Adventures in Seafood

When the wife is away, the husband will play......in my case, that means three days of cooking seafood! My wife is allergic to shellfish, and doesn't like any other seafood, so I thought I'd break out a few promising seafood recipes and see what I was able to come up with. Day 1:

Maple and Brandy Glazed Salmon, on a bed of onion mashed potatoes, accompanied by asparagus sautéed in butter and sweet onion sugar.

Score: 7/10

This is the second time I've tried a "maple glazed salmon" recipe and I guess it's just not for me. It was pretty good but a far cry from the best salmon I've had in restaurants. The potatoes were absolutely superb, as was the asparagus. The salmon was ever-so-slightly overcooked, making it a bit dry, but I don't believe that was a factor in my overall enjoyment. The maple flavor is quite understated which some people might like, but I would have preferred more of a punch. I tend to lean towards big flavors in my food.

The sweet onion sugar on the asparagus is insanely good. We picked it up at Mickey's Pantry in Downtown Disney (Florida), and it is an absolutely perfect finish for grilled or sautéed vegetables. I'll have to order some more online as I can't wait until the next time we are in Florida to get more!

Day 2: Whiskey Shrimp Fettuccine

Score: 6.5/10


I love pasta. I love shrimp (in this case, they were actually Black Tiger Prawns). I don't love them together. I never order pasta and seafood in restaurants and this was really no exception. There is something about the combination that turns me off;  I can't put my finger on it. The pasta was cooked perfectly (thankfully I didn't have to have Gordon Ramsey show up in my kitchen and call me a donkey because I can't cook pasta) and the prawns were tasty. The sauce was very nice as well, so why didn't I like this more? This is definitely a case where the whole of the dish didn't add up to the sum of the parts.


Day 3: BBQ Seafood Skewers

Score: 7/10

Lobster, scallops and prawns; oh my. This was another case of the flavors being good but too understated for my tastes. They were marinated in garlic, basil, oregano and thyme, all good tastes, but after the grilling the flavors didn't 'pop'. I actually ended up throwing them onto the stove with some garlic butter and sautéing them for a minute at the end to increase the flavor.

So, all in all, not a hugely successful few days. The onion mashed potatoes were the real hero, and is something I'll definitely make again. Of course, the wife also isn't a big fan of onion, so it seems like I'll have to wait until she goes on another business trip!