Archive for the ‘SEAFOOD – ALL’ Category
Scalloped Oysters I
June 24, 2016 Lee
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Scalloped Oysters I

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Now this sounds really good! I cannot wait to make this. This would be the small oysters already shucked and in the small containers at say Tesco or even available from vendors in villages. The recipe calls for 1 pint of oysters, I am going to go with 3 small containers from Tesco for this, after I make, I will report with photos.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Side
Cuisine American
Servings 2 servings

Equipment

  • Oven
  • Baking Pan (8x8 inch)

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pint oyster meat, shucked and drained, (2 cups)
  • 1½ cups saltine cracker crumbs
  • ½ cup butter, melted, (1 stick / ½ standard block)
  • ¼ cup oyster liquid
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F). Get out a 8x8 inch baking pan.
  • Combine crumbs with the melted butter. Put a thin layer of crumbs in the bottom of a baking dish. Alternate layers of oysters and crumb mixture, sprinkling each layer with seasoning of your choice. Do not use more than 2 layers of oysters.
  • Mix the milk and the oyster liquid together and pour over the last layer of oysters, then top with crumb mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, let rest 5 minutes, serve as a main with several sides or as a side dish (to get more portions from it).

Notes

Once I make this I will report on the number of servings, photos, etc. Right now, a small container of oyster meat from Tesco is 45 Baht each, I am thinking 3 containers for a cost of 135 Baht. If you serve this as a side, say 6 servings, this is about 67 cents per serving. More to follow when I make this.
Variant: 1. Use green mussel meat, but you would need to remove any grass first.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Oysters
Cream Cheese Oyster Sauce
June 3, 2016 Lee
2 Comments

Cream Cheese Oyster Sauce

Adapted from an internet recipe.
This is new territory for me, I normally eat large oysters on the half shell or grilled until they open. This recipe uses the small oysters. This recipe was touted as a casserole, which it is not, but makes a excellent pasta sauce. I made this on 3 Jun 2016, and this is really really good! On my Go-to list. My comments below.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 3 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams oysters, shucked and drained
  • 250 grams Cream cheese, room temperature, (8 oz)
  • 4 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 cup spring onions, chopped, green and white parts
  • ¾ cup milk, more as needed
  • ¼ cup Thai celery, chopped, NOT western celery, use leaves as well
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • splash olive oil
  • hot cooked pasta, of your choice, for serving

Instructions
 

  • Heat a skillet on medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and a splash of olive oil, when hot, add the drained oysters, cook for a few minutes, this is quick, shucked oysters are typically small. When they are cooked through, edges curling, remove from heat, drain, and set aside.
  • While the oysters are cooking, put a small pot on low heat, add the other 2 tablespoons of butter and the block of softened Cream cheese. Move from the heat to a counter and back to the heat several times to prevent burning. The photo shows perfect consistency.
  • Once the cheese is melted stir in the milk, chopped spring onion, and celery and put back on the heat, stir in the cooked oysters and bring to a near boil, stirring constantly or it will burn, to ensure the oysters are heated through. Add more milk, a few tablespoons at a time to get the sauce consistency you desire.
  • Once hot, serve over pasta of your choice. A vegetable on the side would make this a complete meal.

Notes

I bought fresh harvested oysters for 50 Baht for 350 grams, but I was not thinking, that weight includes the brine the oysters are in, so make sure the non shell and drained weight is 500 grams, no one will complain. Figure about 75 Baht for 500 grams, for fresh local harvested oysters, DO NOT USE oysters from Phuket! Cream cheese, Caroline brand which is made in Thailand will run about 110 Baht for 250 gram block. This comes to about $1.40 per serving for 4 servings. Serve with a vegetable and some Italian bread, you could stretch this to 5-6 servings for more savings.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Fair Value $1.01 to $1.50 per Serving,PASTA,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Oysters
Baked Fish with Shrimp I
May 24, 2016 Lee
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Baked Fish with Shrimp I

