Seafood Recipes that We Love

We enjoy eating a variety of seafood when we travel and often cook them at home as well. Seafood is very versatile and can take on different flavors, which makes it something that can be used in every cuisine. There are also so many different types of fish and other seafood that means that even if you don’t like the taste of one type of seafood, there is probably something out there that you will enjoy. We have made many different seafood recipes over the years, but here are a few of our favorites.

Seafood Paella

Fresh Seafood Paella with Clams, Mussels, and Shrimp – Like many people, we really enjoy paella because it is versatile and not particularly complicated to make. Obviously, we associate paella with the time that we spent in Spain, but we’ve also had it in resorts in Mexico as well as the Caribbean. The key to making seafood paella is making sure that you are using the freshest seafood possible. The other key is using short-grain rice such as Bomba or Calasparra. Fortunately, these days those are also available online if not in a store near you. Even though it is a simple dish to make and very rustic, it is perfect for a gathering where you can simply put the paella in the center of the table and let people serve themselves. Although we limited it to seafood, you can definitely add chicken thighs or sausage to make the dish even more hearty.

Our Version of Salmon Oscar with Asparagus

Salmon Oscar – During our trip to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, we had a very delicious meal that the restaurant called Salmon Chesapeake. It was salmon topped with lump crab meat with a cream sauce. For our attempt to replicate this meal, we went with a cross between a Veal Oscar and a stuffed flounder. We love Hollandaise sauce with salmon, so we decided to use that as our sauce, which worked out really well. This isn’t a complicated recipe at all, but it looks and tastes wonderful, so it is a perfect dish for entertaining. We ate it as a weeknight dinner with some asparagus, which made for a perfect combination.

Seared Sea Scallops

Seared Sea Scallops with a Lemon Butter Sauce – Sea scallops can be a little expensive depending on the time of year, but it certainly worth splurging on for a special occasion. The important thing with cooking scallops is to use a hot pan so that the outside gets seared while the inside stays tender. Lemon butter and capers go extremely well with scallops and just to make the dish even more luxurious, we also added saffron. Simple and yet delicious.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo with Angel Hair Pasta

Shrimp Fra Diavolo – Shrimp Fra Diavolo (Brother Devil) is an Italian inspired dish that is spicy and delicious. We served it over a bed of angel hair pasta, but when we had leftovers a couple of days later, we simply served it with a side of garlic toast. If you don’t want it too spicy, you can reduce the amount of red pepper flakes, but this meal is meant to pack some heat. It is one of those easy and yet elegant dinners that can be done on a weeknight or served for a weekend dinner party. It could probably be done with another type of shellfish, but shrimp really holds up well to the flavors and is easy to cook.

Pan Fried Tilapia with Oven Roasted Asparagus

Pan-Fried Tilapia – Because tilapia has such a mild flavor, there are plenty of options to serving it, from sauces to cooking techniques such as baking, poaching, and pan frying. It is also an inexpensive fish, making it a great option for families on a budget. We chose to bread the tilapia and pan fry it, which helped add to the flavor of the meal.

Baked Lobster Tail with Crab Cakes

Baked Jumbo Lobster Tail – There are several ways to prepare lobster tails and all of them create a tasty meal, but we chose to bake the lobster tail because of the presentation. We ordered our lobster tails from a company in Maine that ships them overnight and allows you to pick the size of your lobster tail. The lobster tails that we selected were between 12 and 14 ounces, which definitely made for a hearty meal. Regardless of the size of your tail, butterflying them and then baking them not only makes them more attractive but also helps the meat cook more evenly. We’d highly suggest that you try this method if you get a chance to cook fresh lobster tails. We served our lobster tails with a lobster bisque and crab cakes with a roumelade sauce.

Crab-Stuffed Flounder

Crab-Stuffed Flounder – Flounder is a mild, flat fish that is often stuffed. Lump crab meat makes for an excellent stuffing as it just adds to the flavor of the fish. In order to ensure that the fish isn’t dry, we made a quick, homemade hollandaise sauce to accompany it as well as the asparagus that we served with it. This is really a fairly simple dish, but it is certainly something that could be made for an elegant dinner or even to feed a crowd.

