Ingredients:
Directions:
Serves 6 but can easily be doubled for a larger group. You can also add additional cheese cubes and meats for a larger group.
When most people think of fall foods, they think of soup. Here is Florida, fall isn’t exactly cool, but it doesn’t keep me from making soup. I love a simple evening dinner of soup and salad. Here is my recipe for crab bisque. This version is easy to make. It doesn’t require pureeing. I like to serve it with a simple Cesar salad and call it a meal, but it can also be served as a first course. I love the simplicity of this bisque and the chucks of crab meat add such a wonderful texture.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Makes about 8 cups of bisque.
Serves 4 as an entrée or 8 as a starter/appetizer
Crème fraiche can be purchased in your local grocery store, but often it is really expensive. You can make your own with just a little preparation. In a canning jar with a lid, combine 1 cup of cream and 2 Tbsp buttermilk. Cover with the canning jar lid, and shake to combine. Leave at room temperature for about 12 hours. The cream will thicken and create crème fraiche. At this time put in your refrigerator to store. It will keep for about 7 days. The extra buttermilk that you didn’t use to make crème fraiche can be used to make wonderful pancakes.
Where To Find:
There are so many different recipes for crab cakes. This one is my personal favorite because it is packed with crab and not a lot of bread or other fillers. The parsley, red bell pepper and green onion add just the right amount of flavor and color. These crab cakes are great served alone with lemon aioli as a main dish or served as a salad on top of a bed of greens. Alternatively, use this recipe to make bite sized crab cakes as a party appetizer. Any way that you serve them, they are sure to be a hit!
If you would like to serve as a crab cake salad, be sure to read to the end of the recipe for a simple citrus vinaigrette for the salad greens.
If you want, you can turn this into a crab cake salad by making a simple citrus vinaigrette to dress the arugula or mixed greens.
To make the vinaigrette just combine ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, ½ cup citrus vinegar (I love Sunshine Citrus Speciality Vinegar by Ancient Olive), 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp lemon juice, and ½ tsp lemon zest. Whisk well to combine all ingredients and refrigerate. This dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week, just be sure to whisk it again before using. If using with the crab cakes to make a salad, lightly dress the arugula (or misted greens) and divide among the plates. Place 1 crab cake in the center of each bed of arugula and serve with lemon wedges. If you like, you could also add a dollop of the lemon aioli to the top of each crab cake.
Serves 4 (with 2 crab cakes each) as an entrée, 8 (with 1 crab cake each) as a crab cake salad, or makes about 12 one-bite crab cakes as an appetizer.
I love margaritas and one of my local restaurants serves a coconut margarita. Unlike most, it is not a creamy drink with coconut milk or a blended drink, but a more simple version made with coconut tequila and served over ice. I have been working on perfecting this recipe. In my version, I use a toasted coconut sugar rim but a simple sea salt or sugar rim works. Shown here in handmade Mexican blown glass Margarita glasses I purchased from @shophandmadeconamor.
This is the perfect tropical drink to serve with fish tacos, grilled shrimp, or ceviche.
INGREDIENTS:
DIRECTIONS:
Makes 1 large margarita, but recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
Here are a few of my favorite bar items, including the hand blown margarita glasses in the color ”ocean blue confetti“. I have been looking at these for quite some time and I am so glad I bought them. They are very well made and remind me of sea glass. At the end of the list, I also include links to the recipe ingredients so you can find them easily.
Have you ever had empanadas? They are a type of fried or baked savory meat turnover and they make the perfect bite-sized appetizers. Last week I shared my recipe for Cuban picadillo. I always like to make a double batch of this and put the remainder in freezer. This weekend, I defrosted the picadillo and used it to make empanadas. Having the picadillo pre-made, made this easy. You can use pre-made pie crust or your favorite pie crust recipe for your empanadas but I think a traditional pie crust it is a little to buttery and flaky for empanadas. Here is my recipe for empanada crust.
This recipe makes about 18 empanadas.
Ingredients:
To Prepare the Dough:
Baking Items I Used in This Recipe:
Picadillo is a dish made in many countries including Cuba and Puerto Rico. The dish is traditionally made with ground beef and tomatoes and usually includes raisins and olives but the other ingredients vary by region. Here I included potatoes in the recipe for a one pan dish, but they are optional.
This dish can also be served over yellow rice or as a filling in savory pastries like empanadas.
This sweet and savory dish is the perfect one pan dish for a weeknight meal. It also freezes and reheats well.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oilve oil, onion, garlic, and bell pepper and saute until softened. Add the diced potatoes and cook for a few more minutes browning the outside of the potatoes.
Next add the tomato paste, tomatoes, bay leaves, cumin, Sazon seasoning, and white wine. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid is reduced by half.
Return the heat on the stove to medium high. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up into small pieces. Continue to cook until the beef is no longer pink.
