Friday, October 16, 2020

Cheesy Mixed Seafood Gratin #FishFridayFoodies

This cheesy mixed seafood gratin is a comforting dish your whole family will love. Serve it with grilled baguette slices as an appetizer, as a stand alone main course or to top a baked potato or pasta. 

Food Lust People Love: This cheesy mixed seafood gratin is a comforting dish your whole family will love. Serve it with grilled baguette slices as an appetizer, as a stand alone main course or to top a baked potato or pasta.

I tend to buy seafood, at least when I don’t buy it fresh, in bags where it’s been flash frozen in individual pieces because that makes it easy to thaw and cook exactly what you need. 

The problem with this system, if it can even be called a system, is that sometimes I have one fish fillet or a handful of shrimp - or whatever - at the end of the bag. That’s when this tasty recipe comes in handy. 

Use whatever seafood you have! Crab meat, shrimp, any sort of boneless fish – smoked or not, scallops, mussels, even lobster meat, if you are so lucky. I’d probably draw the line at octopus or squid since they can be chewy when overcooked. 

Cheesy Mixed Seafood Gratin 

One more suggestion for serving this cheesy mixed seafood gratin: Add some frozen peas or even diced carrots, bake it topped with mashed potatoes instead of the breadcrumbs and call it fish pie, another warm and comforting dish. I love the versatility of this dish!

Ingredients
1/2 cup or 113g butter 
2 small stalks celery
1/2 medium onion
1/2 green bellpepper
1 red chili pepper (optional)
2 large cloves garlic
1/2 cup or 63g flour 
2 cups or 473ml milk 
8 oz or 226g cream cheese, at room temperature
2 fillets fish (about 3 1/2  – 4 1/4 oz or 100-120g each – I used one tilapia, one salmon
1 lb 1 2/3 oz or 500g shrimps, already peeled and deveined
3 1/2 oz or 100g smoked salmon
1 tablespoon sherry
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For topping:
1/2 cup, packed, or 60g fresh breadcrumbs
3 oz or 85g Parmesan, grated
3 oz or 85g mozzarella, grated
drizzle olive oil

Optional to garnish:
Chopped flat leaf parsley

Method
Remove the hard strings and cut the celery into small cubes. Peel and dice the onion. Dice the green pepper, red pepper and mince the garlic.


Heat half of the butter over a low to medium flame, preferably in a pan that can go into the oven later. No one wants more washing up. 

Sauté the vegetables in the butter until they’ve softened, about 5-7 minutes. 


Add in the rest of the butter and let it melt. 


Add in the flour and stir until it’s well combined with the butter and veg with no flour showing. I like to add my flour with a sifter or sieve a little at a time, just sprinkling the top.


Once it’s all added, cook for a minute or two to get rid of the floury flavor. 


Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Turn off the heat under the pan and stir the milk in a little at a time stirring well so you don’t create any lumps. 



Once it’s completely incorporated, add in the cream cheese cut into cubes and turn the heat back on low. 


Meanwhile, cut your seafood into bite-sized pieces. I chopped the smoked salmon pretty fine because it is quite salty and it's best dispersed evenly throughout the gratin. 


When the sauce has thickened, add the seafood to the pan and cook for several minutes over a medium flame until the sauce begins to bubble a little and seafood is just cooked through. 


Add in the sherry and season to taste with sea salt (if you are using salty smoked fish you might not need any) and few good grinds of black pepper. Stir well. 


If your pan is not oven-friendly now is the time to transfer the mixture to a baking dish that is. Toss together the breadcrumbs, Parmesan and mozzarella. Sprinkle the mixture on the seafood. 


Drizzle the top with olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden and the gratin is bubbling nicely around the edges. 

Food Lust People Love: This cheesy mixed seafood gratin is a comforting dish your whole family will love. Serve it with grilled baguette slices as an appetizer, as a stand alone main course or to top a baked potato or pasta.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a little chopped parsley for garnish. 

