Seafood: When in Doubt, Butter It

My family has a humorous old saying: whenever you are in doubt about how to serve a particular food – top it with butter. It’s sort of a catch-all phrase similar to the popular ‘Just duct it! It was referring to the imaginative uses of duct tape.

We found out that butter cannot fix blackened fish that was just a overcooked and too blackened. For all my seafood recipes that I invent myself or the ones I modify that are already out there, seem to always start with butter. Seafood, butter and dill make a great mix. Is quite a ‘must’.

Actually, if your kitchen pantry includes butter, dill and cheese, you can truly be an expert with any kind of seafood recipe, as well as concoct your own. The four ingredients can be used differently, each creating a flavor explosion that capitalizes on unique sauces and the use of techniques such as broiling, bbq and even tin foil.

Never be afraid to experiment with seafood recipes: Not just shrimp or scampi recipes – try other types of seafood also. The lack of seafood species descourage people in trying recipes they might like.

As an example, you might come across a delicious seafood recipe for red snapper. However, red snapper is very costly and it can be challenging to locate in many areas. Now I am not deigning to offer that there is a substitution for red snapper that is going to match the consistency and flavor of said fish, however, it doesn’t mean you need to throw out a recipe nor a culinary adventure either. Keep those seafood recipes even if you cannot find the species in your local market, because you can substitute most other seafood with another the recipe requires.

I’ve tried it. It is even better than grilled scallops – which used to be my favorite. I know. Another fabulous treatment you find in many seafood recipes is combining fruit with seafood. Something that most family members, especially kids seem to delight in. Using orange sauce or cranberry sauce or even raspberry or strawberry sauce simply ladled over a steamed piece of fish is not only extremely easy, but it can make even ‘boring’ cod look like it’s dressed up and ready to go to the casino.