Wicked Good - Smoked Tuna Roe Shrimp Alfredo

Holy hell. Iron Chef Hawaii just threw down tonight. Tsu has been working on the components for this dish the last few days and oh my lord, the magic that he put before me tonight for dinner was so wicked-good, it blew my wicked mind.

Fruit Ninja dropped by earlier this week, Monday, I think. Although, this time, Fruit Ninja didn’t come bearing fruit.

This time, she brought something kinda rare, even though that is very much her game. Normally she is bringing special fruit or an abundance of seasonal fruit or on occasion, a Japanese dish she has made herself and wants to introduce to us.

But this time... she brings a hefty 2 lb hunk of beautiful, dark red tuna and the entire roe sack from the same fish, fresh caught that morning from the neighbor next door to her, two doors down the street. 

The stack of empty organic egg cartons she leaves behind tells the story of what I can return for the bounty she just shared with me. My gorgeous free range eggs makes a perfect barter even though she shares with me so frequently, I could never repay her kindness with eggs alone. But I sure do like the fact that I can provide something in return that she will enjoy, too.  I package up a dozen for Tsunami to take to her right away. 

After tonight’s meal, I package up another dozen for good measure.

Now, I know you may not have access to this type of thing so I won’t act like you do. I mean, I don’t. This was a gift. And up until now, I honestly never gave a thought to tuna roe. I’ve had salmon roe on sushi, even a Russian or Bulgarian caviar, but tuna roe? Nope. This was one of those things that just falls into your... um, smoker?

Well, that is just what Tsu did with it, being the mastermind he is. He smoked that package of yum. But he brined it first.

Yep this star of this particular food-gasm had 3 preparations before being blended into the smoked silkiness that would become THE BEST ALFREDO I’VE EVER EATEN. Yes, I know... All caps! Hands down this is drop the mic out of this world something you must try. You must.

So pretense, be damned. You may not get your hands on it, but IF YOU DO, you may come back looking for this here recipe, y’all. Mark my aloha.

In case you are lucky enough to purvey such a delicacy and want to try or are just plain curious, here is what Tsu did:

Prep the roe for the Alfredo “base” sauce:

1. Brine the roe For 24 hours in 2 tbsp sugar, enough water to completely cover roe, dash of salt.
2. Smoke the roe on low smoke hour and a half, mesquite chips.
3. Remove the roe from the sack. You can scrape it out with a spoon or just remove it like a casing on a sausage.
4. Sim simma the roe in garlic, butter, on low heat, whisking to break up roe so it doesn’t form lumps like you’d expect with ground beef. 
5. Gradually and gently whisk in half n half or heavy cream.
6. Purée this in a blender when the sauce has cooled. Blending hot liquids can be a disaster so I caution you to let this sufficiently cool before you do so or it will end up all over you and your kitchen ceiling.

Prep your Alfredo fixings (optional):
Tsu and I both love mushrooms so our Alfredo sauce adds sautéed mushrooms in white wine and butter, probably garlic and fresh thyme. This is entirely up to you but it is how we eat or Alfredo normally and I think the richness of flavor is important.

Serve:
When ready to serve, Tsu warmed up the smoked roe “base”, added roughly a cup of store bought Alfredo sauce to loosen the sauce and then gently added the sautéed mushrooms.

We served it over penne pasta which was cooked al dente, then warmed and finished in the pan with the sauce. You could use virtually any pasta you desire but penne was a good choice because it can grab the sauce, which trust me, you will love.

Garnish with sliced scallions, fresh parsley and fresh black pepper. Oh, and copious amounts of fresh grated parmesan cheese, naturally.

Suggestions:
We served ours with local peeled, deveined shrimp that were dusted with Cajun seasonings then lightly seared for a minute on each side but not cooked through. The shrimp finish their cook in the sauce, along with the penne, just before serving so they warm through but don’t end up over-cooked.

The next night we served it with gorgeous seared scallops.

