matt770 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 My parents and some in-laws are coming here for Christmas Eve so my wife gets the cooking duties. Normally at home in CT we would have a traditional Polish meal, but my wife decided to change it up and honor my stepdad, who is Italian. I'd never heard of the 7 fishes until she mentioned it and I'm looking forward to it. He has no idea what we're planning so it will be a neat surprise. I'm curious to know what traditional dishes you I-talian Huddlers have for this meal. We're doing: cod cakes jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab meat (counts as two fishes) bacon-wrapped scallops lobster bisque linguine with clams cedar plank salmon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundaynfl Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 My parents and some in-laws are coming here for Christmas Eve so my wife gets the cooking duties. Normally at home in CT we would have a traditional Polish meal, but my wife decided to change it up and honor my stepdad, who is Italian. I'd never heard of the 7 fishes until she mentioned it and I'm looking forward to it. He has no idea what we're planning so it will be a neat surprise. I'm curious to know what traditional dishes you I-talian Huddlers have for this meal. We're doing: cod cakes jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab meat (counts as two fishes) bacon-wrapped scallops lobster bisque linguine with clams cedar plank salmon What a grat idea for Christmas eve. I would not wrap the scallops in bacon, as the tradition involves the abstinence of meat and milk products... so if your stepdad is a traditionalist your bisque may be out as well! We used to have cod balls :second grade giggle: in tomato sauce as one of the dishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seattle LawDawg Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 My parents and some in-laws are coming here for Christmas Eve so my wife gets the cooking duties. Normally at home in CT we would have a traditional Polish meal, but my wife decided to change it up and honor my stepdad, who is Italian. I'd never heard of the 7 fishes until she mentioned it and I'm looking forward to it. He has no idea what we're planning so it will be a neat surprise. I'm curious to know what traditional dishes you I-talian Huddlers have for this meal. We're doing: cod cakes jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab meat (counts as two fishes) bacon-wrapped scallops lobster bisque linguine with clams cedar plank salmon Not Italian, but I like the tradition so much I adopted it a few years ago and will be doing it again on Saturday night (although I haven't even started thinking of a menu yet) Last year, some of the dishes were: Dungeness Crab Bisque with a Crawfish Boulette Grilled Octopus Salad topped with roe Stuffed Squid - I made a shrimp & scallop sausage to stuff the squid and baked in tomato / vodka sauce - treated as the pasta course Definitely salmon, but I don't remember how I prepared - good chance it was planked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh B Tool Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I'll be eating my gals tuna and skipping the other six courses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Traitor. Mrs T's awaits here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 I would not wrap the scallops in bacon, as the tradition involves the abstinence of meat and milk products... so if your stepdad is a traditionalist your bisque may be out as well! Definitely not a traditionalist, scallops with no bacon could actually make him angry. The man eats, that's what he does. But, I better tell my wife about this, she wouldn't want to screw up the tradition. Thanks for the heads up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundaynfl Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 Definitely not a traditionalist, scallops with no bacon could actually make him angry. The man eats, that's what he does. But, I better tell my wife about this, she wouldn't want to screw up the tradition. Thanks for the heads up! So how was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WashingtonD Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 We do it every year This year we did Mini hot butter lobster rolls Spicy squash soup with crab Tuna poke Clams casino Shrimp popaltini with white bean sauce Grilled scallops Salmon with pesto and pistachios We do a traditional seven fishes on even years and non traditional like above on odd years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomper Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 My neighbor is an awesome older Italian guy. Every year he sends me a big plate of his Christmas Eve Italian fish oriented meal. He serves it cold like a fish salad Shrimp Scungili Bacala Cod scallops and 2 kinds of filets but I am not sure what type of fish they are. Its delicious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 Spicy squash soup with crab this sounds like it could be awesome. every year we have steamed shrimp steamed clams broiled lobster tails breaded smelts pasta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WashingtonD Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 this sounds like it could be awesome. every year we have steamed shrimp steamed clams broiled lobster tails breaded smelts pasta I'll get the recipe from my sister in law and post it up, very easy, very very tasty, and for planning purposes you can do it the day before, because executing the feast of the seven fishes can be somewhat chaotic in the kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WashingtonD Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Puréed Butternut Squash Soup with Ginger Either chicken or vegetable broth can be used in this recipe. INGREDIENTS • 2tablespoons unsalted butter , or the same amount of vegetable or olive oil • 1medium onion , 3 medium shallots or 1 medium leek (white and light green parts only), chopped • 2tablespoons dry sherry or white wine • 1butternut squash , medium (about 2 1/2 pounds), halved, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 5 cups) (we usually buy pre-cut stuff from trader joe's that cuts down prep time considerably) • 2cups low-sodium chicken broth or low-sodium vegetable broth • 1teaspoon table salt • Ground white pepper • 1teaspoon ground ginger • 3/4 - 1cup whole milk • 2teaspoons minced fresh chives or minced parsley INSTRUCTIONS 1. 1. Heat butter or oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add sherry and squash; stir-cook until sherry evaporates, about 30 seconds. 2. 2. Add stock, salt, pepper to taste, and ginger to saucepan; bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer; cover and cook until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. 3. 3. Ladle squash mixture into blender. Add 3/4 cup milk; blend until very smooth. Return soup to saucepan; cook over low heat until warmed through. If soup is too thick, stir in additional milk to thin consistency. Adjust seasonings. (Soup can be refrigerated for 3 days and reheated just before serving.) 4. 4. Ladle soup into individual bowls. Top with lump crab meat and serve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 So how was it? Really good. I talked my wife into doing the traditional cod balls with marinara instead of the cod cakes and they came out awesome. No bacon with the scallops. Best dish was definitely the cedar plank salmon, people were making noises normally reserved for the bedroom...my mom and my wife both don't like salmon and they were raving about it. Best of all my stepdad really appreciated the gesture and kept telling us about his mom's cooking back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC94 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Bobby Flay did a Throwdown episode for the Feast of the 7 Fishes against Rao's (a famous Italian restaurant in NYC) a while ago. I wish I could have been there because the food looked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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