Fresh shrimp is both healthy and delicious. It is also a perfect meal solution for all your outdoor summer parties and events. Fresh shrimp can be used in just about any dish. Add it to a pasta salad, slaw or appetizer plate. Topped with lemon juice and cocktail sauce, this refreshing food makes a great pre-dinner snack.

Smoked Maine shrimp is from the state of Maine, and everyone knows Maine is where the best seafood is found. It can be prepared with sauces, barbequed or just served cooked and cold. You can do a search for an exceptional shrimp recipe, or make one up yourself!

The opportunities when cooking with fresh shrimp are truly endless. Shrimp is used in seafood dishes along with other fish and shellfish. For instance, fresh shrimp makes a wonderful addition to stews, soups and Cioppino. Rubbed with Cajun spices, shrimp makes excellent Creole meals such as Jambalaya.

In Mexican dishes, shrimp is used as well. It puts a healthy spin on fajitas, tacos and burritos. It adds a fresh, light flavor not found in traditional, heavier meats. Italian restaurants use shrimp in dishes such as scampi, linguine and tortas. Thai dishes add coconut juice, peanut oil and lime to shrimp to create exotic-tasting foods.

Free shrimp and smoked Maine shrimp are both tastier and healthy. These foods can induce to eat more whether it is brunch, lunch or dinner. Shrimp is a good food and satisfy any kind of diet due to its high protein and less calories. Shrimp can satisfy you whether you eat less or more.

Fresh shrimp is indeed very versatile. One often overlooked way to include shrimp is to have a shrimp cocktail. Not only is this delicious but it is also a very fun way to use shrimp. Even if you are not cooking a full blown meal, a shrimp cocktail can be both delicious and filling.

Shrimp recipes can be found online or in cookbooks specializing in seafood cooking. But you don’t need a recipe to make a great shrimp dish. Even if you have never cooked with shrimp before, you can easily learn to add it to your diet. There are so many ways to eat shrimp and create delightful, color-rich foods without having to learn an entire new way of cooking. That’s the best thing about shrimp – even just sprinkling it atop a green salad makes an otherwise bland dish an exciting one!

If you don’t feel like a lot of extra work, make sure the shrimp that you purchase has already been de-shelled and de-veined. It is okay if this hasn’t been done, however a large amount of time will be spent in removing the shells and cleaning up the shrimp.

There are not many foods, especially meats out there that are healthier for you than fresh shrimp. So, if having a healthy lifestyle is important to you at all, adding shrimp to your diet is a sure way to help fortify and improve you healthy lifestyle.

No need to run around town looking for some hiqh quality fresh shrimp, just visit one of the many online seafood vendors. Quality Fresh Seafood is a good choice. They flash freeze the shrimp after it is cooked and then will have it delivered to you overnight. Having fresh shrimp is so much easier than you could have ever thought.

Tags : Cooking

Have you ever felt like it was time to really pull out all the stops and wow your family with an amazing dinner, but then were stumped for what to make? If much of the cooking burden often falls on you, then it can be hard to get really creative, without just resorting to an old standard. It can be even harder when you’re trying to save money as well. You can always just make a classic favorite dish, but that’s sure to be something they’ve seen before, which isn’t really your goal. To really impress them, while sticking to your budget, without being a slave to the kitchen all day, you can make them something they love from eating out. Try one of the great lobster dinners available online.

Lobster dinners can be a great way to bring your family together for a special meal night at home. Instead of heading off this way and that to different activities, your family can relax and enjoy a delicious, unexpected meal together. It’s also a great surprise for a spouse after a stressful week of work. Because who would expect to get a juicy, succulent lobster as their dinner?

And because lobster is such a luxury, a lobster dinner is seen as an unexpected treat, which is a great way to surprise your family. And you’ll be surprised at how much less expensive it is to prepare it at home.

