Category Archives: Seafood

What to do with frozen cooked shrimp: Peanut-y shrimp w/ cilantro

This recipe came to me when I was in bed late at night, the night that that bitchy hurricane first reared its ugly head. My mom had just stocked up on several pounds of frozen cooked shrimp and I knew I’d want to do something cool with it the following day. Except, this ingredient is not my favorite. People who take their cooking seriously aren’t generally fond of pre-cooked ingredients - unless they are Sandra Lee, of course. Using an ingredient like this can actually be kind of embarrassing. But you know what? Not with this recipe, it’s not.

Seriously, it’s amazing. Would I lie to you?

(Yield: 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

1 lb medium sized peeled de-veined cooked frozen shrimp

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp peanut butter (smooth or chunky will do)

1 tsp sriracha sauce (or another similar heat source)

1/2 tsp yellow curry powder

About 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Procedure: Place frozen shrimp into a colander. Run under lukewarm water until shrimp starts to thaw. Leave in colander over a bowl and allow to defrost completely, draining off all liquid. Heat a saute pan over medium-low heat and add oil. Add onion and salt, stir, and cook until softened and just starting to brown. Then add soy sauce, peanut butter, sriracha and curry. Stir until thinned out and homogenous. Add shrimp and stir to coat evenly in sauce. Cook until shrimp are warmed through, about 4 min. Turn heat off and re-season if necessary. Top with cilantro right before serving.

I served this over red quinoa but it will also work over rice or noodles.

How do you feel about using pre-cooked shrimp?

Shrimp n’ grits

As a Ukrainian girl living in New York, grits are not something I am used to. From what I gather, this corn-derived porridge is as old a tradition as time itself and a staple in Southern American cooking. I was first introduced to this starchy stuff by Peels and have since been a huge fan. This recipe was inspired by the dish I had at Peels and it’s incredibly easy to execute. I used instant grits, which cook about 15 minutes faster than the regular kind, and precooked frozen shrimp, only because by the time I went grocery shopping the fish store had closed – I swear!

(Yield: 2 servings)

Ingredients - Shrimp:

2 strips bacon, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp flour

Sriracha, to taste (feel free to substitute with cayenne or Tobasco)

½ c beer (preferably a lager or something light)

About 8 oz precooked frozen shrimp, thawed

Salt

Grits:

2 c water

½ c instant grits

1 pinch salt

2 tbsp butter

2 handfuls grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure for sauce: Place a large pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy, 4-5 min. Add garlic, onion, pepper, and a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 5 min. Stir in flour, cook for 1 min, and add beer. Cook for a few min, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Then add shrimp and cook just long enough to warm shrimp through. Taste and re-season if necessary.

Procedure for grits: Bring water to boil in a saucepan. Add salt and stir in grits. Lower heat to medium-low and cook for 5 min, stirring frequently. Add butter and cheese, stir to melt and combine. Turn heat off, taste and re-season if necessary.

I garnished the dish with torn parsley and realized only after that toasted coconut flakes would have been a far better alternative.

Pan-seared sea bass w/ parsley pesto and penne

Most amateur home cooks fear cooking fish at home. Unless we are talking salmon and you live in apartment (the smell will linger for days!), there is nothing to be afraid of. When frying sea bass, keep the following in mind:

1.) When using frozen fish, make sure it is completely de-frosted before you work with it.

2.) Rinse it and dry it with paper towels.

3.) Heat a skillet over high heat and add enough oil to cover the bottom.

4.) Do not overcrowd the skillet - this will cause the temp. of the oil to drop.

5.) Do not fuss with the fish. Cook it 3-4 minutes per side and flip only once!

This recipe is easy, delicious and, in my humble opinion, quite impressive.

(Yield: 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 lb sea bass fillets

3-4 tbsp vegetable oil

3/4 lb penne pasta, cooked al dente according to package directions

Salt/pepper

Lemon slices for garnish

Pesto:

About 1 c parsley

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/3 c freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the fish: Heat skillet over high heat and add veg. oil. Season fish with salt and pepper on one side. Place in skillet (in 2 separate batches) seasoned side down and season the other side. Cook for 3-4 min, flip, and cook 3-4 more min. Let the fish rest on paper towels. In the meantime…

Make the pesto: Place the parsley, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper into a food processor. Grind until fine. With the motor running, pour the oil down the chute. Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in cheese.

Assemble: Reserve 2 tbsp of pesto and combine the rest with cooked pasta. Divide pasta into 4 serving plates and top with a piece of fish. Drizzle remaining pesto over the fish and garnish with lemon. Voila!

“Rollin’ With the Homies”

My good friend Michelle invited some of us ladies over last night to make sushi. Although we are all avid sushi eaters, I was hesitant and intimidated by the hassle at first but caved eventually.

She bought all the technical necessities in Chinatown, our friend Irina bought vegetables and I bought the fish. Teamwork! We had no idea what we were doing but thank God for YouTube’s how-to videos.

The ingredients we prepared were fresh salmon, smoked eel, shrimp, crab, avocado, cucumbers and mango, and then each of us improvised with the combinations. The sushi rolls turned out pretty good for a first time, except I got kind of carried away with the salt in the rice.

My First Roll - Salmon, cucumber and mango

And Sofya’s…
Shrimp, crab and avocado
As entertaining as it was, I don’t think we’ll be making any more homemade sushi. It’s just too much of a hassle. But hey, at least we could say we tried : )

Tuna Salad

A good tuna salad needs an element of crunch, creaminess and lots of flavor. There are as many recipes for tuna salad as there are cooks in the world. This recipe is my mom’s.

(Yield: 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 12 oz can tuna packed in water

1 hard-boiled egg, grated

1 scallion, chopped

½ stalk celery, diced

1 small pickle, diced

1 tbsp mayo

Salt/pepper

Combine all the ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.

I like this salad on a piece of toast on Sunday morning but feel free to serve this as a sandwich or wrapped in lettuce…any day you’d like ; )

Crispy Baked Tilapia Filets

This recipe is really healthy and takes almost no time to prepare. I found it HERE but slightly modified it. The sauce was my idea.

(4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 lb/4 fillets of tilapia

1/3 c all-purpose flour

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

2 egg-whites

½ c plain bread crumbs

2 tbsp sesame seeds

½ tsp dried basil

Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

And for the sauce:

2 tbsp plain mayo

1 tsp sour cream

½ -1 tsp hot sauce (adjust to your own taste)

1 tsp brown mustard

1 tsp lemon juice

A pinch of salt+pepper

Preheat the oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray (for easy cleanup.) Set aside.

In a dish, combine flour, salt and pepper. In another dish, combine the bread crumbs, sesame seeds and basil. Whisk the egg-whites until frothy in a third dish. Dredge the fillets first in the flour, then in the egg-whites and lastly in the bread crumbs. Place the fish on the baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Cook 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. In the meantime, prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients together.