So Many Choices of Seafood

Regardless of what style of seafood you enjoy, there are obviously plenty of options for how to prepare it. No matter where you live, there are going to be some sort of fresh fish options available for you to choose from. It is also possible to have seafood shipped to you as well if you can’t find what you are looking for at your local grocery store.

Savory Crab-Stuffed Flounder with Hollandaise Sauce

Crab-Stuffed Flounder

Flounder is a mild, flat fish that is often stuffed. Lump crab meat makes for an excellent stuffing as it just adds to the flavor of the fish. In order to ensure that the fish isn't dry, we made a quick, homemade hollandaise sauce to accompany it as well as the asparagus that we served with it. This is really a fairly simple dish, but is certainly something that could be made for an elegant dinner or even to feed a crowd.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • Skillet
  • Oven

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Flounder Filets approximately 2 pounds
  • 1 cup Lump Crab Meat
  • 1/2 cup Panko or Bread Crumbs
  • 1 large Egg
  • 2 tbsp Red Onion finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp Celery finely chopped
  • 1 clove Garlic minced
  • 6 tbsp Butter softened
  • 1 tbsp Thyme finely chopped
  • 2 pinches Old Bay Seasoning
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add the celery and onion and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
  • In a bowl, combine the lump crab meat, panko, egg, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, and a pinch of Old Bay. Use your hands to make sure that the stuffing is fully mixed.
  • Heat an oven to 375 degrees.
  • Lay the flounder flat and put 1/4 of the stuffing in the center of each filet. Roll the flounder around the crab stuffing and place on a baking sheet with the ends of the fish, where it overlaps, facing down. Spread butter over the top of the fish and sprinkle with a pinch of Old Bay seasoning.
  • Cook the fish for 30 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Serve with prepared hollandaise sauce and vegetable of your choice.
Keyword crab, flounder, stuffed

Delicious Roast Duck with Gravy and Bread Dumplings

Roast Duck with Gravy and Bread Dumplings

We enjoyed having different styles of duck in many different locations throughout Europe. Although we often will pan-sear duck to render off the fat, roasting it with the skin pricked is another way to cook that provides a crispy skin. Whether you use the pan drippings or happen to have duck stock as we did, serving it with a gravy enhances the flavor. Another side dish that we had in several places was bread dumplings, which is a cross between a savory bread pudding and stuffing.
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine German
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • Oven
  • Bundt Pan
  • Skillet
  • Small Sauce Pan

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 Duck
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Sage chopped
  • 2 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • 1/4 cup Onion finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup Carrots finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup Celery finely chopped
  • 4 Eggs room temperature
  • 3 1/2 cups Milk room temperature
  • 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley chopped
  • 1 pinch Fresh Nutmeg grated
  • 4 tbsp Melted Unsalted Butter
  • 14 oz Stale Bread (about 1 loaf) cut into 1 – 2 inch pieces
  • 1 cup Duck Stock
  • 1 cup Chicken Stock
  • 2 tbsp Flour
  • 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
  • 1 tsp Dried Sage
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Prick the skin of the duck with a fork and brush it with a the olive oil. Season the duck with the fresh sage, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place the duck on a lined baking sheet and let the duck come up to room temperature.
  • Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, onions, and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Set them aside to cool.
  • Mix the milk and eggs in a large bowl with the nutmeg and add half of the bread pieces. Let this sit for 30 minutes to fully let the bread soak up the custard mixture.
  • Heat an oven to 350 degrees. Coat the remaining bread with melted butter and place in the oven for about 8 minutes or until the bread has toasted lightly.
  • Coat the Bundt pan with 2 tablespoons of softened butter, even if it is a non-stick pan.
  • Add the toasted bread, sautéed onion, carrots, celery, parsley, salt and pepper, and thoroughly fold everything together. Poor into the Bundt pan.
  • Put the bread dumpling mixture into an oven heated to 325 degrees and cook for 90 minutes. When done, remove and set aside.
  • Heat the oven to 375 degrees and then add the duck and let roast for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, turning the duck every 10 minutes so that it cooks evenly and the skin gets crispy. When done, let the duck rest for about 10 minutes.
  • In a small sauce pan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and stir in the flour to make a roux. Stirring constantly, slowly whisk in the duck and chicken stock. Add the remaining teaspoon of garlic, dried sage, salt and pepper. Simmer until the gravy has thickened.
  • Cut the duck and serve with gravy and slices of bread dumplings.