Recipes: Szechuan Noodles with Scallops, Cajun Shrimp, and Southern-style Catfish with Homemade Tartar Sauce

These are all spicy and good and like most of the recipes I post on this blog relatively simple to cook, and like most of my recipes, these are for two people.  Doubling is always tricky, and I am not sure why the taste is not duplicated; but once you have made this for two and perfect the taste, you can double it, tasting to adjust.

Szechuan Noodles with Sea Scallops

* 1 lb. sea scallops

* 6 strips bacon

* 1/2 cup toasted almonds

* 5 shakes hot pepper flakes

* 1 Tbsp. soy sauce

* 1/4 tsp. sesame oil

* 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

* 1/4 red onion, chopped

* 3-4 Tbsp. olive oil

* 1/2 lb. spaghetti

- Fry bacon until very crisp in iron skillet, remove.  Leave about one-quarter of the bacon fat in the skillet.  You want enough to cover the bottom of the pan, but no more.  Your next step will be to brown the scallops and this is hard to do if you use too much fat

- Sautee the scallops over high heat in the bacon fat.  They should be well-browned on both sides, and rare in the middle.  This should be approximately 3-4 minutes per side.

-  Remove the scallops, let cool, then quarter them

- Cook the pasta, let cool.  After it has cooled to room temperature, put in the refrigerator until serving.  The noodles should be cold.  DO NOT rinse the pasta with cold water to cool.  This changes the consistency and should be avoided.

- Mix all the ingredients except the pasta in a large bowl; then add the pasta and toss well.  The spaghetti should be well coated but neither dry nor overly covered with sauce

- Add a few grindings of fresh black pepper

- Serve

Cajun Shrimp

This is an extremely simple recipe, and the only key is the quality of the shrimp.  You should buy them at a good fish market or fish counter at Whole Foods or other supermarket whose fish you trust.  Never frozen shrimp – very hard to find – are best, especially from the Gulf; and the giant size are particularly good for this dish where you simply sautee the shrimp, peel and eat.   I live near the Chesapeake, so Bay Spice is very common and available here.  I use it for the cornmeal mix I use to coat catfish before deep-frying; for vegetables, salads.  Wonderful spice.   I use a supermarket brand of Cajun Spice, Prud’homme’s Blackened Redfish Spice, but any other blends of this brand are fine.  For Curried Shrimp, a variation on this recipe, simply substitute 2 Tbsp. of curry powder for the Cajun and Bay spices.

* 1 1/2 lb. jumbo Gulf shrimp unpeeled, never frozen (as above, this might not be possible.  Any good, freshly caught and flash-frozen shrimp will be OK)

* 1 Tbsp. Prud’homme’s Cajun spice

* 1 Tbsp. Bay spice

* 1 Tbsp. olive oil

- Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl, pour in the spices and the olive oil and mix well

- Let sit for at least two hours, more is better

- Sautee the shrimp in a cast iron skillet over very high heat so that the shrimp are slightly browned, turning frequently until uniformly done

Southern-style Catfish

I know what many of you might think about catfish – bottom fish, very fishy and reedy, yukky, why make them when there are so many other varieties.  I felt the same until I had farm-raised catfish in Mississippi (Belzone MS is the self-proclaimed catfish capital of the world; although now more Vietnamese farm-raised catfish are in the marketplace) and learned how to deep-fry.  I had a worse prejudice against deep frying – greasy, limp pieces of whatever sodden with oil.  Wrong!  If you do it right – and the only trick is to get the oil extremely hot – the fish will turn out crispy on the outside and steaming and succulent on the inside.  The spiced cornmeal that you use to coat the fish is very important, and you can use pretty much what you want.  I like a Cajun-Bay spice mix; but have often used curry powder, and a few times used my own ground spices.  All are great.  Start with the Cajun-Bay spice mix.

