In the kitchen, the leftover, not necessity, is the mother of invention. Last night while casting about for dinner ingredients I came up with: four mushrooms a bit past their prime, one frozen flounder filet, and a half dozen frozen shrimp. For reasons I cannot begin to explain risotto came to mind. What turned out was a thick creamy porridge-like dish reminiscent of a rich chowder, hence the whimsical name. Note that bay scallops would be a great substitute for, or addition to, the shrimp. You could, of course, eschew the bacon if you prefer a meat-free meal.
Accompanied by a green salad this recipe serves two generously.
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Ingredients |
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60 grams |
2 ounces |
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Shrimp or bay scallops |
170 grams |
6 ounces |
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White fish filet in small pieces |
85 grams |
3 ounces |
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Olive oil |
As needed |
As needed |
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Bacon, one rasher, chopped |
30 grams |
1 ounce |
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Onion, one medium, diced |
140 grams |
5 ounces |
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Arborio rice |
240 grams |
8 ounces (1 cup) |
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Dry white wine or vermouth |
60 milliliters |
¼ cup |
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Shellfish or fish stock |
750 milliliters |
3 cups |
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Heavy cream (36%) |
30 milliliters |
2 Tablespoons |
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Salt and pepper |
To taste |
To taste |
Bring the stock to a simmer and keep warm.
Film the bottom of a saucepan with olive oil and sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until they become fragrant and release their liquid. Set aside. If needed, add a bit more oil to the pan and sauté the shrimp until just done, about 2 minutes. Set aside with mushrooms. Do the same with the fish.
In the same pan cook the bacon, stirring often, until it is almost crispy. Add the onion and sauté until translucent but not browned. Add the rice and fry, stirring constantly until chalky, about 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in the wine or vermouth and allow to mostly evaporate.
Begin adding the stock 60 milliliters (2 ounces) at a time stirring after each addition until it is nearly absorbed. Continue until the rice is creamy and just al dente. Stir in the cream then fold in the mushrooms and seafood. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Sometimes referred to as Thai hot and sour soup, this delicious soup is much more, achieving the Thai ideal of a balance of the five flavors: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and hot. Those essential five flavors come from fish sauce, palm sugar, lime and lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves, and chilies. Once rare and exotic in the United States, most of these ingredients are now fairly easy to find in a well-stocked supermarket or in a local Asian food store. Some substitutions are possible for the less common ones. Galangal, kha in Thai, is a rhizome similar to ginger (which may be substituted although with a loss of complexity). If fresh kaffir lime leaves are not available you can use shredded ones from a jar or substitute a bit of lime rind to the soup. Palm sugar has a hint of coconut but light brown sugar will do almost as well. There is no substitute for fish sauce, however, but fortunately it is easy to find. Note that many recipes for tom yum goong start with chicken stock. I agree with many Thai cooks online that this is redundant, so I start by making a soup base using the shrimp shells. Although I strain the soup, in Thailand it would be served unstrained and diners would simply leave the tough pieces of lemongrass and galangal behind.
Serves 2 to 4
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Ingredients |
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Water |
1 quart |
1 liter |
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Lemongrass, fresh |
1 stalk |
1 stalk |
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Kaffir lime leaves, shredded |
1 teaspoon |
5 milliliters |
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Galangal, sliced |
1-inch piece |
25-mm piece |
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Thai chilies |
2 or 3 to taste |
2 or 3 to taste |
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Palm sugar |
1 teaspoon |
5 milliliters |
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Fish sauce (nam pla) |
2 tablespoons |
30 milliliters |
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Straw mushrooms (optional) |
4 ounces (½ can) |
100 grams (½ can) |
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Shrimp, medium |
8 ounces |
250 grams |
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Lime juice, freshly squeezed |
2 tablespoons (1 lime) |
30 milliliters (1 lime) |
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Green onions, |
1 or 2 |
1 or 2 |
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Cilantro leaves, chopped |
a handful |
a handful |
Remove and set aside the shells and tails from the shrimp. Devine the shrimp as needed and set them aside in the refrigerator. Slice the lemongrass crosswise into 1-inch (25-mm) pieces. Bring the water stock to the boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the reserved shrimp shells, the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and chilies. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the broth and discard the solids.