Food Lust People Love: This cheesy mixed seafood gratin is a comforting dish your whole family will love. Serve it with grilled baguette slices as an appetizer, as a stand alone main course or to top a baked potato or pasta.

Serve on grilled bread, as topping for a baked potato or cooked pasta, or even on its own - with fresh veggies or a green salad to complete the meal. 

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: This cheesy mixed seafood gratin is a comforting dish your whole family will love. Serve it with grilled baguette slices as an appetizer, as a stand alone main course or to top a baked potato or pasta.

This month my Friday Fish Foodie friends are sharing comfort food recipes made with seafood. Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime and our chief organizer Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the wonderful dishes!


Are you a food blogger who would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.


     Pin this Cheesy Mixed Seafood Gratin! 

Food Lust People Love: This cheesy mixed seafood gratin is a comforting dish your whole family will love. Serve it with grilled baguette slices as an appetizer, as a stand alone main course or to top a baked potato or pasta.

.


Thursday, October 15, 2020

Spiked Pumpkin Gingerbread Bundt #BundtBakers

This spiked pumpkin gingerbread Bundt combines your favorite pumpkin cake with your favorite gingerbread, brushed with a rum butter glaze, a fabulous treat for autumn. 

Food Lust People Love: This spiked pumpkin gingerbread Bundt combines your favorite pumpkin cake with your favorite gingerbread, brushed with a rum butter glaze, a fabulous treat for autumn.

This month I’m hosting our Bundt Bakers event and I chose the ingredient/theme pumpkin because as much as I object to pumpkin flavored things while it’s still summer, come October, I’m ready! 

As I mentioned many moons ago, when I shared my gingerbread muffins with honey ginger glaze (topped with crystallized ginger because why do things halfway?) gingerbread is a seasonal favorite at our house. It is the harbinger of fall, even as the air is still way too hot and the orange- and red-hued leaves are yet to make an appearance.

Spiked Pumpkin Gingerbread Bundt

This recipe is adapted from a spice cake on the NordicWare website to fit a 9-cup Bundt pan. You can certainly use a 10-cup Bundt pan also. 

Ingredients
For the batter:
2 cups or 250g flour, plus extra for the pan
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 200g brown sugar
1 cup or 200g sugar
1 (15 oz or 425g) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/2 cup or 120ml molasses
3 eggs
1/2 cup or 113g butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for the pan

For the rum butter glaze:
1/2 cup or 113g butter
1 cup or 200g sugar
1/4 cup or 60ml dark rum
1/4 cup or 60ml water
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare your 9-cup Bundt pan by greasing it liberally with butter and then coating it with flour. In case you are curious, mine is the NordicWare pan Harvest Leaves. <affiliate link.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.


In another large bowl, whisk together the sugars, pumpkin puree, molasses, butter and eggs.


Using a spatula, fold the flour mixture into the wet mixture until the mixture is nearly combined. Do not overmix!


Pour the batter into your prepared Bundt pan and smooth out the top. 


Bake the Bundt for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. 


Meanwhile, make the rum butter glaze. In a small saucepan combine butter, sugar, rum and water over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes stirring constantly. 


Remove from heat and cool slightly.

When the Bundt is done, remove it from the oven and leave in the pan to cool for about 5-7 minutes. Loosen the edges with a toothpick and turn the cake out onto a serving platter. 

Food Lust People Love: This spiked pumpkin gingerbread Bundt combines your favorite pumpkin cake with your favorite gingerbread, brushed with a rum butter glaze, a fabulous treat for autumn.

Generously brush cake with the rum butter glaze. 

Food Lust People Love: This spiked pumpkin gingerbread Bundt combines your favorite pumpkin cake with your favorite gingerbread, brushed with a rum butter glaze, a fabulous treat for autumn.

Put the rest of the glaze in a tiny pitcher so people can add more to their slices as desired. 

Food Lust People Love: This spiked pumpkin gingerbread Bundt combines your favorite pumpkin cake with your favorite gingerbread, brushed with a rum butter glaze, a fabulous treat for autumn.

