Seafood Dinner Party (Intermediate)

Fail-safe easy recipes for a wonderful seafood dinner party along with some tips and tricks to make the party one to remember.

Apéritif

Creamy Bacalhau

Serves 4

Preferred Seafood: Bacalhau (salted cod)

Alternative Saltwater Option: Salted Pollock, Salted Haddock

Alternative Freshwater Option: None really

Sustainable Option: Salted Pollock

Garnish

Chopped Parsley

Ingredients

  • 500 g bacalhau (salted cod)

  • 4 cloves garlic (peeled)

  • Olive oil (about 100-150 ml)

  • Salt (to taste)

  • Black pepper (to taste)

Method

Start by soaking the bacalhau in cold water for at least 12 hours or overnight, changing the water a couple of times to remove excess salt, then drain the bacalhau and place it in a pestle and mortar along with the peeled garlic cloves, pound the fish and garlic together until it forms a smooth paste, gradually adding olive oil as you go to achieve a creamy consistency, mixing well until it is fully incorporated, and season with salt and black pepper to taste; once ready, transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve with crusty bread or over boiled potatoes.

Soup

Sicilian Lobster Stew

Serves 4

Preferred Seafood: Lobsters

Alternative Saltwater Option: Prawns, Langoustines, Crab

Alternative Freshwater Option: Crayfish

Sustainable Option: Crawfish, Mussels

Garnish

Handful of fresh basil, leaves picked.

Ingredients

  • 150 g dried lasagne sheets, smashed up

  • 2 x 1 kg lobsters

  • Extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 large white onion, peeled and finely chopped

  • 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

  • 1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • 1 or 2 small dried red chillies, crumbled

  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, smashed up

  • ½ a bottle of white wine (Sicilian if possible)

  • 850 ml passata or 3 Ă— 400 g tins of good-quality plum tomatoes, liquidised

  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Handful of whole almonds

Method

Start by heating a large pot. If you're using live lobsters, place them in the fridge for half an hour before preparing them. To kill them, chop between their eyes with a sharp knife, remove the head, claws, and tail. Cut up the head and discard the stomach sac near the eyes. In the pot, add olive oil, the lobster parts, onions, garlic, carrots, cinnamon, chillies, and fennel seeds. Fry for 15 minutes until the onions have some colour. Add white wine and boil for 5 minutes, then add passata and water. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the broth is rich and flavourful. Strain the soup through a colander, pressing down on the shells with a ladle.

Salad

Perch Fillets with Lemon Dressing

Serves 4

Preferred Seafood: Perch

Alternative Saltwater Option: Sea Bass, Snapper, Flounder

Alternative Freshwater Option: Pike

Sustainable Option: Pike, Sea Bass, Snapper

Garnish

Lemon slices and pine nuts or sunflower seeds

Ingredients

  • 150 g mixed young slate, alternatively rocket and baby spinach mixed

  • 150 g cherry tomatoes

  • Salt, black pepper from the mill

  • Handful of basil

  • 2 tablespoons of pine nuts or sunflower seeds

  • Juice of 1 lemon

  • 1 teaspoon of liquid honey

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

  • 8 perch fillets without skin, approx. 400 g

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

Wash and dry the salad. Then, season the tomatoes with salt and pepper and pluck the basil leaves. Roast pine or sunflower seeds in a dry pan until golden and set them aside. Next, rub the yellow peel of half of a lemon and dice it, squeezing the other half for its juice. Mix the lemon juice, zest, honey, salt, pepper, and olive oil to create a creamy sauce, adding half of the lemon cubes. Season the perch fillets with salt and pepper, and fry them in olive oil for under a minute per side. Finally, mix the salad, tomatoes, and basil with the dressing, arranging the fish fillets on top and garnishing with remaining lemon slices and seeds.

Fish First Course

Tandoori Monkfish

Serves 4

Preferred Seafood: Monkfish

Alternative Saltwater Option: Halibut, Swordfish

Alternative Freshwater Option: Trout

Sustainable Option: Trout, Arctic Char

Garnish

Chopped Coriander

Ingredients

  • Juice of ½ lemon

  • 1 tsp chilli powder

  • 1 tsp turmeric

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 500 g monkfish fillet, cut into 5cm chunks

    For The Tandoori Paste—

  • 1 tsp fennel seeds

  • 1 tsp caraway seeds

  • ½ tsp chilli powder

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 50 g natural yogurt

  • 30 g cashew nuts

  • 15 g/3cm ginger, roughly chopped

  • 10 g/2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Method

To make this dish, start by preheating the oven to its highest setting. Then, mix lemon juice, chilli powder, turmeric, and salt and rub it over the fish pieces, letting it sit for five minutes. After that, make the tandoori paste by grinding fennel seeds, caraway seeds, chilli powder, and salt into a powder using a spice grinder. Transfer the ground spices to a mini food processor and blend it with yogurt, cashew nuts, ginger, garlic to make a paste. Rub the paste over the marinated fish and then place the fish on a wire rack over a roasting tin in the top shelf of the oven for 5 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through. To finish, serve with garlic butter naans.

Shellfish First Course

Crab And Gruyère Tartlets

Serves 4

Preferred Seafood: Crab

Alternative Saltwater Option: Lobster

Alternative Freshwater Option: Crayfish

Sustainable Option: Crawfish, Lobster

Garnish

Gruyère cheese, finely grated

Ingredients

  • 225 g white crab meat

  • 50 g brown crab meat

  • 2 egg yolks

  • 85 ml double cream

  • A pinch of cayenne pepper

  • 50 g Gruyère cheese, finely grated

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

    For The Pastry—

  • 225 g plain flour

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 130 g butter

  • 1½ tablespoons cold water

  • 1 egg white

Method

To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a food processor, added butter, and processed until it resembled fine breadcrumbs. Then, transfer it to a mixing bowl, add water, and mix with a knife until it comes together into a ball. Roll out the pastry thinly and line 4 tartlet tins. Chill them for 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 220°C. Line the pastry cases with crumpled greaseproof paper, fill the base with baking beans, and bake blind for 15 minutes. Next, remove the paper and beans, brush the inside of each case with an unbeaten egg white, and bake for another 2 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 200°C. Then in a separate bowl, mix the crab meat with egg yolks, cream, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Spoon the mixture into the tartlet cases, sprinkle with grated Gruyère cheese, and bake at the top of the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden.

