Batter Up!

I often crave a good fish fry and I especially love mine done in a really good beer batter but I think I have found something that actually works better. While on one of my recipe hunts I came across a batter for fish that uses a can of 7-Up. The more I thought about it I realized this was a great idea even more so than using beer. The carbonation has always been a key component in getting that light puffiness that you look for in a good beer batter but what the beer does not give you is.....sugar and lots of it. That is where the 7-Up fits the bill brilliantly. It has enough carbonation to ensure that it puffs up but it also has a very high sugar content to create a caramelized crispiness that you don't quite achieve using the beer. Plus the lemon lime flavoring actually imparts an interesting flavor dimension to take your normal fish fry to a whole new level.

7-Up Fish Batter

1 egg
1 c. pancake mix
8 oz. 7-Up (approximately)
additional pancake mix
Fish filets of your choosing, also works well with shrimp, scallops or clams.

Mix egg, pancake mix and 7-Up together well. Dip thin fish fillets, which have been coated with pancake batter (shake both in plastic bag) and chilled about 20 minutes in mixture. Remove 1 at a time and deep fry for 4 to 6 minutes at about 400 degrees. Remove onto paper towels to drain.

2008 Meet 2009

Sometimes the best way to embrace the new is by recognizing and respecting all the old things that have played a part in getting us to where we are at this very moment. Even the bad things that happen to us have there place in forming who we are and what we can become. Every person, each experience, every moment creates the bridge on which we cross to reach the next chapter of our lives. So instead of doing away with the old let us instead embrace it and find a way to blend it with the new to create possibilities.
I look at the New Year as life’s rear view mirror, always watchful of the things behind us while carefully maneuvering through all of life’s twists and turns to better reach our destination.

Seafood Lasagna

8 tbsp. butter
8 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 c. cream
1 c. milk
1 c. chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of nutmeg
1 lb. lasagna, "no boil type"
10 oz. frozen spinach, thaw and drain on paper towels
16 oz. ricotta cheese
8 oz. mozzarella cheese
8 oz. provolone cheese
1 can sliced mushrooms or saute 1 cup of fresh mushrooms
2 sliced onions
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 tomato, cut and peeled
1 1/2 lb. seafood (shrimp, crabmeat)
Parsley and rosemary to taste

To make sauce, melt butter and add flour. Take it off the burner, add cream, milk and broth. Put back on burner. Stir constantly. When everything is mixed, take it off the fire. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. To make lasagna, saute onions and mushrooms in butter and oil. Add spinach, tomato, parsley and rosemary. Add seafood. In a greased lasagna pan, pour some sauce, place some lasagna, seafood, mozzarella, ricotta sauce, provolone, and press it down before you begin second layer. Follow same order as first layer, ending with lasagna strips and sauce. Be sure to generously cover with sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes.

Photo/PaulaVB/Flickr

Feast of How Many Fishes?

One of the things I think we all looked so forward to on Christmas Eve was the seafood table. Everyone would make their contributions to the table. Instead of feast of the seven fishes some times it would end up being more like feast of the twelve fishes. We always had shrimp two ways; cocktail and fried. Then my mother would make two types of calamari, my grandfather and aunt would make their famous clam’s casino. My aunt Lena always made her linguini with red clam sauce. When I was very little and they were more affordable my grandmother would also make lobster dainties with drawn butter. Some dishes would vary from year to year sometimes there would be a seafood chowder or this one here which is so delicious and can encompass a variety of delectable’s from the sea, feel free to make this with the sea foods that you prefer.

Christmas Eve Marinated Seafood Salad

3 pounds of shrimp (30 count size)
3 pounds of large scallops
1 pound of squid
1 small onion diced
10 large cloves of garlic, chopped or sliced, just not too fine
1/4 teaspoon of cracked black pepper
Juice of 4 lemons
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 bunch Italian parsley leaves (half will be chopped, the other half will be whole)

Some more delicious but optional suggestions; “olives, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper strips, celery. Some mussels or clams would be lovely as well with or without the shell.

Peel and devein shrimp. Wash and boil in 4 quarts salted water and 10 stems from the parsley. Cook 3-5 minutes. Drain shrimp and shock in cold water, reserve 1 quart of water.
Bring shrimp water to boil. Add scallops. Simmer about 10 minutes. Remove scallops. Cut shrimp lengthwise, cut scallops in half or if large in 4 pieces.
Slice squid into very thin strips or rings. Blanch in boiling shrimp water for 1 minute. Remove, add to shrimp and scallops. Cool boiling liquid a bit, and then pour over seafood - just to cover, in a large shallow pan.
Pick 1/4 cup parsley leaves from stems. Chop up half, keep other half whole. Add olive oil and lemon juice, black pepper, garlic and onions. Mix well and pour evenly over seafood. Shake pan so marinade mixes with seafood and stock. Keep at room temperature 1 hour. Refrigerate 2 days. Remove from refrigerator 2 hours before serving, should not be very cold when served.