Baked Cod With Kalalmata Olives, Limes and Capers

Now that the holiday season has come and gone, we can get back to our normal routines.  For some of us that means some sort of diet to lose the pounds we gained as the result of our overindulgence of the many recent celebrations. And I am not totally innocent of said digressions.

Every year I vow to improve my eating habits.   That usually lasts for about two weeks until all of my "cravings" eventually come screaming back at me!  I am proud that I have made it to the 6th day of January...  So let me be among the first to offer up this quick and easy to prepare, healthy  and extremely tasteful entree.  Happy New Year!

Baked Cod With Kalamata Olives, Capers and Limes 
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
4 (6 ounce) cod fillets
Seafood Spice Blend
12 thin lime slices
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives
1/4 cup drained capers
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 475℉.  Put cod fillets  in an ovenproof baking dish and season with spice blend.  Top each fillet with 3 lime slices, the olives, capers and rosemary.  Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake until the fish is cooked through and flakey, 10-12 minutes.  Remove the fish from the oven and serve with spanish-style rice and your favorite steamed veggie.

Coquilles St. Jacques

At the beginning of every new year, we vow to do something different, new, more or better to enhance our lives.  For me, this year that promise is to spend more time with friends - and not just on holidays or special occasions.  I find that impromptu gatherings can bring the most joy.  So last week I invited two friends to lunch, dusted off an old recipe and treated them to an adult “time out.”

Coquilles St. Jacques has always been one of my favorites dishes.  There was a time when it was a menu staple at fine dining establishments.  I guess that with the advent of the “nouvelle cuisine,” it somehow lost its’ appeal.  But not for me!  It is traditionally offered as an appetizer, prepared with scallops and a mushroom sauce, and served in a large scallop shell.  I much prefer it as the main course, adding shrimp or lobster and lump crab.  Who could limit themselves to just a few bites of this deliciousness? 

Coquilles St. Jacques Recipe 

Ingredients

1/2 pound bay scallops

1/2 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined

1/2 pound lump crabmeat

1 cup dry white wine

1 bay leaf

parsley

kosher salt

pepper, freshly ground

1 small onion, sliced

2 shallots, sliced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cups heavy cream

bread crumbs

swiss cheese, grated

Preparation

Place scallops and shrimp in a saucepan with wine and enough water to cover.  Add bay leaf, several sprigs of parsley, salt and pepper.  Bring to a simmer and cook slowly for 5 minutes.  In a pan with a little butter, saute the onions and mushrooms about 5 minutes.  Set aside.  Drain the scallops and shrimp, reserving one cup of the liquid.

Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour.  When the mixture bubbles, add the cup of reserved liquid and the cream, whisking until well blended and thickened.  Add the scallops, shrimp, mushrooms and crabmeat, and stir.  Bring to a simmer and adjust seasoning.  Fill the shells or au gratin dishes, sprinkle with swiss cheese mixed with bread crumbs, and place under broiler.  Broil until the mixture bubbles and the cheese is golden brown.  Makes 6 scallop shells (appetizers)  or 4 au gratin dishes (entrees)

Eagle Island Low Country Boil

It doesn’t get more “off the beaten path” than this!  Eagle Island, located 15 minutes off the coast of Darien, Georgia, is the perfect “getaway destination.”  Meet Captain Andy Hill, owner of The Private Islands of Georgia, which counts Eagle Island among its’ chain.  

For a romantic retreat, a family reunion or friends going wild,  Eagle Island won’t disappoint you.  Everything is provided for your enjoyment - you bring the fun!  And if just being there makes you feel as if you’ve died and gone to paradise, just sit back and let Captain Hill further spoil you with his shrimp and oyster roast or low country boil.

Eagle Island Low Country Boil Recipe

Seasoning Ingredients and Preparation:

2 sticks butter

1 cup pepper

1/2 cup red pepper

1 cup garlic salt

1/2 cup seasoning salt

1/2 cup celery salt

10 lemons

10 jalapeno peppers - thinly sliced

Melt butter in large sauce pan on low to medium heat. Mix all of the dry ingredients from the Private Islands of Georgia Cajun Seasoning Blend in bowl and stir with wire whisk. Pour contents of mixing bowl into melted butter and stir with wire whisk until well blended. Pour fresh squeezed lemon juice into pan and stir. Add jalapeno pepper slices and stir. Add mixture to boiling water, and now the fun begins!

Note - Old Bay Seasoning can be substituted for the Private Islands of Georgia Cajun Seasoning Blend if desired

Low Country Boil Ingredients and Preparation:

4 pounds shrimp - 1/2 pound per person

2 packages Hillshire Farm sausage cut into 1" slices - or substitute your favorite brand

8 onions, peeled - 1 per person 

16 new potatoes - 2 per person 

4 ears of corn, halved - 1/2 ear per person

small bag of baby carrots

After adding the Private Islands of Georgia Cajun Seasoning Blend to the boiling water, you are now ready to add the food. The food items are added in order of longest to shortest to cook. First, add the potatoes and boil 10 minutes. Next, add the carrots, sausage and whole onions. Return to boil. Add corn and return to boil. Then, add the shrimp last. Cook until shrimp are pink in color, approximately 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp!

Note - other ingredients that can be added to personal taste are rutabagas, sweet potatoes, crabs, crawfish or the 'kitchen sink'. Adding extra potatoes and onions allows for leftovers that can be used for some great tasting hash browns the following morning.

Seafood Chowder

Now that the temperature has started to creep down into the 40’s at night, and the days have a bit of nip in the air, my craving naturally turns to soup.  A few days ago I had the dilemma of trying to decide what kind of soup I wanted.  As I pondered all the usual suspects - minestrone, chicken noodle, split pea, French onion - my thoughts kept taking me back to a little restaurant in Nokomis, Florida named Pelican Alley.  Located on the waterfront of the intercoastal waterway, with a magnificent view of Casey Key, it is famous for its’  seafood chowder.  Unable to talk the proprietor into giving me the recipe, I took copious tasting notes during my last visit.

Seafood Chowder Recipe

Ingredients:

2 ounce olive oil

4 slices bacon, lardons

1 small onions, chopped

1/2 cup flour

1-½ quart fish stock, or clam juice

2 medium potatoes, diced

2 medium carrots, thick sliced, halved

½ pound shrimp

½ pound bay scallops, halved 

1  10-ounce can clams, drained

½ pound lump crabmeat

8 ounces heavy cream

½ cup white wine

1 teaspoon Everyday Spice Blend

parsley for garnish

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot. Render the bacon until crispy.   Add the onions and saute until translucent.
Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook over medium heat for 5 - 7 minutes.
Gradually whisk in the hot stock, blending until smooth and thickened. Heat to a boil. Reduce to a simmer.  Add the diced potatoes and carrots and simmer gently. When potatoes and carrots are three-fourths cooked, about 5-6 minutes, add the fish/seafood and finish cooking,.
Temper the heavy cream into the soup.  Add wine and season with the Everyday Spice 

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