Fish Chowder

With fall here and the temperatures getting cooler, I am back to making soups and chowders. Fish chowder is always a hit. I buy chowder mix from the grocery store fish counter if they have it. It is usually a mixture of cod, haddock, sole and whatever else they have trimmings from. You can also just buy a pound of any fish you prefer. But the chowder mix is usually a dollar or two cheaper.

5 to 6 Potatoes, cubed

water to cover potatoes

One Small Onion, chopped.

Bring this to a boil and cook potatoes until they are tender. About 8 minutes. They will continue to cook while you are completing the chowder. You don’t want them too mushy.

When potatoes are close to done, add in the fish in pieces. This will flake to smaller pieces, but you don’t want it to be too big when you drop it in.

Add 2 teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of pepper.

Let the fish cook for about 6 to 8 minutes.

Add in 2 cups of half and half or add one can (12) ounces of can milk and 1/2 cup of half and half.

Add in 1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) of butter.

Do not let it boil. After you are satisfied with the potatoes and the doneness of the fish, taste. This is the time to add more seasonings if you want. Shut off the burner and let sit for an hour to meld the flavors together.

Fish Tacos

I love tacos. I love fish. So for me this is a win-win. I use Tilapia in my tacos. The recipe says you can use catfish, but Tilapia is a mild fish that picks up any flavor you add to it.

1 LB. fresh or frozen Tilapia

3 limes

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. chili powder + extra if you add it to the flour mixture.

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp oil (for frying)

8 taco shells or 6-inch flour tortillas (warmed)

1 cup shredded cabbage

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 fresh jalapeno. (seeded if you don’t like a lot of heat}

Thaw fish if frozen. Rinse and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut into 1 inch pieces.

For the sauce:

Squeeze 2 limes and add juice to bowl. Stir in Mayonnaise and chili powder.

Cut remaining lime into wedges and set aside to serve with tacos.

Shred cabbage and carrots and set aside.

Transfer 1/3 of sauce to a medium bowl and toss fish in to mix and coat the fish pieces.

In shallow dish, stir flour and salt. You can add a little chili powder if you do not plan on using jalapenos.

Remove fish from sauce and coat in flour.

Heat oil over medium heat and when warm, cook fish in batches turning every minute or so. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove fish from oil an place on paper towel. finish the batches of fish. Add more oil if needed when cooking all the fish.

Fill warmed tacos shells or tortillas with fish being sure to have enough pieces for all shells. Add the cabbage and carrots and thinly sliced jalapenos, if you are adding them. Serve the remaining sauce and lime wedges on the side. You may want to drizzle some of the sauce over the top of the tacos.

Sizzling Shrimp

I love shrimp. for the simple reason that it is easy to cook, store and purchase. You can always find frozen shrimp in your grocery store. I always buy the small or medium sized cooked shrimp. They are good to eat as is, or they can be added to almost any recipe that calls for protein. This recipe is an easy, quick meal that would work well for a light lunch or a fancy dinner.

3 TBS. Olive Oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic. (You can purchase this in your produce department in a small jar).

1 tsp. Paprika

3/4 to 1 tsp.Crushed red pepper

1 LB. Uncooked shrimp peeled and deveined*

2 TBS dry sherry or lemon juice. I use Lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/45 tsp Black pepper

2 TBS Chopped Italian parsley

2 Cups cooked rice. I use brown rice.

Stir together garlic, oil, paprika and crushed pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until garlic starts to brown. Don’t let it burn! Stir in Shrimp if using the raw shrimp. Cook until pink and opaque. Stir in Sherry or lemon juice, salt and black pepper. *If using cooked shrimp, put that in and let cook and warm for a minute or two. Top with parsley and serve with rice.

Baked Scallops

This is almost the same recipe as I had listed for Baked Haddock. I substituted scallops for haddock. I make this recipe for me. My husband is not a scallop lover. Which works well for me as I do not have to share. So you can double the recipe for more than one person.

