Category Archives: seafood

Dec 19 1 comments
beans, slaws, quiches, mashers, and casseroles, captain james cooks, holiday, seafood

Oyster Casserole

Like most everyone, I am the result of many different families, marriages, couplings.  Most recently I can trace my lineage back to four families, the Rosemonds, Waldrons, Fiorellos, and Ballengers.  This past Saturday was the Ballenger family Christmas party, my paternal grandmother’s family.  My grandmother, Bobbie, was the daughter of Stanley Ballenger and Flossie Caudell, and had a sister Nita and two brothers, Ted and Jimmy.  Dan and I don’t often have the opportunity to attend these gatherings because of the timing and distance but this year it happened to fall the day before my sister Genevieve’s graduation from UNC.  This lucky timing means that this Christmas we’ll be able to see every side of our family, which is completely wonderful.

Over Thanksgiving my dad and I were talking about the Ballenger party and he mentioned that he very much wanted to recreate a recipe from my grandmother, Bobbie.  It was her mock oyster casserole recipe (also known as broccoli casserole), and he wanted to make it with real oysters.  We did some digging and recipe planning and decided that the morning of the party we’d wing it.  And that we did.

My dad loves to make fun of me because, it seems, over the years I’ve become that person that people ask for food advice.  Saturday was no exception.  As we were throwing the casserole together (and arguing about how to make it) I was reminded of how important food is to my family’s culture.  On all sides food is something to create and enjoy together.  It seems my blue eyes, firery personality, and two left feet aren’t the only things I inherited.

The recipe is pretty simple, we layered saltines, spinach, oysters, cheese, mushrooms and onions, and then poured a cream sauce over everything.  The end result was completely delicious, salty and full of flavor with just a little spice.  It’s not quite the broccoli casserole that inspired it, but it was a success.

In other news, the real reason we were in NC this past weekend, Genevieve Ann Pigeon is officially a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  I may have bullied her in to attending her graduation, but she did it and she was beautiful and I am SO incredibly proud of her.

In just a week (December 27), she’s moving to Ireland for a year.  I’m conflicted, both excited for her and wallowing in despair about not seeing her for a year.  The only solution, I think, is that we visit her. Get ready for it Gen!

 (I realize that this is not a cocktail recipe, and is in fact the second recipe I’ve posted this month that is not part of the month-of-cocktails promise I made. It was just too delicious and too perfect for the holiday table not to share it with you.  We’ll be back later this week with more beverages!)

Oyster Casserole

24 large oysters (or 48 small ones)

1 large onion

10-12 button mushrooms

Saltines

2-4 cups fresh spinach

1 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

2 tsps hot sauce

Salt

1 tbsp butter

Paprika

Shuck your oysters and set them aside.

In a medium pot combine milk, cream, a sprinkle of salt, some of the oyster juice (the liquid the oysters are sitting in), a dash of paprika, tsp of worcestershire sauce, a tsp of hot sauce.  Once it is warm, stir in half of the cheese.  Bring almost to a boil, allowing it to thicken, then remove from heat.

Crumble saltines in a thin layer along the bottom of a large casserole dish.  Saute onions and mushrooms, diced, in butter, a tbsp of worcestershire sauce, and a tsp of hot sauce.  Scoop those into the dish on top of the saltines.  Add half of the shredded cheese.  Top with oysters. and spinach.

Crumble a second layer of saltines over the top so that there is a good crust.  Pour the cream mixture in, pouring around the edges so the crust is left mostly undisturbed.  Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

 

Sep 27 4 comments
appetizers, captain james cooks, grilled, barbequed, smoked, and fried, seafood

Jalapeño Crab Cakes

This summer we’ve been fortunate enough to travel everywhere from Savannah to Philadelphia.  Along the way, one food has popped up over and over again- the crab cake.  From crab cakes at my cousin’s wedding to the Low Country Crab Cake I enjoyed Monday (more on that later), it’s been the summer of crab.  And we are not complaining.

Living in Maryland has taught me many things, a lot of which pertain to crab.  I’ve learned how to cook crabs, pick them, season them, and transform lump crab into delicious cakes.  The trick to a perfect crab cake? More crab, less filler.  My friend Jamie taught me that one. 

When we were heading down to the Swamp House last month my dad and I were tossing around recipe ideas and he mentioned that he had some lump crab he needed to use, and thought maybe jalapeño crab fritters would be the perfect appetizer one night.  So when Dan and I were planning our night to cook, we decided to start with these.

