Main Dish
This week is all about seafood! Living in N.H. we have some of the best and freshest seafood available and I love taking advantage of that. With summer just around the corner, well…we hope anyway, the weather has not cooperated at all this spring! The seafood dish I am starting with is this Seafood Carbonara. It takes your average carbonara dish to an entirely new level. Although this dish has a number of steps, many ingredients, and more pans than I usually use for dinner, it was worth all the extra effort as we loved it.
NOTE – You can change the seafood to what you and your family like.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
8 large scallops
1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails off
3 lobster tails, steamed and chopped or 1/2 pound cooked lobster meat, chopped
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
6 slices of bacon
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup gruyere cheese
14 oz. linguine
3 Tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped for garnish-optional
DIRECTIONS
Place a large pot of water on the stovetop on high to boil the pasta. Starting with the seafood, chop the cooked lobster into large pieces and set aside. For the shrimp, place the raw deveined, tails off shrimp. On a baking sheet drizzle a small amount of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix to coat the shrimp with the oil and seasoning. Place in the oven on broil (leaving the oven door slightly open) and let roast until the shrimp just turns pink being careful not to overcook. Remove from oven and set aside with the cooked lobster.
Meanwhile, in a medium hot skillet, chop the bacon into pieces, add to the skillet and cook until crisp. When the bacon is cooked, add the minced garlic and cook for just a minute. Remove from heat and drain bacon fat.
In a large non-stick pan add the olive oil and heat to medium-high heat. Dry the scallops with a paper towel, season the top side with salt and pepper. When the skillet is hot add the scallops to the pan, seasoned side down. Add salt and pepper to the top side of the scallops. When the scallops have a nice brown seat on the bottom side turn the scallops over and sear the second side.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al Dante, about 8 minutes, stirring as you go.
In a bowl add the heavy cream, egg yolks, both kinds of cheese and mix to combine.
Add the shrimp, lobster, bacon and garlic mixture to the large pan with the scallops when the scallops have cooked through.
Add the drained pasta and remove from the heat. Add the cream and egg mixture stirring to combine, add tarragon and serve warm.
Enjoy!
I made this dish for Super Bowl Sunday as the Eagles were playing and a good friend of ours, Chris is a big fan of the Eagles, so this dish was made with him in mind! This was an excellent dish and one I will make again and again. I usually make a Mexican stuffed shell recipe so this was a great change of pace. If you like Philly cheesesteaks you will like this twist using the pasta shells.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound lean ground beef
2 Tablespoons butter
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Pepper
8 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
24 jumbo pasta shells cooked according to package directions
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup milk, I used whole milk
1 cup of beef broth
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the ground beef to a large skillet and brown until cooked through breaking beef up as it cooks. Remove the beef from the pan and set aside. Add the butter, pepper, and onions to the skillet. Cook stirring for just a couple minutes just getting them slightly soft. Add the beef back to the pan. Add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper into the pan and stir.
Take the beef mixture off of the heat and scoop into the cooked pasta shells. Place the filled shells in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Top each shell with cubes of cheese using only HALF of the cheese for this.
In the same pan used for the beef add the beef broth, mil and cornstarch and whisk before turning the heat back on to medium heat. Add the rest of the cheese a little at a time while whisking for 3-5 minutes or until thickened.
Pour about 3/4 of the sauce around the shells and pour remaining sauce over the shells.
Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes to melt the cheese and warm the shells through.
serve warm.
Enjoy!
The Goat Restaurant has two locations. The first being 20 L Street in Hampton NH, the second being 143 Congress Street in Portsmouth N.H. We went to the Portsmouth location as it is fairly new to Portsmouth and we had to check it out! The Goat is open Monday through Friday from 11 am to 1 am and Saturday and Sundays from 8 am – 1 am, 365 day’s a year! We have been hearing about the Goat for some time now with lots of hype, so we decided to go for lunch.
When we walked in we were greeted and promptly seated at a window seat so we could people watch everyone enjoying downtown Portsmouth. The decor is rustic and country with country music playing in the background. Several large screen televisions and also a large bar area in the middle of the restaurant. Such a relaxed vibe as soon as you walk in. We had decided early in the day we would be going for lunch so we were hungry and ready for an appetizer. Jim and I both love appetizers and had a tough time choosing. But with the help of our adorable waitress (Ms. Lovely) we decided on the baked stuffed jalapeños with a three cheese blend bacon wrapped jalapeño with chipotle aioli. ($10.09).
