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SEPTEMBER 2020 MONTHLY CHALLENGE - SHELLFISH

11K views 72 replies 16 participants last post by  mike9 
#1 ·
The ChefTalk.com Cooking challenges started in 2013 (did you know that?)!
Monthly Challenge List
This month's challenge is SHELLFISH. Enjoy! And thanks again for last month's challenge it was great fun.

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#38 ·
I guess technically squid and octopus can be included but that was not what I was thinking. I was going more for

  • clams
  • oysters
  • mussels
  • razor clams
  • Shrimp
  • lobster
  • snails
  • crab

Basically something you have to crack open at something at some point. :D
 
#41 · (Edited)
Damn it's the 21st already where did the month go?? o_O

Anyway I had two ears of local sweet corn I bought Saturday. Today was one of those FUBAR Mondays and I didn't feel like steamed corn as a side. I had seen this recipe a while ago and filed it in the bin as we say. It calls for scallops, but at $13/lb for 10-20s I opted for wild caught Shrimp out of the freezer.

SEARED SHRIMP IN CORN CREAM. I cut the kernels off the cobs then milked the cobs. There was half of a macintosh apple handy so I peeled and diced it and added it to the corn along with some (real) bacon bits and some butter to a pan and cooked that down before adding chicken stock and cooked till the corn was done. Meanwhile I peeled, dried then oiled the shrimp and seasoned with salt, pepper and smoked paprika. I also tasted one of my Fresno peppers from the garden and it was sweet and fruity so I seeded and deveined then sliced thin.

Turns out the blender was in the icebox with fruit shake in it so I put the corn mixture in a deep pan then blitzed it with the stick till it was smooth then passed it through a fine sieve. Here you can see the fiber and the "cream".


I put the cream in a pan to heat through then adjusted for seasoning. Mean while a dry cast iron skillet was starting to smoke so I seared the shrimp and peppers on both sides till just cooked (great color BTW just sayin'). I spooned the "corn cream" into bowls and added shrimp, a clipping of garden basil and the sauteed Fresno slivers. I have to say this really tasted like Summer.
 
#42 ·
I'm new around here and just a simple home cook, but this is my very humble submission:

"Macaroni and Cheese" from Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook:
Mac N Cheese.jpg

Butter-Poached Nova Scotia Lobster with Creamy Lobster Broth, Mascarpone-Enriched Orzo, and a Parmesan Crisp

I did everything from scratch precisely as set out in the book, no shortcuts. I killed live lobsters with acidulated hot water and broke them down while still hot and the meat raw. I cleaned the bodies and cut them up to make the lobster broth, then filtered same through a coarse and then fine, chinois. After which, I enriched the broth with heavy cream.

I made beurre manie and poached the tail and l claw meat therein, using a deep fry thermometer to keep the emulsion at 180 degrees.

I parboiled the orzo and then combined it with the lobster broth, marscarpone cheese, and fresh chopped chives from our garden.

I made a parmesan tuile using a non-stick pan and garnished the plates.
 
#47 · (Edited)
OK ... Here we go ... My submission ...
"Shrimp w/ Romesco Sauce"

I made this today. It's served up two(2) different ways (same sauce w/ 2 different sized shrimp).




"We work in kitchens ... It ain'te rocket surgery.".
 
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#48 ·
Ah, the joy of cooking. Plan was a scampi piccata. Remember that several pound box of frozen 6/8 prawns I picked up at a local Asian grocery?

The Players

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Defrosted half a dozen.

20200918_114915.jpg


Supporting cast included shallot, garlic, red pepper flakes, pasta and not shown capers, lemon and anchovies.

The Process

First off, prawns sauteed in some olive oil for a minute or two per side.

20200918_104538.jpg


Set aside on a plate to cool, and then I turned off the heat and added sliced garlic, red pepper flakes and a splash more olive oil to the skillet, let it steep while waiting.

After some time at the computer the prawns were cool enough to handle. Time to extract the tails from the shells.

20200918_114123.jpg


See that little pile of mush at the bottom of the plate? Does that look like a shrimp tail to you? The texture was very unpleasant, the taste didn't gag me. Checked another, same issue. All into a baggie in the freezer awaiting garbage day.

The Product

20200918_122237.jpg


So no scampi piccata. I cooked the fettuccine anyway, put the heat back on that skillet full of oil and garlic, didn't bother with capers, lemon, wine, anchovies. Drained the pasta, tossed it in the shrimp infused oil, topped with a little grated parm and ate what was actually a tasty plate of food. So not a total loss.

My first thought was that I overcooked the prawns, should have dunked them in an ice bath as I pulled them out of the hot skillet. Then I got to thinking that the texture of overcooked shrimp is not what I was pulling out of those shells. I defrosted another one, pulled the tail off and the meat felt really strange and mushy. It was not my cooking technique at fault here. It seems obvious that the box of prawns has been through a few freeze/thaw cycles long before it got to my kitchen.

Drat. The flavor wasn't off, so I'm planning to just make a stock out of the rest of them, forget about harvesting any useful meat. Oh well.

Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant.

mjb.
 
