This Christmas, we put together a seafood feast at home- ranging from blini with roe to scallops and mussels. We chose some dishes which didn’t need any cooking- just preparation- for the starter- and then a few dishes that required a bit of cooking for the mains. We’ve provided our recipes below for you to try out at home and enjoy- perfect for a Christmas or New Year’s dinner, or a romantic night in. Overall, the dishes were not too difficult to put together and makes for an impressive looking dinner!
Our original plan was to get seafood from the Billingsgate Market in East London- it’s a short walk from us anyway- and we’ve been several times previously- and it’s definitely worth a visit. Word of warning though- the market opens incredibly early- at around 4am-and closes at 8:30am so we’d recommend going at 5am/6am as if you go later in the morning, the supplies end up running out and there is less choice. We hadn’t been to the market since the beginning of the pandemic- and this was our first visit during lockdown, and rather foolishly we thought it wouldn’t be too bus- but even though we arrived at 5am, the queue was several hours long as it seems everyone had the same idea as us to get seafood for Christmas!
Raw King Prawns
Razor clams and Mussels
Turbot, Sole and Scallops
We decided to head to Borough market instead-whilst there is much less choice than at Billingsgate (with only a handful of seafood stalls compared to 13 acres at Billingsgate) , we were able to buy everything we needed- there is a good selection and the fish was very fresh. There are also many other stalls- including fruit and veg, meat and cheese, game (see photos below) which is incredibly helpful if there is anything else you need to pick up!
Fruit and veg
Monkfish
Wild rabbits
Starters
- Blini with lumpfish roe. We used ready-made blini and just topped them with the roe, with a squeeze of lemon juice on each
- Salmon gravlax with a mustard and honey sauce. Again- this was ready to serve. You can also use smoked trout if you prefer
- Marinated anchovies. We simply removed these from the packaging and added a bit of lemon juice.
Mains
- Pan-seared hand-dived scallops. There are very few things that beat fresh scallops- provided they are not overcooked! We served six scallops in total. We first patted dry the scallops with a paper towel, then seasoned the scallops with salt and pepper. We then heated up some butter in a frying pan, and once hot, add in the scallops. They only need a couple of minutes on each side. Serve as soon as possible, and enjoy!
Crab claws. We bought two each of these- easier than buying a whole crab and almost as tasty! We bought crab claws that were already cooked and ready to eat but decided to heat them up- it takes very little time and we much prefer warm crabmeat. We simply placed the crab claws in a pan of cold water, added teaspoon of salt and peppercorns and a few juniper berries for a bit of extra flavour. Turn the hob on and let the crab claws cook for 15 or so minutes. Serve immediately (alongside some seafood crackers!). We also had a homemade mayonnaise alongside the crab claws- simply delicious!
- Marinated, pan-fried Vannemei prawns. We bought four prawns each and felt that was a good sized portion. Add the raw prawns to a bowl, alongside salt, pepper, tablespoon of olive oil, one garlic clove finely chopped and 1/2 tablespoon of paprika. Mix well and let the prawns sit in the mixture for as long as possible. After marinating, add the prawns to a pre-heated frying pan, and cook until both sides are pink (around 5-10 minutes). Serve and eat as soon as possible!
- Mussels in a classic cream sauce. We bought a bag of mussels for the last dish in our seafood feast- this was around 1kg, more than enough for two! Mussels are very easy to cook-ours didn’t need much cleaning so we simply put them in a pan with some salt and pepper, a chopped red onion, two finely chopped garlic cloves, a glass of white wine and about 100ml of double cream. Very quick and easy to cook- the mussels open up within 5 minutes or so, and that’s when you’ll know they’re ready to eat. You can soak up the juice with some crusty white bread- delicious!
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