DIY Seafood Cocktail Platter...

Impress and save $ by making your own cold seafood appetizer platter! Popular but pricey frozen shrimp rings don't cut it-- defrosted overnight the shrimps are waterlogged and their natural flavours diluted. When the occasion arise, I cook up frozen shrimps and make my own cocktail sauce, but this year for our family Christmas gathering I wanted to take it up a notch and create a variety trio platter-- tagging on mussels and imitation crab meat. It's so simple to do-- just boil/steam the seafood that requires cooking, shell the shrimps, refrigerate to cool and arrange it all on a nice serving dish. Never buy cocktail sauce, I repeat, just don't do it! You likely have the four ingredients to combine to make a wicked one, namely ketchup, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and lemon with hot sauce as optional. Why add another condiment in the fridge? And the bill on this gourmet delight of a seafood platter? A mere $25... An extravagant offering without the extravagant cost. 

DIY Seafood Cocktail Platter
Serves 12 and more as an appetizer

2 lbs. frozen *zipperback shell-on shrimps (medium to large size). 

2 lbs. frozen half shell mussels (I used New Zealand Greenshell mussels)

1 pkg. (227 g) stick imitation crab meat (cut into bite-size pieces) or flake-style

Cocktail Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

2 to 4 Tbsp. grated/prepared horseradish (add a Tbsp. at a time for desired flavour and texture)

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

a splash or two of lemon juice

hot sauce (optional)

lemon wedges
fresh parsley sprigs and hydrated dried seaweed for garnishing

Bring a large pot of water with a tsp. salt to a boil. Bring the shrimps to a boil, and cook for two minutes until the shell is bright orange, and flesh is opaque and firm. Ladle them out into a large bowl filled with cold, cold water to stop the cooking process. Strain well. Peel the shrimps (* with slit shells you can easily “zip” off these shrimps), but keep the shell ends intact for easy holding and dipping. Lay the shrimps on a paper-towel lined bowl and refrigerate until cool.

Meanwhile, bring the water back to a boil and add the mussels. Bring to a boil and cook for two to three minutes until mussels are firm. Ladle out into another bowl with cold water. Drain the water well, and place the mussels into a bowl and refrigerate until cool.

Combine ketchup, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice, and mix well. Add hot sauce if desired. Refrigerate until ready to use.

I used homemade ketchup from RFRK with chunky bits of tomatoes and onions.

Arrange the shrimps, mussels, and imitation crab meat pieces onto a platter along with a ramekin/small bowl of cocktail sauce and lemon wedges. For the bells and whistles on presentation, add green garnishes such as parsley sprigs and seaweed tucked in and around different points of the platter. I made mine super simple-- still gorgeous no?

This is just a beauty shot portion of what I was serving at the dinner party!

Talk about impressive to bring to any gathering! Succulent, juicy and pretty sophistication!

Sidebar: Most Torontonians are familiar with the lobster mountain by now, but have you ever heard of the shrimp chip mountains? Very famous in my household :). Home deep-fried, large hand-size real shrimp chips from Vietnam, bespeckled with cracked black pepper... I often don't leave home to a party without them :).

Seafood medley served straight out of the toted plastic tupperware no frills-style at my parents' place! Thank goodness for thinking ahead with my white platter home beauty shots!

The Festive East meets West spread as usual with my extended family!

What did you EAT to celebrate Christmas Day?

Season's Eatings...

From Our Home To Yours....

Enjoy the Festive Celebrations!!

Profiteroles (Cream Puffs)...

Ahhh profiteroles-- those cute tender-crisp hollow airy puffs filled with creamy vanilla pastry or as my Montreal-raised husband has been chiding forever, ice cream. "Restaurants don't make proper profiteroles anymore. They do it easy with prepared crème glacé." In his mind, every part of a profiterole takes a skillful artisan to dole out-- the understanding of food science inner workings between flour, water, butter and eggs to produce the fluffy choux pastry shell (the same dough that makes beautiful éclairs) and having the patience and masterful technique to whip up a luscious cream filling. In the spirit of a workplace cookie exchange, this prompted him to roll up his sleeves and attempt to uncomplicate his favourite classic treat with a nod to la belle province. 

As a starting point, we know we just can't go wrong with recipes from Mr. Montreal food pro himself, cookbook author and TV food host & personality Ricardo. Following his measurements and recipe instructions to a tee (recipe was quadrupled for the exchange needs), will my husband eat his words or will he and everyone else eat his profiteroles???

This hefty batch looks pretty good huh?

Success-- YAY! This was indeed a fantastic fool-proof recipe-- just make sure you follow each step by step (I've added some tips and watch-outs along the way).

