Article by Christine Budd
Bacon Wrapped Cobia Fillets with Rosemary Caramelized Onions & Arugula
Ingredients:
Rosemary Caramelized Onions:
2 Tbsp. butter
6 medium onions, sliced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely minced
2 Tbsp. organic chicken broth
Pinch of sea salt
Bacon Wrapped Cobia:
4- 4oz cobia fillets (approx. ½ inch thickness)
8 slices thick-cut bacon
½ tsp. avocado oil
4 cups fresh baby arugula
1 lemon
Directions:
Rosemary Caramelized Onions:
Melt butter in skillet over medium-low heat.
Add onions to skillet and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes and scraping the fond from the bottom of the pan.
Add in the rosemary, stir, and let it cook for another 15-20 minutes.
After the onions are brown and caramelized, add chicken broth and a pinch of salt to deglaze the pan. Scrape the bottom and gently mix.
Set aside the onions in a bowl.
Bacon Wrapped Cobia:
Rinse and dry the cobia fillets.
Lay out bacon strips in pairs with one slightly overlapping the other.
Place each fillet at the end of each pair of bacon strips and tightly wrap the bacon around the fillets. Tightly enough for the bacon to stay put while cooking but not so tight that you begin to actually stretch the bacon.
Lightly coat a large skillet or sauté pan with avocado oil (I actually use a spray bottle kind) and heat over medium heat.
Once the pan is hot, place the fillets seam side down in the pan and cook for 7 minutes.
Flip the fillets to the other side using a spatula and cook for another 7 minutes.
Now take a couple minutes and carefully brown the other sides of the fillet to get the rest of the bacon crispy before serving.
The total cooking time will be approx. 16-17 minutes for ½-inch thick fillets.
Arrange arugula on plates, divide the caramelized onions over the arugula, then place one fillet on top of each.
Squeeze a little lemon juice over the arugula and serve immediately.
Maryland Crab Soup
Ingredients:
1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
3 cups water
2 cups beef stock
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (lima beans, carrots, peas)
1 cup frozen corn
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pound crab meat
Salt and pepper
Marzetti® Garlic and Butter Croutons
Directions:
Combine tomatoes, water, beef stock, vegetables and corn, and Worcestershire sauce in soup pot.
Add Old Bay seasoning, bring to boil, decrease heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add crab meat. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes.
Ladle into bowls and top with croutons.
Seared Swordfish with a Lemon and Wine Rosemary Sauce
Ingredients:
1.5 lb swordfish steak, rinsed and patted dry
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup of white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 clove of garlic, minced
pinch of salt
pinch of cracked black pepper
Directions:
Start by seasoning your swordfish with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Push it gently into the fish.
Heat your large skillet on medium to high heat. Add in the oil and get it nice and hot, until it shimmers.
Carefully add in the swordfish and sear for about 7 minutes, or so, on each side. Your internal temperature of the thickest part of the fish should be around 135-140 degrees.
Right before you pull the fish, add the butter to the skillet. It will immediately begin to sizzle, so add in the white wine as well. Then add the lemon juice, and garlic. Let the sauce reduce with the fish for a few minutes,
Plate the fish, then pour the sauce around the perimeter of the fish. Garnish with a lemon, and sprinkle a bit more of fresh rosemary, thyme, or cut up chives.
Oyster Stew
Ingredients:
1 pint fresh oysters packed in their juice
3 tablespoons butter
1 large yellow onion chopped
3 cups whole milk
1 cup half-and-half
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Drain juice from oysters into small bowl. Set aside.
Add butter to large saucepan. Heat on medium-low heat until melted.
Add chopped onions and cook until translucent and tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add oyster liquor and cook until mostly reduced, about 10 minutes.
Stir in milk and half-and-half and heat to simmer. Do not allow to boil as it will cause your milk to curdle.
Add oysters and continue on simmer until outer edges of oysters curl, about 8 minutes.
Weeknight Spaghetti with Clams
Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
Four 6.5 ounce cans chopped clams in clam juice
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Zest of 1/2 lemon plus 2 teaspoons juice
Pinch red pepper flakes
Directions:
Get a big pot of generously salted water going on the stove to cook your pasta. When the water boils, cook the spaghetti until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter melts, drop the heat to medium-low and add the garlic. Saute the garlic until it softens and releases its aroma, about 2 minutes. Do your best to avoid browning the garlic, since that will make it bitter.
While your garlic is cooking, open the cans of clams and drain off all but 1/2 cup of the clam juice. Set aside. Once the garlic is tender and aromatic, add the clams to the pan and sauté until they soak up the flavors, about 2 minutes.
When the pasta is cooked and drained, add it to the skillet along with the 1/2 cup clam juice, parsley, lemon zest, lemon, salt, a light shower of black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook it for a final 2 minutes or so, coating the pasta with the sauce (I like to use tongs to turn the pasta in the pan).
Serve immediately.
Tuscan-Style Grilled Tuna Steaks
Ingredients:
4 fresh tuna steaks, 8 ounces each, 1-inch thick
1 lemon, zested
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, about 2 tablespoons leaves stripped from stem
Handful flat leaf parsley
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Coarse salt and black pepper or grill seasoning
Extra-virgin olive oil, for cooking
Grilled Stuffed Portobellos:
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 large lemon, juiced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more, for drizzling
4 medium to large portobello mushroom caps
Coarse salt and black pepper, or grill seasoning spice blend
3 large, firm plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped to about 2 tablespoons
1/2 pound fresh smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced
Serving suggestions: Garlic toasts or grilled crusty bread
Directions:
Rinse and pat tuna steaks dry. Place zest on top of cutting board. Pile rosemary and parsley leaves on top of zest. Pile garlic and some coarse salt and black pepper or grill seasoning on top of herbs. Finely chop the garlic, herbs, and spices. Drizzle the olive oil over the tuna steaks just enough to coat each side. Rub herb and garlic mixture into fish, coating pieces evenly on each side. Let stand 10 minutes.
Grill tuna steaks 6 minutes on each side or 4 minutes on each side, if you prefer pink tuna at the center. Cook steaks over: high setting on indoor electric grill, medium high heat on outdoor gas grill or, 6 inches from hot, prepared charcoal.
Grilled Stuffed Portobellos:
Yield: 4 servings
Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl or large food storage plastic bag. Coat mushroom caps evenly in marinade.
Place mushroom caps on the grill cap-side-up and season with grill seasoning or salt and pepper. If you are using an indoor tabletop electric grill, preheat to 400 degrees F or “high” setting. If you are using an outdoor gas grill, preheat to medium high; for a charcoal grill, prepare coals and cook mushrooms 6 inches from hot coals. Mushrooms will cook 4 to 6 minutes on each side. Cook mushrooms covered or under tin foil tent and turn occasionally.
Combine tomatoes, rosemary, and smoked mozzarella. Drizzle with oil and toss.
Fill mushroom caps with tomato mixture and top with sliced mozzarella. The mushrooms will look like small pizzas. Place caps in oven at 425 degrees F until cheese melts or you can close grill lid or replace tin foil tent over mushroom caps to melt cheese, it will take 1 to 3 minutes. Serve as-is or, place stuffed caps on garlic toast or sliced crusty bread to catch the juices.§
