Recipe: Shrimp Mozambique (Camarao Mocambique)

So...just how does a recipe from Mozambique end up in the Portuguese section of Chop Onions, Boil Water? You probably don't care, but I'm going to tell you anyway because if I didn't, all the space below the period at the end of this sentence would be white and I just can't have that.

This recipe begins way back in 1498 when the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama visited Mozambique. Apparently he liked what he saw, communicated it, and subsequent "explorers" visited the country and established settlements for trading and waging war against, and enslaving the uppity locals in a brutal feudalism that eventually evolved into a less-brutal-but-no-more-attractive colonial government. This of course led to conflicts for independence and fast forward to 1975 when the good people of Mozambique finally won their self-governance. So there's your Portugal-Mozambique connection.

Now lets make the Portugal-Mozambique-Recipe connection: Way back yonder when the Europeans were running around "discovering" people and cultures that already knew they were there, they started bringing back things they begged, bought or stole from the inhabitants of "THE NEW WORLD". Useful things like corn, potatoes, gold, captives, etc., and for the purposes of this story: chilies. Some of those chili seeds that were brought to Europe from the New World by European explorers, then made their way to Africa with Portuguese traders. There the peppers were spread by man and nature and flourished all over the continent and the local cuisine.

One small dried variety of these pepper pods called "Piri-Piri" by the local folks in Mozambique (sounds like "peedy-peedy" in Portuguese but means "pepper-pepper" in the African Swahili language), were used in making hot sauces and dishes, one of which would evolve into the recipe below. Portuguese, inhabitants, travelers, military men and mercenaries fell in love with the dish and brought it back with them to the homeland. Other Portuguese traveling abroad later would bring this dish to American shores, specifically the shores of Southeastern New England where the recipe is hugely popular. That's my story and I'm sticking to it until I learn otherwise.

See? Portugal-Mozambique-Recipe-America-Internet-The World.

This dish is great for group dining. It is rich, spicy and tangy. Be sure to have plenty of rice or a good crusty bread around because the resulting sauce is too good to pass up!

Incidentally, this is also prepared as a chicken dish using grilled tenders or breast meat sliced similarly.

Shrimp Mozambique

15 to 20 saffron threads
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of Portuguese olive oil
2 lbs. shrimp (uncooked, shell on)
10 cloves of garlic (coarsely chopped)
1/2 bottle dry white wine (Portuguese vinho verde is EXCELLENT for this dish)
1 tsp. colorau (colorau is Portuguese paprika. You can substitute sweet Spanish paprika or regular paprika in that order)
2 Tbs hot crushed pepper (the red wet kind)
How ever many dashes of Portuguese piri-piri you like (recipe below) or your favorite red hot sauce (Frank's© or Tabasco©).
2-3 Goya® seasoning packets (seafood type)
Juice from one lemon
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup fresh parsley (chopped, loosely packed)
Salt and pepper to taste
A good crusty bread or some rice

Put the saffron in the water and let steep overnight.

Place a deep saucepan on medium-high heat, when the pan warms, add the olive oil. When oil begins to shimmer add the shrimp and sauté until they just turn pink.

Remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and keep the juices and oil in the pan. Put the shrimp aside and keep them warm.

Add the garlic to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes. DO NOT BROWN OR BURN THE GARLIC IT WILL GET BITTER.

Add the saffron and water, wine, paprika, crushed pepper, hot sauce, Goya seasoning and lemon juice. Bring this mixture to a boil, adjust to a lively simmer and allow it to reduce and thicken slightly.

Return the shrimp to the pan and continue simmering, stirring frequently for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the butter to the pan stirring frequently. Once butter melts, stir one more time, remove from heat and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish well with chopped parsley and serve over rice or by itself with a good crusty bread for dipping in the sauce which you will want to do again and again and again.

Piri-Piri Sauce

2 to 6 hot chili peppers (like Thai bird's eye or Szechuan peppers)*
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp of coarse sea salt
1 cup Portuguese olive oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar

De-stem but do not de-seed the peppers and then chop them coarsely (Wash your hands afterward and be careful not to touch your eyes fool!).

Combine the chopped peppers, red pepper flakes, salt, oil and vinegar in a bowl and mix together well. Then transfer to a suitable vinegar dispenser jar and allow to steep for a day or two.

Shake well before use.

Piri-Piri is great on a lot of different foods. Even shrimp that has been simply sauteed, broiled or boiled.

