.

*First off, if you've washed your hands, have water boiling or handle a damp cloth while frying or before frying. When water comes into contact with boiling lava hot oil, you have a splatter and the potential for a NASTY burn.

*Don't drop food into it. You drop food, you get burned.

*Do not OVERFILL your fryer. This means actually reading the instruction book. It will tell you the fryer's oil capacity, so you can make sure you're not putting too much or too little. For example, mine has a minimum capacity of 2 liters of oil and a maximum of 3 liters. I generally cook with about 2.5. If you overfill or under fill, you can cause serious damage to the surface you're cooking on (please, please, please make sure it's heat-resistant), to the fryer, and to yourself. Read: this is the stuff stories on the news are made of.

*When you're done cooking, don't discard of oil down the drain. Save it. Otherwise, it can harden in the drain and clog it. Then you have to pay a plumber and... that's just a lot of hassle you don't need.

*Lastly, don't put too much in the fryer at one time. With this recipe, I stick to two pieces of fish at once. Otherwise, the temperature of the oil will drop, and you end up with soggy, oil-logged fish. No one wants that. Keep your fish happy. Don't add too much at once.

Enjoy!

Recipe #4: Rigatoni ala Vodka with Shrimp

I am a pastaholic. I could eat it everyday if it was of no consequence. I am also a huge fan of homemade sauces and hate jarred because to me, it just doesn't taste right. It's not hard to make a good sauce on your own, and if you make the pink vodka sauce in the recipe below, I guarantee you that it is as good, if not better, than any restaurant vodka sauce. My favorite part about this recipe is that it only takes about 20 minutes to make, from start to finish. Also, in case you're either allergic or not a big fan of shrimp, you can always just leave it out. We're just big fans of seafood and love the texture and taste of shrimp. Also, not a lot of pics for this one, as it's such a quick and easy recipe... I hardly had time to take any! Please note -- wherever you see a (*) next to an ingredient or tool, there is a comment about it below the recipe. Enjoy!


Rigatoni ala Vodka with Shrimp

Cook time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients
10-12 large shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined (optional)
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes*
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
3 cloves garlic*
1 1/2 pounds rigatoni (about a box and a half)
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 ounce vodka
3/4 cup heavy cream
dried parsley for garnish

Tools
large pot
medium sauce pan
mixing spoon

Boil water in large pot with 3 teaspoons of salt. Add pasta. Cook until tender (about 15-20 minutes).

While pasta cooks... In saucepan, add olive oil and heat on medium heat for 5-7 minutes. When oil is heated, add crushed tomatoes, remaining salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, 1/4 cup cheese and garlic and let simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir frequently to keep sauce from sticking and to heat evenly. Add vodka, allow to cook for two more minutes. Add cream slowly, stirring as it is added. Sauce should appear orange to pink in color. Add shrimp and cook for five minutes.

When pasta is finished, drain and return to pan, but turn the burner off. Pour sauce and shrimp into the pot with pasta and mix.



Spoon onto plates and top each with remaining cheese and sprinkle of parsley. Enjoy!




*Comments:
-Garlic: I don't usually use fresh garlic when I cook, unless it's going to be almost raw in the dish. What I use instead is a huge jar of Spice World minced garlic. It saves me the time of having to chop (and have my hands smell like) garlic for any given recipe. For this recipe, if you use the jarred garlic, use one tablespoon.

*Tomatoes: The crushed tomatoes I use already have basil in them (it will say it right on the can). If you can't find any with basil already added, add one leave finely chopped OR one teaspoon into the tomato sauce while cooking.

*While cooking: Be careful adding the can of crushed tomatoes into the pan with oil. Adding them too quickly or too much at a time can cause the oil to "spit," and you can get a pretty nasty burn. You want to be sure to heat the oil only on medium heat (NOT HIGH), and stand back a bit, maybe even use a potholder, when you pour the can in. You can also try adding half the can, mixing, then adding the second half.