Shellfish Index: 2019 Edition

The Index is a vital part of this project.  Since I started this project with the 2006 edition, some of the blogs linked are from that edition and I'm not guaranteeing that there have been no changes at all.  You can ask, though, and I probably know the answer.  Starred items are new in the 2019 edition (or at least they weren't in the 2006 version) and ^ are recipes that have a visible change--some have a more descriptive name, some are combined, fairly minor changes.

Look for the "Index 2019" keyword to get to the newer version, "Round 1" to get the original version of the index.

If you found this page on Google because you were searching for a specific recipe that isn't linked, make sure to search for it. I'm usually several months behind updating the indexes.

My thoughts on the update at the bottom.

Shellfish dishes:
Number of recipes: 62
Number of recipes in the 2019 edition previously made: 5 or 8%


*Raw shellfish on the half shell
Mixed shellfish in tomato sauce

^Shellfish with mushrooms and greens (used to include "stew")

*Deep-fried shellfish I: Floured or breaded

*Deep-fried shellfish II: Battered

*Pan-fried shellfish

Broiled oysters
Grilled oysters

Baked oysters on the half-shell

*Oyster mosca

Scalloped oysters
Creamed oysters
Steamed mussels I: Moules mariniere (mussels steamed in wine)

Steamed mussels II: Thai style
Steamed mussels III: Italian style
Steamed mussels IV: Mussels with cider and cream
Buttered baked mussels
Steamed clams
Baked soft-shell clams
*Baked stuffed clams (stuffies)
Clambake I
Clambake II
Stir-fried clams or mussels with oyster sauce
Thai clam pot
Scallop ceviche
Scallops meuniere
Sea scallop gratin (coquilles St. Jacques au gratin)
*Seared sea scallops
Sauteed abalone
Deep-fried soft-shell crabs
^Grilled or broiled soft-shell crabs (previously also included "roasted")
^Steamed or boiled blue crabs (added "or boiled")
^Poached (or boiled) crabs (removed "hard-shell")
Crab cakes
*Singaporean chilli crab
Steamed lobster
Boiled lobsters (removed "poached")
Grilled or broiled lobster
Lobster Americaine (or armoricaine)
Baked stuffed lobster
Lobster thermidor
Lobster newburg
*Quick skillet shrimp
*Blackened shrimp
*Salt and pepper shrimp or squid
*Poached or "boiled" shrimp
Becker barbecued shrimp
*Shrimp and grits
*Camarones  a la diabla (spicy simmered shrimp")
*Shrimp Creole
*Camarones all mojo de ajo (shrimp in a garlic citrus sauce)
*Coconut shrimp
Shrimp scampi
^Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops I: Basic (redefined as "basic")
*Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops II: Glazed
*Shrimp fajitas
Baked stuffed jumbo shrimp
*Thai shrimp curry
Shrimp or crayfish etoufee
Boiled crayfish
*Cajun-style crayfish boil
^Grilled or charred squid (added "or charred")
Stuffed squid
*Grilled marinated octopus
*Tako poke (Korean-style octopus poke)
Conch (or whelk) salad
Turtle soup
^Snails
*Baked buttered snails
Braised frog legs (why is this in the shellfish section?)
Deep-fried frog legs


Recipes from 2006 edition not in 2019 edition:

Oysters on the half-shell
Fried breaded oysters
Grilled mussels
Broiled clams on the half-shell
Fried shellfish with flour coating
Fried clams, shrimp, or oysters with cornmeal coating
Fried clams, oysters, shrimp, or scallops with bread crumb or cracker coating
Shrimp, scallops, squid, clams, or oysters tempura
Poached scallops
Shrimp seviche
Shellfish cocktail
Crab coconut cocktail
Lobster avocado cocktail
South Carolina skillet shrimp
No-fail boiled shrimp
Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops with chili paste
Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops basque-style
Broiled shrimp or scallops with persillade
Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops with hoisin or barbecue sauce
Deep-fried shrimp
Shrimp fried in batter
Shrimp tempura
Vanilla coconut shrimp

Vanilla coconut shrimp (p. 388)

Okay, so Vanilla coconut shrimp (p. 388) just sounded horrible but I was optimistic that, with an open mind, it would be surprisingly good.  Also, I can't believe I'm over a year behind on blog posts--that will be rectified and will never happen again!