I use scallop pieces. I purchase my fish from a local fisherman who brings his truck to my area weekly. The price of scallop pieces is about half what the price is for whole scallops. When making this casserole, the pieces work very well. Scallop pieces come from regular scallops that may have been damaged when the scallops were removed from the scallop shell. It may have a small tear in it or was broken being removed from shell. They are the same as whole scallops, just in pieces.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 Tbls Melted Butter

10 Ritz Crackers crumbled

1/3 LB. Scallops

Spray an individual casserole dish with Pam

Melt your butter in microwave in a small bowl. Add the crumbled Ritz crackers and stir. Layer the bottom of the sprayed casserole dish with a small amount of crumbs. Layer the scallops on top. Sprinkle with pepper. Do not add salt as the crackers are already salted. Cover with remaining crumbs. In the haddock dish I add a little 1/2 and 1/2 to keep it moist. You can do this with the scallops also. The scallops contain more water than haddock so this is really not necessary. I like them dry so do not add the cream. Bake about 20 minutes, In a 350 degree oven. Crumbs should be browned a little. If you are making this dish for two people, you can use a larger casserole dish and double all the ingredients.

Crabmeat Appetizers

This is a great recipe to use when you are having people in for a buffet. It is quick to put together and you can freeze them and bring them out when you need them. Just pop them under a broiler until they are lightly brown on top and bubbly.

6 English Muffins

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

1 jar (15 1/2 oz.) Kraft Old English cheese spread (room temperature).

1 1/2 Tablespoon Mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon minced onion spice (not fresh onions)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/2 pound (8 oz.) fresh crabmeat.

Mix together butter, cheese spread, mayonnaise, minced onion spice, garlic powder and celery salt. Carefully add in crabmeat. Split English muffins in half and place on a cookie sheet. Spread crabmeat mixture on each half. It will look like a thick coating, but that will be okay. It will melt a little when broiling.

Freeze on cookie sheet. When frozen, cut each half into quarters. They can be kept frozen in freezer bags until ready for use.

When ready to serve, remove from freezer and place under broiler until they are golden brown and bubbly. I put them into a 350 degree oven for about 8 minutes to allow the English muffin to toast a little on the bottom. Then switch the oven to broiler.

*If you have Old Bay Seasoning on hand, You can eliminate the onions, garlic powder and celery salt. Replace with 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning. Just a dash of Garlic Powder should be also added.

Salmon Pie with White Sauce

My Mom used to make Salmon Pie almost every Friday. I went years without it because I always felt that it would be too hard to make. A couple of years ago when I visited my sister in Florida, I was looking through her recipes and found this one. I am not sure if it is the same as what my mother made, but it works for me. Of course, Mom made the crusts from hand. That is not my thing. I cheat. I buy the ready made crusts and the crusts that unroll for the top. The rest, I can do. I use pink salmon. If your bank account is flush, you can buy the Red Salmon, but I have found there isn’t much difference in taste to support the extra cost. I also use an instant potato packet for my potatoes. Either that or you can cook and mash potatoes.

1 can (14 oz.?) of salmon

2 cups mashed potatoes.

1/2 cup onion (chopped very fine)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Drain the salmon but reserve the juice. Debone the salmon and remove all dark skin pieces. Use the juice when you mash your potatoes or use it as part of the water measurements for the instant potatoes. Add in the salmon (broken into smaller pieces), onion and salt. Mix together well.

This makes a 8″ or 9″ pie. It will not cook down as an apple pie would. Place mixture in pie crust and cover with unrolled pie crust. Seal and poke some airholes in top crust with a fork. I brush the top with a beaten egg or milk. Ths will make the crust a little more flaky.

Cook in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

WHITE SAUCE

Start a roux. A roux is a mixture of butter and flour.

2 Tbls of butter

2 Tbls flour

Melt butter is a small saucepan. Add the flour and wisk. Give this mixture a couple of minutes to cook as this will cook off the flour taste. Slowly add 2 cups of milk, 1 cup at a time. Stir this constantly with a rubber spatula. If it lumps up, use a wisk to smooth it out. It will thicken slowly. Don’t lose patience and walk off. When it has thickened, put on low heat to keep warm. You can add hard boiled eggs at this time if you want. Add pepper and salt to taste.

When the pie is done, let it rest on the counter for about 10 minutes. Slice it up and serve. Put the white sauce in a serving dish that has been warmed. Let each person choose how much or little they want of the white sauce. I know it is redundant, but I serve this with whatever mashed potato I have left that wasn’t used in the pie. Add something green to balance the colors and enjoy!

