Μακαρονάδα με θαλασσινά

Today, I'm not even offering up a translation of the title in English. The photos speak for themselves.

What you have here is the essence of where I spend my vacations in Greece...Halkidiki. This pasta is an ode to the summer...summers in Greece, summer in the Mediterranean...summer anywhere you may be spending it this year.

Take advantage of the warm weather, eat outside, invite friends over for food, drink and have lots of laughter. Invite the kids along. Is there anything better than the sound of kids playing, screaming, fighting in the background?

Put away those winter clothes, the boots, the scarves, the long johns. Pull out the shorts, the bathing suits, the sun-tan lotion. Go pick up some beer, wine and any liquor that's needed to make your favourite cocktails.

Go to the open markets, touch the produce, get up close & personal with the meat and seafood. Think of the possibilities. Think of how you can transform these raw materials through the magic of your imagination into victual delights.I did just that yesterday.

My trip to Greece is coming together nicely. It will be a busy vacation but it will still be relaxation for me. I don't have any set itinerary but I do have a loose agenda of what I want to do & see this summer.

My vacation doesn't begin in another two months but one can anticipate can't I? I'm sharing a favourite dish of mine and I can't claim it as my own but it is a favourite of mine and likely all around the Mediterranean.

Μακαρονάδα με θαλασσινά is simply "pasta with seafood" and here I'm using ingredients that are found in Greece...right down to the spaghetti. Here, I'm using the King of Greek pasta, Misko Spaghetti #5, with the hole in them! This particular pasta rocks because sauce gets inside the spaghetti...deeee-licious!

The next time you're having seafood, let their flavours shine. Choose ingredients that complement the seafood - not cover it.


Μακαρονάδα με θαλασσινά
(for 4)

1/3 olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
1 small red onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
20 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lb. of mussels, cleaned, scrubbed and de-bearded
1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp. red chilli flakes (Boukovo)
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 package of Misko spaghetti #5

1. Get a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt and cook your pasta according to package's instructions.
2. In a bowl, toss your shrimp with the smoked paprika and salt.
3. In a large skillet, heat up your olive oil and butter over medium-high heat heat. Add the shrimp and do a quick saute until the shrimp have just turned pink. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve in large bowl.
   
4. Now add your diced onions, garlic and saute for a minute. Now add your mussels and wine and turn to to high. Place the cover on and and allow your mussels to steam for 5-7 minutes or until they've opened. Discard any mussels that have not opened.
5. Remove your mussels and add to the large bowl with the shrimp (cover to keep warm).
6. When your pasta is cooked to "al dente", strain the spaghetti (reserve some pasta liquid) and it to your skillet with the sauce along with the shrimp and mussels, lemon juice and zest, chilli flakes and parsley.
7. Toss your pasta to incorporate and add some reserved pasta water if the sauce is too dry.
8. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and enjoy!
   

Cooking With.........A Stapler?

You know what this blog needs? Is more brown paper bags! I've enjoyed baking fish in a brown paper bag and I'm satisfied that there are no health risks to using them for cooking purposes.

Let me assure you that brown paper lunch bags are not made of recycled paper, the cooking time (2.5 minutes) will do nothing to the paper and the use of one staple is not dangerous, it will not spark in your microwave and no damage will be done to you or your appliance.

I also recently tripped upon Alton Brown's method of "make your own microwave popcorn" and I'm very pleased to say that the method works, kinda. I found his recipe when I was concerned about the recent news of commercial microwave popcorn being not that good for you (albeit still tasty).

I first tried his recipe with fine sea salt and olive oil but sadly it didn't taste that good as the olive oil was too heavy and the sea salt fell to the bottom of the bag (rather than adhere to the kernels).

My second attempt was marginally better with the use of more sea salt and corn oil.

My third, final and most successful attempt was achieved when I finally found popcorn salt at my local bulk food store.

Alton is right (again), this fine popcorn salt adheres better to the popcorn and it tasted as good as any other microwave popcorn that's out there. You may also add a dash of any of the popcorn flavourings that are out there. So long Orville Redenbacher!



