Friday, January 22, 2010

seafood cooked in white wine

My current food obsession is Curtis Stone... yes, I am aware Curtis doesn't technically fall under the 'food' category but I'm still obsessed, to the point he has gotten a special mention on my facebook status "what would I do without Curtis Stone, he's just that little bit fancy but oh so easy". Most people thought I was talking about the chef, but of course I was talking about his food... I came across his cookbook 'Relaxed Cooking With Curtis Stone' in a kiosk bookstand at the local shopping center, a quick skim through the pages I was convinced I had to buy it (the fact that he is featured through out the book is just an added bonus... I promise!).

I got my chance to cook something from his cookbook when a highschool friend, Jess, came to Sydney to visit her family from a far far away placed called New York. A mini reunion was in order, 4 of us girls catching up where we left off... the sun was out, we were well and truly enjoying the hot summer days, perfect occasion for seafood!! Something not too heavy and would be a perfect a compliment to my current wine of choice: Momo Sauvignon Blanc, yes named after yours truly (that is a lie) from Marlborough New Zealand. Not many people would disagree that NZ makes some of the best wines in the world (a close second to Australia of course) and their sav blancs are definitely one of a kind.

Anyway back to the food, I knew that I didn't want to cook anything too complicated but I still wanted to impress. We all had too much catching up to do and I definitely didn't want to miss out on all the goss whilst cooking in the kitchen, so I made sure all the seafoods were prepped and ready to be thrown together 20mins or so before we were ready to eat. By the way don't forget to serve this dish with some crusty bread to dip into the delicious seafood sauce left in the bottom of your bowl, you wont be able to resist yourself!



Seafood Cooked in White Wine
Lemon & Parsley
Adapted from Relaxed Cooking With Curtis Stone

6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 eschalots, finely diced
2 long green chillies, seeded and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
500g king prawns, peeled, deveined with tails intact
300g fresh scallps, with or without shells
1kg fresh clams or pippies, scrubbed
1kg fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded (tip below)
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 tbsp baby capers
1 lemon grated zest and juiced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper





Heat 2 tablespoon of the oil in a large heavy deep frying pan or large wok over medium heat. Add the eschalots and chillies, sauté for 30sec. Stir in the garlic, thyme springs and bay leaves. Add the prawns, toss gently to coat and cook for 2mins. Add the clams and cook for further 2mins. Add the mussels and cook for about 5mins or until the mussels and clams begin to open. Through in the scallops Pour in the wine and immediately cover the pan. cook for 11/2mins, or until the clams and mussels are open completely (discard any that do not open). Add the parsley, capers and lemon zest and juice. Toss to combine. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.

Note: How to clean mussels
Curtis' tip: To debeard the mussels, first use the back of a spoon to clean of any barnacles. You may see a small tuft of what looks like a little beard. Pull the heard off the mussel and discard. If you can't find a beard, it simply means the mussels have already been prepared for you by your fishmonger.

My tip: Apart from removing the barnacles with a spoon, I have always been taught to place the mussel in a bowl and fill it up with water. For about 1kg of mussels add about 1tbsp of cornflour to the water and gently mix with a spoon. This apparently irritates the mussels and encourages them to 'spit' out any sand/debris that is inside their shell. Leave the mussels in the cornflour water for about 5mins, rinse thoroughly.

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