Velvet Scallops
When I first read about velveting scallops in Grace Young’s fabulous cookbook, Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge, the promise of ‘luxuriously smooth and dense’ scallops made me t [...]
Mashed Potatoes with Preserved Lemon
I first tasted this combo at Le Coquillage restaurant in Cancale/Saint-Méloir. The restaurant’s écrasé de pommes de terre was redolent with butter and was served alongside 2 [...]
Spaghetti with Mussels Fra Diavolo
When I was living in Brooklyn, I would often meet friends at one of the many, many Italian restaurants on Smith Street in Cobble Hill for dinner. Once I discovered fra diavol [...]
Scallop Carpaccio
Scallop carpaccio looks so pretty, sounds so sophisticated, and it is actually one of the easiest ways to prepare scallops. One of the best, too, when you have really, really [...]
Mussels in Escabeche Sauce
What do you do with an extra bowlful of mussels after everyone’s eaten his/her fill? (When Mont-Saint-Michel Bay mussels are in season (July – January), leftover mussels are [...]
Summertime Salt Cod
Salt cod is a winter dish in Cancale, and traditional recipes generally involve potatoes, plus lots of butter and cream. This Italian-inspired dish takes it out of that cold- [...]
Virginia Crab Dip
When I was 14/15, I spent Saturdays working at a seafood store in Richmond alongside my best friend (her parents owned the store). Making crab dip was one of my favorite task [...]
Nori Mashed Potatoes
You might not think of nori as a French ingredient, but the seaweed can be found on rocks along the coast and has been cultivated on seaweed farms around Brittany for decades [...]
Old-Fashioned Clam Dip
I made gallons of this during when I was a teenager and had a part-time job at a seafood store. It is as retro as it gets…and so very good! (I used to "clean" the bowl I used [...]