Microwave Popcorn at Home

1/4 cup good popping corn
2 tsp. of corn oil
1/2 tsp. of popcorn salt
paper lunch bag
stapler

1. In a bowl, toss the popcorn with the oil and salt. Slide the contents into a brown paper lunch bag.
2. Fold the top of the bag and staple once.
3. Microwave on "High" for 2.2 minutes (no burnt popcorn).
4. Carefully take the bag out of the microwave, pour into a bowl and add any other flavouring you desire.

Brown Bagging for Dinner

The French have a knack for making something very simple to sound "chi-chi-frou-frou" and charging a helluva'lot for it.

I can be frugal. Tonight's dinner was "en papillote" but I ran out of parchment paper. "En papillote" simply means "in paper".

I've seen many dishes that are tucked into little packages of foil, parchment, pastry or phyllo. The Greeks have a dish called Kleftiko and lamb or chicken are usually the hidden main. Today I'm using a brown paper bag that we all used to lug our lunch in for school.

Save your parchment paper for baking and or making the ultimate paper plane. Brown paper lunch bags are where's it at!

Your ingredients can be what you want, the possibilities are endless. In this instance, I used a fillet of sea bass. The French call this fish Loup de Mer and us Greeks call it Lavraki.

The cooking process is easy. The important instructions to follow are the technique:

• Only use brown paper lunch bags, unrecycled. Do not use paper bags from a fast food eatery, supermarket or any other bag for other commercial use.
• Soak the paper bags thoroughly in vegetable or olive oil in a casserole or other vessel.
• Ensure the paper bags have absorbed the oil.
• Before filling the bags with your fish, hang and wipe away any excess oil. This is important as you don't want excess oil to smoke in your oven.
• Turn the kitchen fan on as you may get some smoking but be assured, the paper bag will not catch fire.
  
• Do not overcook your fish. This could lead to the bottom part of the bag to stick to your fish.
• Have someone help you inserting the fish into the bag. I like including some thinly sliced potatoes with fish, some herbs and lemon wedges. Have someone hold the bag open for you while you pick up and slide the fish medley neatly into the bag.
• I've found a preheated oven of 425F, middle rack to work best. Bake your fish in a bag for 15-20 minutes, maximum.
• Cut the accompanying potatoes and vegetables, etc. thinly so that they may cook in the same time that the fish takes.
• Place your fish packets on a baking sheet for baking.
• Carefully fold the opening of the paper bag underneath to create a seal. The better the seal, the better the fish will cook from the steam.

Are you with me so far? It's not rocket science but a neat, easy way to present a meal to friends and guests. I got a big kick out of cutting open the paper lunch bag with my kitchen scissors.

Think of flavours that you like for fish and try them out using this method. Here, I'm showing you a baked fish in a paper bag with classic Greek ingredients. I'll be playing around with other flavours and I'll be sure to share them with you!

Sea Bass Baked in a Paper Bag
(per fillet)

1 sea bass fillet
1 brown paper lunch bag
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 potato, thinly sliced
1 scallion, white part only, julienned
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp. salt or Vegeta seasoning
(chicken or vegetable soup base)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 lemon slice
Olive oil
Extra-virgin olive oil for finishing

Pre-heated 425F oven

1. Take your brown paper bag and place in a baking dish and cover it with olive or vegetable oil. Allow the bag(s) to soak up the oil.
2. Rinse you fillet and pat dry. Place your fillet on a flat work surface and build your packet. Season your fillet with salt and pepper. Now place your row of potato slices onto the fish.
3. Season the top of the potatoes and top with your herbs and finish off with a slice of lemon.
4. Carefully wipe away any excess oil from the paper bags and place them on the baking sheet.
5. Have someone else hold the bag open for you. Using a wide spatula and your hand, carefully lift and slide the fish into the bag without disturbing your layers too much.
6. Carefully fold the opening of the bag down and underneath the body of the bag to form a seal.
7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes on the middle rack. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
8. Place each bag onto a plate and have cut open a slit into the top of the bag to reveal the surprise. Have some extra-virgin olive oil on hand for a final drizzle.