Fish fillets baked with shrimp in a simple white sauce and topped with Parmesan cheese, sounds tasty! On my to cook list. This can be any white fish, my choice would be Pangasius or Barramundi first because they are readily available, but also consider Cod if you can find it, or even Red Snapper.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 5 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kilo white fish fillets, boneless and skinless, Pangasius would be good
  • 500 grams fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail removed, lightly boiled
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  • paprika, to taste
  • parsley, fresh or dried
  • salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 190 C.
  • In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Whisk in flour and salt to make a paste. Gradually whisk in milk. Stirring constantly, cook until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  • Select a large baking dish or pan to hold all the fillets in a single layer, lightly grease with butter.
  • Season fillets with salt, pepper, and paprika to your liking and arrange in the baking dish. Cover fish with cooked shrimp, pour sauce over shrimp, sprinkle with paprika then cover with the cheese, sprinkle with parsley if desired.
  • Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Remove from oven and let rest 5-10 minutes, serve. A nice tomato salad and boiled potatoes with butter would be excellent side dishes.

Notes

Pangasius will cost 120 Baht/kilo. Shrimp will run about 100 Baht/500 grams from a grocery store, for those along the coast, you can normally buy local ocean cast net caught shrimp for a bit less. Everything else is minimal. For 5 servings, this comes out to about $1.30 per serving, for 6 servings, this is about $1.08 per serving. Excellent value for a nutritional meal.
For variants, added cooked crab meat or imitation crab that is cubed, cooked oyster meat, lemon slices, and other seasonings of your choice.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* Fair Value $1.01 to $1.50 per Serving,FISH - ALL,Fish - White Fish,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Shrimp/Prawn
Garlic Butter Shrimp & Asparagus
May 1, 2016 Lee
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Garlic Butter Shrimp & Asparagus

Sounds really good! Large shrimp will be a costly meal for two people, the smaller shrimp would be very reasonable. On my to cook list.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kilo fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 1 kilo fresh shrimp, cleaned with heads, shells, and tails removed, deveined
  • 1 cup cooked rice
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat and melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add half of the garlic and stir for about 10 seconds, then add the asparagus and season with a pinch of salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the asparagus to a bowl.
  • Return the pan to medium high heat and melt 2 tablespoons of butter, add the shrimp and season with a pinch of salt and cook until pink with no grey showing, stir occasionally. Turn the heat to low, add the remaining garlic and stir well, season with black pepper if desired. Add the asparagus, stir to combine and serve.

Notes

Shrimp will cost about 200 to 240 Baht per kilo. So at 240 Baht, and for 4 servings, this is about $1.75 per serving, not bad considering large shrimp. If you used small shrimp, the price would be less.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* High Cost $1.51+ per Serving,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Shrimp/Prawn
Squid & Shrimp Stuffed Squid
April 20, 2016 Lee
6 Comments

Squid & Shrimp Stuffed Squid

Adapted from an internet recipe.
Yep, everyone calls squid "calamari" however I call it squid. This recipe is easy, and well worth it. I made this on 10 May 2016, and this is really good! Recipe updated and my comments are listed below. This is now added to the go to recipes. Lot of options here! Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Equipment

  • Oven
  • Baking Pan

Ingredients
  

  • 6 squid, about 7-8 inches long is perfect, if you use smaller squid, you need more
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 10-15 raw medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
  • 2 plum tomatoes, finely diced
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated or finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped, OR use Thai celery
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 cups tomato sauce, Shortcut
  • hot cooked pasta, of your choice
  • Parmesan cheese, couple of teaspoons to sprinkle onthe top, optional

Instructions
 

  • Clean your squid, I will write a 101 topic on this if you are not sure. Remove the skin, pull out the clear bone, and turn inside out to thoroughly clean the inside, then turn right side out, place the squid on a plate and put in the fridge. Cut the tentacles off in front of the beak, discard the head. Photo shows the squid cleaned, I used 4 squid.
  • Heat your oven to 190° C (375° F), get out a 8x11 or 9x13 baking dish depending on number of squid you are using.
  • Dice the the tentacles and the shrimp (remember to remove the tails), place this in the bowl with the diced tomatoes, zest, ginger, parsley, and pepper. Mix well.
  • Heat the olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat, add the onions and salt and cook until the onions turn translucent, about 1 to 2 minutes, do not brown them, add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Remove from heat and put this into a medium mixing bowl and set aside to cool.
  • Once the onions and garlic are cool, add to the squid, shrimp mixture and mix well. Photo shows the stuffing mixed.
  • Using either a long ice tea spoon or a bag with a corner cut off, fill each squid with the mixture, do not over stuff them.
  • Place each filled squid in the baking dish.
  • Once all are filled, cover with tomato sauce of your choice (can be home made sauce or canned spaghetti sauce). Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.
  • Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Photo shows foil removed after baking.
  • Serve over pasta of your choice.

