20-Minute Seafood Pasta

20-Minute Seafood Pasta

Some days you just need to make dinner in a hurry but you still want something tasty. This pasta dish is perfect for these days. Basically you need pasta, crabmeat, Lemon and some wine to make this dish. Adding a splash of cream tomatoes and parsley makes the dish even better.

Ingredients: 

• 1-2 teaspoons olive oil 
• 450 g (16 oz) crab meat, lump and/or claw meat 
• 1 dl (about ⅓ cup) white wine
• 1 dl (about ⅓ cup) lemon juice
• 1 dl (about ⅓ cup) cream
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
• 1 lemon for garnish

Directions: 

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and heat the cooked crab meat. Pour in wine and cream and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the lemon juice and lower the heat. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and pour the pasta into the sauce. Add diced tomatoes, parmesan and parsley, and toss it to combine.

Serve immediately with a slice of lemon and more parmesan.

Enjoy

Marinated Salmon

Marinated Salmon

I wanted to try a new way to make my salmon. We love salmon in my house, and we have it frequently, and I needed a new easy recipe. I found a picture on Pinterest where they used soy and brown sugar, witch made me think of the marinade from my angry tacos, from where I got my inspiration.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces salmon, serving size
• lemon pepper
• salt

Marinade:

• ⅓ cup (80 ml) soy sauce
• ⅓ cup (60 g) brown sugar
• ¼ cup (60 ml) warm water
• ⅓ cup (80 ml) grape seed oil
• grated ginger, to taste
• ½ jalapeño pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions:

Marinade:

In a bowl, whisk the cilantro, brown sugar, oil, soy sauce, jalapeños, and coriander to blend well. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade for dressing the slaw. Pour the rest of the marinade into a ziplock bag and place the salmon in the  marinade and turn to coat. Marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours in refrigerator. 

Preheat stove grill for medium heat, and lightly oil grill grates. (I used a Le Creuset cast iron grill)

Place salmon on hot grill. Cook salmon for 4-6 minutes per side, or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to overcook the salmon, nobody like a piece of dry fish.

Serve with an easy slaw a la this one.

The danish version:

Marineret Laks

Ingredienser:

• 2 stykker laks
• citronpeber
• salt

Marinade:

• 80 ml soyasauce
• 60 g brun farin
• 60 ml varmt vand
• 80 ml vindruekerne olie
• revet ingefær, alt efter smag
• ½ jalapeño 
• 2 tsk frisk koriander

Fremgangsmåde:

Marinaden:

Bland alle ingredienser i en skål, og rør indtil sukkeret er opløst. Hvis du laver en "coleslaw" så tag ½-¾ dl marinade fra til dressing. 

Kom marinaden i en frysepose, og kom laksen i. Lad fisken marinere i mindst 20 minutter, eller op til 2 timer i køleskabet.

Varm en grillpande op til den er godt varm. Pensel panden med lidt olie og steg laksen 4-6 minutter på hver side, eller indtil laksen ikke længere er gennemsigtige lyserød. Pas på med ikke at give laksen for meget, da den bliver kedelig når den er tør.

Server laksen med en hurtig “coleslaw" evt, den jeg bruger til Angry Tacos. (Kinakål, gulerod, forårsløg, jalapeño, frisk koriander og den ubrugte marinade som dressing)

Stjerneskud - Shooting Star

Stjerneskud - Shooting Star

Stjerneskud, or shooting star, is a classic Danish open-faced sandwich. The kind you would see at most lunch restaurants or cafés in Denmark. A stjerneskud is white bread, with a piece of fried and poached fish and cold-water shrimps.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 fried petrale sole filets 
• 2 poached petrale sole filets*
• a handful cold-water shrimps
• 6 aspagus (I used Reese asparagus spears)
• thousand Island dressing (homemade or store bought) 
• caviar (I used salmon roe)
• 1 lemon
• dill
• butter lettuce (I forgot to buy that)

* Poaching:

• white wine
• lemon juice
• salt
• white pepper

Directions:

* Poaching:

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Season the fillets with salt and white pepper. Roll up the filets and place them in an ovenproof dish with white wine and lemon juice. Cover the dish with aluminum foil. Poach the fish for 7-8 minutes. (If you poach the fish on the stove and start with barely simmering liquid, poach the fish for 5-6 minutes.)

Fry the fish and make the dressing.

Toast the bread. 

Arrange lettuce, fish fillets, dressing, shrimps, caviar, dill and place the slice of lemon on top.

Enjoy with a cold beer, cold white wine or a cold lemonade.

Fried Sole Filets

Fried Sole Filets

One of the best fish dishes in Denmark is a breaded plaice (or just dusted in rye flour), preferably fried up as a whole fish in butter. But it's not a dish you come by every day, we'll only if you are a Fisherman. I still remember my father coming home with the fish so fresh that they were still alive. He put the fish in the bathtub with water, and the fish were swimming.

Most Danes have had breaded filets of plaice on rye bread, served with remoulade (a sweet tartar sauce). Often the fish was frozen and already breaded. This is nothing like the fresh fish, but it's will do in a busy lifestyle. If we wanted a fancier dish, we had a "stjerneskud" (shooting star). A stjerneskud is a breaded fried and a poached plaice filet. Topped with mayonnaise, cold water shrimps and caviar of lumpfish-roe, either served on rye bread or some good white bread. 

I found that sole is a good substitute for plaice, so I was happy to have my childhood favorite fried fish with remoulade.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4-6 sole filets
• all-purpose flour
• 1 egg beaten
• breadcrumbs, I used panko
• salt & pepper
• butter and oil for frying. 

Directions:

Add the salt and pepper to the flour. 

Dip the fish filets in:

1: all-purpose flour, shake off excess flour

2: egg, make sure the whole fish i covered, and let the excess drip of

3: breadcrumbs, again make sure the whole fish is covered, and shake the excess breadcrumbs of. 

This way the breading will stay on the fish. Otherwise it has a tendency to break apart when flipping the fish. 

Heat the skillet and add oil and butter. When the butter stops foaming, gently add the fish. Cook the fish for about 2-3 minutes on each side. 

Serve immediately on rye bread with remoulade and a lemon wedge. The fish can also be served with boiled potatoes and a white parsley sauce.

Pistachio crusted Halibut.

Pistachio crusted Halibut

I have been looking for ways to have more fish on the menu. Most times we end out having salmon. I really wanted to have more white fish. 

In Denmark you normally have halibut smoked for lunch on an open faced sandwich. So the fresh halibut was new to me, but it’s so meaty and the color so bright white. 

Putting halibut together with pistachios and lemon zest is a winning combination.

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

4 (1 1/4-inch-thick) pieces skinless halibut fillet (about 6 ounces each)

1 cup whole milk

2/3 cup shelled pistachios

2 tablespoon parmesan,  grated

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 lemon, the zest of

Directions: 

Put fish in a ziplock bag, pour milk over it, and chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the pistachios finely and mix it with lemon zest, parmesan and oil in a bowl.

Heat the oven to 425°F

Remove fish from milk, letting excess drip off. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper, top up with pistachio mixture to form a thick coating on the halibut.

Bake the fillets until the topping is crisp and browned and the fish is cooked through, 10 to 12 min., depending on thickness. Serve immediately.

Serve with roasted potatoes and a spicy sour cream sauce.