I was so excited to make these panko crusted halibut tacos last night, because I new they were going to be really tasty.  And that they were!!  We had dinner with some friends the other night at BJ’s Brewery, when my eyes hit the halibut tacos on the menu, I decided to try them.  I hate to admit this but I’ve never had fish tacos.  They were lightly breaded with panko bread crumbs, and served in warm tortillas with plain shredded cabbage.  On the side was the creamy avocado sauce, and salsa. So I decided I was going to make my own panko crusted halibut tacos, but change it up a bit by combining the raw cabbage with the avocado sauce to create a slaw that could be plopped right on top of the halibut.  I prepared the avocado cabbage slaw first so it could sit in the refrigerator and marinate, while I prepared my halibut.  Halibut is a great source of high quality protein, rich in minerals, vitamins, and the most beneficial omega-3 essential fatty acids.  Now this is just a few of the benefits, click here to learn more about the very nutritious halibut fish.  Please enjoy!

For more recipes with halibut, click here.

For the halibut:

• Corn tortillas, 8 to 10
• 1 lb. halibut fillets, washed and cut into 3-inch pieces
• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. whipping cream
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tbsp. olive oil

For the creamy avocado slaw:

• 1 avocado
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• ½  cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp. green salsa
• 1 tsp. cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. red pepper chili flakes
• ½ lime, juiced
• 2 cups cabbage, thinly sliced

Prepare you creamy avocado cabbage slaw first.  In a large bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly, adding your cabbage last, tossing to coat cabbage evenly.  Place in refrigerator while you prepare you tacos.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place your tortillas in foil and warm in oven while you prepare your halibut.  Wash and trim skin off halibut.  Cut into 2- inch pieces.  Place flour in shallow dish.  In a medium size bowl, beat eggs with whipping cream and water.  Place panko bread crumbs in a shallow dish, add salt and pepper to taste.  Dredge halibut pieces one by one in flour, shaking to remove any excess flour, then dip into egg mixture, lastly coat with the panko bread crumbs.  Heat a nonstick skillet with olive oil until barely smoking.  Sauté halibut pieces to a golden brown turning once, about 5 minutes.  Place halibut pieces in an oven proof pan, to finish cooking.  About 8 minutes.

To serve, place halibut pieces in warmed tortillas, and top with creamy avocado cabbage slaw.

Serves: 6

Total time: 60 minutes

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Panko Crusted Halibut Tacos with a Creamy Avocado Cabbage Slaw
2. Creamy Coleslaw
3. Halibut With Citrus Butter Sauce

In purchasing the shrimp I made sure that it was deveined so the preparation was effortless.  After you pinch the tail off, grab the shell from the back, and it peels off very easily.  The hot italian sausage gave it a nice, spicy kick.  Feel free to change it up with a milder or leaner sausage, there are so many varieties out there now, I love it!  And please if you do change it up, share in the comments section.  Enjoy!

• 1 16-oz. package fettucine or pasta of your choice
• 6 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 3 hot italian sausage links, casings removed, broken into chunks
• 1/2 lb. large shrimp, peeled, deveined, with tail off
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 tsp. cayenne
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped italian parsley
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Start boiling a large pot of water for your pasta while you prepare the sausage and shrimp sauce.

In a large non-stick pan add 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat.  Add your sausage and saute while stirring until brown and slightly crispy.  Set aside. Add the shrimp and saute stirring quickly until almost cooked through, 3-5 minutes.  Set aside with the sausage.  To your pan add 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium  heat. Add onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, bay leaf, and garlic.  Saute for 5-7 minutes until vegetables are tender.  Set aside with sausage and shrimp.

In the same pan add the remaining olive oil and 1 tsp. butter over medium heat. Whisk in milk slowly.  Whisk in wine slowly.  Continue cooking, add cayenne, nutmeg, parsley, salt and pepper to taste.  Reduce heat to low and continue cooking to your desired consistency.  Drain pasta and return to pot.  To your pasta add the sausage, shrimp, vegetables, and sauce.  Stir completely.  Serve in large pasta bowls with freshly grated parmesan cheese and chopped italian parsley.