If you want to make your family a dinner that they’re sure to remember, you can surprise them with delicious and luxurious lobster dinners that fit your budget. But how could you make such an amazing meal at a decent price? You lower that price by ordering online. When you buy a lobster dinner at a restaurant, you’re paying a great deal of overhead for the restaurants costs and profit margin, as well as for anything else you may order. Even when ordering in the grocery store, you’re paying serious overhead on the lobster that you buy, which may not even be fresh. But when you order online, you know that you’re getting the freshest, just shipped lobster at market prices, which is a steep discount.

It couldn’t be easier to make a lobster dinner, which is why lobster dinners are the perfect way to treat your family. Simply bring a stockpot of water to a boil. To this salted water, add your lobster, and the vegetables of your choice. We recommend potato, carrots and onion. Remember to save the water for lobster stock later, which can be used in soups and sauces. Once the lobster is done, you’re ready to eat your delicious meal! It’s a great and well balanced one pot meal that’s easy to serve, and easy to clean up!

When you want to give your family great and special meals to remember, lobster dinners are the way to go. They are simply, and need only easy preparation and clean up. And you can order your lobsters online at a great discount.

Tags : Cooking

By Brenda Crawshaw

If you go to a good seafood restaurant these days you can count on shelling out – no pun intended – a substantial amount of money for a boiled or steamed lobster. Order it baked stuffed and you can add even MORE onto the tab. Lobsters cooked at home are such a better deal; why don’t more people take advantage of this and prepare and enjoy them at home?

The likely answer is that they are either loathe to “kill” the lobsters or don’t know how to break one down after cooking. I will address both of these issues in this two part series and I am sure that when you have finished reading you will be inspired to cook these delectable creatures at home and confident in your ability to get every last tasty nugget out of that shell!

When you are purchasing lobsters first seek out a place that sells lots of lobsters indicating rapid turnover. Check out the tank where you can see your potential dinner mates swimming about. You want a frisky, mobile lobster. Lobsters do not feed in the tanks and when they haven’t eaten in a while they get tired and their flesh shrinks inside their shells. The frisky ones are the newest in the tank and are thus the freshest and freshness is paramount for any shellfish. A freshly caught lobster’s tail should snap back when you uncurl it, have a hard thick shell and nice long antennae. Don’t expect to see bright red lobsters in a tank! They only turn red when they have been cooked. Most lobsters are dark green, black, brown or even white.

Your lobster should be heavy for his size indicating that he is an “honest lobster”. When lobsters molt – typically in the summer – they shed their old shells and hide at the bottom of the ocean until their shells harden enough for them to be protected against their “friends” in the ocean. A lobster that has just molted won’t have completely grown to fill his shell. This doesn’t affect the quality of the meat but simply means that you can’t judge the amount of meat inside by looking at it. Have it weighed to get a good idea of your potential yield. Lobsters weighing a pound – the legal minimum – are called “chickens” and lobsters with only one claw are called “culls”. Culls can often cost less and are a great deal for when you want lobster meat. A one-pound lobster yields about 2/3 cup lobster meat although if you follow my directions below you are likely to get a bit more than that out of your crustacean. Try to purchase lobsters that are all around the same weight; this will make timing their cooking easier.

When you get your lobsters home, wrap them in wet newspaper. Do NOT put them in a bucket of water! Fresh water is lethal to lobsters. They need to be kept cool and moist since they are gill breathers and are used to the nice cold waters of the ocean. While they should be cooked the day they are bought you can keep them in the fridge overnight one night if they are layered with wet newspaper or, better yet, seaweed from the seafood market (ask for some when you buy your lobsters). Clean out one of those vegetable drawers; they make perfect temporary housing for your lobsters.

When it comes time to cook your lobsters you need to decide if you want to steam or boil them (there are many other preparation methods for these delicious shellfish but for the sake of simplicity I will talk only about steaming and boiling). Some people like steamed lobsters better because they don’t want their dinner to be “waterlogged”. The way I see it, the animal came out of the water in the first place so I just figure boiling is fine. I have had numerous steamed and boiled lobsters and have not really ever noticed much of a difference in the final results. People also claim that you can’t overcook a lobster with steaming but I haven’t found that to be true, either. Whichever way you choose, let’s talk about something else first.

