Review - Seafood Pasta, August BA

[Chefzhat]

I made this recipe yesterday to take to the Picnic Pops, our symphony plays outdoors for 10 evenings - we all take out prettiest picnics and sit out under the stars listening to really great music!

Since it was my turn to cook I had an excuse to give this recipe a whirl. It was really, really good! Everyone loved it!

Seafood Pasta w/Lemon-saffron Herb Dressing
Bon Appetit, August 2005

12 oz. Campanelle pasta (cooked, reserve 1/2 cup cooking water)
1/8 tsp. crushed saffron threads
7 tbs. fresh lemon juice (divided)
6 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil (divided)
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 tbs. drained capers (I left this out - ugh, ugh - hate capers)
2 tbs. minced fresh tarragon
1 tbs. minced fresh dill
1 tsp. sugar (I forgot this!)
1 pound cooked medium shrimp
1 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 pound dungeness crabmeat
2 large handfuls of arugula
2 small heads of butter lettuce
Lemon wedges.

Place 3 tbs. hot cooking liquid in medium bowl and sprinkle saffron threads over and let stand at room temp. 5 minutes. Transfer cooked pasta to large bowl, drizzle with 1 tbs lemon juice and 1 tbs. olive oil. Toss to coat. Let stand a room temp until cool, stirring occasionally.

Add mayo, sour cream, onions, capers, minced tarragon, dill, sugar remaining 6 tbs. lemon juice, remaining 5 tbs. olive oil to bowl with saffron liquid. Whisk to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour dressing over pasta, add shrimp and celery, toss to coat. Use hot cooking liquid if pasta is dry (add by tablespoonfuls). Add crab, toss gently. Covere and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 4 hours.

Line platter with arugula and butter lettuce leaves. Spoon pasta over greens. Garnish with lemon wedges and tarragon and dill sprigs. Serve cold.

[MISSINDI]

Thanks for the review, Debie. That's one of the recipes that I ripped out to try. Looks delicious.

[landk]

This sounds like a great recipe for me to try to take when we go watch a movie under the stars in our town.

Question - what is it that you don't like about capers? I am very hesitant on using them because years ago when I bought my first jar and opened it the smell was like kerosene!!! It was awful so now I don't buy them or just eliminate them from any recipe. I don't know if that is how they are supposed to smell or if the jar was bad.

[cher48603]

Debie,

This really sounds good. About how many servings did it make?

Our card club has a salad luncheon in a couple of weeks & I haven't decided what to take. This may be it!

[Chefzhat]

We got 8 servings from this. However, I had other things to serve alongside. I would definately take it to your event!

[cher48603]

Originally posted by Chefzhat
We got 8 servings from this. However, I had other things to serve alongside. I would definately take it to your event!

7 of us will each bring a salad & our hostess furnishes bread or rolls, beverages, & of course dessert. This sounds perfect.

Thanks.

[landk]

Originally posted by landk
This sounds like a great recipe for me to try to take when we go watch a movie under the stars in our town.

Question - what is it that you don't like about capers? I am very hesitant on using them because years ago when I bought my first jar and opened it the smell was like kerosene!!! It was awful so now I don't buy them or just eliminate them from any recipe. I don't know if that is how they are supposed to smell or if the jar was bad.

Any advice anyone?

[jrichards]

Debie - This sounds great, am going to make it soon.

Landk - I love capers. Don't ever remember thinking that they smelled like kerosene. However, I always rinse mine with water and shake them to drain before using them. Otherwise, they're generally too salty for my tastes.

I use them for recipes with fish, a flank steak South Beach recipe I love, in my tuna salad, on bagels/cream cheese/lox. I say give them another try.

Jennifer

[landk]

Thank you for responding to my question jrichards. I really think that the jar that I purchased must have been sitting on the shelf for a great length of time and had gone bad. It did not have a date on it. I am going to give them a try again.

[cher48603]

Originally posted by landk


Any advice anyone?

Here's what The Cook's Thesaurus has to say about capers & their substitution:

Capers are pickled flower buds, and very salty. You can get them pickled in brine or salted. Look for them in the pickle section of your grocery store, or in delis. The smallest ones are more expensive, and more highly esteemed. Rinse them before using. Substitutes: pickled nasturtium seeds or buds (slightly different taste) OR chopped green olives OR brine-cured green peppercorns OR chopped dill pickles OR pickled seabeans

[Chefzhat]

Originally posted by landk
This sounds like a great recipe for me to try to take when we go watch a movie under the stars in our town.

Question - what is it that you don't like about capers? I am very hesitant on using them because years ago when I bought my first jar and opened it the smell was like kerosene!!! It was awful so now I don't buy them or just eliminate them from any recipe. I don't know if that is how they are supposed to smell or if the jar was bad.

I'm sorry, hon. I somehow missed this question!

I just don't like the smell. To me they add NOTHING to a recipe that a bit of balsamic and salt won't, so I always omit capers. As well, they aren't called for very often in recipes so I'm always left with a half jar of little icky things in the fridge!

Debie

[sfarler]

Because I had fresh dill, fresh taragon and a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer I decided to try this recipe this weekend. I made it exactly as the recipe states and it was fabulous. It's on my repeater list to make again. I can't wait to go home for lunch for some leftovers!