Not sure if I'm gonna make this one or not... I have the seafood... but we had stuff come up and couldn't do the cook... might still pull something out of my back pocket before the deadline 
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OK for those who have followed my cooks you know of my commitment to the taco. The taco is that ubiquitous carrier of all things protein and that includes seafood. That said, I couldn't help myself and had to do some seafood tacos for this challenge (and yes this one is especially for you Andrrr).
Did some grilled Shrimp Brochettes Achiote, a Mexican style marinade and wrapped them in homemade blue flour tortillas. They're dressed with cherry tomatoes, chunks of avocado, a champagne vinegar cabbage slaw and topped off with Rick Bayless' Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa....
And as a bonus, my Asian wife whipped up a lovely shrimp and baby bok choy soup the next day with the leftover shrimps...
Of course we can't skip our favorite time of the meal. For dessert I did a homemade key lime pie with a classic graham cracker and coconut crust, one of my all time favorites....
Enjoy....
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Is coconut common in a Key Lime Pie crust? Who knew! I'm not much of a baker or dessert eater, for that matter, but I would try this. Chef Jean Pierre makes KLP using coconut his crust, too. It must be a secret ingredient? Of course being no afficionado of KLP, it could be a very common ingredient and I wouldn't know.
You did a gorgeous job with the whole meal. It's hard for me to decide which of your offerings so far would be the winner. Your imagination shines through in all of them.
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Astonishing. Simply astonishing. That very well may be the most beautiful taco I have ever seen. Hang that photo in the Louvre. No, wait, they wouldn't appreciate it. Hang it in the Alamo.
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We’re looking at five days in the rear view and five through the windshield. Half way through this Smackdown we’ve seen some absolutely stunning displays of culinary prowess. What will the next half bring from under the sea? As inspiration, I’ve changed my avatar once again.
Cue the steel drums.
Last edited by WayneT; September 6, 2023, 10:23 AM.Comment
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Made some late night chocolate macadamia nut cookies last night.
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a bit of preview of a midweek special cook
Last edited by barelfly; September 6, 2023, 05:50 PM.Comment
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And here I am thinking I could have won it all if I took a pic of my 13 year-old daughter and her now famous double chocolate chip cookies. Maybe I can bribe her to make some more stat.Comment
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Our humble offering.
Snapper with herbs, lemon and capers.
Aromatic rice pilaf and broccoli as sides. The fish was cooked over charcoal on my SNS. The resulting flavor with the herbs, capers, lemons and delicate smoke was otherworldly…like a fish piccata.
I do put almonds in my key lime pie crust but not coconut or other nuts like Chef Pierre.
My filling is very similar to Chef Pierre’s but the method is slightly different. I’ve tweaked this particular recipe a couple of times to yield a nice tart flavor with a crunchy crust.Comment
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Mr. Fish does not look happy on that plate, but I bet you and your wife dined in style on him. Nice job! Mr. Fish looks like I'd look if I suffered the same fate.
Can you tell us about your tweaks to that KLP recipe? Just last week I watched Chef Jean Pierre's video. Then today I see your and Troutman 's KLPs. Inspiration is dawning.
Why the interest? I've been asked to enter a pie contest in October, and I'm casting about for something traditional but with a bit of a different twist.
K.
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I made a few posts this weekend for my trip to the Hatch Chile Festival and picking up this wonderful paella pan. My plan along was to make up a seafood paella for this week, but that got turned upside down a bit not being in town last weekend. But that didn’t stop me! Breaking in this 3Nail Ironware paella pan the way it should be….I present seafood and chicken paella over coals!
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And to follow up a great savory, rich paella, I went with some acidity - Lemon Curd Soufflé! And I ask myself as I write this - why on earth did I make five of these things when it’s just my wife and I! Yes…I ate three of them….because Soufflé is no good as a leftover!! hahah. After the first one, I added some chocolate chips that melted perfectly! Oh my…I’m about to fall asleep after this meal tonight
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This is the equivalent of a large snake swallowing a whole chicken. Just lie around and let that great meal digest for a few days.
You'll be fine, lying there and thinking about all of those amazing flavors that came together for the perfect meal.
K.Last edited by fzxdoc; September 10, 2023, 06:23 AM.
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Here is a simple dessert. I did not make the ice cream (though I usually do). BUT, the peaches were from the farmers market. Dusted with cinnamon sugar and grilled!
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Here's a little "appeteaser" as a first course to the weekend cook coming up soon.....smoked salmon cobb salad....
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Did not grill, the week just got away from me.
homemade semola noodles, shrimp, in a garlic butter, cream sauce, topped with garlic chives and Parmesan.
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Well, here’s another seafood dinner ….. we eat a fair amount of fish, and this one came out nice, so I thought I’d share.
This one is wild caught, flash frozen Coho salmon. Green beans from the garden, with toasted almonds. Handmade Armenian rice pilaf (aka Rice-a-Roni …. Bet you didn’t know that it’s based on an Armenian dish). With a nice Washington red blend from Uva Furem, a local winery owned by a couple of military veterans.
Took half a Coho filet (about 13 oz), split that in half. Hit it with salt, pepper, and dried dill. Cooked it in the Made In carbon steel. Got that up to a surface temp of about 350F, added olive oil, let it heat up for about 60 seconds. Fish in skin side down for 5 minutes, let it release naturally and then flipped. Cooked there for 2 minutes, back over to skin side down, sprinkled some lemon zest on, cooked for another 90 seconds, turned, cooked flesh side down for 90 seconds, back onto skin, squeezed some fresh lemon juice on the fish, turned the heat off and served.
The rice pilaf recipe can be found on Serious Eats (search for rice-a-roni, select the Armenian rice pilaf). Made it in the 3 qt saucier (it was perfect for this CandySueQ ).
The green beans are garden fresh. I first toasted some almond slivers in a hot, dry skillet. Which I promptly burned because I’m not completely used to the new Made In cookware. Tossed those, did it again, got it right. Added some butter, let it get hot and stop bubbling, added the green beans and some lemon zest. Sautéed the green beans to be nicely done, but not soft.
Managed to pull it off so everything was done simultaneously!
This is how local Uva Furem is …. They are in my little local town!
Salmon on carbon steel …. Amazing
Finally got the almonds right
Rice A Roni …. No boxes involved
It was pretty darn good …. You wish you were here!
Last edited by ecowper; September 7, 2023, 08:53 PM.Comment
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Looks like you got the skin decently crispy.....something I still struggle with. -
Michael_in_TX That’s one of my better skin outcomes. The trick is having the pan at the right temp and the enough oil to let the fish float and not quite touch the pan itself. This turned out to be much easier to achieve with cast iron or carbon steel than stainless
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Another modest submission from our home to yours.
Spoiler alert!
y
Mise en place. Mushrooms, Gruyère, grits, pancetta, garlic, cayenne, butter, pepper, shallot.
Chicken stock + shrimp shells for the grits.
This resulted in some of the most amazing grits I’ve ever tasted. Just give me a bowl of this every morning.
I used pancetta instead of Tasso ham or country ham.
Shrimp in the rendered pork fat.
Sautéing the veggies and aromatics.
Bringing it all together.
Gooey goodness.
Reprised the Key Lime Pie with the addition of some mint, because you can never go wrong with KLP.
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Less than 2 days remain of this SmackDown, and we have all witnessed some absolutely stunning seafood and dessert dishes. Can it get any better? Let’s see what the next 36 hours has to offer.Comment
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