Enjoy! 

Food Lust People Love: This spiked pumpkin gingerbread Bundt combines your favorite pumpkin cake with your favorite gingerbread, brushed with a rum butter glaze, a fabulous treat for autumn.


Check out all the other pumpkin Bundts my fellow Bundt Bakers are sharing today! 

BundtBakers

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our home page.


Pin this Spiked Pumpkin Gingerbread Bundt!

Food Lust People Love: This spiked pumpkin gingerbread Bundt combines your favorite pumpkin cake with your favorite gingerbread, brushed with a rum butter glaze, a fabulous treat for autumn.

 .

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Wholemeal Soda Bread #BreadBakers

Wholemeal soda bread is simple to make, quick to bake and toasts up like a dream. It’s perfect for sandwiches or just smeared with butter and jam. 

Food Lust People Love: Wholemeal soda bread is simple to make, quick to bake and toasts up like a dream. It’s perfect for sandwiches or just smeared with butter and jam.

This recipe is adapted from one by Irish chef and founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School Darina Allen. She calls it Mummy’s Brown Soda Bread. I found it in several places on the internet, one with a note that at 82 years old (published in 2007) her mother Elizabeth O’Connell still made this loaf every day. 

Of course, that meant I had to find out if the ole gal was still baking now at a possible 95 years old, which led me to the most wonderful tribute to Mrs. O’Connell who sadly passed away on April 17, 2008. Chef Allen speaks of making this very bread as a young child in a mom-sewn apron, forming her own little loaf from a piece of her mother’s larger ball of dough. 

By all accounts, Mrs. O’Connell was a remarkable woman. Widowed at 36, she gave birth to her ninth and last child a month after losing her husband. She cooked them wholesome, healthy food, using produce from her kitchen garden, milk from the family cow and chickens she raised. Chef Allen recounts that her mother was still baking this soda bread, even after suffering a stroke, with her “good hand.” What a woman! I wish I could have met her. 

Wholemeal Soda Bread

I called this bread wholemeal soda bread since that is what whole wheat flour is called in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Here in the US, it’s known as whole wheat flour, of course. 

Ingredients
1 tablespoon white vinegar
About 1 2/3 cups milk
1 3/4 cups or 210g wholemeal (whole wheat in the US) flour
1 3/4 cups (218g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda 
2 tablespoons butter, cut in cubes 
1 egg

Method
Preheat the oven to 425°F or 220°C and line a baking pan with baking parchment or a silicone liner. 

Put the tablespoon of white vinegar in your measuring cup then fill it to the 1 2/3 cup or 393ml milk. Set aside to sour. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, and baking soda. 


Add the butter in small cubes and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs. 


Make a well in the center.

In another bowl, whisk the egg with the sour milk and pour most of the liquid into the flour mixture. 


Using one hand like a claw, bring the flour and liquid together gradually. I used my Swedish whisk and I recommend you do too, if you have one. They sure make mixing dough less messy. 


Add more of the sour milk mixture, if necessary. The dough should be quite soft, but not too sticky.


Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and gently bring it together into a round about 2 inches or 5cm thick. I used a floured scraper for the shaping. Transfer it to your prepared baking pan.


 Use a sharp knife or a lame to  cut a deep cross on top. Chef Allen calls this blessing the bread. Next poke a small hole in each quarter. These are to allow the fairies to escape. 


Bake for  in the preheated oven 15 minutes then turn down the heat to 400°F or 200°C and bake for about 30 minutes more. 

When it is done, the loaf will sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom.


Remove from the baking pan and place on a wire rack to cool.


Enjoy! 



Check out all the other lovely brown breads my Bread Baker friends are sharing today. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Wholemeal Soda Bread! 

Food Lust People Love: Wholemeal soda bread is simple to make, quick to bake and toasts up like a dream. It’s perfect for sandwiches or just smeared with butter and jam.

 .