Category: Seafood

Here’s what to cook for dinner tonight that’s easy. You can always pull together simple meals from the pantry using a can of salmon and some brown rice. I am not accustomed to eating many things from a can, so when Michael requested patties made from canned salmon years ago, I thought it was odd. But I quickly learned that they’re delicious and budget friendly. Kids love them too. Make anything in the shape of a burger and people get excited.

Preparation

With your canned salmon, mix together an egg and your choice of breadcrumbs to help everything stick together when you form the patties. ( I used panko, lightweight Japanese crumbs here.) Beyond that, you can take the flavor into whichever direction you choose. Here I decided to add a touch of horseradish and a pinch of dill and garlic powder along with some diced onion.

I often add lemon juice, but as I wasn’t making a big enough batch of salmon sliders, I left that out because I thought the lemon would make it too watery. Play around with other ingredients. Green onions, fresh herbs, Worcestershire sauce are all great additions. Cooking without a recipe allows you so much freedom to create with what you have.

The salmon sliders only take a couple of minutes on each side to cook. I kept them small because they’re easier to flip over that way. After removing them from the skillet, I tossed some asparagus into the same skillet to cook quickly in the remaining oil. Simple meals require less cleanup.

A squeeze of lemon juice on top is all that’s needed, but you could serve with any number of sauces that you enjoy. I had a little cocktail sauce that I decided to use, but tartar sauce is also good.

Canned tomatoes and canned fish are a must for the pantry. You will always find rice and other dried grains and beans in mine too. They last indefinitely and are a great supplement to other fresh items. For another tasty pantry meal, please read Pantry Pasta Perfection next.

I haven’t spent a lot of time in the south, but whatever time I have enjoyed there has been full of memorable meals. One of those that still makes me salivate whenever I think of it is shrimp and grits. It was at Mert’s in Charlotte, NC.

When I returned home, I searched for recipes, but everyone makes it differently and I couldn’t find one that seemed similar to what I had eaten in the restaurant. Lots of recipes out there are heavy on the tomatoes, but what I remember from Mert’s all these years later is the roux based brown gravy. So naturally I had to experiment cooking without a recipe. Not sure if I do it exactly like the restaurant, but I must say it’s delicious and it’s simple to make gravy for shrimp and grits.

Making Grits

Polenta or grits are coarsely ground cornmeal. I prefer that texture to finer grinds. I cook mine in the slow cooker because it frees me up to do other things, but you can cook it in a saucepan on the stove just as well.

I boil flavorful liquid (chicken broth in this case) and then whisk in 1/4 the amount of grits. Let it boil for a minute or two while continuing to whisk it. Then dump it all into the slow cooker and cook on high for an hour and 20 minutes. Stir about every half hour and test it when it looks like it’s ready. Add more liquid if you need to. It’s a great base for many simple meals.

Making Stock

Then I peel the shrimp and boil the shells in water to make some stock. I prefer easy peel shrimp because it means I can make stock with the shells for zero waste cooking. But if your shrimp came pre-peeled, you can use chicken broth or vegetable broth. Even better, make some fish stock with dried bonito (fish) flakes available in Asian markets. Use what you have on hand to develop your intuition in the kitchen and start cooking without a recipe.

Gravy for Shrimp and Grits

Chop your vegetables before you start making the roux for the gravy. You will need to have them ready to add to the pot at the right time. I used:

• Onions
• Bell pepper
• Celery
• Tomato (at the end)

Now it’s time to make a quick roux. I like using a chef’s pot with a rounded bottom like a wok because it’s easier to keep bits from burning in the edges of a straight sided pot; but whichever kind of pot you have will work.

Whisk together equal parts of flour and butter or oil over high heat. I made enough for 4 servings, so that meant about 2 Tablespoons of each. It will get brown quickly, so whisk fast and watch. Take it off the heat if you think it’s getting too dark too quickly.

Once the roux looks like melted chocolate, add the onions and other vegetables. I didn’t have any green bell pepper, so I used a red one. Not sure if others put celery in there, but I do because I like it and why not add another vegetable?

Keep whisking as you add the vegetables and take the pot off the heat if you need to. The vegetables, especially the onions, will keep the roux from burning.

Seasoning

Reducing the heat, I minced a little garlic to add to the pot at that point and added a little shrimp stock to let it simmer while I grabbed my spices. I used, in descending order of amounts:

• Salt
• French thyme
• Paprika
• Basil
• Oregano
• Cayenne

You could make this as spicy as you wanted. I opted to keep it mild. I kept adding stock as the vegetables cooked in the sauce until I had the right amount of liquid and the right consistency. Once I decided everything was just about done, I seasoned the raw shrimp with a little salt and added it to the pot along with a little chopped tomato. Shrimp only takes a couple of minutes to cook. It’s done when it turns pink.

After tasting each element of this meal, I decided to add some grated smoked gouda to the grits before plating. I added a touch of maple syrup to the greens and decided everything was well balanced. I hope you enjoy this simple meal as much as I do. It makes me want to dance!

For another southern shrimp dish using more tomatoes, please read Creole Shrimp next.

On our first trip to New Orleans, I learned about starting everything with onions, green bell pepper and celery. (A slight variation of another classic combination of onions, carrots and celery.)

There are so many ways to go with this beginning. One way to go is to make a Creole Shrimp dish. I start cooking my rice first. Whether you use a rice cooker or not, rice is easy. It can sit in your pantry for some time as long as it’s sealed properly and you can cook it any number of ways. I currently use a rice cooker, but I cooked it on the stovetop for many years.

Just boil water. Add half the amount of rice and reduce to the lowest heat to steam. Cover and wait. Cooking time depends on the kind of rice and your heat source. You can adjust the ratio of liquid to suit your needs. Less water yields drier rice. As long as your stovetop burner is not too hot, that should be fine. It’s okay to peek and fluff gently every 20 minutes or so. What kind of rice do you have? Wild rice cooks longer than others and requires more water. White rice cooks the fastest. My brown rice takes about 40 minutes. See what works for you in your kitchen.

So, what do we have here? Began with chopped onions, bell pepper and celery in the skillet with olive oil. Let it cook a little bit while I stirred and then added some shrimp stock and canned tomatoes. You could quit here by reducing heat to let it do its own thing for 15 minutes or so after adding spices. I used French thyme, paprika, smoked paprika, a tiny bit of oregano and basil. I would have put a bay leaf in there, but I only had one left, so I decided to save it for another dish.

Making Roux

I decided a little late in the game that I wanted to add a roux. Usually I would start with the roux, but I often change directions in the middle of cooking. This is why I don’t usually tell Michael ahead of time what he’s having for dinner. I just say, “You’re gonna love it” because I often make it up as I go along.

A roux is basically equal parts of oil and flour. There are different methods to make it, but because I was in a hurry, I did the fast method. Into another skillet, I put about a tablespoon of flour and about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil. Over high heat, I whisked it quickly until it turned brown and then added to my vegetable mixture. It thickens the dish and adds a nice smoky flavor. We like a dark brown roux, but if you’re new to making a fast roux, I would recommend being careful because it can go from dark brown to black very fast.

Roasting Corn

Here’s an easy and delicious way to do corn that I learned from our friend, Tim. Rinse the corn while leaving it in the husk. Put it in the oven at 350 and let it coook for 45 minutes.

Once I’m almost ready to serve dinner, shrimp goes in to cook with sauce because it only takes a few minutes to turn pink, which means it’s ready.

Now, go experiment in your kitchen and have some fun.

Want more ideas for seafood? Please read Caesar Salad next.