Simple dishes spell romance

The beginnings of a romantic meal can be found in two dishes that rise above every-day dining, but are still simple enough to be realistic: shrimp cocktail and clam chowder.

In it's simplest form, shrimp cocktail is boiled shrimp served with a cocktail sauce consisting of ketchup, chili sauce, horseradish, lemon juice and Tabasco or other hot pepper seasoning. But serve the shrimp draped over a martini glass with crushed ice and a lemon wedge, and it takes on an elegant quality.

Preparing jumbo shrimp and cocktail sauce at home is simple, but cooked shrimp and ready-made cocktail sauce is available, to make it even easier. In fact, you can even buy prepared shrimp and cocktail sauce combination platters in the frozen-food section of most markets. Just thaw properly overnight in the refrigerator and serve in a nice glass over crushed ice or a bed of finely chopped lettuce.

To break away from traditional cocktail sauce, serve shrimp with a tropical fruit relish. Feel free to serve with a bit of lime juice or, if you prefer, spice it up with some hot sauce.

Pineapple-Mango Jam

"Hawaii Cooks: Flavors from Roy's Pacific Rim Kitchen" by Roy Yamaguchi (Ten Speed Press, 2003)

1 cup finely diced fresh pineapple
1 cup finely diced ripe mango
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup sweet white wine or sake

Combine ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then decrease heat to low and simmer 30 to 45 minutes, until thick and reduced by half. Serves 6.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 84 calories, no fat, cholesterol or sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, 0.5 g protein

Nothing is as soothing or comforting as a bowl of creamy chowder. Serve it with crusty French or sourdough bread and a salad, and you've got the makings of a belly-pleasing meal.

A handful of decent prepared chowders on the market may be enhanced with added cream or half-and-half and fresh steamed clams.

An ingenious cookbook from Costco, "Cooking the Costco Way," includes a simple recipe using canned clams.

Seawatch New England Clam Chowder

"Cooking the Costco Way" (Costco Wholesale Corporation, 2003)

1 (4- to 6-ounce) package salt pork, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons flour
1 51-ounce can chopped clams, drained, juice reserved
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons butter

Cook pork in a large pot over low heat until brown and fat is rendered. Cook onions and celery in pork fat 3 minutes. Sprinkle flour over onions and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Add clam juice, stirring until sauce is smooth and simmering. Add potatoes and simmer until tender, adding water if mixture becomes too thick. Add clams, milk and half-and-half. Return to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in butter before serving. Serves 12.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: (without added salt): 310 calories, 19 g total fat, 8 g saturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 460 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 20 g protein.

Eleanor Nakama-Mitsunaga is
a free-lance food writer. Contact her
online through features@starbulletin.com

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