Lobsterfest 2013

Every year around this time, tons and tons of Maine Lobsters are flown into Southern California for an event known as Lobsterfest. It's been at the same location: Port O' Call Village, Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro for years. And for the past 6 years, I've been attending this event where lobster lovers (and non-lobster lovers) unite together to eat and celebrate the beloved lobster.

Though it isn't as cheap as enjoying it in Maine, it is still worth it for us Southern Californians who can't get enough of lobster. And I'm definitely one of them!

I save and wait all year for this event because you know I won't be just buying one lobster! Gotta take advantage of the deals. One day I'll make it to the east coast to sample and love.

Here are some pictures from last night - taken on my friends phone! Sorry for the quality. I need to bust out my camera and utilize it!

Until next time, Lobsterfest!

Mollusks

On the menu today: Baked New Zealand Green Mussels in Dynamite Sauce and Machas a la Parmesana

Baked Green Mussels in Dynamite Sauce
Why do they call it dynamite, you wonder?

When they are under the broiler, listen to the smelt eggs explode as they are heating up!

You can spend tons of money at a Japanese restaurant and get a few mussels or you could just make it at home and enjoy more than a few. And really, it is so easy that it's ridiculous to go to a restaurant and order them. To make this my own, I added one of my favorite seasonings to the sauce: Garlic. Garlic makes everything better! One time I used fish sauce and they were great as well. -Shrimp also goes well in this appetizer. Shrimp--Probably one of my biggest weaknesses!- And as for the mayo, you have to go with Kewpie, not regular mayo in the fridge. They aren't the same. And don't skip out on it because it has MSG.

Just estimate how much Kewpie mayo you'll need and squeeze it into a bowl. I'd say a cup shall do. Add as much garlic as you'd like. Start with a teaspoon of Sriracha and continue until it's to your spicy liking. And scoop a couple spoons of Smelt Egg/Masago.

Top each fresh mussel half with the sauce, more masago (or after broiling; whichever) and broil them in the oven for about 5-7 minutes. When ready, top them with green onion and masago and serve warm.

Machas a la Parmesana
Now this is one of the typical dishes you'll find in Chile. It's the only memorable dish that I recall eating in Santiago. The first thing I ate there. I strangely had a harder time in Chile with the food more than any other country I've been to. Can't really explain why that is though. Food is easy to find on every street and with plenty of options to choose from. Seafood is of abundance of course, but they say it's only good in the coastal towns from what I heard. I did get sick after eating a few seafood dishes after the clams. That I remember! Maybe if I read more into Chile's history, it'll help to understand their culture and food. It was a last minute trip from Ecuador so I didn't really read up on it until I arrived there. Beautiful country for sure that I definitely plan on exploring more and hoping to take that time to really taste their creations. Just gotta dig a little deeper.

Now this is an easy meal/app to make. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shuck your clams and clean both the meat and shells. I'll be honest. I quickly steamed them instead of opening them myself because I was exhausted and just didn't feel like doing it! I'd say it's better to get a man with his strong hands and muscles to do it for you.;) I ended up using Manila clams. Money saver than the other ones available and the ones they recommend you use for this dish.

When the clams were ready, I squeezed lemon juice on them, freshly grated black pepper, added a small scoop of butter, and then freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

*Find a Parmesan that hasn't been aged for too long. It's preferred to use a milder cheese for this dish so I ended up using a Parmesan that was aged for 10 months.

Baked them for 5 minutes and they were ready to devour.

Best part of the day? None of the mussels and clams were dead! I did a good job picking them out. :) I've got good eyes and awesome guessing skills.

Pizza of the Sea

There have been many instances that I have had a chance to try any type of seafood on a pizza and I always passed it up. Seafood on pizza? Naw, I'm more of a cook it quick kinda girl so I can eat it right away! SHRIMP. LOBSTER. CLAMS. SCALLOPS. SQUID. SUSHI. ETC. My weakness. :) I also don't like sharing! I'm working on that...

Again saw it in the Galapagos but passed because of my fear of cheese at the time. DON'T get me wrong. I absolutely love all cheeses! Well except for the processed. GROSS. Velveeta and Kraft Singles are not cheese. Sorry. It's because, at that time, it was my 2nd trip after Argentina and Brazil and I came home from that trip pretty much lactose intolerant. And didn't want to do anything that could cause pain to the stomach. Finally, gave into it in Montezuma, Costa Rica. Lactose pills have been a good friend to me! Anyway, the Shrimp and Mushroom Pizza with Mozzarella and Goat Cheese was waaay too good to be true. Possibly the best pizza I've ever had in my life? No doubt! Of course, Lou Malnati's in Chicago is on top as well. Do it.

After this experience, I decided to make my own Seafood Pizza. I chose my seafood mix. I chose my toppings and cheese. I took a basic pizza sauce and amplified it. And found a good pizza dough from scratch and just kept it smart and simple. Added LOTS of garlic powder! Oh yeaaah. Here it goes:

Seafood Pizza



Seafood:

Shrimp
Scallops
Squid

Cheese:

Mozzarella
Provolone
Asiago
Parmesan
Goat

Other Toppings That Were Included:

Mushrooms
Scallions
Fresh Basil

Pizza Sauce:

1 6oz tomato paste
6oz warm water
3 T minced garlic, more or less of course
1 t sugar (or honey, your preference)
2 t Anchovy paste
1 T fresh rosemary
1 T fresh basil
1 T fresh oregano
3 T olive oil
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t dried red pepper flakes
3/4 t onion powder
Salt, to taste

Combine and let set ~ 30 minutes

Pizza Dough:

I actually got the recipe here: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html. I changed it up by adding my personal touch: lots of garlic powder! No need to measure it out. Do to your liking.

Directions:

Day Before-
Follow the pizza recipe. I made the dough a day earlier.

Day of-
1. Preheat oven to its highest temp. Oven needs to be really hot. At the time, I didn't have a pizza stone so I moved the rack to the bottom of the oven. I received a pizza stone on my birthday and can't wait to use it!
2.Combine the pizza sauce ingredients and set aside.
3. Sauté two garlic cloves in 2 T of olive oil over medium low heat until soft. Lower heat and first add the mushrooms and scallions. Remove to a plate to cool when soft.
4. Repeat the same steps and add in the seafood. I estimate the seafood to be about a cup or so of each: shrimp, scallops, and squid. Count wise, I don't know. I usually always eyeball everything. Except, cook the seafood for a couple minutes. They will thoroughly cook in the oven. If cooked well done on the stove, they will come out rubbery and dry. Remove to a plate to cool as well.
5. Since I didn't use a pizza stone, I lined a pizza pan with foil and covered it with cornmeal. The pizza did not stick to the foil so you should be fine. Use your hands and play with the dough until it is stretched out to your size liking. Place on the pizza pan. Follow the recipe.
6. Pour on the sauce, but not too much. A little goes a long way and the dough won't be soggy. The pizza sauce recipe can be used up to two-to-three separate pizzas.
7. Sprinkled on all the cheese. Any amount to your liking again. I believe it adds up to a total of 2 cups or so.
8. Add the mushrooms, scallions, and freshly chopped basil.
9. Place on the shrimp, scallops, and squid.
10. (Optional) Brush the crust with a garlic olive oil blend.
11. Place in the oven and bake for about 7-9 minutes. Once out, allow to cool for a minute until slicing with a pizza cutter. And enjoy! The crust ended up being both doughy and crispy at the same time. Just fine the way it was.



Now that you have excess pizza sauce and dough, what other pizza creations will you come up with? Make it interesting..

Langostinos With A Tarragon Lemon Butter Dip, Spicy Mayo, and Sautéed Carrots

Here's a fun seafood dish that I had fun playing with. And eating too.

Langostinos with a Tarragon Lemon Butter Dip, Spicy Mayo, and Sautéed Carrots




Ingredients
Bag of Langostino meat from Trader Joes
1/2 T. Onion Powder
2 Garlic cloves
Pinch of Salt
Vegetable Oil
3 T. Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce (or Sriracha)
1/4 c Mayonnaise
1/2 stick of butter
1 lemon, juiced
Few sprigs of Tarragon
3 carrots, sliced into sticks
Few sprigs of Rosemary
1-2 T. Red Pepper Flakes
Olive Oil

Langostino
1. Heat Vegetable Oil in a sauté pan. Crush garlic and add to pan.
2. Add Langostino, Onion Powder, and Salt.
3. Sauté thoroughly; Remove garlic from pan.
4. Remove langostinos from pan and set aside.

Spicy Mayo
1. Combine Mayonnaise and Chili Garlic Sauce (or Sriracha). Add more sauce to your hot liking.

Tarragon Lemon Butter Dip
1. Melt the butter in the microwave; about 30 seconds or so.
2. Pour the juice of one lemon into the butter.
3. Pinch the top of each Tarragon sprig, slide down the sprig with two fingers, and remove the leaves. Add to the butter dip and combine. Set aside.

Sautéed Carrots
1. Heat olive oil. Add a pinch of rosemary leaves and 1 tbsp of Red Pepper Flakes.
2. Add carrots and sauté just until cooked through and french fry style status. (I like them crispy and a little charred).
3. Towards the end, add the remainder Rosemary leaves and 1 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes. Remove from stove.

*To save time, I recommend starting with the carrots. They take about 10 mins. While they are cooking, you can work on the langostinos and the dips.
*Be careful not to overcook the langostinos. Thaw thoroughly before cooking.
*I only had the Vietnamese Chili Garlic Sauce in my refrigerator but I'm assuming that whatever hot sauce you prefer to use would be just as fine.
*I used the Tarragon and Rosemary from my backyard!
*Fresh herbs ARE DEFINITELY the way to go.
*I'm craving this now. Enjoy :)

Shrimp and Nectarine Stir-Fry

I love taking random things that I have in the kitchen and combining them together to make a yummy stomach pleasing dish. You gotta utilize what you have sometimes and never be afraid to experiment! I didn't have peaches but did have nectarines, so I figured, why not. I eyeballed everything so make sure when you do that, try not to add too much of the hot 'n spicy seasonings cause your heart will be burning for hours! So here we have..

Shrimp and Nectarine Stir-Fry

Ingredients



40-60 count of medium-sized Shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt, to taste
1 t. Onion powder
1 Nectarine, peeled and sliced into slightly thick chunks
1 small lime
3 cloves of Garlic (or less) :), mince or use grater
1 t. dried Red Pepper Flakes
1/8-1/4 t. Ginger, freshly grated
Pepper, to taste

1. Sauté shrimp in vegetable oil over medium-high heat and season with salt and onion powder.
2. Then add the grated peel of the lime, the juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger, and pepper. Combine and heat through.
3. Add in the nectarine at the last minute or two just to quickly heat through and remove from the stove.
4. Serve and enjoy.