Can I just tell you how delicious those jalapeños were with that aioli? It was absolutely delicious. I would order this again any day of the week! Needless to say, we cleaned that plate fast, but that’s ok as our main course promptly arrived.
I had the BBBBLT ($11.00). Talk about a BLT sandwich…this was huge. So much thick cut bacon with lettuce, tomato, and mayo on your choice of bread. You can tell the Goat loves their bacon from the wording on the menu. Let me say this sandwich did not disappoint and was so big! I brought half of it home. My sandwich came with hand cut fries and those too were delicious and nicely fried! Great sandwich for any bacon lover.
I know you can all guess what Jim ordered. Of course…a burger! He ordered a burger called “The Cure” with American cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, fried egg and BBQ sauce with a side of pasta salad. The burgers are cooked two ways pink or no pink. Jim likes his burger medium so he ordered his pink! Jim’s burger was cooked just as he likes them. The burger was juicy and the fried egg on top perfectly cooked. His plate was clean in no time. The pasta salad although good, was not a favorite. He will skip the pasta salad next time and stick with the amazing fries!
The menu at The Goat has many things you would expect and some dishes you might not expect. For appetizers, they have the usual suspects of nachos and wings but also had fried banana peppers and a bucket of bacon with sriracha maple dipping sauce. This is not for the weak of heart! The burger selections are amazing and as expected you can build your own burger. Perhaps try something a little different such as the Surfing Cowboy Burger with cheddar cheese, grilled pineapple, and honey BBQ sauce. If you like it hot you can have the Dragon Burger with ghost pepper cheese, diced jalapeños, and their signature goat sauce. So many choices! Not only do they have beef burgers, you also have the choice of grilled chicken, turkey or even a veggie burger. They don’t just serve sandwiches and burgers you can get steak tips and a couple types of mac and cheese to just name a few things. The hand cut fries have a number of selections as well as the tater tots and onion rings!
On the weekends they are open for breakfast. We have not tried their breakfast yet, but it’s on the top of my list after talking with our waitress and looking at the menu! The breakfast menu includes a number 9f breakfast sandwiches along with French toast, specialty pancakes and if you are really hungry they have a dish called the Hungry Man with 2 eggs, homefries, toast, ham, bacon, sausage and 2 pancakes! Holy smokes, can anyone really eat all that?!
And if that is not enough and you like Bloody Mary’s, this place is for you! They have an amazing build your own Bloody Mary and even offer their own bacon-infused vodka and jalapeño bacon-infused vodka along with so many garnishes!
I highly recommend checking out their website and give their Facebook page a like. This will keep you up with their specials and things happening at their locations. They keep everything updated including their live music dates and times!
Enjoy!
This is such an easy lunch or dinner dish that is packed with flavors. I made this for a lunch and put the chicken slaw in a wrap to make sandwiches with it. This dish is great to make ahead as the flavors do need time to come together, perfect for those busy weeknights or nights when you are on the go with activities!
4 servings
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon sriracha sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
SALAD
1 14 ounces coleslaw mix
1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro and or peanuts- optional
DIRECTIONS
For the dressing whisk the first eight ingredients until blended.
Place the first four salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the dressing. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. If desired sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts.
Enjoy!
This is an easy recipe but does take some time to make with marinating and cooking. But it’s worth it as this chicken was juicy and full of flavor. It was sweet, salty and a little bit of heat from the hot pepper sauce! This is the kind of recipe my family really enjoys. I served this with a salad and dinner was done!
INGREDIENTS
8-10 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs and or legs
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons hot sauce
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
DIRECTIONS
Add chicken to a large Ziploc bag or resealable container. Combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour over the chicken and let marinade 6-10 or overnight. Heat a large cast iron skillet (see note if you don’t have a cast iron pan or a large frying pan) over medium heat. Add just enough vegetable oil to skillet to coat the bottom of the pan. Once oil and pan are hot, add the chicken pieces, reserving the marinade. The honey can burn if you cook these too hot so be sure to have your temperature at medium. Cook chicken on all sides until browned, it will not be cooked all the way through at this point, just looking for the brown. Pour the marinade into the skillet, place uncovered in a 325 degree heated oven and bake for one hour, basting chicken pieces 3-4 times through the hour. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from oven and serve warm.
NOTE:
If you don’t have a cast iron skillet or frying pan large enough to fit all the chicken just brown the chicken in batches using whatever skillet you have and transfer the browned chicken into a 13 x 9 baking dish. Pour the reserved marinade into the baking dish, bake and baste as directed above.
Enjoy!
This recipe comes from www.southyourmouth.com
Stay In Touch
Follow me!
