Frugal Foodie: Something Fishy Going On, Part II

Did you miss Tuesday's serving of The Frugal Foodie? Read it . Now, on to Part II:

Mailbag

The Frugal Foodie certainly knows by now that most of her readers don’t just dislike Bluefish, but they positively hate it. Oh, the comments some of you have are just unprintable in a family-friendly opinion column. So instead, here are others:

“…I was surprised that the lemon cream cheese turned out rather runny. I am guessing that the ratio of 4 oz cream cheese plus 1 cup of mayo is too much mayo. I may also have used a bit too much fresh squeezed lemon juice…” M.B., Fair Lawn, NJ

I love lemon juice, but for the very reason you discovered, I use lemon zest for this recipe (Cucumber and Radish Canapes). You can change the ratio to 1:1 for cream cheese to mayo, which will result in a stiffer mix, but I would still suggest you thin the mix gradually.

“In your inaugural recipe, you suggested frozen peas instead of fresh.  Wouldn’t it be better to use a fresh product?” J.C. Verona, NJ. 

Where ever possible, I do prefer fresh produce over frozen. However, frozen vegetables are not inferior to fresh and in most instances, have a higher vitamin and nutrient value due to flash freezing and other processes, and are priced lower, which makes my Frugal Heart go all atwitter. Frozen vegetables are also less time-consuming and for busy families who want to eat right but without spending extra time in preparation, I’m all for using them.

“Love your personal photos, and would like to see more to illustrate preparation steps and cooking techniques.” E. M., Locust Valley, NY

Great suggestion, and with some lag time now that Steven’s is in-between sessions, I’m planning on working with a professional photographer for stills and also video tutorials. The Frugal Foodie’s new look will be available in a few weeks.

Have a question, comment or suggestion and don’t want to post it to the column?  Email The Frugal Foodie at jmenerson@aol.com.

The Recipes

Errata: I inverted some quantities in the shopping list. The correct quantities are ½ pint whole milk and 1 pint heavy cream.

Also, as this goes to "print," the price of soft-shelled crabs at Peter's is $4.99 each.

 Smoked (Blue)Fish Canapes

Couldn’t find bluefish? Neither could The Frugal Foodie, although they’re running! And since the reception to bluefish was less than favorable to put it mildly, I’m going to skip bluefish and how to smoke it and just use smoked whitefish.

Prep time 5 minutes

Chill time 1 hour in refrigerator, 15 minutes in freezer

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons chopped onion

2 tablespoons lemon juice

8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature

¼ pound smoked whitefish

Salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients and chill. Serve with crackers or baguette slices.

Soft shell crab with garlic- butter sauce

Prep time 1 hour if using milk, 5 minutes if not

Cook time 10 minutes

This is a simple way to prepare and cook soft shell crabs. Soft shell crabs are easy to clean, but if you’re squeamish about it, have your fishmonger do it. Cleaned soft shells can be frozen and if you soak them in milk, can be successfully held for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

4 soft shell crabs, cleaned and trimmed (see note 1)

Milk, to cover crabs (see note 2)

Flour (optional – see note 3)

Salt & pepper

2 tablespoons Olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted Butter

Minced fresh garlic – 2 cloves

1 cup White wine

Put cleaned crabs in a bowl.  Season with salt & pepper,

If soaking in milk , cover with milk and refrigerate one hour and up to 24. Remove crabs from milk, dust with flour, if desired, and season with salt & pepper. 

Heat to medium high a heavy sauté pan large enough to hold all four crabs without overcrowding. Add olive oil and swirl to cover base of pan.

Add crabs and sauté on each side, top side first, 3 to 4 minutes each side. 

Remove crabs to warm platter and tent with foil to keep warm.

Add butter. When melted, add garlic. Stir, add wine immediately to deglaze pan and turn heat to high. Cook for a few minutes and hold.

Note 1. You may wish to trim the pointed ends on the crab’s main shell.    

Note 2. Soaking the crabs in milk is a debatable subject among many chefs. The milk soak reduces the salty flavor and produces a milder tasting product. I always recommend it for strong-flavored fin fish, like bluefish, but you may wish to skip this step for soft shells if you’re not storing them overnight.

Note 3. Flour is optional, and I prefer to prepare soft shells without the flour.

Classic Risotto

Prep time 5 minutes

Cook time 20 minutes

You could prepare the Risotto Primavera as featured in the , but I prefer a simple classic risotto to accompany the soft shells.

You can also use vegetable, chicken or a seafood broth for the water; however, I use water only to let the rice and cheese tastes really shine.

Ingredients:

4 ¼ cups water

2 tablespoons shallot, chopped

2 tablespoons Italian parsley, minced

2 oz. Grana Padano, grated (yields ½ cup.  Reserve 2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

½ cup white wine

¼ cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring 4 ¼ cups of water to a hearty boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.

Chop shallots, mince parsley and grate cheese.

Measure out unsalted butter, olive oil, rice, white wine and heavy cream.

Heat heavy sauté pan to high. Turn heat to medium-low and add oil and butter.

Add onion and sauté until soft.

Add rice and stir to coat with butter/oil/onion mix.  

Turn heat up to high and add wine and stir until absorbed.

Reduce heat to medium and add water ½ cup at a time, every 2 minutes.

Stir rice a few times after adding water.

About 18 minutes into cooking, stir in the heavy cream. Cook for a minute.

Add the cheese and parsley, stir to incorporate, add salt and stir once more.

Note:  Cheese and seafood is another one of those debatable subjects among chefs to the point of food snobbery. The only shoulds and should nots in my book are proper food storage, handling, and preparation.  

Plate risotto, top with a soft-shelled crab and spoon garlic-butter sauce over crab.

Individual Strawberry Shortcakes

Prep time 5 minutes

Cook time 8 minutes

1 pint strawberries, rinsed and sliced

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

Cream Biscuits:

1 ½ cups Bisquick

½ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix ingredients together and using 1/2 cup measure,  drop batter onto ungreased cookie sheet for four shortcakes. Bake 8 minutes, cool and slice shortcake in half.

While shortcakes are baking, whip heavy cream in pre-chilled bowl with whisk attachment for 2-3 minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer, a hand held mixer works fine. Only cooks with smokin’ whisk skills should attempt to whip cream with a manual whisk. If you buy the pre-made aerosol whipped cream, The Frugal Foodie won’t tell anyone.

Spread whipped cream on bottom half of shortcake and cover with sliced strawberries. Cover with top half and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

Please consider a donation of 10 percent of this menu's cost to the or a food pantry local to your town.