Fish Main Course

Poached Sea Bass with Beurre Fondue

Serves 4

Preferred Seafood: Sea Bass

Alternative Saltwater Option: Halibut, Cod, Haddock

Alternative Freshwater Option: Trout, Perch

Sustainable Option: Trout, Whelks

Garnish

Chopped chives

Ingredients

  • 4 x 450 g sea bass, cleaned and scaled

    For the court-bouillon—

  • 2 fresh bay leaves

  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

  • 1 carrot, sliced

  • 1 small onion,

  • Sliced small lemon,

  • Salt tablespoons

  • White wine vinegar

  • 3 Litres water

    For the beurre fondue—

  • 100 g Chilled unsalted butter, cut into small

  • 1 shallot, finely chopped

  • 50 ml dry white wine

  • 1 tablespoon chopped chives

  • Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Method

Preparing the court-bouillon in a fish kettle (or a big pan), boiling and simmering the ingredients for 5 minutes. Then add the sea bass, bring it to a quick boil for 10 seconds, and cover to let it cook gently for 5 minutes (for small bass) or 15 minutes (for larger fish). Once cooked, carefully lift the sea bass out of the fish kettle, let it drain, and transfer it to a warmed serving plate, keeping it covered and warm. Strain 50 ml of the court bouillon and set it aside. Next, for the fondue, melt 15 g of butter in a small saucepan and gently cook the shallot for 5 minutes until softened. add the wine and boil until reduced, then add the reserved strained court bouillon and bring it to a fast boil. Whisk in the remaining chilled butter pieces, a few at a time, add chives, season to taste, and pour the sauce over the poached sea bass before serving.

Shellfish Main Course

Lobster and Langoustines Risotto

Serves 4

Preferred Seafood: Lobster, Langoustines

Alternative Saltwater Option: Brown Crab, Shrimp, Scallops, Clams, Squid

Alternative Freshwater Option: Crawfish (Crayfish) Freshwater Prawns, Catfish

Sustainable Option: Crawfish, Freshwater Shrimp, Whelks

Garnish

Parmesan cheese, chopped flat-leaf parsley

Ingredients

  • 150 g butter

  • 1 onion, finely chopped

  • 450 g Arborio (short-grain) rice

  • 2 wineglass of dry white wine

    1200 ml fish or chicken stock (preferably from cooking the lobster)

  • 100 g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

  • Few strands of saffron

  • 100 g butter

  • 25 fresh langoustines

  • 1 kg lobster meat

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • Juice of 1 lemon

  • 2 wineglass of cognac or grappa

  • Chopped flat-leaf parsley

  • Parmesan cheese

Method

To prepare the lobster and langoustines, boil them in a mixture of water and wine until the shell turns pink, let it cool and remove the flesh, slice it and set it aside. Then, strain the cooking liquid into a jug. To make the risotto, melt the butter in a large frying pan and sauté the onion until it becomes transparent. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Then, pour in half of the stock and bring it to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat, adding more stock as needed, until the rice is just tender, moist, and creamy. This should take about 20 minutes, but keep an eye on it and taste it occasionally. When it's ready, add the grated Parmesan and saffron and keep it hot while finishing the dish. In another frying pan, heat the remaining butter and sauté the scampi and lobster quickly. Season it with salt, black pepper, and lemon juice, then add the cognac or grappa and cook for a minute or so. To serve, spoon the risotto onto warm plates and top it with the lobster and scampi mixture, spooning the juices over the top. Sprinkle some chopped parsley and Parmesan shavings on it, if you like.

Very Special Main Course (Optional)

Salmon Pastry in Champagne Sauce

Serves 4

Preferred Seafood: Salmon

Alternative Saltwater Option: Mackerel, Sea Bass, Cod, Halibut, Hake, Snapper

Alternative Freshwater Option: Arctic Char, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Whitefish, Catfish, Perch, Walleye

Sustainable Option: Rainbow Trout, Arctic Char

Garnish

Nothing

Ingredients

  • 450 g butter puff pastry or frozen puff pastry.

    For The Tarragon Butter—

  • 180 g unsalted butter

  • 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • Juice of a quarter lemon

  • 4 turns of the black peppermill

  • 600 g salmon fillet, skinned

  • 1 beaten egg (for egg wash)

    For The Champagne Sauce—

  • 300 ml fish stock

  • 180 ml double cream

  • 120 ml champagne

  • 15 g mushrooms

  • Herbes (parsley, tarragon, chives and chervil)

  • 15 g chopped onion

Method

Start by making the sauce, reducing fish stock, champagne, mushrooms, and onion in a saucepan and adding cream until it coats the back of a spoon. While that reduces, make the tarragon butter by mixing softened butter, tarragon, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Then cut and stuff the salmon with tarragon butter and wrap each fillet in thin puff pastry. After chilling it for half an hour, bake it for 12 minutes and slice each portion into 4 or 5 pieces, arranging them on warm plates. Finally, finish the champagne sauce by whisking in some whipped cream and chopped herbs before serving. It's a bit time-consuming but worth the effort for a moist and slightly pink salmon with a delicious sauce.