Lent is coming..Low budget seafood specials?

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Yes, Simon. When I lived in Canada, one of my neighbors was from India. She told me that curry is really a mix of spices: (curry recipe - basic curry sauce) Some mixes are very hot, others mild, and there are very nice ones. Also try CHUTNEY, made mostly with mango or other fruits, vinegar, sugar, and other things. It "livens up" many things.
 
Yes, Simon. When I lived in Canada, one of my neighbors was from India. She told me that curry is really a mix of spices: (curry recipe - basic curry sauce) Some mixes are very hot, others mild, and there are very nice ones. Also try CHUTNEY, made mostly with mango or other fruits, vinegar, sugar, and other things. It "livens up" many things.

Thank you for the info.......it's a great referral page
 
Curry covers a multitude of tastes and cultures. Saying you are having "curry for dinner" is like saying you are having "salad for dinner". It may be accurate, but isn't terribly informative.

Here is a Thai curry that we like a lot and that you might try at the shop.
Choo Chee Shrimp
For the gaeng kua paste:
3 large dried red chili peppers
10 small dried red chili peppers
1/2 cup shallots or onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup garlic cloves
1 tbsp ginger root (galanga is better, but hard to find here)
1/2 tsp salt
Tear up the chilies and soak in hot water till softened. Put the chilies and the remaining ingredients in a blender, with enough of the soaking liquid to let the mix blend.

Heat a can of coconut milk till it begins to thicken and separate out some of the oil - but no worries, just get it good and hot so the paste dissolves well. Add 1/4 C of the gaeng kua paste from the blender and cook for a minute or two, then add about 1 T each of fish sauce and dark brown sugar (or molasses or palm sugar). Cook together until the flavors are nicely blended. Add more of any of the ingredient to get the balance you want. When you like it, toss in about a pound of shrimp and a quarter cup of fresh basil leaves (horapah is best, but any will do). As soon as the shrimp are done, remove from heat. Serve over rice garnished with another quarter cup of the basil and lime wedges. You can take the sauce right up to the point of adding the shrimp and stash it away for a day or a few days, so you don't have to commit your protein, if it doesn't sell well.

You will have more gaeng kua paste than you need, but this is a convenient amount to make and it freezes well. You can also add cumin and coriander to it to get a more commonly known Thai red curry paste: gaeng peht.
 
That recipie sounds wonderfull.....pretty spicey. It would make a good friday special. Thank you.
 
It is spicy. You might want to make up the sauce with just a tablespoon of the paste and make a separate super hot sauce by cooking a good deal of the paste with a little coconut milk. You can mix in the concentrated one with the milder one according to how hot your customer wants his curry.
 
How about seafood crepes? Crepes are cheap and easy to make. The filling can be rice or mash potatoes. Roll them up and top with seafood bechamel sauce. I like scallops and shrimp. Bay scallops are reasonably economical and of course you only need maybe three or four ounces of seafood per portion.
 
How about seafood crepes? Crepes are cheap and easy to make. The filling can be rice or mash potatoes. Roll them up and top with seafood bechamel sauce. I like scallops and shrimp. Bay scallops are reasonably economical and of course you only need maybe three or four ounces of seafood per portion.

Great idea to fill the crepes with rice or mashed potatoes then the seaqfood in the sauce. I've done sefood crepes before but the filling was always a blend of seafood in a thick white sauce the I draped them with bernaise sauce. Thanks for the tip!
 
did anyone mention mussels yet? they're about the cheapest shellfish you can get around here, about 4 or 5 dollars for a mesh bag containing 2 dozen or more. they're super easy to cook and are ready to serve in minutes.

you can make them marinara, fra diavolo, or in a white wine and herb broth.

i can come up with specific recipes if anyone's interested.
 
did anyone mention mussels yet? they're about the cheapest shellfish you can get around here, about 4 or 5 dollars for a mesh bag containing 2 dozen or more. they're super easy to cook and are ready to serve in minutes.

you can make them marinara, fra diavolo, or in a white wine and herb broth.

i can come up with specific recipes if anyone's interested.

