I was absolutely prepared to love this recipe but sadly it fell short. We had intended to make it for Christmas this year but fortunately we previewed it beforehand and decided not to make it. The taste was just fine but the problem was that the cheese sauce somehow overpowered the taste of the wonderful (and very expensive) seafood to the point where our guests were unable to even tell that there was crab and lobster meat in it! This might be a lovely dish to make with less expensive seafood but for what it costs to put this one together you at least want your guests to know that you've used the very best. Instead it comes across as if it is hiding less expensive or (horrors) immitation seafood. This would be a lovely sauce to make with firm white fish fillets. If you do decide to make it with scallops remember that when scallops cook they release quite a lot of water so make sure your sauce is VERY thick when you put it into the oven (do this by gradually adding the milk to the sauce and leave much of it out!). Some parsely flakes might also add to the appeal of the presentation. Without it it does look rather like macaroni and cheese.
This was a very yummy but very rich recipe. I used it as an alternative to my other main course. I thought the dish was a bit soupy. Next time I make it I will saute the vegatables in butter or oil then add the seafood coat with the butter in the pan and then add the flour to coat the vegatables and meat than add the milk and cheese. Perhaps it will be thicker and the flavor will blend better. This recipe also served more than 4. I would say it served about 6-8.
Solution for thickening... This is how you make a roux or white sauce, but in reverse. Look up how to make a white sauce and replace it with the quoted below.
"Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat, and mix in the flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons butter until well blended. Gradually blend the cheese into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper. "
This was very good it was a big hit with everyone. Would be much better served on pasta because it never got thick enough to eat as a cassole. I had to cook it for about 1hr and then finally gave up on it ever getting thick. I also added about 1 additional cup of cheese. I will definitely make it again.
I only gave this recipe 4 stars because I didn't follow it exactly. I used 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup of milk. I also added 2 tablespoons of sherry to the milk mixture. For spices I added nutmeg old bay and cayenne pepper. Finally I doubled the cheese (I used shredded monterey jack). Doubling the cheese and using heavy cream made it a little thicker. I then served it over white rice. Delicious!
This is a really wonderful recipe. You can switch around the seafood as much as you please. For those that are having problems with this being too soupy it might be your seafood. Stores sometimes fill seafood with water especially scallops. When cooked the seafood releases the water. Make sure you dry off your seafood or even let it drain for a few minutes on a paper towel. My friend gave me this advice and it has helped tremendously with my seafood recipes. If that doesn't work you can always pour this over noodles and no one will ever know!:) Happy eating!
I tripled the seafood and doubled the other ingredients to serve 16 people. It was a very tasty dish to go along with our Christmas Eve dinner.
This might be better to serve in individual baking dishes. Mine came out more like a sauce to spoon over noodles. I liked the flavor and it was pretty easy. I did add some sliced fresh mushrooms and 1/4 sherry to the vegetables. It didn't really 'brown' either even after putting it under the broiler for awhile. Maybe a light bread crumb topping would be a good addition. My husband loved it. Maybe if the noodles were cooked in the dish also it would be more of a casserole.
I used this as a base recipe and customized it quite a bit but got rave reviews at my last dinner party.