#49 ·
Up next, a more successful tale [tail].

The Players

Lobster souffle.

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Obviously you need lobster, about a 6 -7 ounce tail.

20200923_073536.jpg


For the souffle and the side, gruyere, parm reggie, eggs, shallot, fresh tarragon, and asparagus. Also some cream, late to the photo shoot.

The Process

First off butter some ramekins, dust with grated parm, they go into the fridge. Next lobster tail into some boiling salted water for a few minutes, just looking for that change in shell color, don't want to overcook as it will get baked a bit

20200923_090854.jpg


It goes into an ice bath while I prep the rest. Grate the cheeses, separate the eggs. Pull the lobster meat out of the shell, cut into little chunks. A couple tablespoons of butter go over medium heat, when starting to brown add some flour, keep stirring to make a roux. Off the heat, whisk the egg yolks, pour them in. Add the lobster meat, grated gruyere fold it all together.

20200923_094236.jpg


Egg whites.

20200923_094654.jpg


Fold in the egg whites, beaten to soft peaks. I believe that egg beater was given to my wife's grandmother by her grandmother. It seems that old, and works flawlessly. Great tool.

The souffle batter spooned into the ramekins, into the oven. Saute the asparagus in some butter and a bit of finely chopped tarragon.

20200923_102311.jpg


More butter melted into that skillet after asparagus removed, minced shallots softened up. Tarragon chopped, splash of white wine added.

20200923_102933.jpg


Cream added, back to a boil to reduce. Finished with a splash of lemon juice.

Souffles out of oven.

20200923_102455.jpg


The Product

THIS was a most excellent dinner.

20200923_103605.jpg


Picking nits here, the sauce could have used a touch more lemon, and perhaps some extra tarragon to garnish. And of course the souffle deflated between the time it was pulled out of the oven and the time it went into my mouth, but it did not harm the flavor at all. Unlike the scampi piccata disaster, this made my taste buds sing.

mjb.
 
#51 ·
Basically it is a cheese souffle with lobster meat stirred in. And a few bits of tarragon. I looked at some recipes on line, decided not to follow any of them. One had you make a souffle, no lobster in it. The lobster and a sauce americaine were added to the plate after the souffle was put in the middle. But I wanted the lobster inside the souffle, so that's the way I did it.

Hoping to get one more dish done before the end of the month, crab or mussels, most likely.

mjb.
 
#52 ·
After all these beautiful dishes, a bit of a boring one from me. Tasty though.
Very limited in pics as I think I foundca way to post them, but it's a lot of extra steps.
I decided on a Thai/Chinese noodle soup and soaked a couple of differentbtypes of mushrooms.
Then I opened one of my homemade ciders, had another one and after that the cooking process deteriorated somewhat ;)
Put water on the boil, added sliced onion and namprik pao (shellfish addition 1, as it contains dried shrimp). Added the soaked and sliced mushrooms and the soaking liquid. Finally added tomatoes, noodles and oystersauce (shellfish adfition 2, since it says oyster extract on the label).
And now for the moment supreme: can I post my picture?
Apparently not right now, so going to try in a seperate thread
 
#54 · (Edited)
It was a pretty busy day so I wanted to relax and make something simple. I pealed a lb. of 16-20 shrimp and made a fumet with the shells, some saved shells from the freezer, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, Szechuan peppercorns and a slice of lemon. It simmered about 1/2 hr. or so. I strained that into a pan, added fresh parsley and poached the shrimp. Meanwhile I had end of the season corn steaming and some really good 'tater tots baking in the oven. Sadly no pic of the dish, but here is one of the fumet. This is so tasty after poaching the shrimp I'm freezing the rest for a future gumbo.

 
#55 ·
So back at the start of this challenge I mentioned how a local watering hole, known for Cajun style food, often offered mussels in a spicy broth. Finally getting around to trying my hand at it.

I got a pound of black P E I mussels at the Whole Foods market up the street. Also got a half dozen oysters, they were delicious.

Food Tableware Ingredient Recipe Seafood


A nice snack before getting into it.

The Players

First off, of course, the mussels, about a pound.

Food Plant Ingredient Seafood Dish


And if its a Cajun dish, you need to start with the trinity.

Food Ingredient Natural foods Staple food Produce


Okay, no celery, thought there was some n the veggie drawer in the fridge. Oh well, I'll carry on. And of course Cajun implies spicy.

Plant Seasoning Ingredient Spice Saccharin


From top center going clockwise: garlic powder, hot Hungarian paprika, smoked Spanish paprika, some WAY hot homegrown cayenne powder, black pepper, dried onion flakes and a bit of dried thyme.

The Procedure

Mussels were soaked in a bowl of cold tap water for a while as I prepped the other stuff. Diced the onion, cut into the red bell pepper.

Food Flower Ingredient Staple food Natural foods


No, I am not putting that into my food. From 2 out of 3 trinity ingredients to 1. Sigh.

Continuing on, some olive oil in a large, high sided skillet, medium low heat. Add in the diced onion, give it a few minutes to soften. Add the garlic, a few good stirs, maybe 30 - 40 seconds, then the spice mix.