I sauteed some shallots in olive oil.  Quite a bit of olive oil, actually.  I added white wine and a vanilla bean with the guts scraped out (the guts of the vanilla bean are the little dots you see in vanilla bean ice cream).  I really hoped this was going to be an amazing recipe because vanilla beans are expensive.

The vanilla bean

Shallots, wine, and the bean

Once that concoction was reduced by half, I added chicken stock, coconut milk, fresh ginger, salt, and pepper:

This simmered until it was reduced by half again.  At this point I added the shrimp:

Hmmmm....not looking so delicious:

Why is the coconut milk separating?

 I added some chopped basil to the top and ate it over rice:

Just as horrifying as I expected it to be.  The coconut milk and shrimp are a delicious tried and true combination but the vanilla bean just added a horrible, desserty flavor that I detested.  A total waste of a delicious vanilla bean, although the recipe was ultra-easy.    

Random facts:

• Vanilla comes from a type of orchid (Wikipedia)
• It wasn't until a 12 year old slave figured out how to hand-pollinate the vanilla flower than the spice could be globally cultivated (Wikipedia)
• The word "vanilla" comes from the word vaina from the Latin "vagina".  Yes, that's right.  Now you have a great piece of trivia to dazzle your friends (Wikipedia)

Shrimp scampi (p. 386)

Loyal fans. I apologize. I apologize so much for the break. It was not intentional. But I REALLY needed to finish my PhD. It now (barring any bureaucratic problems) is finished! I'm Dr. Jessica Lynn! I have a new job and I'm living in Washington DC, so it's been a time of big changes! Time to enjoy some of this awesome East Coast seafood!

And I'm at least 50 recipes behind on TJOTJOC. Yes, FIFTY. So there will be a LOT of posts happening soon. But I'm going to break my normal routine and I'm not going to backdate most of them (other than Thanksgiving, which, of course, I didn't write about when it happened). So they should show up mostly as new.

Also, I've been told that some people can't comment on the blog. Has anyone else had any trouble trying to comment? That makes me so sad! Everyone knows that bloggers get all their self-esteem through comments and Facebook likes.

Shrimp scampi (p. 386) is a recipe I'm really familiar with as I'm Italian-American and my family made it relatively often. That being said almost all scampi recipes are different. And this one was totally different than my family's recipe.

It was certainly easy. I sauteed minced garlic in olive oil over very low heat until it was golden (don't rush this, you'll be sorry if you do, because the garlic will burn and you'll have to start over). I added about two lbs of shrimp. I cooked the shrimp until they started to turn pink and added minced parsley. When the shrimp were fully cooked I sprinkled with lemon juice and it was done:

It was a nice, simple scampi. Nothing amazingly special but easy and simple. I recommend this for a fast shrimp dish. You could easily put it on spaghetti if you wanted, too, and pump up the meal. Make sure to add the lemon juice because it really brightens the dish.

Becker barbecued shrimp (p. 386), Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops (p. 386), and Blender mayonnaise (p. 579)

I am being seriously punished for writing these posts so much later than when I actually cooked the dishes. This post (and about ten others) are going to be more like memory exercises!

Josh and I both love shrimp.

A lot.

Unfortunately, shrimp in landlocked Colorado can be quite expensive. So when I stumbled on a great shrimp sale, I was extremely excited to dust off the ole' TJOC shellfish chapter and see what I could find.

I started with Becker barbecued shrimp (p. 386). First, I ground rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes, sweet paprika, whole peppercorns, and salt in my spice grinder. I added the mixture (which even at that point smelled spicy and delicious) to melted butter, along with a whole bunch of minced garlic:




I added peeled shrimp to the spice mixture:



Once cooked, the now-heavily-spiced-shrimp were removed from the pan:



Beer and chicken broth were added to the cooking mixture, which was then boiled for a couple minutes:



The shrimp were added back into the cooking mixture and heated through:



This dish was extremely good. It was extremely heavily spiced and flavorful--delicious, although not "barbecued" in the traditional sense (or really in any sense, I'm not exactly sure where the "barbecue" in the title comes from). The recipe looks long and complex but was actually quite easy once it got started. And when I dipped bread in the extra sauce it was amazing.

