Culinary
Secrets with The Hills
Summer Seafood Menu
By Maralyn
Hill and Brenda Hill ‘The Tandem Tasters’
This month, we’re going to feature some fish and seafood recipes,
and dishes to accompany them. This spring, the Hill Team traveled
north to Woodstock, Vermont. Look for some maple syrup and cheese
recipes in a future column.
Brenda’s Cape Codder
Cocktail
Brenda’s Sole with Grapes
Bimini's Crab Cakes with Karen’s
Remoulade Sauce
Vine Ripened Tomatoes with Basil Pesto Mozzarella Roll & Peach
Vinaigrette
Mango Ginger & Chili Sorbet
Brenda’s Cape Codder
Cocktail
I am usually on
Cape Cod in the spring. As we write this column, the Cape Cod
cranberries are being harvested. This cool drink is simple and
colorful, tart and tasty before a seafood supper of sole or crab
cakes.
Ingredients:
1-1/2 ounces of
vodka
3 ounces of cranberry juice
Directions:
1. Fill a highball
glass with ice, vodka and the juice.
2. No garnish is necessary.
Brenda’s Sole with Grapes
I have always
loved the simple, yet elegant French dish, Sole "Veronique." I
believe that August Escoffier, the master French chef, named it
honor of the opera, Veronique. My version is very easy. I especially
love this dish in the spring and summer with a light, white wine.
Serves 2 or 3.
Ingredients:
About a pound of fresh fillet of sole
1/2 cup flour
Sea salt and fresh ground white or black pepper
6 teaspoons of butter (I use sweet, unsalted)
1/2 cup white wine (The Hill team prefers Sauvignon Blanc)
24-34 white seedless grapes (some French chefs peel theirs, not us)
Directions:
1. Dust sole with
flour.
2. Heat butter in pan, before it is brown, gently sauté
fillet on both sides until golden brown.
3. Season with salt and pepper and move to a heated
platter.
4. Add grapes and wine to pan juices and heat.
5. This takes only a few minutes for flaky, moist sole.
6. Garnish with grape leaves and/or more grapes.
Tips: We like
this white fish with grape tomatoes and sautéed baby spinach for
vibrant color. If you
want a heartier entree, also serve rice pilaf or plain potatoes.
It is best served with a French, or a California chilled
Sauvignon Blanc.
Bimini's
Crab Cakes
Recently, when The
Hill Team was not working, we went to visit our friends Timothy and
Karen, for a relaxing and delightful afternoon. What a treat for two
food writers! We DO get tired of restaurants and our own cooking.
Karen was a terrific hostess and cook, with Tim as sous chef. Tim
caught the crab off his dock and Karen fixed the crab cakes. She
used her friend and neighbor, Bimini's, recipe for the crab cakes
and the Remoulade Sauce was her own creation. Serves 4.
Ingredients:
1-1/2 lb. cooked,
shelled crab
1/2 sleeve each Saltines & Ritz Crackers
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 teas. Old Bay Crab Boil Spice
2 tbls. olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
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Directions:
1.
Sauté the vegetables and Old Bay spice in olive oil
until tender and translucent. After they cool, flake in
the crab and 2 beaten eggs and enough olive oil to make
a moist sticky mixture.
2. Mix gently and as little as possible to mix
thoroughly.
3. Form crab cakes, adding another egg if needed to keep
cake form, and place them on wax paper on a cookie
sheet.
4. Cover with wax paper and put them in the freezer
until they are solid.
5. You may then layer them with wax paper in a freezer
bag for storage in the freezer.
Ready to Cook:
1. When ready to serve, put enough butter and
olive oil (about 50/50 mix) to cover your frying pan
over medium heat and fry the crab cakes, frozen from the
freezer.
2. They should only be turned once after the bottom is a
nice deep golden brown.
3. They are difficult to turn without breaking, which is
why we cook them frozen and only turn once.
Remoulade Sauce
In order for Karen to write down the sauce,
Tim had to catch more crabs and clean them, so Karen had
a reason to make the sauce again for more crab cakes.
Tough life, but they love it.
Ingredients:
1 cup
of mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cloves roasted garlic
2 teaspoons alamondin marmalade (substitute orange)
1-1/2 Tablespoon minced red pepper
2 green onions minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoons thyme
Red pepper flakes to taste
Mix
all and thin, if necessary, with white vinegar to a
creamy texture. The Hill Team, as well as Tim and Karen,
hope you enjoy the above recipes. |
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Vine
Ripened Tomatoes with Basil Pesto Mozzarella Roll & Peach
Vinaigrette
We’re including a
salad from our book, “Our Love Affairs with Food & Travel,” as it is
one we enjoy. We got it from the Nana Grill Chef, Cedric Williams,
in Dallas, Texas. Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 small tomatoes,
sliced (red and yellow)
Mixed greens
3 pounds mozzarella curd
1 gallon water
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 ounce pine nuts
1 ounce Swiss cheese
3 cloves garlic
1 cup olive oil
3 cups spinach
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Put spinach, basil, pine nuts, cheese and garlic in a food
processor, blend while adding oil slowly. Add salt and pepper to
taste.
2. Bring water to a boil. Take chopped mozzarella curd and add to
boiling water in a strainer.
3. Take spoon and stretch curd to a consistent smooth texture.
4. Remove from water and press to 1/8 inch thickness and sprinkle
salt & pepper over cheese to your taste.
5. Spread basil pesto on ¼ of the cheese, roll and chill.
6. Repeat 3 times.
Peach Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
1 peach, diced (We
sometimes substitute mangos)
¼ ounce shallot, chopped
¼ ounce thyme
¼ ounce oregano
1 clove garlic/chopped
2 ounces peach puree
1 ounce peach schnapps
4 ounces salad oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Mix all
vinaigrette ingredients together except the oil.
2. Add oil slowly while stirring.
Plating:
1. Dish is plated
with sliced red and yellow tomatoes and mixed greens tossed with
vinaigrette.
2. Top with mozzarella roll.
Mango
Ginger and Chili Sorbet
Here is another
favorite from our book that we discovered in Singapore, while taking
a cooking class at the Spice Garden – Fort Canning At Surice. Serves
4
Ingredients:
4 mangos, peeled
and pitted
3 tablespoons finely grated ginger root
1 kaffir lime leaf, stem removed
1 red bird eye chili, seeded (a medium hot chili could be
substituted)
7 tablespoons lime juice
¼ cup clear honey
½ cup palm sugar (You find this in Asian markets and it is made from
the sap of sugar palm trees. If you substitute, we would suggest a
natural sugar.)
Directions:
1. Place all
ingredients, except palm sugar, in a blender.
2. Purée for 2 minutes.
3. Add palm sugar and blend a further 20 seconds.
4. Transfer to an ice cream maker.
5. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions and keep in
freezer until ready to serve.
