Our chef doesn't much like giving up the secrets that make his dishes so popular. In fact, he gets pretty steamed. It wasn't easy, but we managed to obtain, er, "borrow" (okay, we outright stole 'em) a couple of your favourite recipes while our chef was busy (um, being "distracted") in the walk-in freezer. The fact that he was carrying a HUGE meat cleaver at the time should not alarm anyone. We'll go to any lengths to bring you what you want. Enjoy.
Acadian Seafood Stew
(Serves 8 - 10 people)
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Stew Base: 2 lb. fish bones ½ lb. shrimp shells 10 cups water ¼ lb. butter ¼ lb. flour 2 carrots, diced 2 green onion stalks, diced |
1 small onion, diced 2 stalks celery ½ oz. Cajun Spice ¼ oz. garlic, chopped 9 oz. fish bouillon 2 oz. tomato paste |
In large pot, put water, fish bones and shrimp shells. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1½ hours. Using a strainer, reserve liquid into another large pot using a strainer to remove the fish bones and shells, pressing out all the juices with a large spoon.
Return empty pot to stove. In it make a roux using the butter and flour, cooking it slowly for 5-10 minutes. Do not allow to burn. Gradually add the reserved liquid, stirring constantly, and allowing it to thicken before adding more.
Once all the liquid has been added to the pot, add remaining ingredients. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a slow boil. Adjust seasoning to your own taste by adding more Cajun spice and fish base.
This is the base from which you may add a wide variety of seafood. This base will last, refrigerated, for up to 1½ weeks.
To prepare the actual stew, add your raw seafood to the base and cook until the seafood is done. Top off with a dollop of heavy cream and serve steaming hot.
We recommend using 8-10 ounces of stew base, 2 ounces of scallops, 3 ounces of haddock, 3 mussels, and 3 large shrimp, per person. We leave the mussels in the shells and the tails on the shrimp for an appealing presentation.
Grand Banker Fish Cakes
(Serves 10 - 12 people Two 5-oz. Fish Cakes)
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5 lb. potatoes, diced 2¼ lb. salt cod fish 1½ lb. haddock ¼ lb. butter |
½ lb. onions, chopped 1½ oz. salt pork, diced, rind removed pepper to taste water |
Soak codfish over night if heavily salted, 4-5 hours if lightly salted. Cook potatoes until almost done. Add soaked codfish and haddock and cook until fish and potatoes are done. Strain water off, using colander. During the cooking of the above mixture, saute onions in butter until soft. Also fry-out salt pork until browned, discard fat.
In a large pan or bowl, combine the fish/potato mixture with the onions, butter and salt pork. Add pepper to taste and mash well. Form in patties. Flour and fry in hot oil in a frying pan, until both sides are browned and crispy.
Suggested accompaniments: chutneys, relishes, baked beans, cucumber salad.