The last night, I made zoodles with my spiralizer and a summer zucchini which I served with the remaining sauce. I’m obsessed with zoodles because I love zucchini and summer squash. It’s keto-friendly, too if you are avoiding or watching carbs. And by night 3, if you are so lucky, zoodles might be the way to go!

Sadly, there was no night 4... ;)

Hasta La Vista Lobster and Shrimp Bisque

Packing up a household for an extended trip abroad is quite an undertaking. I mean, for a food-crazed, gastro-collector like me, I am finding that the hardest belongings to really part with are not from my closet or (gasp!) even my garden, but hallow the humble shelves of my beloved pantry.

But knowing this now for quite some many months, we have started to work on all the refrigerator and freezer jewels. Whittled down to most of my bulk and specialty seasonings, dry pastas and legumes, we found ourselves wanting to indulge for a few days more on the abundant seafood we have available locally here in Southern Florida.  

Fresh out of the shell lobster meat and a great bargain on some pink Argentinian shrimp caught our attention and inspired us to make this lovely, luscious seafood bisque during our last week prior to heading down unda'.

Ingredients:

• 2 1-pound live lobsters or 1 lb lobster meat
• 4 tablespoons olive oil or butter or ghee
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tsp mustard powder
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/2 cup dry Sherry
• 4 cups fish stock or bottled clam juice
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 c tomato paste or ketchup

Homemade Fish Stock:

For the fish stock, use something good and pre-made if you can get it and if you happen to have access to some fish scraps and a pressure cooker, even better.  I tried this after seeing it on a Beat Bobby Flay showdown, I think and thought it was brilliant. I think they were doing a beef or chicken stock from scratch, but I figured why not do it with the fish scraps I knew I'd have from the shrimp and Riggin's garlic crabs we took home last night. You won't necessarily have this but you get the idea. It can be shrimp shells, mollusk shells, fish bones or heads, etc. I also tossed in a fish bullion to deep the flavors and it was so freaking fantastic, I kid you not.

• Shrimp shells from 1 lb of large cleaned, deveined and peeled shrimp (reserve shrimp)
• Legs from 2 garlic crabs
• 2 celery sticks 
• 8 whole black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• Stalk fresh tarragon 
• Half onion
• Garlic diced
• 1 Chinese fish bullion 

This can be done in a pressure cooker in about 30 min. Add water to cover. If using your pressure cooker, bring it to pressure and set the timer for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and once the pressure has released, strain the broth in a fine mesh strainer to remove shells and any onion bits from the stock. Trust me, this step is worth it as it makes the most marvelous texture once the cream is added. The most flavorful fish stock I've ever had.

Live Lobster Preparation:

If you have access to live lobsters, this is always a good idea if you are willing to do the deed yourself. We do get live lobsters and because of this, we also get readily available fresh uncooked, shelled lobster meat. Don't hate. It's awesome. If you have the inclination to cook the lobster though, here's how you do it.

Bring large pot of water to boil. Add lobsters head first and boil until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Using tongs, transfer lobsters to large bowl. Reserve 2 cups cooking liquid. Cool lobsters.
Working over large bowl to catch juices, cut off lobster tails and claws. Crack tail and claw shells and remove lobster meat. Coarsely chop lobster meat; cover and chill. Coarsely chop lobster shells and bodies; transfer to medium bowl. Reserve juices from lobster in large bowl.

Bisque:
Heat butter, garlic and onion in heavy large pot over medium low heat. You don't want the butter to burn and just want the onion to start to turn translucent but not brown.  Add the cleaned, deveined and peeled shrimp. Add the lobster meat, brandy, sherry and fish stock. Simmer on low for about 12-15 minutes, seasoning with sea salt.

Just prior to serving, add the heavy cream to taste. I use roughly the same amount of cream to fish stock.

Garnish:

I like to garnish this soup with fresh chives but I happen to have fresh homegrown shallots that were just as delicious.

You can also bacon-fry the shallots or crisp fry pork bellies. But it is such a delicious soup you really don't need to dress it with much. Serve with oyster crackers or toasted baguettes.