Featured Recipe: Sweet Basil's Seafood Chowder

This is the third, and final, recipe from Chef Dave Becker of Sweet Basil located in Needham, MA. 

Taken right from Stewed, Chef Dave's newest cookbook, today's featured recipe is Seafood Chowder. The great thing about this recipe is you can use whatever type of seafood you prefer! Don't like mussels? No problem, double up on the shrimp.

Get creative and mix and match according to your taste preferences!

Thanks to Chef Dave and the team at Sweet Basil for all of the great information and beautiful photos. It was so fun sharing this information with everyone. Don't hesitate and check out Sweet Basil today - you will be very happy you did :)

Photo Credit: Nina Gallant 

Sweet Basil's Seafood Chowder:

Serves 4 to 6

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• ½ cup flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for roasting the clams
• 2 cups Spanish onions, ¼” dice
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
• ¼ cup celery, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 3 cups Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed, ¼” dice
• 1 cup fresh corn kernels
• 1 cup sherry
• 1 ½ quarts Fish Stock (page 93 of Stewed)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• ½ pound fresh mussels, scrubbed
• ½ pound Maine baby shrimp
• ½ pound squid, tentacles and rings cut
• Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
• ½ pound whole clams, scrubbed

Garnish

• Chopped fresh parsley
• Chopped fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 400º.

In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter over low heat. When the butter melts, slowly whisk in the flour. Allow the roux to cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring continuously, until the mixture turns brown.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and thyme. Sauté the mixture for 5 minutes or until the ingredients begin to caramelize. Add the potatoes, corn, and sherry. Continue cooking for 1 minute or until the liquid is reduced. Add the Fish Stock, bring to a boil, and then add the boiling soup to the roux, maintaining the medium-high heat. Slowly whisk in the cream, and then add the mussels, shrimp, and squid. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the mussels open, and remove from the heat. Season to your liking with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, arrange the whole clams on a baking sheet, sprinkle with a few pinches of kosher salt and drizzle with a few splashes of olive oil. Roast in the oven until the clamshells open.

Ladle the soup into bowls, evenly distributing the roasted clams. Garnish with the parsley and basil, and serve.

Sweet Basil is located at 942 Great Plain Ave., Needham, MA 02492.

If you are interested in purchasing Chef Dave's newest cookbook, Stewed, or any of his cookbooks, you can find them here: www.sweetbasilneedham.com/cookbook

Pinterest Faves: Week of 2/17/13 - 2/23/13

This week there was so many good pins on Pinterest I have six pins to share instead of my typical top 5!

As I start to think about how I want to update my house I have been trying to decide on a color palette that will make everything look bright and fresh. I found this pin and was immediately inspired...I love the neutral scheme with a few light pastels mixed in. I already own a Organic Cotton Pintuck Sea Spray duvet from west elm so there is my light mint green...maybe a grey wall next?

Photo from Amateur Couture

I have a jar very similar to these in my bathroom that I hold my cotton balls and q-tips in but I never thought to glue them on top of candlesticks! I am on the hunt for 2 or 3 of them now so let me know if you come across any.

Candlestick Apothecary Jars from Teal & Lime

I am obsessed with this color combination...is it summer yet?

Neutral & Neon

And now for for the food...

I loved Golden Graham treats as a kid and I found this super easy make at home recipe that I will definitely be trying out soon!

S’mores Graham Krispie Treats from Wanna Be A Country Cleaver

 If you live in the South Boston neighborhood you are probably really excited about the opening of Foodie's Market. Finally we have a place to get higher quality meats, cheeses, and seafood. I can't wait to get my hands on some scallops and try out this recipe for Seared Scallops over Lemon-Ricotta pasta.

Seared Scallops over Lemon-Ricotta Pasta from Crumb

Need a really easy side dish? How about Parmesan & Spinach Orzo? I bet you have most, if not all, of the ingredients already at home and it is a great recipe to sneak veggies into.

Parmesan & Spinach Orzo from Life As A Strawberry

I hope you enjoyed my favorite Pinterest picks from this past week!

Linguine with Clams

When I was younger my neighbor and close family friend used to make linguini with clams. It was such a treat because we never had it at home (my sister is allergic to shellfish).

When I came across a recipe for it on Live Love Pasta I knew I had to try to make my own. I was even more excited when I realized the recipe originally came from one of The Pioneer Woman's cookbooks. I just love Ree so much!

I'm happy to say the recipe was a success! The pictures however are kind of boring - there just isn't much color in this dish and I am not a photographer. Still, it is worth making!

Recipe from Live Love Pasta

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 2 10 ounce cans of clams, drained
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup white wine (any kind you like)
• 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound of whole wheat linguine 
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the linguini according to the package directions. 

**Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining**

While the pasta is cooking...

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and clams, cook for about 3 minutes. 

Pour in the wine and stir, deglazing the bottom of your pan. Let cook for 3-4 minutes, until the wine has started to reduce. Lower the heat and add the juice of 1 lemon and the remaining butter.  Cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add heavy cream, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook just until heated through.

Add the pasta and toss to coat. Add the pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce. 

Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

So easy and so flavorful!! I wouldn't expect much else from a recipe that came from Ree :)

Shrimp with Sriracha Sauce

I have been wanting to make Jenn from Peas and Crayons Sriracha deglazing sauce for some time now and I finally got around to it!

If you haven't checked out Jenn's blog yet you definitely should! She has wonderful and healthy recipes and she was my inspiration to try quinoa for the first time - which I did in this dish! It was garlic flavored and I found it in the rice aisle of my grocery store. 1 1/2 cups of water, add the quinoa mix, cover and cook on low for 15 minutes. Loved it :)

So here is my take Jenn's dish...Enjoy!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1lb of shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Olive oil
• White wine
• Sriracha sauce
• Dried parsley
• Salt and pepper

Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.

In a stainless steel skillet heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the shrimp cooking 2 minutes on each side or until the shrimp are pink throughout.

Remove the shrimp from the skillet and add another tablespoon of oil. 

Add a splash of white wine to the pan along with a 1/2 tablespoon of sriracha sauce. Whisk until all the small bits on the bottom of the pan have come up and you have a bubbling orange color sauce.

Pour the sauce over the shrimp and sprinkle with dried parsley.

I served mine over garlic flavored quinoa and some frozen broccoli I had in my freezer that I steamed. Not as good as fresh but in a pinch it did the trick. I would have loved to have this with asparagus as well!


Thanks for the great recipe Jenn!