Arranged Seafood Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Happy Mother's Day...

Today we celebrate Mom. She does (and still does) so much for us. She's there when you need someone to talk to, supports you, and helps you no matter what. She may have given me life, but without her unconditional love I would never have known how to live. My mom is my best friend and I love her dearly. If I had been making her lunch today, I would have made this salad (she came over for dinner instead).

This arranged seafood salad takes a bit of time to make since everything needs to be chopped, but it's worth the effort, especially if it's for Mom. The shrimp and scallops are gently poached and then mixed with crab, avocado, green onions, dill, mayo, and sour cream. This seafood salad is creamy and fresh. I then arrange this on top of lettuce and surround it by grapefruit, jicama, radishes, and radicchio. Finally, I top the salad off with an easy grapefruit vinaigrette. Spoil Mom with this seafood salad. Here's how to make it...

Ingredients - Serves 4
Salad
1/2 lb. Bay Scallops
1/2 lb. Medium Size Shrimp, peeled & deveined (tails off)
1 (8 oz.) Container Crab Meat, picked over for shells
2 Avocados, pitted & diced
3 Green Onions, sliced
2 T Fresh Dill, chopped
2 T Mayo
2 T Sour Cream
1 Head "Living" (or Boston) Lettuce
1 Grapefruit, supreme
1/2 Jicama, cut into match-sticks
6 Radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 Head Radicchio, chopped

Vinaigrette
1/2 Grapefruit, zest & juice
~1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp. Granulated Sugar
Salt & Pepper

Directions
Cook the scallops & shrimp: Bring a pot of water to a gentle boil. Add the scallops and shrimp and poach for 3 minutes. Drain and run under cold water. Pat dry.

Make the seafood salad: Combine the cooked scallops and shrimp to the crab, avocado, green onion, dill, mayo, and sour cream in a large bowl. Season with salt to taste, cover, and refrigerate.

Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl combine the grapefruit zest and juice. Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking until emulsified. Add the sugar and a pinch each salt and pepper. Whisk again, taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed. Set aside.

Arrange the salad: On a large plate put 4 or 5 lettuce leaves down. Place a 1/4 of the seafood salad into the center. Then, arrange the grapefruit, jicama, radishes, and radicchio around the seafood salad. Drizzle with the vinaigrette. Enjoy!

Crispy, Crunchy Cornmeal Encrusted Cod w/ Lemon-Dill Tartar Sauce

fish fry Fridays...

'Tis the Lenten season of the fish fry. Although I'm not Catholic and didn't grow up that way, much of Cincinnati is. So, when Lent rolls around each year there are so many fish fries on Fridays you could go to a different one for the entire season and still not hit up even half of them. Here's a list for the 2015 Lenten season you can search by neighborhood, so it should be easy to find one near you. And, hey, it's Friday, so grab some friends and go check one out.

Or, you could stay home and make my Crispy, Crunchy Cornmeal Encrusted Cod w/ Lemon-Dill Tartar Sauce. It's quick and easy to make. And, quite inexpensive to feed a crowd - I guess the Catholic Church knew what they were doing when they instituted these meat free Fridays!. Even if you aren't Catholic, sometimes its fun to be part of a tradition. You know what they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. If you do decide to stay in (it is freezing out!) keep the fish fry tradition alive. Here's how to make my fried fish...

Ingredients - Serves 4
Fried Fish
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. Cod, skinned
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Vegetable Oil, for frying
1/2 C All Purpose Flour
2 Large Eggs
2 T Cold Water
2 C Yellow Corn Meal
1 tsp. Dried Parsley
1 tsp. Lemon-Pepper Seasoning (suggest Mrs. Dash, no salt added)
1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
To Serve: Lemon Wedges & Cole Slaw

Lemon-Dill Tartar Sauce
1/2 C Mayo (suggest w/ Olive Oil)
2-3 T Fresh Dill, chopped
Zest 1 Lemon
1 T Fresh Lemon Juice

Directions
Cut the cod into 4 fillets. Season with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside. On med-high, heat a large castiron skillet filled with enough oil to shallow fry the fish to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, setup the dredging station: Put the flour on a plate, beat the eggs in a shallow bowl with the two tablespoons of water, and put the cornmeal in another shallow dish. Add the dried parsley, lemon-pepper seasoning, and cayenne pepper to the corn meal. Mix well.

Next, dredge the fish: Coat the fish in flour, then egg, and finally press into the cornmeal mixture. Repeat this process until all of the fillets are coated. Carefully add the fish to the hot oil and fry for 5 minutes on each side until medium-golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

As the fish fries, make the lemon-dill tartar sauce: In a small bowl combine the mayo, chopped dill, lemon zest and juice. Stir together and set aside.

Finally, serve the fish with the tartar sauce, lemon wedges, and your favorite Cole slaw. Here's to the Lenten season. Enjoy!