Return the broth to medium-low heat and add the fish sauce, sugar, mushrooms, and shrimp. Simmer for 10 minutes until the shrimp turn pink. Off the heat stir in the lime juice, green onions, and cilantro. Serve hot.
The Brazilian coastal state of Bahia is known for its rich cultural mix including many descendants of its earlier largely Yoruba slave population. Their influence is evident in the local popularity of dende oil, palm kernel oil similar to that used extensively in West African cooking. (In fact, depending on when you live, you may only be able to find the West African version. If so, dilute with equal parts of a light, neutral oil to approximate the Brazilian product. If you can find neither substitute olive oil colored with a bit of paprika and turmeric.) This rich stew of seafood flavored with chilies, peanuts, coconut, and palm oil is typical of Afro-Brazilian cuisine. Serve it simply over rice or with Brazilian black-eyed pea fritters, acarajé.
Note: Vatapá is usually thickened with bread crumbs. To make the dish gluten-free I have substituted potatoes. Feel free to replace the potatoes with fresh, untoasted breadcrumbs.
Ingredients |
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6 ounces |
170 grams |
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Garlic |
2 or 3 cloves |
2 or 3 cloves |
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Serrano, jalapeño, or other hot chili |
1 to 4, or to taste |
1 to 4, or to taste |
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Bell pepper (1 small) |
2 ounces |
60 grams |
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Dried shrimp* |
½ cup |
125 ml |
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Dende oil or substitute |
2 tablespoons |
30 ml |
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Fish stock or water |
½ cup |
125 ml |
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Peanut butter, natural |
¼ cup (2 ounces) |
60 grams |
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Potatoes, mashed |
4 ounces |
112 grams |
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Coconut milk |
1 cup |
250 ml |
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Fish, firm white |
8 ounces |
250 grams |
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Shrimp, peeled and deveined |
8 ounces |
250 grams |
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Salt and pepper |
to taste |
to taste |
* If you cannot find Brazilian dried shrimp use a teaspoon (5 ml) of Thai shrimp paste or just omit.
Coarsely chop the onion, garlic, chilies, and bell pepper then puree in a food processor along with the dried shrimp, adding a bit of water if necessary.
Heat one half of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion mixture and sauté until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the stock and peanut butter, stirring until fully incorporated. Mix in the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 5 minutes to meld the flavors.
Stir in the coconut milk and remaining oil. Fold in the fish and shrimp. Simmer for another 5 or 6 minutes, or until shrimp and fish are done.
This recipe is an elaboration on Eggplant and Shrimp Bake from Emeril Lagasse’s Louisiana Real & Rustic (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1996) 90. While the original is a side dish my version is a meal in itself. It is intentionally lacking in starch so as to be low in carbohydrates. If you wish you could add rice and more stock but then you would have something more like jambalaya.
Serves 2 generously
Preheat oven to 375° (350° for convection).
Pour ⅛ inch of oil into a 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and brown well. Remove to a bowl leaving as much oil behind as possible. Put the shrimp into the pan and cook quickly until pink. Remove and set aside.
If needed, add a bit of oil to the pan then sauté the eggplant for about 3 minutes or until just beginning to soften. Season with a good grind of black pepper then add the onions, celery, bell pepper, and chili. Cook, stirring often, for another 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and dried herbs to the pan. Toss to combine and sauté until the tomatoes are just soft, about 2 minutes. Pour over the stock and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the bread crumbs and parmesan. Turn into a suitable casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.