Many people feel that dropping a lobster into boiling water, or steam – which is actually hotter than boiling water – is cruel. Other people claim that lobsters, from the arthropod family, having extremely simple nervous systems and ganglia as opposed to brains, do not have the capacity for pain. I haven’t seen any proof in my many years of eating lobsters that they are suffering upon their toasty demise but I also believe that it is always better to err on the side of humane treatment of any of our animal food sources. Some people believe that stroking a lobster’s belly or back will “hypnotize” the lobster, leading to a calm, mindless end. Again, I have seen no proof. If you are vehemently opposed to what comes next, you can stick your lobster in the freezer for a few minutes to “numb” him. Again, no proof. It is up to you to decide what you want to do but if you are adamantly, no holds barred, never-gonna-do-it opposed to cooking a live lobster, A) why are you reading this and B) you can purchase a device that apparently shocks the lobster to death within a few seconds as opposed to the few seconds or so it takes them to die in the boiling water or steam.

If you are boiling your lobster, prepare a large stockpot of water, salt it such that when you stick your finger in there and taste it – BEFORE it boils! – it tastes like seawater (about 2 TBS for every quart of water), and be sure you have a good fitting lid handy. Bring to a rolling boil. Grab your lobster behind the claws and drop him right into the boiling water head first. His tail will kick a couple times; that’s a reflex. Add your other lobsters, if you are cooking more than one, as long as there is space enough to get them in there without cramming. Place the lid on top and as soon as the water returns to a boil (peek to check), start timing. You will boil your lobster(s) for 10 minutes for the first pound and an extra three minutes for each additional pound (this is why it was important to get lobsters all weighing around the same amount). Lobsters that are fully cooked will be bright red, an antenna will come off when gently tugged, the flesh will be fully opaque and white, and the internal temperature is 180 F.

If you are steaming your lobster, insert your steaming rack into your pot, fill to the bottom of the rack with your salty water and bring to a rolling boil. Drop your lobsters into the pot as described above – always head first! – and cover the pot. When the water is again boiling, start timing. Steam for 14 minutes for the first pound and three extra minutes for each additional pound.

With steamed lobsters you will likely not have much water inside the shells. Pile them on the plates and serve! For boiled lobsters you can drain the water at the table when you first pull off the claws or tail or you can use your heavy-duty kitchen shears and snip off just the tips of the claws. Hold the lobster upside down over the cooking pot and drain off any water. Pile ‘em up and call people to the table!

As far as serving, some people claim drawn butter is the way to go, others swear by clarified butter. In my opinion the best – and only – way to serve lobster is with lots and lots of melted salted butter. Plan on

By Ralph Serpe

Shrimp is without a doubt one of the most popular forms of seafood in the US and abroad. When compared to other types of shellfish, like lobster for instance, it is more affordable, and can be just as delicious if prepared correctly. It is an extremely versatile shellfish and with a bit of experience, is very easy to cook.

As the title of this article suggests, many people are searching for the best way to cook frozen shrimp. The reason why this is such a popular question is because this shellfish freezes very well. Many of us, after we buy some, store it in the freezer for future use. In fact, most of the shrimp we purchase is frozen before we buy it from the store. Even the shrimp that is supposedly fresh, has more than likely been recently thawed. There is nothing wrong with this, as I said earlier, this shellfish freezes quite well.

Hopefully the shrimp you already have on hand is still in the shell. You should avoid, if possible, purchasing any that has been peeled. A lot of the flavor is in the shells, so if it has been pre-peeled, it would have lost a good deal of essential flavor. Besides, if you peel it yourself, you can save the shells and use them to make a delicious stock that can be used in lots of other recipes.

Of all the various ways to cook shrimp, grilling and broiling are by far my favorite methods as I believe they impart the best flavor and are rather simple to prepare. Below is a recipe and instructions for marinating and grilling shrimp.

