We love us a good holiday roast, but one of our favorite Christmas traditions is the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Here's our take on the classic celebration -- or seven fresh seafood dishes to make a part of any holiday meal.
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If it's done right, Lobster Diavolo sings with the fresh, juicy tang of tomatoes and thrums with the gentle heat of chilis. When tossed with al dente pasta, the sauce provide a kicky backdrop that complements rather than overwhelms the sweet suppleness of the lobster itself. I like to keep the lobster in large pieces so it looks pretty on the plate, and I've always loved Esca's addition of fresh mint, so I adopted it myself. - Merrill
Serves 2
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for finishing
2 fat cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
28 ounces canned tomatoes with their juices, roughly chopped
Salt
2 1 1/2-pound live lobsters
1/2 pound spaghetti
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint
1. Pour the olive oil in a shallow, heavy saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 3 minutes, until fragrant and softened, but not browned. Add the chili flakes (start with half if you're not sure about the heat - you can add more later) and cook for another minute or two.
2. Add the tomatoes and their juices, along with a few generous pinches of salt and stir through. Raise the heat to medium and let the tomatoes come to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low and simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours, until the tomatoes have completely broken down, adding water as needed to keep the sauce from drying out. When the sauce is ready, taste for salt and add more necessary. Cover and set aside.
3. Bring an inch of water to a boil in a large stockpot. Add the lobsters to the pot and cover. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lobster's antennae can be easily pulled off. Remove the lobsters from the pot and set aside for a few minutes to cool a little.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until still quite al dente. Reserving about half a cup of the pasta water, drain the pasta in a large colander and set it aside.
5. Remove the meat from the lobsters. Keep the lobster meat in a warm place while you finish up the pasta.
6. Turn the heat to medium underneath the pan with the sauce. Add the cooked pasta and some of the pasta water, using tongs to toss the pasta in the sauce. Add a splash or two of olive oil if you like. When the pasta is well-coated in the sauce and warm, arrange it among two shallow, warm bowls. Slice the lobster tails into ½-inch medallions and arrange these, along with the claw and knuckle meat, on top of the spaghetti. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle generously with mint. Serve immediately.
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Southern Sherried Shrimp
The ease of EBeier's Southern Sherried Shrimp recipe belies its complex flavor. We love how you taste the sherry but it's the lemon that pulls together the sauce and the cayenne that gives it character. You half-cook the shrimp in an ocean of butter, then pull them from the pan and finish the sauce before adding them back. This way, the shrimp flavors the foundation of the sauce, and by finishing the shrimp once the sauce is properly reduced and seasoned, there's no risk of drying it out. The shrimp, wrapped in its sherry sauce, was so springy we ate most of it right from the pan. - Amanda & Merrill
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Crab Beignets with Aioli Dipping Sauce
These are the bounciest beignets you'll ever taste, partnered with a punchy aioli. ChefJune sticks to her convictions, using all olive oil and lots of egg yolk and garlic to great effect here, against fritters studded with sweet crab. We loved her use of vinegar-softened breadcrumbs in the aioli -- a traditional Provençal technique which bolsters and thickens the sauce, threading a subtle vinegary aroma through without compromising the aioli's smooth, buttery texture. - Amanda & Merrill
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Whole Baked Fish in Sea Salt with Parsley Gremolata
Whole Baked Fish in Sea Salt with Parsley Gremolata by TasteFoodThis method for cooking a whole fish has the dual benefit of being both effective and fun. (Basically, it provides an opportunity to play with your food.) Another plus is flexibility, as it's the method that really counts here: cooking a whole fish in a salt crust keeps it incredibly tender and moist. TasteFood calls for a 5 pound fish, but we used a 2.5 pound red snapper, halved the rest of the ingredients and decreased the cooking time to roughly 25 minutes. The simple gremolata is a bright, refreshing adornment for an otherwise gorgeously simple piece of fish. - Amanda & Merrill
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Miso and Agave Glazed Salmon
I've recently started using Agave nectar, a natural sweetener made from the agave plant that has many healthy properties. This dish is my version of one of my favorite restaurant dishes- miso-glazed black cod made famous by chef Nobu Matsuhisa at his restaurant Nobu. The first time I tried the dish, I fell in love with the tender, flaky fish and the complex flavors of the miso marinade. I like to make this dish with salmon- I think the richness of the salmon works nicely with the sweet marinade. I find that the key to cooking salmon is to not overcook it. I take it out of the oven when I think it is slightly underdone- it will continue to cook a little so that it's perfect when you're ready to eat. If you don't have agave nectar, regular sugar can be used (about 1 1/2 times the amount of agave nectar). - Sonali
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Sicilian-Style Swordfish
CucinettaNYC knows how to produce a powerful sauce with a mere handful of ingredients. She sautes onion and garlic, then whips off the heat and throws in some capers, olives and sundried tomatoes with a little wine, and the sauce is done. Then all you have to do is cook the swordfish, which she has you do in the same pan. A gold star for efficiency! - Amanda & Merrill
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Le Bernardin's Crispy-Skinned Fish
A simple formula for doing right by fish, adapted from On the Line by Eric Ripert and Christine Muhlke (with a surprise ingredient straight out of the 1960s). - Kristen
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