In true Rosemond fashion, my dad backseat drove the kitchen situation as I was making these.  ”You’re not adding too little filler, are you?” was his prodding question of choice.  I told him to trust me, that I’d learned a thing or two during my time in Maryland.

I’m happy to report that they turned out perfectly.  So perfectly, in fact, that the Captain admitted that they were the perfect ratio of crab to delicious.

Jalapeño Crab Cakes

1 cup lump crab meat

1 egg, whisked

1 large jalapeño, chopped

1/2 cup crushed crackers

Dash of pepper

1 tsp salt (less if you’re using salted crackers)

Juice of two lemons

Mix together all your ingredients and form small cakes.  Heat 1/2″ oil in a deep pan and fry the cakes for 3-4 minutes each side, or until golden brown.

Sep 02 2 comments
roasted meats and veggies, seafood

Whole Roasted Snapper

First of all, for those of you who have so sweetly been asking, I wanted to let you know that my parents, family, friends, and their possessions in the Outer Banks are fine.  As you might know my dad, Capt’n James Rosemond, lives in Morehead City most of the year running his dive charter, Tortuga Charters.  He lives on Fisher Street, a block away from the family vacation home, the Swamp House.  Because Irene hit the area so directly (landing on Cape Lookout, the lighthouse shown below), MHC was in serious danger.  Thankfully the Swamp House only flooded, something it is prepared for, and Pap’s house was dry and safe.  We were very, very lucky, and my heart goes out to those who were not so fortunate.

While we were in MHC last week for our vacation I had the opportunity to try something I’d wanted to do for a long time- to stuff and roast a whole fish.  Tuesday afternoon, our night to cook, Dan and I headed to the local seafood market and picked up three pink snapper.  We had gone for red vermillion snapper but my new bff at the market recommended pink as it has “the same flavor for half the price.”  I love that kind of advice.

We stuffed the snapper with rosemary, thyme, lemon, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil, bathed them in white wine, and then let them roast.  We paired the fish with couscous, a cucumber, tomato, and feta salad, and a sauvignon blanc.  One thing that struck us as when ate was that despite smelling amazing, the fish was still pretty subtle.  It was tasty, but didn’t have the flavor punch we were hoping for.

When we evacuated MHC to come back to Baltimore we were sent home with the leftovers (including a whole fish- my friend at the fish market suggested 3 fish for 6 adults, his family apparently eats much more than mine).  We enjoyed the fish for dinner this week with a  simple sauce- browned butter, white wine, garlic, and rosemary.  It gave the fish exactly the flavor boost we were looking for, a perfect addition to the meal.

Despite a looming hurricane our week in Carteret County was wonderful, easily one of the best family vacations we’ve ever taken.  And since the Swamp House survived to see another hurricane I look forward to doing another couples vacation next summer. Maybe next year we can actually catch the fish we cook!

Whole Roasted Snapper

feeds six adults

2 medium-large pink or red snapper

3 lemons

Bunch of rosemary, put some aside for sauce

Bunch of thyme

7 cloves of garlic

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

1/2 bottle dry white wine

1 stick butter

Have the market scale, gill, and clean your whole snapper.  When you get home, open up the cavity and drizzle olive oil inside.  Then sprinkle in salt and pepper.  Chunk your garlic and add 2 cloves to the inside of each fish.  Split the thyme and rosemary between the two fish, leaving a little to put on top.  Slice your lemons and put 1 whole lemon inside each fish.

Line two baking pans with foil. Lay down 1/2 lemon and 1/2 garlic clove in each pan.  Put the fish in the pan and top with remaining herbs.  Drizzle with olive oil and add 1 cup of wine to each.  Bake for 35 minutes at 400.

While the fish are baking, make your sauce.  Over very low heat combine butter, a bit of chopped rosemary, and the last clove of garlic, chopped.  Allow to simmer until the butter has browned.  Add 1/2 cup white wine, and simmer for 5 more minutes.  Set aside.

When your fish is done serve it whole.  Use a fork or a knife to open the fish up, peeling the skin back.  Allow your guests to pick the meat out.  Serve with the sauce on the side so that people can add it as they please.

 

Jul 03 2 comments
seafood, tutorials

Picking Crabs, Maryland Style

Since I moved to Maryland in 2004 I have not eaten a whole crab. I’ve eaten plenty of crab cakes, more crab dip than I’d like to admit, a few crab pretzels, and a fair amount of crab laden sushi. But no whole crabs. In fact, the only time I’ve ever had a whole crab was at my stepgrandfather’s house in high school. We were there for Pop-Pop’s birthday, and in tribute to his Baltimore roots we ate crabs. Or, rather, my family ate crabs. I got as far as a lung (nobody told it was the lung!) and decided I preferred hot dogs.

