Monday, April 23, 2012

Seafood At Home

After 10 days on St. Maarten and eating seafood nearly every day (at least for me), I was pretty surprised when Bev suggested sautéed crappie for our first home meal – but hey, I’m a big fish fan and said let’s do it.  Later that morning, I was reading blogs and came across Marguerite’s recipe for Barbeque Shrimp A La Marguerite which sounded similar to the Creole shrimp SIL, Pat, had in St. Maarten, so I decided to make it as an appetizer.

 I had a pound of shrimp so I cut her recipe in half and made a few changes to end up with this:

 1 lb large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/8 C. olive oil
1/4 C. butter, at room temperature
1 T. Emeril’s Essence
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
Few shakes of Sriracha
Juice of 1/4 lemon
1/8 C. white wine
1 1/2 t. minced garlic
1/4 C. green onion tops, chopped
1/8 C. fresh parsley, chopped

Place the butter in a bowl and add the Essence, lemon juice, garlic, sriracha, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to mix well and set aside.

Place the oil in a large skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer and flip when they begin to curl and turn pink, about a minute. As soon as the second side is pink, another minute, remove from the skillet and set aside. Add the white wine to deglaze the skillet, scrapping up all the sucs, and allow it to cook down by half - doesn't take long.

Reduce heat to medium low and add the butter mixture to the skillet followed by the chopped onions and parsley as the butter is melting. Once the butter is melted, return the shrimp to the pan and toss to coat well to coat and reheat.  Serve immediately.

For the fish - after drying, I seasoned with S&P and Emeril’s Essense.  Then I sautéed it in oil until brown, then flipped and added this recipe from About.com, Southern Food, around the fish pieces.

 2 teaspoon capers, drained and rinsed (1 T)
4 tablespoons butter
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice (1 1/2 T)
1 teaspoon lemon zest

And cooked until the butter was melted and hot at which point the fish was done.

We served it with boiled potatoes, mashed on your plate, with butter or topped with the remaining sauce from the shrimp.


Bev’s comment was that this was better than any meal in St. Maarten (she said it several times) and as much as I liked the creole shrimp on the island, I preferred Marguerite’s and it will be made again.  The crappie sauce was also very good but a little too tangy and I’ll add more capers next time as shown in ( ).  All in all, it was a delicious welcome home meal to Almost Heaven South.

 All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

 Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

 One year ago: How I Plant Tomatoes

 Two years ago: Fields Of Yellow

 Larry

 4/19/12 meal date

16 comments:

  1. From the description of your meal, I think Bev is right...your dinner sounds great.

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  2. Both ways of cooking the seafood are classic examples of Creole influence on southern Cajun foods and as you know, I would be all over both of these - Marguerite knows her way around good Cajun foods and this is but one of her many great recipes. I am so glad you tried this recipe and I hope many of your readers will pay her a visit too...I have spent many a day enjoying her foods and her fun escapades.

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  3. The shrimp looks fantastic, Larry!! Wait, what am I saying? It ALL looks fantastic! Wish I could reach right in there and take a bite of everything!

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  4. I do love shrimp, and butter, and wine. Sounds like I would love this dish. I've had shrimp on the brain lately - thanks for this delicious recipe!

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  5. Larry, Another great meal! You two eat some really nice food. Love the crappie. My problem is that even when I catch them, I'm too lazy to clean them and cook them...simply catch and release! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  6. What a welcome home meal! The shrimp are making me drool. When I was a kid my parents had a friend who made BBQ shrimp and I loved them. The flavors in this dish are what I remember from the one from my childhood. I can not wait to recreate this for my family!

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  7. Both fish dishes look and sound amazing! I am ready.

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  8. Welcome home you two. Both dishes sound fantastic. It's such fun to find dishes to try at home after you have been on vacation.
    Sam

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  9. Of course I love this it's seafood and the best thing is the photo makes my mouth water so you aced this one!

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  10. This sounds delicious. You are a good cook. The shrimp look perfecto! Blessings, Catherine

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  11. What a wonderful seafood meal! I have a similar shrimp recipe - so good! Love the capers with the fish.

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  12. Where have I been? I just reviewed back through all of your trip photos... it looks like you were in paradise with the ladies Larry! What fun!!!

    I think both the shrimp and crappie look excellent... love the flavors you used in both dishes.

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  13. Welcome home, Larry. This sounds like a fantastic meal and the shrimp are out of this world. You can cook here in Oregon whenever you would like. Have a wonderful evening. Blessings...Mary

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  14. I know I will like both of these recipes, Larry. What would be a good substitute for Emeril's Essence? And is crappie similar to catfish. I don't think it is available around here. Love the caper, butter sauce you spooned over the top.

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  15. Those shrimp look fabulous and the fish looks great, too! Merci beaucoup for trying the recipe. So glad that ya'll enjoyed them! Cheers!

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  16. It is hard to be a great home cooked meal, especially when you have been on vacation.

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