Week #8: Delaware – Old Bay Seafood Bisque Pizza

State: Delaware

Delaware is known for chicken, corn, and seafood.  I tried to find something that was specifically a food staple of the state, but couldn't find anything in particular.  My parents have a beach house in Long Neck or Loews, DE near Rehoboth Beach.  I was thinking of the restaurants and places to eat nearby.  When I think of Delaware, I think of salt water taffy, Thrasher's Boardwalk Fries, and Fisher's Popcorn.

After researching, DE has a lot of different types of shellfish and fish species.  I was very surprised to see that you can find lobster there.  Since my wife is allergic to corn, I wanted to go the seafood route.  So I decided to make seafood bisque, focusing on some of the flavors and shellfish of the state. Overall, this was a good pizza.

Ingredients Needed:

1 can of clams (fresh if possible)

1/2 lb of scallops

1/2 lb of cod

1/4 cup of diced parsley

1 pizza dough

Please note: If low on time, try a prepared pizza crust or dough from the store.  I prefer Naan as it reminds me of the Oyster crackers.

Bisque:

1/8 cup finely minced shallot

1/8 lb butter

1/8 cup all-purpose flour or Brown rice flour for gluten-free

1/4 qt of water

1 cup of chicken stock or 1/4 tbsp chicken base

1/4 cup of heavy cream

1/4 cup of half-and-half

1/8 cup cooking sherry

Salt & Pepper to taste

Bisque:

The bisque is gluten free, made with brown rice flour and is from scratch.  I made the seafood stock by quickly boiling the cod, clams, and scallops for 5 minutes.  The bisque is made with shallots, cream, sherry, parsley, celery, garlic, old bay seasoning and mozzarella cheese.   Please follow instructions for cooking:

1. Sauté minced shallots in butter until soft.

2 Add the flour and stir with whisk for 5 minutes on low heat, set aside.

3 Bring one quart of water to a boil.  Add chicken stock, clams, scallops and whole pieces of cod.

4 Return to boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

5 Strain the stock, reserving the seafood.

6 Stir the shallot mixture into the stock.

7 Add the heavy cream and half and half to the stock, bring to a simmer on low heat and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.

8 Chunk the salmon and cod and add all of the seafood back into the soup pot.

9 Add the sherry and heat through, no more than 3 minutes.

Seafood:

I chose to go with clams, cod, and scallops.  I was going to use blue crab, but I didn't have time to pick the crabs. Since I am in Florida, I can't buy DE clams, so I just got the clams from in the can at Whole Foods.  DE also has scallops and I tried finding fish that are native to the state, but it is hard in FL.  

Pizza: 

In order to save time for the pizza, I used Naan bread for the crust. I cooked the Naan for 5 minutes to get and then added the sauce on top, then strategically placing the cod, clams, and scallops on the pizza.  I finished off the pizza with Romano cheese on top and added the diced parsley.

Pairing:

Delaware is known for great craft beer, due largely to Dogfish Brewing Company.  There beer has attitude and great taste, which makes the pairing more enjoyable.  With a seafood bisque, I would go with a winter and beer that is great for bring out the flavors of the pizza.  In this case, I would go with a dark style beer like a Burton Baton.  I decided to go with the 90 Minute, which tasted great with the pizza.  If you are in Delaware, check out Fordham Brewing Company.  They have a "Morning Glory" espresso style stout and "Double D IPA", which would also be great with this pizza.

Learning moments:  Making bisque and cooking the ingredients take some time.  I think what I will do next time to make a stock, is to use shells from shrimp, the clam juice, or buy a stock to make the shellfish more presentable.  I would rather sear the cod and clams to make them more presentable then letting them cook in the stew.