Crabmeat Quiche

If you want an easy quick meal, this makes great leftovers. I usually freeze a couple of pieces for a later meal. Just thaw and microwave it or put it in an oven at 300 degrees and warm it for 1/2 an hour. Served with baked potato or rice makes it a full meal or you could just eat it alone as a small lunch.

If you do not care for crabmeat in a quiche (it has cheese in it), substitute the same amount of protein. Ham, Kielbasa, Veggies etc.

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

Thaw a ready made frozen pie crust

Mix together the following in a large mixing bowl.

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup mayonnaise*

2 tablespoons flour

2 eggs, beaten

Mix these ingredients in a bowl using a whisk. Be sure to whisk out all the flour lumps.

Add 1/3 cup (total) of onion, pepper and celery chopped very small

Add your crabmeat or other protein to the mix. I use 8 ounces of crabmeat or 1 and 1/2 cups of veggies, ham, etc. Broccoli, chopped small, can be added if you are using ham.

Add 8 oz. of finely shredded mozzarella cheese. If you are using ham as your protein, try using shredded swiss cheese. I initially tried this with mild cheddar cheese, but found the crabmeat taste was more pronounced with a lighter, milder cheese.

When it is all mixed together, pour into the thawed pie crust. Brush water or melted butter over the crust edge or use a crust cover. Put on a covered cookie sheet to catch any drips and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. To check if it is done, use a regular dinner knife and poke it into the middle of the quiche. If it comes out clean and dry, your quiches is done. Take it out of the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes while you put out the rest of your meal. Slice and serve.

*If you need to measure out mayonnaise, it will work easier to fill the measuring cup with the liquid you are using (in this case 1/2 cup of milk). Like in science class, solids will disperse the liquid. So, 1/2 cup of milk will make it to the 1 cup measure if you add 1/2 cup mayonnaise to it.

Tuna Casserole

Remember when you were in school and you were served Tuna Casserole for lunch. It always seemed to be thick and gloopy. There was no moisture to it. I swore I would never eat tuna casserole when I grew up. Well, I do eat tuna casserole now. It is not thick and gloopy. My tuna casserole is moist and creamy.

The recipe below calls for canned mushroom soup. But if you check the soup category, you will see a recipe for Creamy Mushroom Soup. I make the tuna casserole using soup that I have made.

1 cup dry medium egg noodles

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (or 2 cup homemade mushroom soup)

8 oz. milk (you do not need this if you use homemade soup)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 can undrained, solid, white albacore tuna*

1/4 tsp curry powder

Put about 2 inches of water into a medium saucepan with 1 tsp oil. Bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt to boiling water and add pasta. Cook uncovered for about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain pasta.

While pasta is cooking, spray a 1 quart casserole dish with pam. Mix together the tuna, soup, milk, if using, mayonnaise and curry powder with a whisk. Add cooked pasta and stir to mix. Cover with bread crumbs and bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. You have a carb in the casserole with the pasta, but maybe a fruit will round off your meal.

*I use solid, white albacore tuna instead of chunk tuna. It gives you more fresh taste instead of a can taste. It is just my preference, so use the tuna that you like best. The curry powder is an addition I made to bring out the flavor a bit. You could easily leave this ingredient out.

Pan Fried Tilapia

Tilapia is not a favorite fish for many people. But I like the mild white fish taste you get when it is pan fried. There isn’t much flavor to the fish itself, so I add a lot of seasoning. You buy tilapia as a filet. I usually buy several filets and package them individually in freezer bags and freeze until I decide it is the day for fish. Thaw the tilapia for about 2 to 3 hours. Or take the filet out of the freezer the night before and thaw in the refrigerator.

One or two filets of Tilapia

Olive Oil

Seasonings including salt and pepper

Warm a fry pan over medium heat. Add a little olive oil and season the tilapia while it is heating. I use Mrs. Dash Lemon and Herb seasoning. You can use any flavors that you like. I also salt and pepper it.

Place the seasoned filet(s) in the heated oil and leave it alone. I cook my fish for about 3 minutes on each side. You may need to cook it longer if the filet is thick. Tilapia tends to be thin filets. When it is browned on both sides, remove from the fry pan and serve. Easy and fast. Serving on a salad or both gives you a fast, light, low calorie meal. And doesn’t heat up your kitchen on those warm summer days.