*If you want a mild sauce use less, if you want a fiery sauce use more.

Recipe: Michelle's Caribbean Fish and Lobster Stew

I cannot begin to list the culinary phobias that my wife Michelle had when we first met and began dating. Cooking for her or dining out was a potential mine field of cringing, picking at food and complicated cooking instructions to our poor server. Straight off, seafood was out, and so were more "exotic" options like Indian, Thai and Japanese. Even in Chinese restaurants she rarely got more adventurous than chicken fingers and chow mein. Simple ingredients like tomatoes, mushrooms, chickpeas, squash, hot peppers and broccoli were deal killers.

She also had subtle and not so subtle control issues where food was concerned. She often diligently prepared each and every bite of food she would take by arranging the components just so. I watched her nearly squeal with delight one afternoon in a Montreal pizzeria where she asked our server for a side of pizza sauce with her pizza and was not only served the side of sauce, but was presented with a paint brush with which to apply it.

She also committed what I would call "sins against cuisine" and amongst the most vulgar of these was her use of a copious amount of granulated white sugar with spaghetti and sauce. That's right, place a tasty plate of spaghetti and sauce in front of her and she would take a big bag of sugar and begin pouring it on and mixing it in to her spaghetti and sauce.

Can I get an "EEEEEEEEEEEK!" here?

All the above, is what makes all that follows so profound. You see, Michelle has come around since we met. My wife has spun a 180° on her culinary heels. Gone is the former food phobe and in her place is someone who will at least try almost anything once. She relishes things she once would have run from. Shrimp and fish are now part of her preferred ingredients. Curry, something she would have never eaten in million years just a few years ago is now her de facto, indisputable favorite food in the world! Broccoli and chickpeas, something she formerly abhorred are now things she requests regularly. All because she decided to just try things a couple of times. Rather than weenie out, she thugged up and opened herself up to a world of great food! I think of that now and it makes me proud. You see, I have a 38 year old, 200+ lb. male friend who is afraid of seafood, fruit and almost all vegetables! A banana makes him gag! You could rob him with a banana instead of a gun! He says "It's a texture issue". Michelle says "thug up pusswad!".

Michelle has also taken a liking to cooking, which I should appreciate, but it scares me. For years, I've always been the cook and she did dishes and we were both happy with that. Now she's cooking more often and liking it AND she's cooking well. I fear I may soon become redundant! So, I try to stay sharp and a few steps ahead of her. Thankfully, the children take up a good deal of her time!

Below is one of her personal recipes and one of my favorites that she cooks. If you told her years ago that she would create a fish and lobster stew recipe along with ingredients like jalapenos, tomatoes, chickpeas and saffron she would have laughed in your face! LOUDLY!

This is a GREAT Caribbean-style, tomato-based fish stew that is light and delicious and sparkles with accents of citrus and cilantro. There's a little spice in there too, but nothing to be afraid of. Of course, if you'd like it spicier, you know what to do. Michelle would also like you to know that you can put in clams, shrimp, conch and any other seafoods that you may like.

SHE USED SAFFRON! SAFFRON, I tell you! I'm so proud!

Michelle's Caribbean Fish and Lobster Stew

1 lb. Mahi Mahi fillets (cut into bite size pieces) *
4 oz Lobster meat (cooked, cut into bite size pieces) **
1/4 cup Olive oil
1/2 cup Onion (chopped)
1 Tbs Jalapeno pepper (chopped fine)
3 cloves Garlic (chopped fine)
1 cup Dry white wine
1 cup Orange juice
28 oz. can Diced tomatoes (do not drain)
8 oz. can Tomato sauce
16 oz. can Chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
Small pinch of Saffron threads (soaked in 1/4 cup hot water for about 1/2 hour)
1 Tbs Orange peel (grated)
1 tsp dried Basil
1/2 tsp dried Oregano
1/4 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
Pinch of Red pepper flakes
1 Tbs Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 Tbs Corn starch
2 Tbs fresh Cilantro (chopped)

Place a dutch oven over medium high heat. When the pan gets hot add the olive oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the onion and jalapenos and cook, stirring frequently until translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes being careful not to burn it.

Add all remaining ingredients except for the fish, lobster, cilantro and corn starch. Raise heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Carefully stir in the fish and lobster meat. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and continue simmering until the fish flakes easily with fork (about 4 to 5 minutes).