Availability to mussels are not very good here. when they are available they are usually around $8./lb. or more. We are to far from the coast up here in the midwest. Thanks for thinking of me though.:)
 
ok, then how about goin' south of the border for enchiladas veracruz? or huachinango al mojo de ajo?

they both rely on a white garlic cream sauce. the enchiladas are thin soft tortillas filled with crabmeat (you can use imitation) and queso, and the mojo de ajo ladeled over top. or you can use a thin salsa to offer a bit of varieyy.

the huachinango is actually red snapper but you could use tilapia, simply grilled, again with the garlic cream sauce over top, garnished with cilantro.
 
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ok, then how about goin' south of the border for enchiladas veracruz? or huachinango al mojo de ajo?

they both rely on a white garlic cream sauce. the enchiladas are thin soft tortillas filled with crabmeat (you can use imitation) and the mojo de ajo ladeled over top.

the huachinango is actually red snapper but you could use tilapia, simply grilled, again with the garlic cream sauce over top, garnished with cilantro.
I'm not familiar with the mojo de ajo or hucchinage but the seafood wraps sound good.
 
oops, i made a few edits too slowly. i forgot to add the mild white cheese to the enchiladas, and to offer them with 2 sauces.

the garlic cream sauce is pretty easy. i'll post a recipe in a little bit. gotta run to work now. driving and typing recipes is a bad idea, lol.

bbl.
 
Cheesy Tuna Muffins

I used to make a version of this recipe years ago. You could adjust the fish to be s/thing else, change out the cheese, leave out the olives. It might be of interest to your customers. You could change the herb to cilantro or something else (fresh tarragon?).

Cheesy Tuna Rice Muffins Recipe
 
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What about skipping the seafood. Not all lent participants like it or are going to get stuck having it for another meal later on. There are tons of great options!

A nice salad paired with a veggie or potato soup, pastas,
grilled cheese with tomato and basil,
personal pizza,
breakfast burrito,
egg salad,
veggie sandwich with sprouts, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, and a veggie cream cheese.
I would go for a portabella burger with grilled onions.

My vote if you just had to use seafood would be a salmon salad on a bed of greens or stuffed into a nice crusty roll.
 
Well if you going away from seafood then I vote for potato pancakes with sour cream OR apple pancakes.
 
Fish tacos are "hot" items. You can use just about any kind of fish, too. Another good item might be Paella. You can use anything you like in that- clams, mussels, shrimp, fish, calamari, etc. Use a decent Arborio rice and a nice stock and you won't need a lavish amount of seafood. Depending on your customer base you might be able to do blackened catfish; catfish is pretty cheap and you could serve with dirty rice or red beans. Seafood etouffe or jambalaya might also be good options. Another option would be to pick any fish you get at a reasonable cost and dress it up by cooking en papillote. Place some herbs and a lemon slice on the fish and wrap in parchment paper and bake. You can serve it with a variety of starches or veggies. And while I realize it's still salmon, you might try jazzing it up a bit by poaching in court bouillon.

I agree with some of the other suggestions that for lent it needn't be fish, just nothing that walks the land (can't recall the scriptural phrase). Maybe a nice grillled cheese and cream of tomato zucchini soup? A veggie lasagna might go over well and would be among the cheaper dishes you could offer. A veggie lasagna made with a touch of pesto in the sauce would be very distinctive.
 
I buy Krab (fake crab) when it is onsale at 2 for one. I love to make it into a Krab salad and serve it over a big bed of greens . Makes a lovely hearty salad. Or you can make a popovers and fill them with the Krab salad mixture.

Again, I don't know if it's too "out there" or if your patrons would enjoy it, but you could make California rolls (maki-sushi) with the surimi (fake crab). Even people who'd turn their nose up at the notion of sashimi or nagiri sushi with raw fish often love Cali rolls!:chef: The stuff is pretty easy to find nearly everywhere, too.
 
Falafel are yummy. The first few times I had them, I thought they were meatballs :LOL: They were served in pita with tomato and cucumber and humus.
 
Everyone is sending such great idea's. Thank you! I love all the positive input it gives me a whole fresh look on new recipies & a fresh zest for menu items.
 
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