I also decided to make Grilled or broiled shrimp or scallops (p. 386). Josh is a big fan of the pre-made shrimp at Whole Foods, I always complain that it's way too expensive, so I figured that I could make the shrimp myself.

I laid peeled shrimp on a baking sheet and drizzled olive oil over them (I know I deviated from the recipe here but I didn't want to get another bowl dirty).



I broiled the shrimp for a couple of minutes and then flipped them over and broiled the other side:



Done! Incredibly easy. Easy and delicious. I think this might be my go-to recipe for simple shrimp from now on. I liked the flavor and texture of broiled shrimp more than boiled shrimp. And the lack of added flavors made the shrimp a perfect base for a sauce (in my mind, most items are the perfect base for a sauce, I love sauce)! I decided to make remoulade sauce with Blender mayonnaise (p. 579).

I placed an egg, dry mustard, salt, a bit of ground red pepper, sugar, and vegetable oil in the blender:



I blended it and, with the blender running slowly, first added vegetable oil, and then lemon juice:



And more vegetable oil:



And I blended until thick. Incredibly simple and much easier on the wrists than making traditional mayonnaise. It was tasty, although I rarely feel the need to make mayonnaise from scratch. Making mayo from scratch is pretty impressive to people, so it's a nice item to add to your repertoire of skills.

Sea scallop gratin (Coquilles St. Jacques au gratin) (p. 378)

My favorite restaurant in Des Moines is the French restaurant Django. The last time I ate there I had an amazing Scallops St. Jacques. I was excited when I noticed Sea scallop gratin (Coquilles St. Jacques au gratin) (p. 378) in TJOC, hoping that it would be similar. For some reason I thought it would be a good addition to our (rather non-traditional) Easter meal.

I sauteed shallots and garlic in butter:



I added quartered mushrooms (I like quartered mushrooms, I need to remember that) and salt:



When the mushrooms were softened, I added white wine and cooked until the wine was almost evaporated. I then added heavy cream:



I brought the concoction to a boil and cooked it until thickened:



I mixed in my scallops:



Sure, the title says "sea scallops" but sea scallops are super expensive in Colorado, so I used bay scallops.

When the scallops were no longer translucent I removed them from the heat and mixed in a little lemon juice.

In another bowl I mixed melted butter, fresh bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper:



The gratin should be served in either the individual gratin dishes, which I don't have. I could only find two of my ramekins, too, which didn't help matters. So I decided two of the dishes would be served accurately and the rest would go in to a big dish. I layered the scallop mixture first and sprinkled the gratin on top:



And popped it in the oven:



So delicious. This is one of those dishes that tastes expensive, difficult, and decadent, but was incredibly simple. It's going into the imaginary folder labeled "Impressive Dishes for Company". And, if I served it on mashed potatoes, and made it with sea scallops instead of bay scallops, I think it would be in the vicinity of the delicious gratin at Django. Believe it or not, it even heated up well the next day (although it was more like soup at that point). This is an absolutely terrific recipe and is definitely joining the ranks of my TJOC favorites.

Random facts:

• The shell behind Venus in the famous statue "The birth of Venus" is a scallop shell (Wikipedia)
• People who pilgrimaged to the shrine of St. John (St. Jacques) in Spain ate scallops as a penance and fastened the shells to their hats (TJOC, p. 377)
• "Scalloped" originally meant seafood creamed, heated, and served in the shell (TJOC, p. 377) although now it refers to casseroles that don't include seafood (scalloped potatoes, for example)
• Scallops escape predators by swimming (On Food and Cooking, p. 224). I totally did not know they could swim.

I'm going to end this post with an adorable picture of my puppy in a Iowa State Cyclones jersey:



Cute!

RCD4: Shellfish cocktails (p. 370), Quick cheese straws or wafers (p. 91) , Remoulade sauce (p. 581), and No-fail boiled shrimp (p. 385)

Rachel Cooking Day Post 4

Rachel pointed out that certain recipes in TJOC are synergistic. In some cases if you make a specific three recipes, TJOC will count them as a fourth recipe. Shellfish cocktails (p. 370) perfectly exemplifies this.

You select a recipe from the shellfish column (No-fail boiled shrimp, raw oysters or clams, cooked crab legs, or cooked lobsters), something out of the sauce section (remoulade sauce, cocktail sauce, mignonette sauce, or tomatillo-horseradish sauce), and a side item to serve (oyster crackers, cheese straws, soda crackers, matzo, rye crackers, garlic bread, or endive leaves) and you have shellfish cocktail (1+1+1=4)!

Quick cheese straws or wafers (p. 91) stood out as looking particularly delicious and they had the advantage of having "quick" in the title which looked even better (SCORE! Especially for when we were cooking a dozen recipes). We combined butter and cheddar in a food processor (we used cheddar instead of blue cheese because blue cheese seemed like it might be a little strong).



Rachel added flour, salt, red pepper, and Worcestershire sauce and processed until the mixture "came together":



The dough was wrapped in plastic and chilled for a half hour. Rachel divided the dough into quarters and rolled it out:



The dough was cut into strips and twisted:



The straws were baked for about fifteen minutes:



These were so good that I almost don't have words for it. They were spicy and cheesy and totally addictive. The cheese straws were both crisp and soft--they reminded me of Cheez-its but better. They were definitely spicy though--the red pepper and the sharp cheddar definitely gave them a kick. If you make these cheese straws for a party, I guarantee they will be the first thing gone. My only quibble is that they really weren't particularly "quick". In fact, they weren't quick at all.

Rachel pointed out that instead of using store-bought mayonnaise for the remoulade sauce, we could make our own and knock out another recipe. She told me that she had made mayonnaise before but it didn't work perfectly. I had made aioli but I wasn't real impressed with it (I don't think it emulsified correctly). We weren't particularly confident that the TJOC recipe would work but we had backup mayonnaise.

I separated two eggs and left the yolks in a bowl to get to room temperature. I mixed white wine vinegar, salt, and a bit of pepper together in a mixing bowl so we would have everything ready when we started. It's vital when making mayo that all the ingredients are room temperature.



We decided that Rachel would do the whisking (I have bad wrists) and I would very slowly add the vegetable oil. Rachel whisked the eggs and vinegar mixture together until "smooth and light".



Rachel whisked like a fiend as I slowly added the oil:



Success! We made homemade mayonnaise! It was perfect. It was a little underseasoned but it seemed perfect since we were just using it to make a sauce. In fact, we were going to use it to make Remoulade sauce (p. 581). We took the mayonnaise and added minced pickles (we could not find cornichons in Ames--it was frustrating because they are easy to get in Fort Collins), capers, parsley, tarragon, garlic, Dijon, and a little salt and pepper:



So good! It turns out I love remoulade sauce. It was similar to tarter sauce and perfect for fish. Wikipedia tells me that people in other countries use remoulade sauce on their fries and I would love to experience the pure ambrosia that must be. The sauce was quick and easy to whip up.

My first question while making No-fail boiled shrimp (p. 385) was if people often normally fail at correctly making boiled shrimp. I never have. Frankly, shrimp is the easiest shellfish to cook. I particularly like the first sentence, "If desired, simply cook the shrimp in plain water", which totally negates the point of having a recipe.

I added celery, onion, lemon, parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves, salt, red pepper, and water in a big pot:



I simmered it all for ten minutes:



I then strained everything out of the broth and threw it away. I hate these steps in TJOC, it always seems so wasteful. It was quite a bit of stuff!



I popped the shrimp in broth and cooked it for two minutes:



And done!



The shrimp was really good. That being said, I don't think it was any better than shrimp that were simply boiled in water. The broth gave the shrimp a very subtle taste that was evident if you just at the shrimp by itself but who does that? I always eat shrimp with some sort of sauce. I wouldn't bother with this recipe again--just bring water to a boil and pop the shrimp in for two minutes.

The final tabeau:



A strange combination. The shrimp and remoulade sauce go together perfectly. The cheese straws were amazing. All three of them? Odd. As I ate the delicious cheese straws over the next couple days I never thought, "Man, I wish I had some shrimp".

Random food facts that relate to this post:

• Crustaceans are "mobile, carnivorous, and often cannibalistic". Makes those shrimp less sympathetic! (On Food and Cooking, p. 219)
• Fresh shrimp are usually frozen shrimp that are just defrosted in the store (On Food and Cooking, p. 221 and personal experience)
• Shrimp live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards (COOL!) (Wikipedia)
• "Crustacean" and "crystal" share the same root word (On Food and Cooking, p. 220)
• Olive oil can screw up your mayonnaise. If you are convinced you need to use it, use refined olive oil instead of extra virgin (On Food and Cooking, p. 635)
• Other countries use different vinegars in their mayonnaise, such as apple cider or rice vinegar in Japan or sunflower seed oil in Russia, which results in different flavors, (Wikipedia)
• The Creole version of remoulade sauce is usually pink because it includes paprika (Wikipedia)

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Shrimp tempura (p. 388)

I essentially make Shrimp tempura (p. 388) every year for Christmas Eve, I refused to make it again and not count it as "TJOTJOC made".

In our Italian-American household, Christmas Eve is meat-free. I think it's sort of a "Feast of the Seven Fishes" holdover, just with fewer types of fish. Christmas tends to be a Thanksgiving style meal (turkey or ham, sweet potatoes, mashed poatoes, etc.) while Christmas Eve has a pasta with a squid/crab/lobster sauce, fried shrimp/calamari/cauliflower, stuffed calamari, etc. It's one of my favorite meals of the year. Several years ago, the frying related jobs became my duty and I always use TJOC's tempura batter.

I peeled and cleaned the shrimp, leaving the tails. I dipped the shrimp in the batter, carefully placed them in the fryer, cooked them for a few minutes and drained them. Make sure all of your shellfish are as dry as possible--otherwise the oil will spit and it's really dangerous. I also recommend an apron.

The shrimp are on the left side of the picture:

Delicious, as always! I love this batter. It's light, crisp, and doesn't overwhelm the shellfish. If I had a deep-fryer that was less of a hassle to wrestle out of the cabinet, I would make these far more often.

Cornmeal pancakes I (p. 645) and Mixed shellfish in tomato sauce (p. 369)

Pancakes tend to be quick to make so I thought that Cornmeal pancakes I (p. 645) would make a tasty, quick meal, especially since I really liked Cornmeal pancakes II. The recipes were fairly similar.

In one bowl I mixed cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. In the other bowl I combined melted butter, milk, honey, and two eggs:



The wet ingredients were added to the dry ingredients and they were briefly mixed (DON'T OVERMIX! LUMPS ARE OKAY!).



I had Josh cook the pancakes, so I forgot to take any pictures of the finished product. These pancakes were good but they weren't nearly as good as the other cornbread pancake recipe. I don't really like foods that are sweetened with honey or maple syrup--these pancakes were just way too sweet for me. Only a few more pancake varieties left!

I haven't been making great progress on the shellfish chapter. Shellfish in Colorado is expensive and usually of questionable freshness. That being said, Josh is a huge fan of shrimp and I adore scallops. I stumbled upon a few packages of shrimp and scallops on sale at the grocery store and thought Mixed shellfish in tomato sauce (p. 369) looked tasty.

I sauteed red pepper flakes, garlic, and olive oil.



TJOC says to discard the pepper and the garlic, so you are left with the infused olive oil. I thought that sounded silly--I love garlic and red pepper, why would I discard it? I skipped that step. I added tomatoes, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Once the tomatoes started to break down, I added a mixture of peeled shrimp and scallops.



After a bit more simmering to cook the shellfish, it was done! I poured it over pasta (although it doesn't have to be a sauce--you can just eat it straight).




Delicious! I really liked this recipe and it was extremely simple. It tasted even better the next day after the flavors had time to meld. Every Christmas Eve we have a no-meat all-shellfish dinner and I honestly think that this sauce could stand up against most of our holiday fish sauces (it would be even better with some squid in it). It was nicely spiced, too, so I recommend ignoring the line about discarding the spices.