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Chef Ray Arpke’s Grouper Jamaican (Euphemia Haye, Longboat Key, Florida)

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Fred Bollaci

Recipe courtesy of Chef Raymond Arpke

Grouper Jamaican at Euphemia Haye, Longboat Key, Florida

2 lbs grouper filets, in 4 pieces

1/4 cup Meyer’s rum

5 oz Pickapeppa sauce

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 large onions sliced in rings

3/4 cup white wine

3/4 cup water

1-2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 large banana, sliced diagonally

Salt and Pepper to taste

Strawberries, sliced

Orange zest to garnish

Heat & flame rum in heavy pan, add Pickapepper sauce and just simmer for one minute. Keep warm. Cover bottom of large fry pan with sliced onion rings, add bouillon cube, water and wine to just cover rings. Bring to boil until rings are clear. Place grouper filets on top, season with salt & pepper, cover & poach 3 to 4 minutes.

Spoon sauce onto plates, place filets & onions over & garnish with sliced fruit and orange zest. Serves four.

Note: Pickapepper sauce can be found at your local grocery store in the hot sauce section.

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Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and Crab Bisque by Bijou Café in Sarasota, Florida

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Fred Bollaci

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 6

Recipe courtesy of The Bijou Café, Sarasota

2 large butternut squashes, about 2 lb each

6 tbsp unsalted butter

2 yellow onions, chopped

8 fresh sage leaves, shredded

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 cup crème fraiche or sour cream

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Ground nutmeg, to taste

Pinch of sugar, if needed

Preheat the oven to 400°F, and prick each squash with the tip of a knife. Place the whole squash on a baking sheet and roast until a knife penetrates the skin easily, about an hour. Remove the squash from the oven and, when they are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthwise and discard the seeds and fibers. Scoop the pulp into a bowl and set aside.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and half of the sage. Cook while stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and squash pulp, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for a few minutes to combine the flavours, then remove from the heat.

Working in batches, purée the soup in a blender or food processor, and return it to a clean saucepan. Alternatively, pass the soup through a food mill placed over the pan. Reheat gently over medium-low heat, and season with salt and pepper. If the squash is starchy rather than sweet, a little nutmeg will help. If the nutmeg does not give the proper flavour balance, add a pinch of sugar. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with whipped crème fraiche and the remaining sage.

Crab Bisque

In a skillet, add several tablespoons butter and flour to create a roux. Whisk in 1 1/3 cup chicken broth. Sautée onions and stir into sauce, adding a cup of cream, lemon juice, cayenne and salt to taste, or optional cognac and sherry – simmering for 30 minutes. Add blue crab and baby shrimp and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until heated and serve!

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Potatoes/ Pommes Au Gratin Dauphinois by Bijou Café in Sarasota, FL

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Fred Bollaci

This is one of the most delicious and decadent side dishes around, though a little goes a long way, all you need is a scoop along with your protein and veggies of choice!

Pommes Gratin Dauphinoise

Serves 24

Recipe courtesy of The Bijou Café

Ingredients:

18 Idaho baking potatoes

Salt and white pepper, to taste

12 cups heavy cream

3 cloves fresh garlic

3 tbsp melted butter

2 1/2 lbs shredded dry Swiss cheese such as Gruyere

Peel the potatoes and slice very thin to 1/8-inch, but do not rinse in water once they are sliced, as the potato starch naturally thickens the sauce. Generously rub a 4-inch deep hotel pan with the garlic cloves, then butter the pan. Mix the sliced potatoes in a large bowl with the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place the hotel pan on a sheet pan and bake uncovered at 350°F for about one hour or until the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork. When cooled, dish the potato mixture into buttered 9-inch casseroles, cover the tops with shredded cheese and add a few more drops of cream to keep the dish moist. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. On demand place the casserole, on a pie pan, in a very hot oven at 450°F for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has browned and the dish is bubbling.

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Shrimp Piri Piri by J. P. Knaggs of Bijou Café in Sarasota, Florida

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Fred Bollaci

Shrimp Piri Piri by Bijou Cafe, one of the most popular dishes at one of the area’s most popular restaurants!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined with tail on; pat dry

• 1/2 cup white wine

• splash of lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons softened butter

For marinade:

• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 tablespoon paprika

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Toss all together and marinate 4 to 5 hours.

Instructions:

In an extremely hot pan, salt and sear the shrimp. Flip them over and add marinade, white wine and lemon juice. Reduce sauce and swirl in soft butter.

Sarasota’s Bijou Cafe has been a personal favorite for years and is one of 100 great restaurants nationwide featured with a recipe in my first book, “The Restaurant Diet, How to Eat Out Every Night and Still Lose Weight.”

Photos by Bijou Café/Facebook

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Pasta “Frutti di Mare” with Lobster Tail, Shrimp, Scallops, Clams, Mussels, and Squid

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Fred Bollaci

Frutti di Mare (Fruits of the Sea) is a favorite, and there are any number of variations you will find along the Italian coast and islands. This is a great rendition, you can add or subtract any fresh seafood you like, be it crab, local white fish like grouper or snapper, or even salmon if you like, etc. You are only limited by your imagination and what you enjoy and what is available fresh in your area. The fresher the seafood, the better! Serve with choice of pasta–I like Linguini as well as Paccheri (larger than Rigatoni, without ridges), I like how some of the seafood “hides out” inside the large packets, as well as the long strands of linguini with the sauce. Always cook the pasta “al dente” preferably a couple minutes more firm than you would like it when you eat it, because it will continue to cook as you marry the pasta with the “sauce” ingredients on the stove over heat and you toss to serve it. The pasta and sauce should be well tossed and amalgamated, the pasta finishes cooking to “al dente” (still slightly firm) after it has simmered and been tossed, it should be plated and brought to the table still steaming!

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon (tbsp) olive oil

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tsp Red pepper flakes (optional, more at the table if you like it hot!)

1 cup dry white wine (something you would drink, like a Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio)

1 lb. linguine (or pasta of your choice)

1 28-ounce can San Marzano Tomatoes (or can use tomato puree instead)

12 black mussels (well rinsed and soaked to remove grit)

12 little neck or Manila clams (well rinsed and soaked to remove grit)

1 cup calamari tubes and tentacles, as desired (have your fishmonger clean and slice it for you if you don’t want to get involved)

8 shrimp, shelled and deveined

4 sea scallops, quartered

2-4 oz. lobster tails cut into small pieces

1 cup fresh basil and/or fresh Italian parsley

Directions:

Boil water in a large pot for pasta, generously salt the water. Reserve a cup of the cooking water in a measuring cup when the pasta is done. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Cook garlic until it sizzles, don’t let it burn, add red pepper flakes while sautéing the garlic. Add the linguine to boiling water. Cook until shy of al dente, reserve a cup of the cooking water.

Add tomatoes to the sauté pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let cook several minutes, if whole canned tomatoes, help break them apart as they cook. Add the wine, lobster tail meat, all seafood besides mussels and shrimp. Cook for about 4-5 minutes. Then add shrimp and mussels and place lid on top for about 3 minutes. When mussels have opened, toss with the pasta over medium heat. Add splash of pasta cooking water if the sauce is too tight, if too thin, allow it to reduce a minute or two. Discard any clams or mussels that have not opened. Add basil in to toss, divide among bowls and serve with garnish of fresh parsley. Optional drizzle with high quality extra virgin olive oil in the bowls off the heat, optional shaved bottarga on top. This does NOT call for cheese.

Note: can always make the lobster tails the center of attention and either leave them intact in their shells or keep the tail meat whole and plate one tail per person if desired.