Seafood Newburg
Seafood Newburg is a delicious, romantic dish. My take on a classic is to be flexible with the type of seafood and simplify the sauce without compromising taste.
Servings: 2
Calories: 444kcal
Ingredients
- 1-½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ pound cod (or any firm white fish), cut into 1" pieces
- ⅓ pound medium shrimp (about 12), peeled and cleaned
- ¼ pound sea scallops (about 4), quartered
- ⅓ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup half & half
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (to taste)
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper (to taste)
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry
- Bunch of flat-leaf Italian parsley
- Your favorite side dish
Instructions
- Put all the seafood in a bowl and season with ⅓ teaspoon kosher salt and ⅓ teaspoon freshly cracked pepper.
- Heat 1-½ tablespoons olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Add shrimp, fish, and scallops, and cook for about 6 minutes total, stirring occasionally. Make sure the pan is large enough that the seafood isn’t crowded. If they touch each other, they’ll steam. Cook in batches if necessary.
- When done cooking, remove from heat, put in a bowl, and squeeze some fresh lemon juice over it (about 1 tablespoon).
- In the same pan, heat 2 tablespoons butter until the butter bubbles but doesn’t smoke.
- Add 2 tablespoons minced shallots, 1 teaspoon paprika, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg (optional).
- Stir a couple of times while cooking for about about 2 minutes (until shallots turn translucent).
- Add 2 tablespoons flour and quickly whisk everything together (this step takes maybe 10 seconds).
- Add 1 cup milk and ½ cup half & half and whisk until it reaches desired consistency. It’ll take about 2 minutes for the flour and liquids to fully interact. Therefore, give it a little time before adjusting the desired thickness (by adding more milk or flour).
- Taste. Add kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. Taste. Add 2 tablespoons of dry sherry and whisk everything for 30 seconds or so. Taste again.
- Get your (ideally pre-warmed) plates ready.
- Put the cooked seafood back into the cream sauce and stir for a couple of minutes.
- Sprinkle some roughly chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley on top and serve over pasta, or with some French baguette or garlic bread.
Notes
- Side dish recommendation: When it comes to a rich, decant dish like Seafood Newburg, it has to be egg noodles. But that's just me. Serve it with any side dish you like. Or none at all. Just serve it in a large soup bowl with some French baguette or freshly baked garlic bread.
- Cooking the fish: It's okay if the fish starts to fall apart while stirring the seafood. That’s actually a good thing. Once we remove the cooked seafood from the pan, all the little bits and pieces left behind will incorporate themselves into the sauce to give it that little extra that you won’t achieve if you cook the seafood in a separate pan.
- Tasting: Tasting while cooking is the holy grail of achieving a great result. It’s especially important when creating a rich yet subtly flavored sauce like this one. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out the right amount of salt to add. A wonderful trick I learned from the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat, works like magic: Put a little bit of sauce on a spoon and taste it. Then again, put a little bit of sauce on the spoon. But this time, add a tiny sprinkle of salt. Is it tastier this time? No? Serve. Yes? Add some salt to the pan and try again. Repeat as necessary. From now on, your soups, stews, and sauces will always be perfectly salted. Thank you, Samin!
- Serving: Get your (ideally pre-warmed) plates ready (sometimes I stick them in the toaster oven for a couple of minutes to heat them. Or rinse them under hot water then dry them off). Put the cooked seafood back into the cream sauce and stir for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle some roughly chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley on top and serve over pasta, or with some French baguette or garlic bread.
- Suggestion: If you enjoy this, then you're gonna love our penne with cream and smoked salmon!
Nutrition
Calories: 444kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 50g | Fat: 17g | Sodium: 1438mg | Potassium: 1139mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 676IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 304mg