Smoky Seafood Cocktails

A light first course like shrimp cocktail is an ideal way to kick off a superhearty Thanksgiving meal. Here, Grace Parisi, from Food & Wine Magazine, revamps the classic shrimp-cocktail recipe by including scallops and stone-crab claws, then she tweaks the cocktail sauce by replacing the ketchup with bottled chile sauce and seasoning it with hot pimenton de la Vera and prepared horseradish. This calls for 4 hours chilling time, a fast & healthy recipe and can be made ahead of time. Recipe by Grace Parisi. From: Ultimate Thanksgiving Planner: Time-Saving Tips. November 2008, *If you can't get cracked stone-crab claws, you will need to crack them yourself!! Working with one crab claw at a time, wrap it in a kitchen towel. Working carefully, lightly crack the crab claw with the back of a knife or a mallet to expose as much of the meat as possible(the sweetest part)leaving the pincers attached.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 12 cocktail cups

Ingredients

• 4  garlic cloves, smashed
• 1  tablespoon  coriander seed
• 1  tablespoon fennel seed
• 1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1  tablespoon kosher salt
• 8  cups water
• 1  lemon (zest and 2 T juice)
• 1 3⁄4 lbs  shelled and deveined large shrimp
• 1 1⁄2 lbs  jumbo sea scallops, halved horizontally
• 1  cup bottled chili sauce
• 1  tablespoon  prepared horseradish
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  hot pimientos, de la vera (smoked paprika)
• 24  stone  crab claws, cracked and chilled

Directions

1. In a large pot, combine the garlic cloves with the coriander and fennel seeds, crushed red pepper, salt and water.
2. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the lemon and add to the pot.
3. Halve the lemon, squeeze it into the pot and add the halves.
4. Bring the liquid to a boil and then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
5. Add the shrimp and scallops and simmer just until white throughout, about 5 minutes.
6. Drain the shrimp and scallops well and transfer them to a large plate.
7. Leave the aromatics on the seafood.
8. Cover and refrigerate the seafood until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
9. In a small bowl, whisk the chile sauce with the prepared horseradish, smoked paprika and the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
10. Spoon the smoky cocktail sauce into a small serving bowl.
11. Pick any aromatics off the shrimp and scallops and arrange the seafood on the platter or in individual glasses with the crab claws.
12. Serve with the cocktail sauce.
13. MAKE AHEAD:
14. The sauce, cooked shrimp and scallops can be refrigerated separately overnight.
15. The cracked crab claws can be covered and refrigerated overnight.
16. Enjoy!