Mix the cornstarch with a little water and then add to the stew slowly, mixing it in. Continue simmering for 3 minutes as the stew thickens.

Stir in 1 Tbs of the chopped cilantro and simmer for 1 more minute.

Serve hot in a bowl garnished with the remaining cilantro and paired with your favorite crusty bread.

* You may substitute your favorite firm, flaky white meat fish.
** You may substitute crab meat or chopped shrimp if you like.

Recipe: Shrimp Scampi Pizza

Pizza with shrimp on it reminds me of Montreal. My great grandparents were Quebecois and Montreal has always been a nice weekend getaway for me so I've been to the city many, many times. The city is about as European as you can get in North America and going there is kind of like going very far away, but not traveling all that long to get there. That's a unique feeling. It's been a few years since my last visit and I feel one coming on.

One of the features of Montreal is good food. The city has more than its fair share of great restaurants, cafés and other kinds of eateries. One of my first stops when I'm in town is a wood-fired brick oven pizzeria named "Pizzaiolle". It occupies two floors in a narrow and old victorian building on Rue Crescent. It is a tight fit and the tables are close, but that just adds to the coziness and atmosphere.

My favorite pizza at Pizzaiolle is the #12 of the "Tiziana" whose ingredients are listed as "sauce tomate, crevettes, fromage, ail." Sure, it does have that in it and a few things they don't mention. That big 'ol wood fired brick oven sure doesn't hurt either! In any event it is delicious and I have had many. If you're ever in Montreal, be sure to check out Pizzaiolle, they now have several locations and I'm sure none of them will disappoint you!

My shrimp scampi pizza recipe below is inspired by Pizzaiolle, it is not an homage. Pizzaiolle creates the Tiziana with a thin crust and delicate "baby" shrimp. I opt for something a little more substantial because my pizzas usually have to feed up to 10 guests at a pop. Also, I can't help it, I am an American!

Before we move on to constructing the amazingly delicious Shrimp Scampi Pizza below, allow me to address four primary ingredients that all but guarantees you can make pizza at home that is as good or better than the average local shop. Get used to seeing these important "ingredients" because I am going to add them to every pizza recipe I write on Chop Onions, Boil Water. They are critical to your success.

Cornmeal: Cornmeal's tiny grains act like little ball bearings between flat surfaces. Spread cornmeal on the surface of what you build your pizza on and you'll be able to slide your masterpiece right off it and into your oven. Speaking of what you stretch your dough on, go get yourself a...

Pizza peel: Buy one, construct your pizza on it, use it to put your pizza in the oven, use it to take your pizza out of the oven. Seems like a small thing right? Try it! By the way, when you're using your peel to slide your pizza into your oven make sure your oven contains a...

Pizza Stone: Nothing is going to make your home pizza match or exceed the quality of the store bought stuff more than a pizza stone. Get a thick one and get a big one. I park mine right on the lowest rack of my oven and that is where it stays. It makes all the difference in the world and in no time you'll be pulling pizzas out of your oven that will make the thought of a store-bought pie a less-than-ideal option. The pizza stone is not going to work optimally though unless you...

Preheat your oven: Flat out, no joke, crank her up to 500°F and do that a full 45 minutes before you plan to sprinkle that peel with cornmeal, stretch that dough and then slide that pie onto that stone.

Now let's make a pizza with some giant shrimp on it!

Shrimp Scampi Pizza

2 medium tomatoes (diced and set to drain in a colander)
1 pinch of oregano
1/2 lb. of largeish shrimp (shelled and deveined)
2 Tbs olive oil (and a little more for drizzling)
2 Tbs sweet butter
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
Enough dough for one 16" to 18" pizza.
1/4 cup parmigiano-reggianno cheese (grated)
A good pizza cheese blend (shredded, should contain mozzarella, cheddar and asiago)
1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 500°F for 45 minutes to one hour before you plan on cooking the pizza.

Take the drained tomatoes and chop them along with the pinch of oregano. Set aside.

To make the scampi sauce: place a small sauce pan on medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and the butter until the butter melts. Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes and sauté for a few minutes. DO NOT LET THE GARLIC BROWN OR IT WILL BE BITTER! Remove from heat and allow to cool a little bit.

When the oven has almost finished preheating, toss the shrimp in the scampi sauce, drain and set the shrimp aside. DO NOT DISCARD THE REMAINING SCAMPI SAUCE!

