Seafood Lasagna

This recipe is AMAZING.

My husband was worried that the sauce would be too "fishy" with an entire bottle of clam juice, but it was PERFECT.  I made it for a special New Year's dinner.  With all the seafood, it is a bit pricey to make, but SO worth it.

I bought small, bite-sized scallops, and I cut each shrimp into three pieces.

Click here for the original link on the Taste of Home website.

Seafood Lasagna

Ingredients

1 green onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup butter, divided

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 bottle (8 ounces) clam juice

1 pound bay scallops

1 pound uncooked small shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 package (8 ounces) imitation crabmeat, chopped

1/4 teaspoon white pepper, divided

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups 2% milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained

Directions

In a large skillet, saute onion in oil and 2 tablespoons butter until tender. Stir in broth and clam juice; bring to a boil. Add scallops, shrimp, crab and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and scallops are firm and opaque, stirring gently. Drain, reserving cooking liquid; set seafood mixture aside.

In a large saucepan, melt the remaining butter; stir in flour until smooth. Combine milk and reserved cooking liquid; gradually add to the saucepan. Add salt and remaining pepper. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from the heat; stir in cream and 1/4 cup cheese. Stir 3/4 cup white sauce into the seafood mixture.

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread 1/2 cup white sauce in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Top with three noodles; spread with half of the seafood mixture and 1-1/4 cups sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Yield: 12 servings.

Crab Rangoon Dip

We served this yummy hot dip at our Christmas party last year and it was a big hit!  I served it with crackers last year, but I bought plain pita chips this year.  It would also be delicious with bread.

The recipe comes from the December 2011 issue of Cuisine at Home.

Crab Rangoon Dip

Makes 3 cups
Total time: 25 minutes

Mince:
1/4 cup chopped scallions
2 Tbsp each chopped fresh cilantro and ginger
1 tsp sugar

Add:
2 pkg cream cheese, softened (8oz each)
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
salt to taste

Fold:
1 can lump crab meat (6.5oz)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degress.  Coat a 3-cup ovenproof dish with nonstick spray.

Mince scallions, cilantro, ginger, and sugar in a food processor.

Add cream cheese and lime juice; pulse to combine.  Season with salt and transfer to a bowl.

Fold crabmeat into cream cheese mixture.  Transfer to prepared dish.  Bake dip until hot in center and bubbly, 15 minutes.  Serve dip with fried won ton chips.

Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms and Crab Cakes

Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

Crab Cakes

When my sister was here in September, I knew we would LOVE to make these crab-stuffed mushrooms!  They were exactly the kind of thing we like.  And this recipe was fabulous!

Chris isn't a mushroom fan, but he loves crab cakes.  As soon as I tasted the filling, I knew it would make the perfect crab cake.  So I used the rest of the crabmeat from the mushrooms to make crab cakes.  After pressing them into cakes, I coated them in breacrumbs and brushed them with olive oil.  I baked them for about 30 minutes or so at 350, turning them half way through.  They were my first attempt at homemade crab cakes, and they were the best I've ever had!

We didn't make the horseradish sauce that goes with this.  I couldn't find plain horseradish at the grocery store, so I bought horseradish sauce from Heinz.  It was delicious.

This recipe comes from the blog Neo-Homesteading.  Check it out for some more yummy recipes.  I originally found this recipe posted on Pinterest.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

6 medium sized portobello mushrooms about 2" in diameter
4-6 button mushrooms (I skipped these)
extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper

8 ounces crab meat

2-3 tablespoons diced red bell pepper
2-3 tablespoons chopped chives
1 egg
1 teaspoon mustard
2 tablespoons mayo
1/2-1 teaspoon old bay seasoning
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (I used regular bread crumbs)
(I skip the salt) 1/2 teaspoon salt
*fresh cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl combine crab meat, pepper, chives, egg, mustard, mayo, old bay. Stir to mix and add panko, do not add too much you just want enough for the mixture to bind together. 

Remove stems from the mushrooms, using a spoon hollow out the centers and then toss mushrooms with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Using about 1-2 tablespoons of filling stuff crab filling into the mushrooms. Place on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is golden. You don't want to over cook the mushrooms or they will be too moist and the filling will become soggy.

Horseradish Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream

2-3 tablespoons mayo

1 tablespoon horseradish (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2-1 teaspoon hot sauce 

Stir to combine. For a fuller fat version you can use more mayo or substitute the mayo in this recipe for horseradish cream. 



Crab-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This is one of those recipes that tastes difficult, but is really, really easy.  It comes from The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever by Beatrice Ojakangas -- EXCELLENT COOKBOOK!!  It is chock full of great recipes, including how to make your own cream soups.  (Haven't tried that yet though!)

In this photo, I served it with roasted potatoes with dry onion soup and olive oil.
Crab-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

(Actually, the recipe called for turkey breasts, but I used chicken)

4 Tbsp butter
2 pounds chicken or turkey breasts
½ cup sliced green onions (white and green parts)
¼ pound thinly sliced mushrooms
3 Tbsp flour
2 tsp thyme (I used HALF this and it was plenty I thought!)
½ cup chicken broth
½ cup half and half or light cream (I used half and half)
½ cup dry white wine
Salt
Pepper
¾ pounds fresh crabmeat or 2 packages (6 oz each) frozen crabmeat, thawed and drained
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup shredded swiss cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 350 (I've started baking it at 400 because it doesn't get done for me).  Grease shallow 3 quart casserole dish with about 2 tsp of the butter.
2. Wash chicken/turkey and pat dry.  Place between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound until thin and about tripled in size.
3.  Melt remaining butter in a nonstick skillet.  Add green onions and mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes or until soft.  Stir in flour and 1 tsp of the thyme.  Whisk in the broth, cream and wine and bring to a boil, whisking constantly.  Cook until thickened and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. In a small bowl, mix ¼ cup of the sauce, the crabmeat, parsley, and remaining thyme (I didn’t add more thyme here).  Divide mixture evenly between chicken/turkey slices.  Roll up into tight bundles and place in greased casserole seam side down.  Spoon remaining sauce over the top and sprinkle with cheese.  (You can cover the dish and refrigerate one day, add 10 minutes to cooking time)
5. Cover the casserole with a sheet of aluminum foil coated with cooking spray on one side.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the turkey/chicken is cooked through.

One note:  I used just two chicken breasts, so they were super full.  I had to put them back in for 10 minutes because they weren’t quite cooked.  If I had used four smaller ones, I think 30 minutes would have been fine.

ALSO, the second time I made them I used real crabmeat, instead of the imitation stuff, and believe it or not the real crabmeat didn't taste as good!  I'm going with imitation from now on.