Louisiana Seafood Feast

We promised Lucas, my 10-year-old grandson, who loves shellfish, that we'd go for a crawfish feast while visiting near New Orleans. But, at Crabby Shack in Madisonville, LA, near the Tchefuncte River, we found out that the season for crawfish was over (March to mid-June). So we had to settle for big Gulf shrimp.  

 

Hands on! About 3 pounds of shrimp, cooked with "crab boil," a flavor mix with mustard seed, coriander seed, cayenne, bay leaves, dill seed and allspice. With cocktail sauce with horseradish and tartar sauce in squeeze bottles, the shrimp were appetizers for about 10 people. To cook shrimp, crawfish or crab, bring a pot of water to a boil with salt, lemon quarters and the mixed spices. Boil shrimp 1 minute and allow to remain in the water for 15 minutes. Drain before serving.



 

Lucas gets a lesson from Eli, his mom, on how to peel the shrimp. He loved them. (Oh yes, he wore his Barcelona soccer uniform everywhere.)

 

Some other dishes from dinner at Crabby Shack.

Blackened catfish with a side of beans. Blackened fish, a Cajun recipe, was popularized by Chef Paul Prudhomme.  Fish fillets are dipped in melted butter, then coated with a spice mixture of paprika, onion and garlic powder, cayenne, ground pepper, thyme and oregano and salt and cooked in a cast-iron skillet heated white-hot.

Strips of catfish fillets fried with a crunchy coating. Pass the tartar sauce!

A po-boy sandwich of fried soft-shell crabs.

Shrimp filé gumbo, a thick soup, served with rice. Filé powder is an unusual seasoning, made from the dried and ground leaves of the North American sassafras tree. The gumbo also contains a big dose of cayenne.

Fried pickles. Yep, slices of dill pickle, coated in batter and deep fried.

In the Crabby Shack kitchen, putting together a Po-Boy.

Po-boy with catfish. "Dressed?" the waiter asks. It comes with lettuce, tomato and mayo.

Seafood chowder.

After the shrimp boil--debris.

We're going back to Crabby Shack in a few days. Shall I try the frogs legs? Then, back to my kitchen in Spain! I'll be packing some Crab Boil spices so I can cook Spanish shrimp in New Orleans style.

GONE FISHING!

I’m trawling local seafood markets, searching out fish that I don’t ordinarily buy, taking advantage of the seasonal abundance (spring + Lent). A few weeks ago I landed a colorful wrasse (see that post here). This week I’ve hooked a silvery-grey corvina.

Corvina, also known as a "croaker," is a fine fish.

Belonging to the family Sciaenidae, the corvina in English is “croaker” or “meagre”. Also known as drums, for the noise they make under the water, these fish are lean, white, flaky and of excellent flavor. Don't you think corvina is a nicer name than meagre or croaker?

This fish is not abundant in the wild anymore, but my specimen, a whole one weighing more than two pounds (gutted and scaled), is of cría, raised in fish farms in Spain.

My favorite way to cook a whole fish is baked with potatoes and other vegetables. But since I’ve given you that recipe already (recipe + more about aquaculture in Spain ), I pulled up a recipe for a tumbet, a Mallorcan casserole with fish, potatoes and eggplant.

Tumbet is a casserole with fish, potatoes and eggplant.

Once I decided what I was going to cook, I realized I would have to fillet the fish myself. Oh well, good to bone up on my filleting skills. With a good knife and patience, it’s really easy.

To fillet a fish: Starting from the head end, cut down along the backbone, keeping the knife as close to the spine as possible. Separate the top fillet at the tail. Turn the fish over and remove the second fillet in the same manner, cutting the flesh off the spine. Cut away side fins and attached bones. Use your fingers to locate any other bones.

To remove the skin: Make an incision at the tail end. Grasp the skin firmly with one hand and with the knife angled against the skin, pull the skin to release the flesh.

Save head and bones for stock.

Other fish that can be used in place of corvina are sea bass, wrasse, or, a Mallorcan favorite, llampuga, which is dolphin fish, better known as mahi mahi (and not related to the marine mammal called dolphin). This casserole can be made without the fish for a vegetarian meal.

Typically in Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands, this casserole would be prepared in the morning and served at room temperature as a light supper dish.

Tumbet de Pescado a la Mallorquina
Fish and Vegetable Casserole, Mallorcan Style

Baking melds the flavors in this casserole.

Serves 4 as a main course.

12-16 ounces fish fillets
Salt and pepper
3 medium eggplant (about 1 ¾ pounds)
½ cup olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes (1 2/3 cups)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 bay leaf
4 medium potatoes (1 ¾ pounds)
1 ½ cups chopped green pepper
Flour for dredging
¼ cup liquid (fish stock, white wine or water)

Cut the fish into 3-inch pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Slice the eggplant crosswise ¼ inch thick. Put the slices in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Allow to drain for 30 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet. Add the onion and garlic and sauté 5 minutes without letting them brown. Add the tomatoes, ½ teaspoon salt, cinnamon, bay leaf and freshly ground black pepper. Simmer 15 minutes until sauce is thickened. Pass through a sieve or puree in a blender.

Peel the potatoes and slice them ¼ inch thick. Heat ¼ cup of oil in a large skillet. Fry the potatoes slowly, turning occasionally, until they are fork-tender, about 15 minutes. They do not need to brown. Remove them, reserving the oil.

Fry the green pepper in the oil until softened. Remove.

Place flour in a dish and dredge  the pieces of fish in it, patting off excess. Add enough additional oil to the skillet so the bottom of the pan is covered. Fry the fish until lightly golden on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove.