Stretch a dough ball to a 16" to 18" disc and place it on your cornmealed peel. I'm not going to go into dough stretching here because it is a learned thing and there are a variety of methods each with its proponents, each for good reason. Do a little research and practice a bit. Don't plan on a perfectly round pizza all the time!

With a brush, paint a thin layer of the scampi sauce over the stretched dough.

Add the chopped tomatoes and oregano mix to the scampi sauce and mix in well. Then spread the tomato-scampi sauce mixture evenly over the stretched dough.

Sprinkle a little of the basil and parsley evenly over the pizza (reserve most of the basil and parsley for when the pizza comes out of the oven).

Sprinkle the parmigiano-reggiano evenly over the the pizza.

Distribute the shrimp evenly over the pizza.

Distribute the shredded cheese blend over the pizza. When doing this it is important to remember to keep most of the cheese out of the middle of the pizza. As it melts it will tend to gather toward the middle anyway.

Place the pizza in the oven until the bottom is slightly browned and the cheese is bubbly (8 to 12 minutes). Remove, add additional basil and parsley to taste, drizzle with some olive oil, allow to cool for about 5 minutes, slice and and serve.

This is eye-rolling-behind-your-head pizza kiddies! It's like shrimp xanax!

Recipe: Crazy Dream Choo Chee Fish Curry

Today's recipe that you can prepare at home is Choo Chee Fish Curry and it comes to your kitchen via the exotic Southeast Asian kingdom of Thailand. It is a rich and flavorful dish and is best accompanied with a big bowl of Thai sticky rice. That sticky rice is going to serve an important function when eating this extra-spicy curry because it helps temper its heat quite well.

I'm not going the blur lines here, this curry is probably the hottest thing I serve in my home. It's not near the hottest thing I'll eat and enjoy, but it is plenty hot enough for my family. This dish packs a rich and delicious wallop for people who like spicy food, but for less robust palettes, well be careful who you prepare it for. It's just going to be too hot for some, but it does make believers out of others! My wife for instance. If you had told me all those years ago that she'd eat food this hot and not only enjoy it but request it, well I would have said you were deranged. Choo Chee Curry converted her to spicy foods.

It's also a full service seafood curry so try it with whatever makes sense. A lot of recipes call for shrimp, and I've seen others call for a kind of seafood stew which I'll be trying myself in the near future. I may even try the sauce over some panko-battered fried chicken. Now for the weird twist.

The weird twist of this dish (and hence its name) are the after effects. It makes me dream vividly and madly. At first I thought is was just a coincidence. However, after numerous similar post-chow-down experiences and even a few by my wife, I will caution you that maybe, just maybe you too may dream crazy, and dare I say forbidden and maddening things. You know, like being chased by the Teletubbies through a Jello cave while wearing a thick suit of woven angel hair pasta while aluminum foil hummingbirds whisper threats in your 31 ears.

Things like that. Still though, it's all worth it. IT REALLY IS!

Crazy Dream Choo Chee Fish Curry

1-2 lbs. of firm white fish fillets (I use tilapia or mahi-mahi)
All-purpose flour (to dredge the fish in)
4 TBS peanut oil
2 cups coconut milk (unsweetened)
Bottom half of 1 stalk of lemon grass (peeled into individual blades)
4 TBS red curry paste
1/2 cup of water
4 TBS fish sauce
3 TBS palm sugar (or brown or turbinado sugar)
2 cloves of garlic (thinly sliced)
4 TBS green onions (sliced very thinly)
3 TBS fresh cilantro (chopped)

Cut the fish in to pieces about 2" x 3" inches. Dredge individually in flour, set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer cook the pieces of fish about 2-4 minutes per side until browned and crisp. Remove from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel while you prepare the cooking sauce.

Remove the unused oil from the pan and wipe out any residue. Replace the skillet over medium heat. Add half the coconut milk and the lemon grass blades and cook until it becomes fragrant and creamy.

Add the curry paste and cook, stirring constantly until well dissolved.

Add the remaining coconut milk, water, fish sauce, sugar, garlic, half of the green onions and half the cilantro. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer.

Add the fish pieces and simmer in the sauce for about 3 to 5 minutes. Spoon the curry sauce over and around the fish while it cooks.

Remove from heat.

Remove the lemon grass blades and discard.

Serve the fish in deep plates with the curry sauce generously spooned over it. Garnish with the remaining green onions and cilantro.