Classic Louisiana jambalaya comes in two basic varieties, Creole and Cajun, the former being the original dish adapted from the paella of their native land by Spanish Creoles; the latter is probably a rustic variation on the more urban Creole jambalaya. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word jambalaya comes from a Provençal French word, jambalaia, meaning a mish-mash. Traditionally the Creole version contains tomatoes while the Cajun does not. And while Cajun jambalaya usually includes Andouille sausage, the Creole jambalaya recipe in The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book(New York: Random House, 1989) calls for chaurice which is similar to fresh chorizo or Portuguese chourico. Then there is the third, far less common version of Jambalaya, sometimes called white jambalaya, in which the meats and rice are cooked separately. Confused? Don’t worry, so is no less an authority than Emeril Lagasse who uses tomatoes in what he calls Cajun jambalaya.
In this recipe I have tried to recreate what I think the original jambalaya probably looked and tasted like by using ingredients that would have been available to colonial era Creoles to make what is basically paella. I used a heavy, deep cast iron skillet in place of a paella pan and Caribbean spices in place of saffron. The proportions of the various meats are not important; mine is a bit heavy on chicken only because I package chicken for the freezer in half-pound packages. I used chicken thighs because I think they stand up to other flavors better but you could certainly use breast meat if you prefer. The sausage I used is what Wegman’s sells as Andouille but which is more akin to chaurice than to the smoky Cajun sausage. While most jambalaya recipes build the dish by adding the ingredients on top of each other, I have opted to use the same technique I use for paella which is to cook the various components of the dish separately then combine them for the final cooking. And like paella I cook it uncovered.
Serves 2 generously with leftovers
Slice the sausage into ¼-inch rounds, dice the ham into ½-inch cubes, and cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Set each aside separately along with the peeled and deveined shrimp.
Put the chicken stock and shrimp shells into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil then let steep while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Heat whichever fat you are using in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When nearly smoking, add the sausage and brown well. Remove to a bowl leaving as much fat behind as possible. Do the same with the ham putting it into the same bowl. Add the chicken and sauté until nicely browned and nearly cooked through. Remove to a second bowl. Finally cook the shrimp until pink but not overdone. Remove and set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium and, if needed, add more fat to the pot, perhaps a half a tablespoon. Add the onions, celery, and bell pepper. Sauté until well softened, about five to eight minutes, then add the tomatoes. Continue to cook, stirring often until most of the tomato liquid has evaporated. Add the chili, garlic, and spices. Stir to combine well and cook for a further five minutes or so.
Add the rice to the pot and mix to coat with the spice and vegetable mixture. Cook for about three minutes then strain in the stock. Sprinkle on about ½ teaspoon of salt, stir, scraping up any bits sticking to the bottom of the pot, and bring to a boil. Arrange firs the chicken over the rice, then the ham and sausage, and finally the shrimp. Press down gently into the stock but do not stir. Lower the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, until the broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes to one half hour. Taste and adjust salt.
Remove the pan from the heat, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and let rest for five minutes.
If you are like me your refrigerator tends to accumulate odds and ends of ingredients. Today I found half a can of diced tomatoes, about a cup of water I had steamed some shrimp over, a cup of thin coconut milk with a bit of green curry paste mixed in, a couple Thai eggplants, and four ounces of chicken breast. Foraging in the freezer turned up shrimp, bay scallops, and a hot pepper. And, of course, there were the usual pantry staples like onions, celery, garlic, rice, and pancetta or bacon. It all said to me: jambalaya!
Now jambalaya, whatever etymology of the word you chose to believe, is basically Creole paella. And like paella it is best built with a variety of meats, seafood, and vegetables. I say “built” advisedly because any recipe you see that has you removing things from a pan when you are making paella or jambalaya is simply wrong. Our foremothers’ kitchens were equipped with a large wooden table for food preparation and eating while cooking was done at the hearth. Do you think they really schlepped hot food back and forth to the table? Not likely. The trick is to add ingredients according to how long they need to cook. It takes a bit of practice but the result is worth the effort. By the way, do not be concerned if the rice sticks to the bottom of the pot a bit. That is the sign of a good jambalaya or paella.
