Uni Pasta with Crab

Yum! This is such a subtle, tasty pasta. I know some people are turned off by uni (sea urchin), but you wouldn't know it was in here. It just gives a subtle sweet, briny flavor. I was at Cor J and saw that they had uni and I'd always wanted to try it, so I googled around and found this recipe. I based this on that. It's such an elegant pasta, especially with fresh tagliatelle. It was a perfect Valentine's Day starter. (We ate too much.)

Lobster Rolls

My favorite place to buy seafood is Cor-J seafood in Hampton Bays. It's the best. I walk in there and I want to buy everything. Last Saturday, we stopped there on the way out to Southampton to pick up supplies for a seafood feast. We got clams, oysters, squid, and lobster and I decided to make lobster rolls. I had googled looking for the recipe from Mary's Fish Camp and found someone saying that they never taste lobstery enough at home, so I decided to make lobster mayonnaise to up the lobster quotient. (Feel free to be a normal person here and just use Hellmann's.) They were great! So chunky and delicious.

Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
2 1.5 lb lobsters
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
2 scallions, only the green parts, finely sliced
2-3 Potato Roll Hot Dog Buns
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter

For Lobster Mayo:
Shells of two lobsters
1 egg, room temperature ideally
3/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt

Quick Cioppino

After a long weekend of staying up late and eating junk food (fried chicken from the Dutch on Sunday morning with Alice), I thought Jamie and I needed some soup. I saw this recipe for a quick cioppino on Epicurious and it looked perfect - I altered it slightly with adding in some clams and letting the wine cook down a little bit. It's pretty healthy and has a really hearty, stew flavor from the red wine. It's great as a winter meal with some toasted sour dough bread and you get so many nice, chunks of seafood. And I got to use my beautiful, new Le Creuset pot, so I was a happy little housewife.

Ingredients:

1 fennel bulb, halved and sliced

1 medium onion, halved and sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 bay leaves 

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

Indoor Clambake

I've been dying to try this all summer. The Lobster Place and Clamman both have pre-packaged, all ready versions, but I was tempted by the chorizo, onions, and garlic in Martha Stewart's recipe. It was a great, fun, and surprisingly easy meal. Good for a special occasion, or, in my case, just having girls over for dinner. The dipping sauce is delicious and much healthier than just a bowl of melted butter. So summery and festive!

The mussels were tender and delicious and the lobster was cooked perfectly. The little knuckles just melt in your mouth. The timing on this recipe is what makes everything cook perfectly. When cracking into the lobster claws, prepare to get a little messy. The corn tastes great dipped in the sauce and sprinkled with salt.

(for 4 people)
Ingredients:
1 onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves
1/2 bottle of pale ale beer (I used Brooklyn Summer)
1/2 cup water
3/4 lb new potatoes