ABOUT THAWING FROZEN SHRIMP

I highly recommend that you DO NOT use your microwave to defrost shrimp, or any meat for that matter. I know, from past experience, that the microwave can partially cook the meat during the thawing process and it also does something to the flavor and texture of the meat. I will usually take the shrimp out of the freezer a day or two before I plan on cooking, place it in a covered bowl, and defrost it in the refrigerator. If I am in a really hurry, I will place them in a colander and thaw under running cold water.

ABOUT GRILLING SHRIMP

Grilling this delicious shellfish, preferably on a charcoal grill, provides intense flavor and they hold up wonderfully on the grill. Some of the best types of ingredients that compliment grilled shrimp are acids like lemon, lime, orange, tomato and vinegar. One of my all time favorite ways to grill them is by first marinating them in a citrus herb marinade. This is especially wonderful in the summertime. It is light, healthy and goes great with an ice cold beer or glass of wine.

A NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN

Keep the shells on when marinating and grilling. Many recipes call for grilling with the shells removed. This is not recommended as the shells not only provide great flavor, but they also protect the shrimp from overcooking and drying out. This is not necessary, but it is also quite helpful to keep the tails on as well. After cooking, the tails provide an easy way to handle the shrimp while eating.

GRILLED SHRIMP WITH CITRUS HERB MARINADE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Pound of Shrimp (Thawed if Frozen, Shells on and De-veined)
  1/4 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  2 1/2 Tablespoons of Fresh Lemon Juice
  1 1/2 Tablespoons Fresh Orange Juice
  1/3 Cup of Freshly Chopped Parsley
  1/3 Cup Freshly Chopped Cilantro
  2 Cloves of Garlic Minced
  1 Teaspoon of Salt
  1/4 Teaspoon of Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
  4 skewers – Either Bamboo or Metal. (If using bamboo, soak in water for 15 -20 minutes before grilling)

DIRECTIONS

Step 1 – De-vein the Shrimp – Cut a 1/4 inch slit through the shell in the back of the shrimp and carefully remove the vein, leaving the shell intact.

Step 2 – In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except the shrimp

Step 3 – Add shrimp to the bowl with the marinade and toss to coat. Refrigerate for 1 Hour.

Step 4 – When you are ready to cook, thread the shrimp on the skewers and discard the marinade.

Step 5 – Preheat your grill to high and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side.

Well, there you have it. You now have a good idea of what to do with those frozen shrimp sitting in your freezer. I hope you enjoy the included summer grilling recipe. Enjoy and happy eating!

Ralph Serpe is a passionate home cook and Webmaster for: http://www.chefability.com Visit today for more great seafood recipes

Article Source: Ralph Serpe == What Is The Best Way to Cook Frozen Shrimp?

By Brenda Crawshaw

Ok, so now that you have read Part I – Cooking, you are looking at this large, bright red, steaming hot, mouthwatering delicacy on your plate and you just aren’t sure what to do with it, right? Well, read on and you will find that it’s not at all difficult and with the tips and tricks I have given you, you will be offering these delicious crustaceans more often at home.

Before you begin to tear into your lobster, have on hand a lobster cracker or handheld nutcracker, a tiny fork or lobster pick, a fork, a bowl for your shells (only shells if you want to use them later for stock) and extra napkins. Now, I like to clean my lobster completely and then enjoy the meat, snagging morsels here and there just because I am impatient. You can clean and eat as you go or you can clean the whole thing and enjoy your entire lobster when the work is done. It’s up to you. Here, for the sake of simplicity and brevity, I am going to run through the whole process; feel free to insert your own nibbling where ever you like!

You will probably also want a generous portion of melted butter in which you will dip your lobster meat. Some people prefer drawn butter, others clarified butter and some lemon or pepper butter. I say melt down a big ol’ batch of plain salted butter and pour it into small bowls or ramekins so you can get a whole chunk of meat right down in there and all covered with that salty goodness.