Put a large enameled Dutch oven over medium high heat and render the pancetta or bacon until it begins to color and there is enough fat to sauté the onions. Turn the heat down to medium and add the onion, celery, and pepper. Sauté until the onions are medium brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute or two.
Raise the heat a bit and add the chicken. Cook for a few minutes until it is no longer pink. Add the shrimp and toss until slightly pink then add the scallops and cook for another minute. Stir in the rice and cook, stirring constantly for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and liquid. Mix well scraping any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the Thai eggplants and a good grind of black pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, and set over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
Uncover the pot and fluff the jambalaya, scraping the bits stuck to the pot. Recover and let sit off heat for five minutes.
Mung bean noodles, sometimes called cellophane noodles or bean threads, spread throughout Southeast Asia from China where most are still produced. They are readily available if not in your local supermarket then certainly at an Asian market or online. They are packaged as bundles of very long noodles that may be cut or broken if you wish. I am told that yum woon sen, meaning salad of mung bean noodles, is so popular that you can get it at any Thai restaurant whether or not it is on the menu. As with most traditional dishes it comes in endless variations with each cook claiming that his or hers is the best and most authentic. After reading dozens of recipes in cookbooks and online I believe that the essentials, besides the noodles, are protein, vegetables, and a dressing containing fish sauce, an acid, chilies, and sugar. Pork and shrimp are the most common proteins, often in combination, but chicken is sometimes used; I like shrimp. One could, of course, simply omit the protein altogether and still have a tasty dish. Carrots, celery, and onions are the usual vegetables but how they are cut varies from julienne to sliced. The acid in the sauce is lemon or lime juice, or vinegar; I prefer the latter. Thai fish sauce is as essential as the noodles, though. Traditionally, yum woon sen is served on lettuce leaves but since I had none I served it on top of white jasmine rice.
Soak the noodles in cold water for 15 minutes then drop into boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and cut each bundle in half. Rinse in cold water and put into a large bowl along with shrimp, vegetables, cilantro, and peanuts.
Combine the fish sauce, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and chilies in a small bowl. Pour over the salad and toss with your fingers or tongs until well mixed. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.
When I was growing up Friday was a meatless day. Today not even devout Catholics, of whom I am not one, are still bound by that rule. My father—very much a devout Catholic—was quite disappointed when meatless Fridays were eliminated because, unlike my mother, he loved seafood and those were the only days he could be sure to see it on the dinner table. I like to observe the custom for much the same reason. Sadly, as a result of overfishing and pollution, good fish is becoming hard to find and expensive, making it rather a luxury. But farm-raised shellfish, while not as good a wild-caught, are now a sustainable alternative. I usually keep a couple sizes of frozen shrimp on hand—large, 16 to 20 per pound, and medium, 21 to 26 per pound. The ones I prefer are uncooked but shelled and deveined making them very convenient to prepare. What I particularly like about shrimp is that they work very well with bold flavors. This recipe that I adapted from Rick Bayless, Mexican Everyday (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2005) 251-253 is similar to camarones enchipotlados, chipotle shrimp, but because it has achiote paste in place of chipotles it is much less spicy.
If you have a well-stocked Mexican market you can probably find commercially prepared achiote paste there. If not, I have incorporated a recipe for it that I adapted from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen (New York: Scribner, 1996) 66-67. Since I had no fish stock on hand I made a quick shrimp stock with the shrimp tails and a bit of Thai fish sauce. That recipe is also below. If you already have fish stock just use it instead.
Traditionally this paste would be made using a mortar and pestle which is still a good approach if rather time consuming. I have opted for a simpler method using the mini-chopper that came with my stick blender. Or you can split the difference; grind the spices in a spice grinder then combine with the cider and garlic in a mortar.
Put the achiote seeds, allspice, pepper, and oregano in the mini-chopper and pulverize finely. Add the vinegar, garlic, and salt if using. Pulse a few times to break down the garlic then run continually, stopping now and then to scrape down the sides of the chopper, until you have a smooth paste, adding water a bit at a time as needed. Store in a small jar or plastic container in the refrigerator for up to several months.
Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, the simmer slowly, covered for 30 minutes or so. Strain and discard the shells.
Puree the tomatoes and achiote paste in a food processor. Add the lime juice and pulse to blend in.
Warm the oil in a 10-inch non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant and golden brown, about 1 minute. Pour in the tomato mixture and cook, stirring often, until somewhat thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the stock a quarter cup at a time to bring the sauce to a light consistency. Season to taste with salt.
Add the shrimp to the pan and cook, stirring and turning, until done, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately over Mexican-style white rice.
Were I a celebrity chef I might well call this “deconstructed paella;” but I’m not so I won’t. I have simply combined a classic Spanish tapa with a classic Spanish rice dish. But there is a twist. To add color and flavor I have added Tobago seasoning pepper to the rice. These peppers taste a lot like habaneros that are of the same species but without most of the heat—if you remember to remove the seeds and placenta (membrane). The red onion is also not traditionally Spanish either but I did not have any Spanish onions on hand. All of the vegetables were frozen; I generally avoid fresh vegetables in the winter because, having been trucked or flown in from warmer climes, they usually have little flavor (to say nothing of their carbon footprint!). The best, of course, are the ones I bought at the local farmers’ market and froze myself. One ingredient that may be unfamiliar is pimentón, or Spanish smoked paprika. You may not find it in your local supermarket but it is readily available online. It comes in picante (hot) and dolce (sweet) varieties. For the garlic shrimp I recommend the hot but if all you can find is the sweet just add a bit of cayenne. You could use ordinary paprika but the result will just not be the same. Note that cooking paella the traditional way—uncovered on the stovetop—is tricky. Unless you have mastered the technique I suggest that if you are having company you cover it with foil and bake in 350° oven instead.
Serves 2
Thaw the green beans is cold water then blanch in boiling water for about 1 minute. Refresh in cold water, drain, and set aside.
Put the saffron into a small bowl and cover with the 2 Tbsp. of hot water and set aside to bloom.
Peel and devein the shrimp leaving the tail on. Rinse, dry, and set aside.
Heat a small paella pan or fry pan over medium-low heat and pour in enough oil to barely cover the bottom. When the oil is hot add the onion and fry, stirring frequently, until softened, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking until it begins to turn golden, another 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes. Put in the peppers and stir for another minute. Pour on half of the water, then the saffron, and finally use the other half of the water to rinse the saffron bowl into the rice. Season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to bring to a boil then set over medium-low heat, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Fold in the green beans and continue to cook with preparing the shrimp.
Heat a non-reactive, preferable stainless steel, frying pan over medium high heat. Add enough olive oil to just cover the bottom then put in the crushed red pepper and sliced garlic. Cook for 2 minutes or until very fragrant. Add the shrimp and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes per side. Pour in the lemon juice and sherry then turn up the heat to boil off most of the moisture. Sprinkle on the pimento then season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn onto the paella and server immediately.
When I made chicken in yellow mole the other day I made a double batch of sauce against a future dinner. Shrimp seemed like a good match for it but I only had one serving so I thawed some bay scallops as well. I make no claim to this being authentic but the flavors blended beautifully. Some simple white Mexican rice with lima beans rounded out a nice one-dish dinner.
Preheat the oven to 350° (325° for convection).
Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil in a heavy oven-proof pot with a tightly fitting lid over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, garlic, and rice in the hot oil for about 5 minutes or until the rice is chalky. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Add the lima beans, 1 tsp. of salt, and a good grind of black pepper. Cover and place in the oven for about 20 minutes.
When the rice is nearly done, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil in a large skillet and sprinkle in the crushed red pepper if using. Stir for a few seconds until fragrant then add the shellfish. Sauté until the shrimp are pink, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the mole and cook until slightly thickened. Serve over the rice.