Enter my friend Jamie. Jamie comes from a long line of proud Marylanders, people who spend as much time picking apart crabs as us Carolinians do picking apart pigs. They’ve refined the process to a science, an art, and Jamie was willing to teach it to us. I had this post scheduled for later this month, but last night Pop Pop passed away. Pop Pop, or Al Hlavin, Sr, was my stepmom Maddie’s father. He was a smart, kind, and much loved man. So, in honor of Pop-Pop and thanks to Jamie, I would like to present a step-by-step guide to picking crabs, the Maryland way.

Step 1: Start with a whole, steamed crab. Preferably one that has been steamed in copious amounts of Old Bay.

Step 2: Rip the claws off. Eat any meat that comes off with them.

Step 3: Use a knife, mallet, or your fingers to crack open the claws. Eat the meat inside.

Step 4: Locate the apron. This is the monument-shaped area on the underside of the crab.

Step 5: Pull the apron off by the tip. Discard.

Step 6: Pull the top of the shell off, from the top.

Step 7: Remove the organs. This is everything offcolored, squishy, etc in the middle of the crab. Next, remove the lungs (see where Jamie is pointing). Growing up, Jamie was told the lungs were called the devil. Number 1 rule of crab picking? DON’T EAT THE DEVIL.

Step 8: Break the crab in half.

Step 9: Use a knife to cut the half again.

Step 10: Enjoy! Eat the white meat, drink lots of beer!

Jun 15 4 comments
captain james cooks, seafood, the picnic series

Jan’s Seafood Boil

This past weekend we hosted a Seafood Boil in our backyard using my stepmom Maddie’s recipe for the Picnic Series.  A few dozen people stopped by over the course of the day bringing treats and smiles.  We ate, a lot, enjoyed the beautiful day, and discussed the moral dilemmas associated with the boiling of seafood.

Nieces!

This seafood boil, which of course took place in our backyard (an embassy of North Carolina), was North Carolina style.  This means that we boiled corn, potatotes, onion, garlic, mussels, shrimp, and spices.  We did not boil crabs because my Maryland friends would have died. We also grilled two beer butt chickens, corn, and a catfish.  Then there was the frying, which came later.  Fried pickled okra is arguably the most delicious thing ever.

It was a great party.  The Turcottes came up from Virginia, old MICA friends met new Baltimore friends, our backyard was full of excited dogs, and I kept yelling things in an increasingly twangy accent.  Y’all should have heard the way I was pronouncing “boil” by the end of the night.

photo by the lovely Leah

Seafood boils are a tradition we’ve started during our summer visits to Morehead.  They’re a great way to enjoy seafood with a large group and there’s something so fun about pouring all that food into the middle of the table and letting everyone dive in.  I can’t wait to do this again with my family in August.  Thanks to Dad and Maddie for sending the recipe (and check out my Dad’s section on b&s- Captain James Cooks)!

North Carolina Seafood Boil
Source: Captain James

5 lbs. of headed shrimp

2 dozen clams or mussels

2 packs of Kielbasa

3 lbs of small new potatoes

3 large vidalia onions

15 ears of corn (fresh is best)

Small box of Old Bay Crab Boil seasoning

2 lemons cut in half for boil

Bottle of Texas Pete

Butter, salt and pepper for table

In a very large pot or a turkey fryer, fill three thirds full of water. Quarter the onions and drop in the water. Add a half cup of sea salt to the water and put in the Old Bay Seasoning and Texas Pete. Squeeze the two lemons into the water (put the lemon pieces in the water also.) Let water come to a boil and continue to let boil for about 10 mins to get the seasoning going good. Cut the sausage links into fourths. Add the sausage to the water and let cook for about 10 mins.

While the sausage is boiling cut up the potatoes into halves and quarters, depending on how large or small they are. Once the sausage has been boiling for 10 mins, then add the cut up potatoes and let them boil for another 10 mins. Clean the corn and break in half. After the potatoes have cooked for 10 mins then add the corn and let them cook for 15 mins.

Clean the outer shell of the clams really well. Once the corn has cooked for about 10 mins, add the shrimpclams to the pot and 3-5 minutes later add the shrimp. Stir the shrimp around in the pot and let them cook for about two minutes or until they turn pink. Take the pot off the heat and drain the water off the sausage, potatoes, corn, clams and shrimp. Then dump the whole pot of goodies onto your picnic table covered with newspaper. Roll your sleeves up, add your favorite condiments and dig in. Serve with ice cold beer.