Help with frozen seafood and side dishes etc

HOLsale · 28 November 2005 at 3:59AM

each year we have two celebrations... the first is for me, dh and dd to celebrate winter solistic (Yule) on dec 21st. this is just for us because we are pagan and this is our spirtual observance of this fire festival.

the second is christmas with non religious family..because they've always done christmas!

mil will have us over to her house for christmas and has only asked me to bring crackers (i handmade them with thoughtful gifts specific to the recipient inside)

we always try to do something different foodwise for yule because we'll get the traditional food at mil's. we've been hemming and hawing about what to have but i was in lidl today and they had goose breast for £5.99 (we did goose last year and it was really nice) i have a george foreman rotisserie so i will cook it in that mmmmmmmmm

but since we had that last year i wanted something else as well. they also had whole lobsters (decent size) frozen for £4.99 and pacakge of 8 small whole crabs frozen for £3.99 so i bought those as well (i know that's a lot of food for 3 people but i don't cook at all between the 22st and the 26th of dec)

i've never cooked crab or lobster from frozen...any advice?

any ideas for side dishes that will accompany the mixture? last year mil made some gorgeous pears in brandy (or something like that, think it was a delia recipe) i don't like pears but they were really nice and they perfectly complimented the goose. i'm going to get that recipe and make some of those but i don't really know what else to serve with the seafood...rare that we have it at home

any ideas much appreciated ;-)

henhog · 28 November 2005 at 11:18AM

What good prices for the lobster and crabs! I might have to pay a visit myself.

Rick Stein says to defrost them in the fridge and then cook as normal.He suggests serving the lobster with mayonnaise and herbs, but you could try making it into a salad with avocado and green beans. The crab is pretty similar - just mayo. He actually recommends mixing the crab meat with other things i.e. make into crab cakes, sandwiches etc, because it is hard to get the meat out and keep it looking presentable.

Sorry - I haven't been particularly helpful. You could try getting Rick Stein's Taste of the Sea out of the library - lots of lovely recipes!

softuk · 3 December 2006 at 7:18PM

Hope you pick up this reply because, THE CRABS AND LOBSTERS ARE ALREADY COOKED!!!

All you need to do is defrost them and then remove the meat - taking care with the crab to take out "the dead mens fingers" grey feathery looking things that are actually the crabs lungs.

Don't worry, it really isn't that much food. You won't get very much out of the crabs, a large one will provide enough meat for two people for a starter. If you are hoping to live on that for four days, I's have a bit of a re-think if I was you.

A lovely recipe is to mix the crab with chopped apple, a little lemon juice and mayo. and pile on pre-cooked rounds of filo - layer of filo, layer of crab and so on. Makes a lovely starter. Or, how about crab cakes - do a google. The lobsters are small when defrosted, but you can do a thermidor - again google.
Menu suggestion:
Starter crab/filo
Mains - roast goose with apples, braised red cabbage, roast potatoes (use the goose fat) sprouts or broccoli, and some small chantenay carrots - morrisons have them.
Pud.
Personally, I would keep it it light, I find Christmas Pud far too heavy, and tend to go for something like a good traditional trifle or oranges in caramel.
Hope it goes well.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Help with frozen seafood and side dishes etc

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