Notes

I bought 6 squid (about 7-8 inches long) for 60 Baht. A can of tomato sauce will be about 55 Baht, a can of paste will cost 17 Baht and you can make the sauce. Everything else is minimal.
Using the cost for squid and canned sauce, the cost for 3 servings is $1.12 per meal. If using home made sauce, the cost for 3 servings is 75 cents per meal. Add a side dish and a salad, you can stretch this to 6 servings, which reduces the cost even more.
Now for the shrimp, do yourself a favor, buy a kilo for use in another recipe, take out 10-15 shrimp for this, cost is minimal, freeze the rest for another dish, problem solved.
Variants: For fillings, ground pork or pork sausage (home made will reduce cost), or ground chicken or chicken sausage (home made will reduce cost), chopped fresh fish, etc.
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
Updated on 10 May 2016.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Fair Value $1.01 to $1.50 per Serving,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Shrimp/Prawn,Seafood - Squid
Beer Shrimp
April 16, 2016 Lee
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Beer Shrimp

Beer and shrimp, sounds good to me! This sounds really good and is on my to do list to make this. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams large shrimp, peeled, tail removed, deveined if you choose
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 1/3 cup tomato ketchup, OR make from a shorcut
  • 1 tablespoon Worcherstershire sauce
  • 1/4 cup beer, lager preferred
  • 1/4 cup spring onions, chopped, white and green parts
  • juice from one lime
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • In a large non-stick pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter, add garlic and shrimp and cook until the shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes, transfer to a plate and set aside.
  • Using the same pan, add the remaining butter and melt, then add the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste and mix. Bring to a simmer and add the shrimp back to the pan until heated through.
  • Serve with toasted french bread or as is for a great appetizer.

Notes

When I buy shrimp (prawn), they are large, ocean caught using a cast net, very eco friendly but also cost about 220 to 240 Baht per kilo. So at 240 Baht, and for 4 servings, this is about $1.75 per serving, not bad considering large shrimp. If you used small shrimp, the price would be less.
Shortcut: Ketchup.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* High Cost $1.51+ per Serving,APPETIZERS / SNACKS,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Shrimp/Prawn
Louisiana Smothered Shrimp
February 14, 2016 Lee
1 Comment

Louisiana Smothered Shrimp

Recipe name is actually Louisiana Shrimp Etouffee (etoufee means smothered, but I am not teaching French class here so let's just go with smothered). Shrimp would be the easiest to obtain for this recipe, crawfish are here in country being raised, but that may be a challenge to find them however. Shrimp in a thick creamy sauce served over rice, a must try for me. Lot of ingredients and I am not normally a fan of say a 1/2 cup of diced pepper is needed, I use the whole pepper, but I think for this recipe, I will follow exactly and see where it can be tailored, which should be easy. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup celery
  • 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/4 cup spring onion, chopped
  • 1 cup chicken stock, fresh or from powder
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon Creole seasoning, OR make from a shortcut
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 500 grams shrimp, cooked, and peeled, including tails removed, see note on this

Instructions
 

  • In a pot, melt the butter and then stir in the flour. Cook and stir constantly over low heat for about 20 minutes, until mixture is a caramel colored paste. Add the celery, pepper, and onions; stir until coated.
  • Add the broth, water, parsley, tomato paste, bay leaf, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Creole seasoning, and cayenne. Stir the pot well to make sure that the roux is well incorporated and there are no lumps.
  • Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Add shrimp and heat through. Serve over rice.

Notes

Shrimp from say Tesco, small whites, will run about 100 Baht for 500 grams. If you can source ocean prawn from a local fisherman, even less, even open markets for shrimp is very low cost. For this dish, for 4 people, the cost is about 75 cents per person, even less for 6 people.
Shortcut: Creole Seasoning Mix.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Shrimp/Prawn