Seafood Recipes

We not only sold seafood — we loved to eat it, and over the years this page collected our favorite seafood recipes for everyone to share. The collection below preserves the heart of that library, organized the way the old index was: by what's on the cutting board. Enjoy!

Lobster

Boiled Maine lobster: three quarts of heavily salted water per lobster at a hard boil; in go the lobsters head first, lid on, 10 minutes for the first pound and 3 minutes per pound after. Steamed lobster: two inches of salted water, a steaming rack, 13 to 15 minutes for a 1.25-pounder — gentler, and many down-east cooks insist sweeter. Lobster stew: butter-poach picked lobster meat, add gently warmed milk and cream, season with paprika, and rest overnight. Lobster cakes: the crab cake's plusher cousin — lobster meat, soft crumbs, mustard and chive, pan-fried in butter.

Clambakes

The two foundation methods — the outdoor pit bake on hot stones and rockweed, and the indoor kettle bake for a kitchen — are walked through step by step on the clambake page. Both end the same way: pot liquor in mugs, butter everywhere, and no regrets.

Salmon — The Seventeen

The salmon index was the deepest in the library, and its roll call is worth preserving: barbecued salmon fillets; salmon steaks with lime-cilantro butter; salmon baked in filo; salmon candy; salmon fillets in dill and scallion sauce; grilled salmon with ginger-orange mustard glaze; latkes with smoked salmon; marinated salmon and scallops; steamed salmon with yogurt and dill; broiled salmon with dill; scallopines of salmon with tomatoes; marinated salmon with mushrooms; grilled herbed salmon; salmon and watercress cream pie; roast salmon with herb stuffing; salmon bake with new potatoes and green onion; and poached salmon fillets with thyme. The dedicated salmon recipes page keeps the full list, with notes on which suit weeknights and which earn a Sunday.

Shellfish & Sides

Shrimp scampi: garlic, butter, white wine, lemon, parsley — raw shrimp in and out of the pan in three minutes. Grilled shrimp: shell-on, basted with garlic oil over hot coals. Bacon-wrapped scallops: see the scallops page for the sear-first secret. Stuffed quahogs: chopped chowder clams folded into seasoned crumb stuffing with linguiça, baked in the shell — southeastern Massachusetts on a half shell. Codfish cakes: soaked salt cod whipped with mashed potato and fried gold — the traditional recipe behind the four-to-a-package favorite this kitchen once shipped. Oyster stew and oyster fritters: the holiday pair, simple cream stew and crisp-edged fritters.

Chowders

Basic New England clam chowder, Manhattan clam chowder, corn chowder and the bisques are gathered with their techniques on the Chowders & Bisques page — including the never-boil rule that protects them all.

A Note on Doneness

Nearly every recipe above obeys the same physics: seafood is done the moment it turns opaque and firms gently — and federal guidance puts finned fish at 145°F internal. The FDA's fish guidance is also the place to check current advice on serving seafood to children and expectant mothers. Cook a little less than you think, rest a moment, and let the butter do the talking.

The Rest of the Index

The library's smaller chapters deserve their mentions: tuna seared rare with sesame or grilled as steaks; halibut baked under lemon butter, the firm white canvas of the fleet; swordfish brochettes off the grill; haddock baked with buttered crumbs in the proudest Boston tradition; oysters as stew and fritters; and the salt cod chapter — soaked, flaked and fried into cakes — that connected the whole collection to four hundred years of New England Fridays. Where a chapter has grown into its own page, the links above lead there; the rest live on in these summaries, faithful to the spirit of the originals.