* 1 1/2 lb. catfish filets (actually tilapia will substitute very well, not much difference between the fish)

* 1 cup corn meal – the medium-ground cornmeal is best, but sometimes hard to find; and the cornmeal flour will be an OK substitute

* 1 Tbsp. Bay Spice

* 1 Tbsp. Cajun spice

* 1 cup whole milk

* 1 bottle of canola high-heat oil – this oil is good because it is neutral in taste and will not smoke at high heat

- Place the catfish filets in the milk and let sit for about two hours (I learned this from a French cook friend of mine who always puts her skatewings in milk before sauteeing them, and I figured the technique would be good to soften and prepare the filets.  It also provides the wetness which will take up the cornmeal)

- Put the cornmeal and the spices in a large freezer bag and shake until mixed well.  Taste for spices.

- Put the filets one or two at a time in the cornmeal and shake until completely covered.  Remove and set aside

- Heat the oil in a large pot until it is just beginning to smoke

- Place half the filets into the hot oil, checking occasionally to be sure that they are browning nicely.  When they are a darkish brown, they will be done.  Remove, place on paper towels to drain the excess oil (surprisingly little!)

- Reheat the oil to the same high temperature and put in the remaining filets, browning until done, draining.

- Serve.

Homemade Tartar Sauce

This is a must and beats any gloppy stuff bought in the store!  I always serve my own coleslaw with this as well; and I have provided that recipe on a previous blog.

* 2 heaping Tbsp. mayonnaise

* 1 Tbsp. sour cream or whole milk yoghurt

* 1-2 tsp. Maille or other French hot mustard

* 1 heaping Tbsp. sweet pickle relish

* 2 tsp. capers

* 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped

* 1 medium bunch parsley, finely chopped

* 2 heaping Tbsp. finely chopped onion

- Mix well and taste for ingredients. 

- Serve with the catfish.

Doing Good and Living Well–Henry V

“Fuck Children Are Beloved”, said our Director.  He reddened like a beet, apoplectic, gurgled and gargled some half-spoken words, and blurted “Stop them……Don’t let them advance…..Beat them!” He paused, reddened even more, spluttered and snorted, and was about to go on when the bile returned to his liver, his choler abated, and calm returned to his face.  He had gone to the edge of some emotional precipice, looked down, and walked back.

I was reminded of Shakespeare’s Henry V which I had read some years earlier and the scenes before the gates of Honfleur where Henry is urging his troops to battle and threatening the French inside the town.  Rape, eviscerate, disembowel, castrate, intimidate and beat them, he said.  Impale babies, cut their women down like wheat in a field.  Win!  War is not for sissies.  I am sure that this was what the Director was thinking, and had not spoken.

I was a little surprised and shocked at what the Director had said.  Although I had not gone overseas to do good and had little idea of what I was getting into, I did have a vague impression that the organization I joined was there for humanitarian, charitable, and entirely unselfish reasons; and this bellicose tirade didn’t fit in.

Of course it did, I realized not long afterwards.  Regardless of the exterior motive, the interior, real one was to expand, gain market share, position, and money; and not much later as my conservative instincts took hold, I thought that if competition was good for business, then why not development?  Competition would stimulate innovation, creativity, and efficiency.

Although this might have been true in principle, it had no salience in fact because the development world was ruled by an Emperor.  Although we might be princes and kings, it was the Emperor, USAID, who set his own self-serving agenda, who governed not wisely nor intelligently, but totally.  We went to his court and kneeled, took his unjust and unenlightened edicts and decisions with humble thanks; faithfully paid his dues and curried favor with his minions. 

As a result, we princes merely skirmished nastily with each other.  We created alliances, plotted against friends and enemies, read tea leaves which might give us an insight into the Emperor’s thoughts, listened for rumor and innuendo in the street, picked up whatever bits of information couriers and messengers could bring.  There were no Nietzschian Supermen and will to power in our business, no Henry the Fifths.

The word for business ally became “partner”, a gentle, positive term signifying goodwill, and a selfless collaboration. Of course the skirmishes often did turn into battles, but the bloodlust and desire to obliterate was mitigated by the ever-present Emperor and how he might look upon the internecine warfare of his subjects; and besides, enemy today, ally tomorrow; and perhaps even more important was the philosophy of the realm – be as kind and considerate of your partners as you would be of the poor people we are helping. This is not the private sector after all.