Serves: 4

Total time: 90 minutes

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo
2. Shrimp Quesadillas with Tarragon Aioli
3. Sausage and Peppers with a Tomato Cream Sauce over Pappardelle

My neighbor Betty shared her recipe for clam chowder with me.  I love clam chowder but have never attempted to make it.  It was fun, easy and really creamy, yummy good!  Chowder is just a generic name for many different varieties of seafood or non-seafood stews that are usually thickened with milk and or cream, potatoes etc.  In the past chowder was considered to be a poor mans stew, with it’s history dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries.  Click here to learn more about chowder and it’s history.  

Nothing like a nice big bowl of clam chowder and popovers!  Please enjoy!

Check out this link here for a website dedicated to chowder recipes.

• 6 slices thick cut bacon
• 2 medium yellow potatoes, cut into 1- inch cubes
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 4 tbsp. Butter
• 6 tbsp. Flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1-10 oz. Can whole baby clams, with liquid
• 1-6.5 oz. Can minced clams, with liquid
• 1 tsp. Fresh thyme, chopped
• 1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boiling and cook potatoes until tender.  Cook your bacon until crisp in a large non-stick pan.  Set bacon aside.  Wipe out excess bacon drippings from pan.  Add onions and cook until translucent.  Set aside.  When potatoes are tender, drain and set aside.  To your large pot add the butter over medium heat until bubbly.  Gradually whisk in flour and continue cooking until slightly browned, about 2-3 minutes.  Add your onion and stir completely.  Add your potatoes and stir completely.  Add your milk slowly while stirring.  Add your clams, thyme and cayenne.  Break your bacon into bits over your chowder and bring to a slight boil while stirring.  Bring heat to low and cover for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally until desired thickness.

 Serves: 4

Total time: 1.5 hours

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Roasted Chicken And Corn Summer Chowder
2. Hake San Sebastian Style
3. Brussels Sprouts and Sausage Soup

A couple things to note, first if your not into really spicy foods, cut back on the cayenne pepper to 1/4 tsp.  I used 1/2 tsp.  and there was definitely a kick!  Secondly, this particular recipe does not contain rice.  I made brown rice and served the gumbo over it. 

This shrimp and andouille gumbo was an easy dish to prepare that was much better I thought, for left overs.   Please enjoy!

For more gumbo recipes, check out gumbocity.com 

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1 each red and green bell pepper, diced
• 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
• ½ lb. ok into ½” pieces
• 2 celery stalks, stems included, chopped
• 2½ quarts Chicken stock, heated until hot
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh garlic
• 1 tsp. each paprika and Italian seasoning
• ½ tsp. each garlic powder, black pepper, crushed red pepper, chili powder and thyme
• ¼ to ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 package Niman Ranch Andouille Sausage, sliced ½” thick
• 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Cooked white or brown rice

Make a roux: Melt butter in a large stock pot.  Whisk in flour and cook over medium-low heat until foaming.  Cook on low heat , stirring often, until nut brown in color, 20 to 30 minutes.

Add peppers, onions, okra, and celery and cook until onion and peppers soften, about 10 minutes.  Whisk in the heated chicken broth and all remaining ingredients except shrimp.  Simmer 45 minutes (or more), skimming fat if necessary, until thickened slightly.  Add shrimp and simmer until shrimp turns pink.  Serve immediately over rice.

Serves: 8

Total time: 90 minutes

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Sausage and Shrimp with Fettucine
2. Ray’s Andouille Sausage with Brown Rice and Beans
3. Crab and Andouille Sausage Cakes

My husband and I spent a few days down in Monterey where I picked up their local magazine the “Monterey Bay Wine & Travel”.  While scanning for fun things to do I came across this wonderful pasta recipe that did not have a name, it simply said “THIS PASTA BURST WITH COLORFUL FLAVORS”.  Armando Perez is the chef that prepared this dish.  He is one of the four “All Star” chefs at Gino’s Fine Italian Restaurant down in Salinas. It looked so yummy I couldn’t wait to get home and try it.

• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup finely chopped shallots
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• ¼ tsp. dried red pepper flakes
• 1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup red cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup orange cherry tomatoes
• 1-1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 lb. linguini
• 4 cups fresh spinach, torn into bite size pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat.  Add shallots, garlic, red pepper flakes, and all the tomatoes.  Sauté until translucent, 2 minutes or so.  Add the wine.  Simmer until the wine reduces by half, 5 minutes or so.  Add the shrimp and cook stirring, until they are pink, 2 minutes or so. 

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. 

Add the linguini, and cook until tender but still firm to the bite.  Drain pasta.  Add the pasta and spinach to the shrimp skillet.  Toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve immediately with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

• Serves 4
• Total time: about 1 hour

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. “This Pasta Bursts With Colorful Flavors”
2. Summer Pasta Salad
3. Fettuccine with Asparagus, Cherry Tomatoes, and Sweet Italian Sausage

Cod with it’s mild flavor is a popular dish that is low in fat.  Cod also contains a good source of vitamin B12, B6, and niacin that can have great cardiovascular benefits, especially for women.  Check out this link here to learn more about the benefits of cod.  Please enjoy!

For some very popular cod recipes from RecipeZaar, click here.

• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tbsp. flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp. minced shallots
• ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 thin piece prosciutto, minced
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 4-7 oz. fresh cod fillets
• Lemon wedges for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Stir together first 10 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  Heat oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat.  Season the cod with salt and pepper.  Cook in skillet for 4 minutes.  Turn fillets over and cook for 1 minute.  Spoon 1 tbsp. butter mixture over the top of each fillet; place skillet in oven, and bake for 2 minutes or until fish is cooked through.  Add any remaining butter to pan, and let melt, stirring with juices in pan.  Spoon over fish and serve immediately with lemon wedges.

Serves: 4

Total time: 30 minutes

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Garlic and Lemon Marinated Chicken Breasts With Gnocchi and Sage Butter Sauce
2. Halibut With Citrus Butter Sauce
3. Pasta in Garlic-Almond Sauce

Yeah!!!  Crab season has started, a recipe from the archives.  LooLoo

During crab season this is a must for entertaining. It’s fun, it’s easy, it’s fast and everybody loves it.  I like to serve this succelent crab dish with a big green salad, and crusty french bread (dipping the bread in the sauce is a must).  It’s so good!!  I found this fabulous recipe from a cookbook “Cooking at the Winery with Jim May” that I aquired while wine tasting at the Alderbrook Winery a few years ago. This recipe was given to Rob Weinstock, Vineyard Manager at Alderbrook and his family more than forty years ago by the great San Francisco restauranteur Joe Paoli.  Go to www.alderbrook.com to check out this beautiful winery.

• 2 fresh Dungeness crabs cooked, cleaned, and cracked
• 1/4 pound butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco
• 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 sprigs rosemary
• Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, except crab, in a sauce pan large enough to hold the crab when added.
Simmer for 20 minutes until well blended.

Add crab and spoon sauce over it as it simmers for an additional 10 minutes.
Serve with crusty French bread, a green salad, and lots of napkins.

• Serves 4
• Total time: about 40 minutes

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Crab Paoli
2. Crab and Andouille Sausage Cakes
3. Spiced Pepper Walnuts

For more recipes with halibut, click here. 

For the halibut:

• Corn tortillas, 8 to 10
• 1 lb. halibut fillets
• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. whipping cream
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tbsp. olive oil

For the creamy avocado slaw:

• 1 avocado
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• ½  cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp. green salsa
• 1 tsp. cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. red pepper chili flakes
• ½ lime, juiced
• 2 cups cabbage, thinly sliced

Prepare you creamy avocado cabbage slaw first.  In a large bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly, adding your cabbage last, tossing to coat cabbage evenly.  Place in refrigerator while you prepare you tacos.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place your tortillas in foil and warm in oven while you prepare your halibut.  Wash and trim skin off halibut.  Cut into 2- inch pieces.  Place flour in shallow dish.  In a medium size bowl, beat eggs with whipping cream and water.  Place panko bread crumbs in a shallow dish, add salt and pepper to taste.  Dredge halibut pieces one by one in flour, shaking to remove any excess flour, then dip into egg mixture, lastly coat with the panko bread crumbs.  Heat a nonstick skillet with olive oil until barely smoking.  Sauté halibut pieces to a golden brown turning once, about 5 minutes.  Place halibut pieces in an oven proof pan, to finish cooking.  About 8 minutes. 

