Killer Seafood Salad Dressing:
This one takes a little time to prepare, but it's worth it. Please DO NOT substitute any of the ingredients or take anything out, as the dressing will not be the way it's meant to be. I know some of the ingredients may seem "icky", but trust me, make this at least once, just like I have it spelled out here, before you pass judgement and modify the recipe. Promise?
When I make this dressing, I pour it over $50 of freshly grilled spot prawns, Digby scallops, steamed PEI Mussels, sliced calamari, and whatever looks great in the market, so please, do not be cheap on the dressing, and use good ingredients. If you are on a budget, use peeled shrimp, but let it marinate overnight. I have some tricks that will extend this recipe, at the bottom.
This is one of my signature dishes, and I have received more than several offers of marriage from confirmed bachelors after they ate this salad! (Hmm...maybe there is a lot of zinc in this dish? LOL)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (NO "Real Lemon", and use a Meyers lemon if you can get it)
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (good quality!)
3-5 cloves of garlic, crushed and then chopped finely (depends on your taste. Whack the clove with a fry pan, peel and then chop)
2-3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (NO "paste", and preferably use the Italian kind packaged in glass jars!)
6 calamata olives, finely chopped (dump the pits)
1 tsp. red chili pepper flakes (can adjust downwards, a bit)
1 tsp. ground black pepper (I use black Tellicherry peppercorns, from Dean and DeLuca, New York, or Draeger's, Palo Alto, ground in a wooden Pugeot pepper mill)
1 tsp. sea salt (I use Fleur de Sel, hand harvested from Brittany, France)
Put all the ingredients into a 2-cup glass measuring cup, and mix. Let it sit there for a few hours at least. Prepare whatever seafood salad you wish and pour a generous amount of the dressing of it over the goodies, toss, and marinate for at least another hour, if not overnight.
A word here to make the salad complete. This is what I do:
Roast 4-6 red, yellow and orange bell peppers, peel and slice them. (I have a special trick, if anyone needs it) Set aside. Open up two cans (16 oz. size) of the most expensive baby artichokes you can find and cut each of them into 4 pieces. Chop a 1/2 cup of Italian flat-leaf parsley (NOT cilantro, NOT regular parsley!).
The "golden" ratio:
All the dressing
1/4 of the total dish should be artichokes
3/4 of the total dish should be grilled/steamed seafood
All the sliced roasted peppers
All the Italian parsley
A few whole olives, for decoration
If you wish to add rotini pasta to stretch this recipe, it works well. Best to marinate it overnight, and serve as a cold entree.
Bon apetite!
Teresa |