Profiteroles (Cream Puffs) (adapted by Ricardo)

Makes 16 profiteroles  (double or triple the ingredients to feed a crowd)

1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp. of sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
4 eggs

Choux pastry: 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper (if using two make sure they fit side-by-side in oven). In a saucepan, bring to boil milk, water, butter, sugar and salt (mixture has to come to a rolling boil-- this helps the pastry's aeration). Remove the pan from the heat and you must add the flour all at once (this helps the starch swell and absorb the liquid so the dough has structure). Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a smooth ball that comes off the pan sides. Put the pan back on a low heat and cook stirring the dough for about two minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes. 

Add the eggs one at a time, vigorously beating with a wooden spoon or electric mixer between each addition, until the dough is smooth and homogeneous. Eggs are a leavening agent and the yolks add fat for a tender and light texture. Egg proteins add to the structure of the cream puff.

Using a pastry bag or large plastic freezer bag with a 1 cm (1/2 inch) round tip filled with choux pastry, emit 16 mounds the size of a golf ball leaving 1-inch in between on the baking sheet (they grow). Or use two spoons to set. Flatten the tips with a finger dipped in a bit of water. Bake in the centre of the oven about 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven, and cut a tiny slit in the side of each puff to let some of the steam escape. This allows the inside of the puff to dry out, stiffening the structure. 

To make it easy, we used two spoons- one for spooning and the other for swiping the pastry onto the baking sheet.

Voila Magic-- light, airy and fluffy little hollow balls!

Cut a tiny slit in the side of each puff to let some of the steam escape so the insides will dry out, and create a firm but tender-crisp shell. 

Now for the pastry cream... Does it really take that much effort and skill?

Vanilla Pastry Cream (adapted by Ricardo)

2/3 cup sugar 

1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour 

2 eggs 

2 cups milk, warm 

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 

In a saucepan, (not on heat) combine the sugar and flour. Add the eggs and whisk until the mixture is smooth and even. Add the hot milk gradually while whisking. Bring to a complete boil over medium heat, whisking constantly and scraping the bottom and corners of the pan. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir until thick. To prevent the formation of a skin on the surface of the pastry cream, place a plastic wrap directly on the hot cream. Let cool. Refrigerate until completely cool, about three hours. 

Not bad right to make a classic profiterole cream filling? 
Ok, No excuses restaurants!  Even my 6-year old was helping good ol' dad out :D

Whisk, whisk baby!

Add the hot milk and whisk, whisk baby!

Pastry cream is ready when it thickly coats the back of a spoon.

Fill each choux pastry with some cream. You can pipe it in or spoon it if the slit is big enough.

Wow, I am impressed honey! Way To Go!! A+ for effort and originality!

The cookie exchange with my husband's 11 colleagues went deliriously super! Everyone baked up about 72 pieces and exchanged six of their own sweet offerings with others times 11 :D. And he said his delicious pastries were an original with the staff admiring the cuties. 

Here were the eye-popping variety of beauties that came back in nicely packed boxes!

Sweet treats for a week! Where to begin?

What are you baking up to celebrate this season?

Food Revolution Toronto December Contest-- Celebrations!

Resharing from Food Revolution Toronto:

Happy December! This month's #CookwithFoodREVTO challenge is all about celebrations! This month, share a photo of your holiday celebrations, whatever they are, and the foods you prepare and eat with our team on social media and you will be eligible to win a Jamie Oliver cookbook courtesy of HarperCollins Canada!

For me, holidays is for spending time doing engaging things with friends and family, and what better than cooking something yummy together? One year, I had just learnt the techniques for baking up tall, flaky, brown-golden, crunchy and chewy basic best-ever scones, and our annual pre-Christmas dinner gathering was imparting these very tips to my girlfriends-- perfect for a hot-out-of-the-oven midday treat with tea, and to enjoy while we painted! 

How are you going to celebrate this festive season?

Best-Ever Scones and Homemade Lemon Curd

Celebrations with Baking, Painting and Feasting!

How To Enter:

Snap a photo of your celebration and tell us a little bit about it!

You MUST use the hashtag #CookwithFoodRevTO AND tag us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. That's it! Then you'll be entered to win a cookbook!

Eligibility and Contest Rules:

– Contest begins on December 1st 2017 at 6am EST on and closes January 6th 2018 at 6pm EST.
– Prize consists of one (1) Jamie Oliver cookbook.
– Open to readers of the age of majority with a Canadian mailing address.
– No purchase of any product necessary for entry.
– Winner will be chosen randomly (using random.org) from all qualified entries on January 6th 2018 after 6pm EST.
– Winner will be notified January 7th or 8th 2017 and will have 48 hours to respond to the message.
– Winner will be required to answer a skill testing question.