Pat the eggplant dry with paper towels. Dredge the slices lightly with flour and pat off excess. Add remaining oil to the skillet. Fry the eggplant in batches until it is tender. Remove.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Layer vegetables and fish.

Lightly oil a cazuela, gratin dish or oven-proof casserole. Spread half the  potatoes on the bottom of the cazuela. Sprinkle with salt. Scatter half of the chopped pepper on top of the potatoes. Layer half of the eggplant.

Place the pieces of fish on top of the eggplant. Add another layer of potatoes and sprinkle them with salt. Continue with remaining peppers and eggplant. Pour over the liquid. Spread the tomato sauce over the top. Cover with foil.

Bake until the casserole is bubbling, about 40 minutes. Allow to rest at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve hot or room temperature.

Flaky fish, tender vegetables.

SURF 'N TURF, WHERE THE TURF IS CATALUÑA

Chicken cooks with shellfish in a rich sauce for Spanish surf 'n turf.

Years ago when I started collecting recipes around Spain, I came across one in Cataluña (northeastern Spain) that struck me as really exotic, “Chicken with Lobster.” Chicken cooked with shellfish seemed pretty strange, until I recalled the American steakhouse specialty, surf and turf—lobster with steak.

When I first tasted the dish, also known as mar y montaña, sea and mountain, I assumed adding chicken was a way to extend the pricey lobster. A single lobster plus chicken could feed six or more. I have since read in Coleman Andrews’ CATALAN CUISINE that its origin was exactly the opposite, the lobster was to extend the chicken: “Chicken was expensive, taking time to raise and money to feed, while every cast of the net brought up shrimp and spiny lobster,” wrote Andrews. (Langosta, by the way, is spiny lobster, which has no claws. The kind with claws is called bogavante in Spanish.

I have come across many variations of mar y montaña (or mar i muntanya in Catalan). The three in Coleman Andrews’s book are chicken and shrimp; rabbit with snails, monkfish, cuttlefish and shrimp, and rabbit with pork, sole and mussels. The most elaborate version I found, Ampurdan style, calls for jumbo shrimp (langostinos), sea crayfish (cigalas), cuttlefish, mussels, sausage, pigs’ trotters, rabbit, chicken, snails and mushrooms!

What all of these land and sea combos have in common is the addition of a picada. Picada is a paste made of ground nuts, garlic and bread that both thickens and seasons the sauce. The picada for mar y montaña usually also contains chocolate. Now, that really is exotic! Unless, of course, you’ve already savored Mexican mole, also a sauce with ground nuts and chocolate.

Cuttlefish, cleaned and ready to cut up.

Cuttlefish, like squid and octopus, is a cephalopod. It has eight short tentacles, an interior cuttlebone and ink sac. The medium-sized cuttlefish (jibia or sepia) shown in the photo is cleaned and ready to cut up. The thick flesh needs slow cooking (about an hour) to become tender. Tiny ones can be grilled or flash-fried.

Over the years, I have adapted mar y montaña to suit myself, as lobster is not readily available or affordable. (Although, the last time I shopped at HiperCor, El Corte Ingles’s supermarket, I saw lobsters, the kind with claws, imported from Canada at a reasonable price.) I usually make the dish with free-range chicken and cuttlefish (jibia or sepia). Meaty cuttlefish has such a deep-sea flavor. If cuttlefish is not available, squid or monkfish could be used instead, although they do not require such long cooking. 

Typically, a braised dish such as this is served on its own, with only crusty bread or triangles of fried bread as an accompaniment. But, because the picada-enriched sauce is so delicious, I like to serve rice as a side to soak it up. Yesterday, instead of rice, I served mar y montaña with creamy polenta. Wonderful.

Chicken cooks with cuttlefish and shrimp in a sauce of almonds and chocolate.

Mar y Montaña
Surf and Turf (Chicken with Seafood)

Serves 4 to 6.

2 tablespoons olive oil or lard
1 slice bread, crusts removed
3 cloves garlic
30 almonds, blanched and skinned
Parsley sprig
4 jumbo shrimp
2 pounds chicken in serving pieces
Salt and pepper 
1 chicken liver (optional)
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes (3 medium)
1 pound cleaned cuttlefish, cut in bite-size pieces
2/3 cup dry Sherry or white wine
1 tablespoon dry anisette or brandy 
2/3 cup water or stock
Strip of orange zest
1 bay leaf
½  teaspoon saffron, crushed 
1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped
Pinch of cinnamon
Fried bread to serve (optional)           
Chopped parsley to garnish

Heat the oil or lard in a large cazuela or deep skillet. Fry the bread, 2 cloves of the garlic, almonds and a sprig of parsley until bread and almonds are golden. Skim out and reserve.

Sauté the jumbo shrimp in remaining oil until they are pink and just cooked through. Remove and set aside.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Brown them in the fat with the chicken liver, if using. Remove the chicken pieces and liver when browned. Add the chopped onion and remaining clove of garlic, chopped. Sauté 5 minutes until onion begins to brown. Add the tomatoes and cook a few minutes over medium-high heat. Add the cut-up cuttlefish, Sherry, anisette, water, orange zest and bay leaf. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Return the chicken pieces (but not the liver) to the cazuela. Continue cooking until both cuttlefish and chicken are tender, about 40 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, prepare the picada. In a mortar, food processor or blender, grind together the fried bread, almonds, 2 cloves of garlic and parsley, chicken liver, saffron, chocolate and cinnamon. Mix with about ½ cup of sauce from the cazuela and blend to make a smooth paste.

Stir the picada into the cazuela. Cook 15 minutes longer. Place the shrimp on top and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with strips of fried bread, if desired.

Chocolate is a secret ingredient in the sauce.