November is a great month for cooking. The harvest vegetables spill from the shelves, birds and game are at their fattest, and all of us are hungry – the urge to fatten up is not confined to squirrels and dear. November’s high notes read like an advertisement for Cabaret, the musical: Apples! Pears! Butternut Squash! And, now appearing on the cover every single food magazine you can think of, the star of our show, Turkey!
But, that big fat turkey is a diva, and her hips are too wide to let any other players on the stage. Invisible in the glare of all that glistening bird flesh is seafood. November is the absolute best time for a whole plethora of little ocean critters that taste incredible with little or no work. Well, we’ve all seen Deadliest Catch by now, so lets revise that to say: little or no work for you! Mussels, oysters, scallops, and the king of all west coast seafoods: Dungeness Crab, are all waiting for you to notice, taste and rejoice.
There are advantages to working seafood into your fall menu. While some – oysters, scallops – can be a bit pricey, a lot of fall seafood is the cheapest thing at the fish counter. Mussels, clams, and calamari regularly sell for less than five dollars per pound. Fresh, in-season Dungeness crab can sell for as little as seven. As seafood is best with very little done to it, it can be a relief from the more intensive roasting, braising, stewing and buttering (oh, the intensive, intensive buttering) that come with other fall foods.
So, let’s start with the easiest thing first:
Mussels with Herb Butter
Total cooking time: 10 minutes, including the time it takes you to open a bottle of white. Serves 2-3, or more, if you make more.
You will need two bottles of a nice, crisp, cold white. Any kind you like will do, as long as it isn’t at all sweet. Put a little less than half a bottle in a big wide pot with a lid, Almost any pot will do: stock pot, a saucier, anything that will hold a lot of mussels and keep the juicy wine steam in. Pour the rest of the open bottle into the wine glasses of your thirsty companions. If you don’t have enough wine for everyone, open the second bottle. That’s why it’s there.
Add either 2 cloves of crushed, minced garlic, or about 3 tablespoons minced shallot* to the wine, with big pinch of salt (1/8 tsp plus) and few grinds of black pepper. Turn the heat to high and bring the wine mix to a boil.
While your wine heats up, clean some mussels (a dozen per person, plus a few extra). Pinch any “beard” – the tiny little hair-like tentacles that come out the side – between your thumb and a paring knife and pull/twist them out. While you are there, scrape off any grit with the knife, or not. You can always just leave it at the bottom of the saucepan.
When the wine boils, or after it boils for a minute, put the mussels in and put on the lid. Wait until it comes to a boil again. While you wait, chop up three tablespoons of an herb, any herb. Marjoram or Basil, of you chose garlic, tarragon or chervil if you chose shallot. Get ready either two to four tablespoons of butter or a quarter cup of cream. After you chop the herbs and cut off a chunk of butter, stir the mussels. Are they mostly open? Push any closed ones to the bottom and put the lid back on. The mussels should cook for no more than 6 minutes total. Take off the lid after another minute, drop in the herbs and butter/cream, stir again until the butter is melted. Divide into bowls, giving everyone some of the liquid. Serve with big slices of crusty bread, a few mixed greens, and the rest of the wine. Yum.
Italian Seafood Stew (serves 4 to six)
This dish is incredibly sneaky. It’s too easy, and it’s done in a half an hour, but it seems complicated (and it will probably seem so in the writing) to your guests. Don’t be intimidated. The short version of this recipe is simply: sauté seafood in tasty Italian sausage drippings, boil some wine in the juice, combine and be happy. It involves opening a can, and chopping a bit of herbs and garlic, but that’s about it.
First, get your ingredients ready; You’ll need about a pound of calamari – ask for more tubes than tentacles, people get squeamish about tentacles. Just think about the word “tentacles” and you’ll understand why. Cut the tubes into rings, about half an inch wide. You’ll also need a pound of raw shrimp, without heads (heads just make them rot). Mince a few cloves of garlic.
If the sausage is in casings, get rid of the casings. If it isn’t, wonderful. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a wide pan (a saucier or a large sauté pan will work), and when it begins to smell warm and olive-y, add the sausage. Stir and break up the sausage, every once in a while. Don’t hurry. Don’t fuss. Let it brown and get cooked.
When the sausage is a just a little browned up, add the chopped garlic. Pretty much right afterwards, put in the prepared calamari. When the sizzle comes back to the pan (the calamari, all at once, will cool it down), the calamari will let off some liquid. Pay it no mind. Look at the calamari themselves. As soon as they turn opaque or curl up, remove each bit with a pair of tongs to a big bowl. As soon as the calamari have cooked, turn the shrimp into the pan. The shrimp may need to be turned once or twice, but as soon as they turn pink/opaque and begin to curl up, pick them out and place them into the large bowl, too.
Once the shrimp are removed, add 2 cups dry white wine, one or two cans cannelini beans (drained and rinsed), a bit of chopped marjoram or oregano and some salt and pepper to the pan. Bring it to a boil, and let it bubble for a minute or two, stir it to bring up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. When the mixture has thickened a little, pour it into the bowl with the calamari and shrimp. If you feel like you need more vegetables, add a few big handfuls of spinach into the mix and stir them until wilted. Drizzle the entirety with a good bit of tasty olive oil, and serve with either some simply buttered pasta or a lot of crusty Italian bread.