Add the olives, capers, pimentos, and raisins to the mixture in your pan. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
To serve, remove the bay leaves and add salt and pepper to taste. Place a portion of the mixture in each bowl. If you decided not to add the potato, serve over yellow rice.
This recipe serves 4 but can easily be doubled. When I double the recipes, I freeze half and use it to make empanadas another day.
Sazon is a spice blend often used in Latin food. It creates the red color of this dish and is a mixture of coriander, annatto, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. I did add extra cumin to this dish because it adds to the flavor.
To make your own Sazon seasoning, add 1/2 Tbsp each of coriander, cumin, ground annatto, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add 1 tsp of dried oregano and salt and pepper to your liking. I usually skip the salt and pepper when making this spice blend because I like to add it to the dish later. If you want to add it to your blend, add 1/4 of a tsp each of salt and pepper. You can also buy Sazon seasoning. It may be in the international section of your grocery store or you can buy it online at the links below.
Here in Florida you will find blackened fish tacos on almost every menu. I changed mine up a little. I topped the fish with a simple cabbage slaw for the perfect crunch and an avocado lime creme to balance out the spiciest of the blackened fish. These are great for a party served with chips, salsa and margaritas. I like them best served on corn tortillas but my family loves flour, so I use both and let everyone prepare the tacos to their liking.
Halve both avocados and scoop out the flesh of the avocado into a bowl. Zest the lime and add zest and juice from the lime into the bowl. Smash the avocado mixture until smooth. Add the sour cream and yogurt and mix until well blended. Season with the Chili Lime seasoning and salt to taste. Refrigerate until tacos are ready to serve.
Place the fish fillets on a plate and lightly coat with olive oil. Season both sides of the fish with the blacking seasoning.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, heat up the vegetable oil. Use just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the fish.
Cook the fish on one side and then turn it over with a spatula to cook the remaining side. About 3 to 4 minutes depending on the thickness of your fillets. The fish should be opaque in the center and flakey. Place the cooked fish on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the oil. Then break the fish up into 8 to 10 pieces.
While the fish is cooking, warm the tortillas in foil in the oven.
Place 2 to 3 tortillas on each plate. Use taco holders if you have them. Add a piece of fish to each tortilla and top with cabbage slaw and the avocado lime cream. Garnish the tacos with chopped cilantro and serve with lime wedges and extra slaw on the side.
Tortilla chips and salsa are also great sides for this dish.
Serves 4
I love using taco holders for my tacos. They are perfect for keeping all ingredients inside the tacos on your plate and work well for make-your-own taco parties. You can also flip them over so they can hold 2 or 3 tacos, depending on their placement on the plate. Here are links to a few of my favorites.
Here are links to the special seasonings that I used.
This easy to prepare dish is perfect for a weeknight family meal or a casual dinner with friends. If you like your chicken a little more spicy, you can add 1 tsp of chopped and seeded habanero chile pepper to the marinade.
For Chicken:
For Black Beans:
For Coconut Ginger Rice:
To Prepare:
Serves 6 but recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for larger groups.
Where To Find:
Sangria is a great drink for a summer party. Although there are many different versions of sangria, I like to make a red, white and blue berry sangria for Independence or Memorial Day barbecues. You can use any dry white wine in your sangria, but for this one I used Riesling which is a little sweeter. If you let the mixture sit for a few hours, the flavors will intensify. You can store it in the refrigerator for a few days. I like to serve it over ice with some of the fruit in each glass and a mint sprig for garnish. This recipe can easily be doubled and served in a drink dispenser on a buffet table.
Ingredients:
- 1 bottle of dry white wine (I used a Riesling but Sauvignon Blanc is also a good choice.)
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed and sliced in half
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 1 cup fresh blackberries
- 1/4 cup simple syrup (You can make this yourself or buy premade simple syrup at any liquor store.
Simple syrup can be made by heating one cup sugar with one cup water on a stove until the
sugar dissolves. If you make your own simple syrup, be sure to chill completely before using in this recipe.)
- 1 cup club soda or other sparkling water
- 1/2 cup Grand Mariner Cordon Rouge, Cointreau or another orange liqueur. (I know this is not berry
flavored, but I love the splash of citrus in this white sangria.)
- Mint springs to garnish (optional)
Preparation:
In a large pitcher combine the wine, simple syrup, orange liqueur and club soda. Stir to combine.
Add your prepared fruits and stir.
Store in your refrigerator until fully chilled or until you are ready to serve.
Serve over ice in a wine glass, being sure to ladle some of the fruit into each glass and garnish with a mint sprig.
If you have 4th of July hors d’oeuvre picks, layer the some raspberries and blueberries on the picks and place inside each glass as a garnish. I have some cute 4th of July hors d’oeuvre picks on my coastal 4th of July Pinterest board.
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