Food Ingredient Recipe Plant Cuisine


Wish you could smell that! Dump in about a cup of white wine, my current favorite is sauvignon blanc from Monkey Bay in New Zealand. Bring it to a boil, let it reduce a few minutes, the mussels go in.

Food Ingredient Recipe Cuisine Staple food


A little steam on the lens, perhaps?

Pan covered, some bread slices smeared with garlic butter go into the toaster oven.

The Product

Oh baby, that what I had in mind.

Food Tableware Ingredient Recipe Fruit


Too many mussels, can't see the broth! But it is there. I needed to toast a few more bread slices before I finished this. Mussels juicy and tender, the broth had a very nice heat level, rich and flavorful. Unlike the scampi piccata, but like the lobster souffle, this was a success. Better, spicier than the version I used to get in the Before Days at the Bayou. My tummy is happy.

mjb.
 
#56 ·
So the lobster souffle with the tarragon cream sauce brought to mind bearnaise sauce, which brought ti mind one of my favorite dinners.

The Players

Food Tableware Ingredient Animal product Recipe


A prime beef filet about 12 ounces, and some snow crab legs.

Food Tableware Ingredient Cuisine Natural foods


Missing from the picture is the white wine and wine vinegar, as well as asparagus. I used fresh green asparagus, though some recipes for Oscar call for white. Green is what I had on hand.

The Process

That hunk of meat was 2 inches thick, which could be hard to cook properly just on the stove top, so I opted for sous vide, 90 minutes at 124F. Plenty of time to make the sauce and prep the crab.

Food Tableware Ingredient Recipe Kitchen utensil


The crab did its best to make sure I didn't get the nice, clean, photogenic leg segments I was hoping for. Oh well.

Food Ingredient Recipe Cuisine Leaf vegetable


Meanwhile the sliced shallot, tarragon and black peppercorns were boiled in the wine and vinegar for a while, until about two tablespoons were left. A stick and a half of unsalted butter went over low heat to melt.

I don't have any pictures of the Bearnaise sauce in progress. What I did was put the strained liquid in a cup, added two egg yolks and gave it a good stir with my stick blender. Keeping the blender going I drizzled in the melted butter. It didn't make a thick, creamy sauce as I expected, maybe should have stuck with the traditional hand whisked double boiler method. Oh well.

Oulled the beef out of sous vide, patted it dry.

Food Ingredient Recipe Cookware and bakeware Kitchen utensil


Getting a nice bit of color on it. Asparagus quickly sauteed in butter on the other burner, plate assembled.

The Product

Oh baby, that's what I'm talking about!

Tableware Food Recipe Salad Ingredient


Picture is badly focused, but that little slab of beef with the asparagus and crab drenched in that bearnaise way effin tasty!

mjb.
 
#57 · (Edited)
So the lobster souffle with the tarragon cream sauce brought to mind bearnaise sauce, which brought ti mind one of my favorite dinners.

The Players

View attachment 68808

A prime beef filet about 12 ounces, and some snow crab legs.

View attachment 68809

Missing from the picture is the white wine and wine vinegar, as well as asparagus. I used fresh green asparagus, though some recipes for Oscar call for white. Green is what I had on hand.

The Process

That hunk of meat was 2 inches thick, which could be hard to cook properly just on the stove top, so I opted for sous vide, 90 minutes at 124F. Plenty of time to make the sauce and prep the crab.

View attachment 68810

The crab did its best to make sure I didn't get the nice, clean, photogenic leg segments I was hoping for. Oh well.

View attachment 68811

Meanwhile the sliced shallot, tarragon and black peppercorns were boiled in the wine and vinegar for a while, until about two tablespoons were left. A stick and a half of unsalted butter went over low heat to melt.

I don't have any pictures of the Bearnaise sauce in progress. What I did was put the strained liquid in a cup, added two egg yolks and gave it a good stir with my stick blender. Keeping the blender going I drizzled in the melted butter. It didn't make a thick, creamy sauce as I expected, maybe should have stuck with the traditional hand whisked double boiler method. Oh well.

Oulled the beef out of sous vide, patted it dry.

View attachment 68812

Getting a nice bit of color on it. Asparagus quickly sauteed in butter on the other burner, plate assembled.

The Product

Oh baby, that's what I'm talking about!

View attachment 68813

Picture is badly focused, but that little slab of beef with the asparagus and crab drenched in that bearnaise way effin tasty!

mjb.
Surf and Turf with Bernaise sauce is a favourite of mine. It is what I usually make for my wife and I on New Year's Eve. Here are a couple pictures from years past:
Food Tableware Table Plate Dishware
Food Tableware Table Plate Dishware

Just simple, no frills, good food!

*EDIT: This is not an entry, just a little discussion of Surf and Turf.
 
#63 ·
Without knowing the theme for October, I might starve to death, I won't know what to cook! Actually last dinner was stir fried beef over rice vermicelli. Had some leftover, I'll freshen it up with some veggies and finish it off when I get home from work in the morning. Tasty stuff.

mjb.
 
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