Ring in the Holidays with Seafood Platters

Spending quality time with friends and family is what the holidays are really all about. Well, that and food. Nothing brings people together and makes a gathering special like a good spread. Unlike Thanksgiving, where it is a requirement to serve turkey with its' normal accompaniments, holiday menu options are only as limited as your imagination.
That being said, traditional foods can be a true comfort. For me, Christmas is all about my mom's peanut butter and Hershey's Kiss cookies. For George Baxevanis, owner of Fisherman's Quarters II - a family restaurant in Asheville, NC, it's all about seafood.

Bringing the Coast to the Mountains with Seafood Platters

For more than 10 years, George has provided Western North Carolina with family-style Calabash seafood.
"Our seafood platters are very popular," says George. "People like a variety. Large platters are great for parties or family gatherings and make it easy to serve dinner buffet/family style."

Classic Holiday Shrimp Cocktail

Shrimp cocktail is a classic any time of the year. You can prep the shrimp yourself or buy them already peeled and cleaned. If you don't buy them pre-cooked, you can cook them the night before and leave them in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve. Shrimp becomes tough if boiled too long and poaching is a preferred-cooking method. Some chefs insist on peeling and deveining the shrimp after it has been cooked as this helps maintain the curved shape and prevents butter flying.
When you're ready to serve, use a deep serving tray filled with ice and place the shrimp on top. Add cocktail sauce and for a festive twist, cut limes instead of lemons (to complete the holiday color scheme) and you've got an easy appetizer that will feed a lot of people and leave your stove free for other tasks.

Holiday "Raw Bar" Platter

The addition of raw clams and oysters, along with other chilled seafood like smoked fish, takes a shrimp cocktail platter to a whole other level. For instance, the winter months are stone crab season in Florida. If you can get your hands on stone crab, this delicacy is a welcome addition to a raw bar style-seafood platter. Like shrimp cocktail, raw clams, oysters and chilled seafood are best served over ice. For a truly extravagant experience include champagne and caviar. This would be perfect for New Year's Eve!

Steamed Seafood Platter

Guests who have just come in from the cold might be more appreciative of hot food and a platter of steamed seafood is sure to warm their spirits. Steamed shrimp and clams are great with drawn butter. Tell your guests to leave their nice clothes at home or provide bibs so you can dive into some peel and eat shrimp or crab legs. Garnish a heaping platter of steamed crab legs with kale for the ultimate holiday centerpiece.

Southern Comfort - Calabash Style

Calabash-style seafood is the epitome of comfort food. If you want to be sure you won't have leftovers, serve popcorn shrimp. Soft shelled crab, scallops, clams and oysters are also all crowd pleasers, especially when served with tartar or cocktail sauce.
Just about any whitefish is delicious fried and fried fish dinners are a tradition among many families. Different breading mixtures and frying techniques can impart a variety of flavors to your favorite fresh fish.
Calabash is about abundance and variety so pick your favorite seafood to create a personalized Calabash platter. For a gourmet touch try different recipes for the all important dipping sauces.
If cooking for a smaller crowd or preparing a more intimate dinner, look for seafood recipes from your favorite chefs or cookbooks to incorporate seafood into your holiday menu.
For example, Clams Casino and Oysters Rockefeller also make great appetizers and Oyster Dressing complements meat dishes as an alternative to stuffing.

For more information about seafood and recipes visit:
http://fishermansquarters.info

Article Source: Articles World

About the Author

Chris Wingate
Freelance journalist, outdoorsman and adrenalin junkie, Chris can be found exploring the forests of the South East where he is a white water raft guide on the French Broad River. When not wet or covered in mud Chris produces shows for his local public access TV station URTV and plays bass in an alt-country band "Hobos and Lace".
For more information about seafood and recipes visit:
http://fishermansquarters.info

Publish/Share this article

To use this article on your site click here to get the HTML code

Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.

Rating: Not yet rated

Comments

No comments posted.

Add Comment

More articles in this category

1: Savour the Best Chinese Flavour!

2: Pizza Lovers – The Best that you can Binge on

3: Vacuum Sealers Move Beyond Protecting Meat From Freezer Burn

4: French Press Coffee Benefits

5: Eating Out at a Clapham Restaurant

6: Clapham Pizza Restaurants

7: The History Of The Pizza

8: Sprouts - the Ultimate Nutritional Weapon

9: Can Quality and Cost be adjusted to make Healthier Foods Affordable?

10: How to Host a Successful Cocktail Party by Using the Right Tabletop Accessories

11: Are Biopesticides Part of the Answer to the Need for Creative Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture

12: Food Safety - What's On Your Plate?

13: Signs of Global Sanity? Sharing of Innovative Agricultural Solutions to help Farmers and Consumers.

14: Use Butcher Block Kitchen Islands For A Professional Look

15: How to host a great dinner party

16: Cutlery Information and Facts

17: Cooking Outdoors

18: Oyster Stew and New England Clam Chowder Beat the Winter Blues

19: Sustainable Agriculture: Key Concept at Paul Martin's American Bistro

20: Ring in the Holidays with Seafood Platters

21: Bartending - Basic Techniques

22: Easy Ways to Stretch Your Budget When Eating Out

Role of Social Media to an Effective Ecommerce Business

Important Social Media Tips for an Effective Ecommerce Businesses

Your 10 Secrets for Social Media Success

Tips to Be Successful In Social Media Optimization

How To Earn Money With Social Networking

Did you know that you can make money from social networking? Let's consider the following.

Epic Traffic Systems - Using Social Media to Drive Traffic

If you have been looking for a new way to market your web site.

Social Media Marketing Tips For Your Business!

Role of SEO is important in promoting web sites in these social media marketing sites.

Is the much-loved Football sport set to become a numbers game?
It seems that there is now so much more to football than the final score achieved at the end of the game. Instead it now seems to be more of a numbers game, with statistics from a player's heart rate..