To serve, place halibut pieces in warmed tortillas, and top with creamy avocado cabbage slaw.

Serves: 6

Total time: 60 minutes

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Panko Crusted Halibut Tacos with a Creamy Avacado Coleslaw
2. Creamy Cilantro-Lime Slaw
3. Creamy Cucumber-Avocado Salad Dressing

Jicama is a sweet root vegetable that adds a nice crunch to these quesadillas.  The Bay shrimp (baby shrimp), changes this quesadilla up from the traditional beef or chicken.  Served with guacamole, this is a perfect quick week night meal or appetizers for your next party!  Please enjoy!

My source for these wonderful quesadillas is the San Francisco chronicle’s friday wine section.

For more recipes with aioli click here.

The Aioli

• ½ tsp. minced garlic
• 1 to 2 tsp. chopped fresh tarragon
• Kosher salt, to taste
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ tsp. lemon juice

The quesadillas

• 1 ear corn
• 5 oz. Monterey jack cheese, grated
• 8 oz. bay shrimp
• ½ cup finely chopped jicama
• 2 green onions, green part finely chopped, about ¼ cup
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 8 flour tortillas, 8-inch diameter
• ½ cup guacamole, mildly spiced

For the aioli

Place garlic and tarragon in a mortar with a little salt to taste and blend together with pestle.  Stir in the mayonnaise and lemon juice then refrigerate until ready to use.  The aioli can be made ahead.

For the quesadillas

Shuck corn and remove silks.  Rinse then loosely wrap in parchment or place in a microwave-safe container.  Microwave 2-3 minutes until cooked but still slightly crisp.  When cool enough, cut kernels off and set aside.

Divide the shrimp, corn, cheese, jicama and green onion among four tortillas, layering the ingredients.  Top with a sprinkle of lemon zest.  Spread the remaining tortillas with tarragon aioli and place, aioli-side down atop the filling.  If you have some aioli left, refrigerate for another use.

Heat a dry skillet over medium-low heat.  Place a quesadilla in the skillet and cook, flipping at least once, until the cheese has melted and tortillas are lightly browned.  Repeat with the remaining quesadillas.

Cut quesadillas into wedges and top with some of the guacamole, or offer it on the side.  Serve immediately.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Sausage and Shrimp with Fettucine
2. Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo
3. Panko Crusted Halibut Tacos with a Creamy Avocado Cabbage Slaw

Now then, after doing my due diligence in sourcing this crab cake recipe, I realized I have had this recipe since 1998, shame on me for not making it sooner, because I cannot wait to make it again. Chef Nancy Oakes from Boulevard created this Fabulous recipe and it came from the sunday paper of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Please enjoy!

For more crab cake recipes click here. 

• 1 ½ cups fresh bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• ¼ lb. crab meat
• 2 to 3 ounces andouille sausage, minced and sautéed until crisp
• 1 small rib celery, minced
• ¼ red onion, minced
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. chopped parsley
• ¼ tsp. minced fresh thyme
• ¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• Dash of Tabasco sauce
• 2 eggs yolks
• 2 egg whites, whipped to stiff peaks
• Olive oil for sautéing

In a bowl, drizzle bread crumbs with olive oil, toss and let stand 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs with crab, sausage, celery, onion, mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, thyme, Worcestershire, Tabasco and egg yolks.  Blend well.  Fold in whipped egg whites.

Form mixture into 1 ½ inch cakes (for appetizers), or 4 individual cakes (for an entrée).  Sauté in olive oil in a heavy skillet until brown on both sides and hot throughout. 

Serves:  12 as an appetizer or 4 for 2 people

Total time:  1 hour plus

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like...

1. Crab Paoli
2. Crab Paoli
3. Ray’s Andouille Sausage with Brown Rice and Beans