Let’s get started! Remove the small legs from the bottom of the lobster by grasping them as close to the body as you can and twisting them off. You can either use your pick to get the tiny but delicious morsels out of these legs or you can “pull” the meat out with your teeth. The feeling of a shell scraping against your teeth isn’t all that pleasant for most people so here’s a workaround. Place the twisted off end of the leg in between your bottom and top front teeth above each knuckle and gradually “bite” your way down the leg to the opening. This will push the meat down through the shell into your mouth. Break off the leg where you first started biting and repeat to get the rest.

Now twist off the claws, again close to the body. (One claw may be much larger than the other; this claw is “crushing” claw and the other is the “tearing” claw.) Twist off the “leg” parts of the claws and use your pick or your mini-fork to dig out the sweet meat inside. You may need to crack the larger pieces with your cracker. To do this more easily, place the claw “legs” in the cracker so that the thinner dimension of the “leg” is at right angles to the cracker so you are cracking across the narrower part of the shell and not the flatter part. This will give you better leverage and you will be able to open the shell as opposed to just crushing it. Fish out all those little nuggets!

Now pull off the pincer parts of the claws (the little parts that look like thumbs). Often when you pull these off, any meat inside stays attached to the claw; if not, feel free to dig with your pick. Use your cracker to crack through the pointed end of the claw and break away the shell. The crushed claw will be likely harder to crack. If it is really stubborn, change the positioning of your cracker and if it really won’t break, smash it with your kitchen mallet or meat tenderizer! Using your fork or finger, push the meat through this break.

Now attack the tail! Using a twisting motion, twist the tail free from the body. If may find waxy rose red clumps inside. This is lobster roe, called coral. These are unfertilized eggs and are considered a delicacy by many. You may also find some green, soft, pasty looking stuff inside the body and on the tail meat. This is tomalley, lobster liver, and it, too is delicious despite its unattractive appearance. People are divided on whether or not consumption of this is safe. I ate it for many years and recently stopped because lobsters are indeed bottom feeders of the ocean and they likely do consume some things we’d rather not think about. Given that the liver is the toxin filter in any creature, it is not silly to assume that anything toxic a lobster consumed would be in his liver. So, sadly, I no longer eat the tomalley, but scrape it away instead.

Pull the tiny flippers off the bottom of the tail, inspecting each one for its own tiny sweet offering before discarding. Once those have been removed you will need to execute some hand gymnastics but you will be so happy once you have completed this step! Assuming you are right handed, take the lobster tail shell down in your left hand and flatten it out as much as you can; hold it in this flattened out position as well as you can. Using your right hand, take your fork, tines down, and insert it as far as you can into the tail, without getting tangled in the meat, between the shell and the meat on the side that is facing up. (Got that? Read it again.). When you are in as far as you can go, rock the tines down into the meat and pull, using gentle downward pressure to move the meat toward you and out of the shell. You may have to pull a bit and reinsert the fork to get the meat all the way out.

Got it? Good for you! That was the hardest part. Before you is the tail with a thinner flatter section on what was the upperside of the lobster. Strip that off the tail. Inspect the inside surface for a whitish tube with dark brown or black paste inside. Yes, that’s the digestive tract and it’s not that yucky! Just pull it off with your fingers or your fork and discard. If it is not there, check in the cleft in the tail that was exposed when your stripped off that last piece.

Now you have removed all of the larger parts of the meat and you can feel quite accomplished! If you are feeling adventurous you can split the body and explore for other small nuggets of meat.

If you have segregated your shells from the other waste you can bag them up and freeze them for later or make your stock now. Simply boil the shells with your seasonings and freeze the stock when done. Lobster stock makes a delicious addition to chowder and sauces and freezes well.

Now that you have prepared and eaten your lobster at home you will find plenty of occasions where this will be the perfect offering. You can serve these with confidence and even help other lobster newbies learn how to break down their own delicious dinners!

Brenda Crawshaw

Article Source: Brenda Crawshaw == Lobster at Home – Part II – Breaking II wn