What's for Dinner #103 - the Extra 24 Hours Month Edition - February 2024

Pasta with shrimps in a sauce made with dried tomatoes, tomato paste, scallions, garlic, parsley, basil, feta, heavy cream, dry vermouth and chicken broth

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I mean I’ll eat tires simmering in oil of I could be at a Spanish restaurant in Spain for dinner tomorrow night :grin:

Yours looks delish!

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Many of us here have, so I doubt that I was the first, but it is one of my favorite New York Times recipes, and one that I make often :slightly_smiling_face:

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I am in your doneness camp for shrimp. I find them to become rubbery or unpleasantly mushy when overcooked.

The snap and juiciness of perfect medium shrimp, OTOH :drooling_face:

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Word!

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The March WFD thread has been posted here:

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I think we may have the same partner. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you.

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I once lived with an elderly relative and she happily ate shrimp when I cooked them and gave her some. Once I got her shrimp to cook and she proceeded to cook them for at least 15 minutes. They shrunk to the tiniest little rubber bands.

Sounds like Kenji’s never been to Madrid.

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In my experience, the “rules” for how long to cook seafood - or anything, I guess - vary considerably from region to region. For instance, I think seafood is grievously over-cooked throughout the Caribbean. And probably someone from there would accuse me of serving it practically raw.

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Could shellfish might be overcooked in the Carribean because of the risk of hepatitis? I’m not sure if that would prevent it, but I know shellfish can be a source of hepatitis in the Carribean and some other tropics.

I used to order/eat ceviche a lot. I now only order it from places with high quality seafood.

When I make ceviche now, I poach the seafood gently first, then add the lime before serving rather than letting it cook only by lime juice because I’m worried about pathogens.

Maybe. Or people just like their food differently than I like my food. It’s not just shellfish - it’s ALL fish.

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Agree, quite possible.
I was surprised how cooked one family friend cooks their salmon.

Home cooks here fry fish to such a point that the bones can be eaten. It’s very dry. Part of it is that the fish is fried with no coating, so they feel that in order for it to be “crispy” they have to cook the life out of it. But proteins are generally over-cooked in the Caribbean no matter what.
If you go to the beach and order fish there though you get deliciously juicy fish. You can tell they use a light coating of starch.

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I would like to go to this beach. Where is it?

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Precisely

This.

“Over”-cooked and “under”-cooked imply “relative to how I like to eat it”.

Always a puzzle to me how people will assert these as absolutes and not the cultural and personal preferences they are.

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Any beach here will offer fried fish, but I specifically live in a coastal town (Cabrera) and the main attraction are the many beaches, with people having their preferences for which has better food. There are also a few places on the way to the beach that do a good job frying fish.

The most popular beach here for swimming is El Caletón de Río San Juan, and I personally like the fish from it best of the ones I’ve tried. However many people prefer nearby Playa Grande for the food (not as much for swimming as it has some pretty big waves).

If you get fish here I’m pretty adamant that it should be parrotfish because it’s not found outside of tropical climates (can get it in Southeast Asia, too) and it’s meaty and succulent. Other options are fine, but parrotfish is to me the star. And I always get it fried because I think it’s better that way and also a method that’s harder to do at home than something like grilling or steaming.

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Well, now I’m upset, because we stayed in Las Galeras, and I saw no beach food at all. Pretty sure I’ve had parrotfish in Nevis.

I haven’t been to Samaná since we lived there when I was a baby/toddler, but that’s surprising given the tourism there. As long as there’s some tables and chairs, there’s food to be found. :joy: I believe Samaná is one place in DR where crab might not be as rare as it has become here.

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