Seafood is a festive party food.
Whether you're having a casual underwater seafood party, luau, buffet or sit-down dinner, seafood and all things nautical are real crowd pleasers. Your guests will have flashbacks and memories of vacations at the beach. Depending on what's available, many of the items can be swapped out for another seafood item.If you're serving any types of seafood with shells or bones, provide a large bowl for guests to discard them. Does this Spark an idea?
Seafood Tray
Provide a variety of seafood on a tray.
Prepare a seafood tray filled with shrimp, scallops, fish nuggets and crab claws. Place them on a bed of greens, such as leaf lettuce, parsley or another attractive green you can find in your produce department. Consider having shrimp prepared in a variety of ways on one tray and other types of seafood on another. Suggestions for the shrimp tray include fried, boiled and broiled with Cajun seasoning. The scallops and fish nuggets may be broiled or fried. If you have crab claws, which can be quite messy, provide a way for guests to clean their hands, such as small bowls of water to dip in or warm moist towels.
Oysters on the Half Shell
Oysters on the half shell
Offer a variety of oysters cooked with or without their shells. Some favorite styles include oysters grilled with lemon and dill, grilled oysters with Worcestershire sauce and bacon and plain grilled or broiled oysters. You may also serve them raw on the half shell. Provide plenty of cocktail sauce or let guests make their own with ketchup, horseradish and hot sauce.
Crab Cakes
Crab cakes are easy to make, or you can buy them already made. Basically all they are is a mixture of crabmeat, diced vegetables, an egg for binder, seasonings and a few bread or cracker crumbs, deep fried or baked until the outside is crispy and crunchy and the inside is cooked until the flavors meld. Serve bite-size crab cakes for hors d'oeuvres or palm-size crab cakes for the main course of a meal. Provide lemon wedges, cocktail sauce and tartar sauce so guests can choose what they prefer.
Shrimp Creole
Shrimp Creole
An easy but impressive dish is shrimp Creole. Combine tomatoes, celery, onions, peppers, garlic and oil in a skillet. Cook until the celery and onions are translucent, then add peeled shrimp. Cook until the shrimp turns pink. Don't overcook the shrimp, or they will turn rubbery. Serve hot over a bed of rice or noodles. Provide hot sauce for guests who like more fire in their food. Crusty French bread is the ideal accompaniment for shrimp Creole. If shrimp isn't available, or if it's not affordable, you may substitute any other fish.
Tags: sauce guests, celery onions, cocktail sauce, Cook until, crab claws