There were times when I thought that our king would raise an army, and rally the troops with as much patriotism and sense of honor and courage as Henry.  The CEO and SVP at one of the last places I worked were surely plotting to march up I-95, sail across Baltimore Harbor with an armada, and take no prisoners once they had breeched the walls of the “partner’s” castle; but they negotiated, and traded futures; and raided the monasteries, but in this genteel and principled world of development, always stopped at the gates.

We collaborated with an agency similar in outlook, operational model, and ethos to Children Are Beloved.  They worked all over the world and avowed the mission to save children, rescue them from the blight and indignity of poverty and to Do Good with big, bold, italicized capital letters. What we, their “partners” saw was duplicity, chicanery, and downright gutter fighting for turf, money, and influence.  This was the development model.  It was applied in 1968 when I began The Great Ride and continued until 2010 when I got off the train.

This particular do-good agency, however, was all the more maddening because of its wooly idealism, its patronizing attitude, and incessant, uninformed convictions about the nature of “poor people”.  If it wasn’t bad enough that this retrograde attitude governed the way it executed its projects, it carried over to the workplace.  Despite the cutthroat, aggressive tactics that helped it grow and gain market share, its professionals had to be inclusive, participatory, and respectful. 

I always liked the private firms operating in the world of development.  At least they were honest about making money.  They toadied up to USAID because it was good for business and suffered no moral compunctions.  They designed projects in a way that would win, that would satisfy the fattening Emperor, not that were in any way new or innovative or likely to improve success.  There was no bullshit.  All of the non-profit cant and posturing did not exist.

This is what has most nettled if not angered me over these years – cant and cutthroat in the same room.  Nobody wins except the landlord.  Mission obfuscates results.  The means are not as important as the ends.  This same do-good agency refused to consider projects that could have eradicated tetanus in a wide swath of Africa (comprehensive anti-tetanus vaccination campaigns using an effective, cheap, and available product) because it was too “vertical”, did not involve local communities, and was not participatory.  It could have made significant inroads against malaria by entering into a joint venture with the Chinese who were just beginning to market the extract of wormwood a powerful anti-malarial, now the drug of choice for the international community.   Why not? Too top down and too far from our model (the Emperor’s).  So rather than work with aim, focus, and principle, the agency muddled on through the largesse of the Emperor and through its devious and thuggy business practices.

So my Director those many years ago had it right. No cant, no philosophy, no do-good.  Fuck Children are Beloved and win at all costs.

Recipes–Croakers (Hear Them Croak)

Croakers are not the usual fare in your high-end fish markets; but you can find them at farmers’ markets, more traditional fish outlets (like the Maine Waterfront).  They are only sold whole (cleaned) because they are small and relatively little flesh on them (lots of bones).  However, they are delicate and sweet, and well worth the effort.  NOTE: this is not a fish for people without the patience and experience needed to pick the delicious flesh off the bones. 

Here is an added treat.  Click on the link below and you can hear croakers croak.  I am not sure when they croak, since they are sea fish, but maybe in the nets or on the dock.

http://www.dosits.org/audio/fishes/atlanticcroaker/

Sauteed Croaker

* 5 croakers (they are all about the same size, rather small; and 5 are just right for two people who like fish)

* 1/2 cup flour

* 1/2 cup cornmeal flour

* 1 Tbsp. Bay Spice

* 1 Tbsp. Cajun Spice (Prudhomme’s is a good brand)

* 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

- Mix the flour, corn flour and spices together in a plastic bag.  Wet your finger, and taste the mix for the right amount of ingredients, you may need to add more

- Put the croakers into the bag with the mix, one at a time, and coat well.  Remove and reserve

- Melt butter over high heat in a cast iron skillet, if possible, until it just begins to brown

- Sautee the croakers: leave them in on one side until they brown and crisp; turn over and repeat the procedure.  The entire cooking process should take about 10 minutes

- Remove and enjoy