Pair with Thai sticky rice.

Dream madly children, dream madly.

Recipe: Crazy Dream Choo Chee Fish Curry from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk
http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Recipe: Saffron Seafood Linguini

This recipe goes out to Karen and all the other folks from Newport Hospital, Newport, Rhode Island, who check out "Chop Onions, Boil Water." Hello everyone, thanks for reading my blog. Keep it up and you'll find yourself in the book coming out in 2010!

The lack of a proper name has kept me from adding this recipe, but tonight I've decided it's going on the blog and the name will come to me as I type. Of course I'm typing right now and nothing is happening. Nope, not yet.

You see, by all accounts, it would appear to be a seafood linguini, only it's really not. The basis of the recipe is a French bouillabaisse and then I commenced to twisting it to my desire and well when seafood is involved I just know I'm going to add something Portuguese in there. I just love chourico, but when that doesn't work its got to be linguica. Then of course there's saffron. I mean you cannot pull off this dish without the saffron. So many complications.

So, in the end, what seems Italian is really French and then it's got a South Coast New England and Portuguese twist that just complicates the whole thing! A name should reflect something important about the dish. As of this moment a name hasn't come to me yet.

It's not that my ego can't float calling it "Henry's Awesome Friggin' Saffron Seafood Bouillabaisse Linguini", my ego could certainly handle that. It's just not pretty or short enough. As Shakespeare said "Brevity is the essence of wit."

Well, it's crunch time and I'm just going to type out a name as the words pop into my head here goes: Saffron Seafood Linguini.

Okay, it's done. For the record, you need saffron for this. There's no substitute for it and you cannot omit it. It's not going to be the same dish without it. Also, mail order the saffron because the grocery stores sell horrible saffron for bewilderingly high prices.

Saffron Seafood Linguini

1 lb. linguica (cut in 1/4" slices and pan fried until cooked and firm)
1 lb. linguini
1/4 cup olive oil
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only, cleaned, split and thinly sliced)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1 cup of diced tomato (the redder, the riper, the better-ALWAYS)
3/4 tsp thyme
2 tsp fresh parsley (chopped fine)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 TBS tomato paste
32 ozs. chicken broth
2 lbs. littleneck clams (scrubbed and set aside)
2 lbs. mahi mahi filets (or similar fish)
1 lb. sea scallops
1 lb. medium shrimp (in the shell)
2 lbs. mussels (scrubbed, debearded and set aside)
1/2 cup of white wine (I use pinot grigio)
1 TBS sweet butter
Salt and pepper to taste.

For the pasta, place a large pot of water on high heat to boil.

Place a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the olive oil.

When the oil begins to shimmer, add the leeks and the garlic and sauté until the leeks become translucent.

Add the saffron threads, salt, pepper, tomatoes, thyme, parsley, orange zest and tomato paste and blend together well for about 2 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower to a low simmer and continue cooking for about 30 minutes.

Bring to a higher simmer. Add all the seafood and cover and simmer until the littlenecks and mussels open wide (5 to 8 minutes usually). Discard any that do not open.

Remove all the seafood and place it in a large bowl to cool. Return broth to a low simmer.

As soon as it's cool enough to handle, remove all the seafood meat from its shells and place it in a bowl. Discard shrimp shells, but reserve littleneck and mussel shells. Cut mahi mahi into chunks and place in the bowl with the shrimp, littlenecks, scallops and mussels.

Place all littleneck and mussels shells back into the broth and cook until the white abductor muscles attached to the shells fall into the broth or are easily removed. Don't worry, these will not be tough and they add a creaminess to the final product.

The pasta water should be boiling by now, cook linguini in the normal way, drain and set aside. Try to time everything to end at the same time. Yes, it can be difficult, but you can do it.

Raise the heat on the broth until it comes to a high simmer. Add the white wine and the butter and reduce the broth until it begins to thicken. You're looking for the consistency of loose melted ice cream. I know that is a strange analogy, but it works.

When it reaches the desired thickness, add the fish, scallops, littlenecks, shrimp, mussels and linguica and toss to coat and warm. Immediately add the cooked and drained linguini and toss well to coat. Be sure the seafood and the linguica is evenly distributed in the linguini. Remove from heat and allow it to set and cool a little before serving.

Serve with a good white wine (Pinot Grigio) and crusty bread.
Recipe: Saffon Seafood Linguini from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk