Paella feels like a summertime dish to me, in part because old-school versions in Spain are prepared over a fire. Plus it's great make-ahead party food. The fish, the chicken, the tomatoes and peppers, make for great warm weather fare. Of course it need not be limited to just summer, or summer. These 10 Rules for Perfect Paella apply year 'round. You can try this Lobster … [Read more...]
OVER-STUFFED LOBSTER ROLLS WITH A SCIENTIFIC COMPARISON OF PRE-SHELLED LOBSTER MEAT VS. HOME COOKED
Stuart's, our excellent seafood store in Amaganset offers cooked lobster meat out of the shell for $55 a pound. The pieces are nice and big, the claws neatly extracted to keep their form. The thick tails are tightly curled, a crucial sign. Lobster tails will only curl up when cooked if the lobster is alive just before cooking. Already dead lobster tails don't curl. The … [Read more...]
WHITE CLAM PASTA WITH SEA BEANS – LINGUINI ALLE VONGOLE
Freshly foraged briny little sea beans pair beautifully with just-dug quahogs for a hearty, down-home tangle of linguine alle vongole. And the best part is out here in East Hampton the ingredients are only as far away as the water. At water's edge of our favorite clam bed in Three Mile Harbor is a healthy stretch of sea beans. Also known as salicornia, glass wort and … [Read more...]
DUBLIN LAWYER: LOBSTER IN WHISKEY CREAM SAUCE
Every time March rolls around the search for new Irish recipes commences. After all, corned beef only gets you so far. Even at its most creative (St. Patrick's Day sausages anyone?) it is still corned beef. That's not to say there aren't a lot of tasty Hibernian dishes. Witness General Vegetable Soup and the Sullivan family's soda bread recipe. A few notches up the gourmet … [Read more...]
CLAMS CASINO ROYALE
While steaming clams open is the easiest way to make Clams Casino, shucking raw clams and cooking them only as long as it takes to brown the bread crumbs and bacon is the best method. The true, authentic, delicious Clams Casino. Why royale? because freshly shucked clams are a rarity worthy of royals, heads of state and other notable worthies. CLAMS CASINO ROYALE Recipe 1 … [Read more...]
SOFT SHELL CRABS: HOW TO CLEAN, HOW TO COOK
There are any number of reasons one should know how to clean and cook soft shell crabs -- here are my top three: 1. Freshness is essential and they must be cooked right after cleaning. 2. Cleaning soft shell crabs falls into the collection of skills every good cook should possess along with opening oysters, boning fish, boiling lobsters, starting fires. 4. It's a great … [Read more...]
PICTURE PERFECT PAELLA: LOBSTER PAELLA RECIPE
Obviously calling any recipe "picture perfect" is an invitation for arguments and counter-challenges. This true story is a quintessential example. A controversial secret technique for a picture perfect recipe for authentic Spanish paella was passed on to me by a formidable family cook at a magnificent estate near Segovia, a few hours' drive from bustling … [Read more...]
LOBSTER PAELLA
1 1/2 lb. lobster 1 lb. mussels 1/2 large fennel bulb 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into slender strips olive oil 1 large shallot, minced 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 c. Paella rice 1 c. wine 5 c. lobster stock 4 c. chicken broth 1/8 t. saffron 1/4 t. chopped tarragon 1 t. paprika 1 bay leaf s&p butter, carrot flowers , and sprigs of watercress or tarragon for … [Read more...]
RAZOR CLAMS
East-coast razor clams are less know than their hardier Pacific counterparts. Shaped like old-timey straight razors, the shells of these 5" are soft, much like steamer clams, brittle even. And the elongated shape makes them even more fragile. They can't travel far once they've been liberated from their beds. Which is a little ironic since they are pretty mobile in the wild. … [Read more...]
NAPPEAGUE HARBOR BAY SCALLOPS
Here in 'Merica bay scallops are pristine little nuggets void of any traces of the biological necessities of digestive or reproductive systems.* Fresh, sweet, and innocent, bay scallops are the polar opposite of the mysterious nimbus of oyster innards or the marginally gruesome black skins one need pull from the necks of steamers. Of all the delicious bivalves only scallops … [Read more...]