How to make a frozen sea cocktail

Today, seafood is not considered an exotic dish. In almost every supermarket you can find a mixture of octopus, mussels, shrimp and squid. At the same time, a cocktail does not have to be expensive; its prices are relatively normal. However, it is not enough to acquire such a composition, it is important to prepare it correctly. Like any other business, the process includes a number of features that must be considered. We give practical recommendations and highlight important aspects.

How to choose the right sea cocktail

1. When buying seafood, pay attention to the place in which they are located for sale. It can be an open refrigerator, a closed freezer or a special counter equipped with thin plates of ice (it is sprayed with ice water from above).
2. If possible, buy a frozen sea cocktail in specialized stores, the main task of which is to sell quality goods. As a rule, such establishments have all the licenses and good storage equipment.
3. Before you get a sea cocktail, smell the contents of the package. A characteristic ammonia or musty odor should not be present in the packaging cavity. At the slightest suspicion of damage, refuse to purchase the goods.
4. After determining the smell, or rather its absence, carefully inspect the factory packaging. It must be present on it without any expiration date (day, month, year), production date (up to one hour), manufacturer, supplier, feedback address. In addition to technical data, the composition and use cases should also be indicated.
5. Avoid buying a sea cocktail, which is located in the freezer above the acceptable level. It is quite possible that the product underwent freezing twice and, as a result, it could deteriorate during thawing. Choose a package that lies at the bottom or near the back of the camera.
6. To properly evaluate the storage conditions and the order in which they are observed, consider each element of a sea cocktail through the transparent part of a plastic bag. If you find mussels, squid, etc., stuck together, as well as the formation of large ice crystals, the product has previously been thawed. Refuse to purchase such a product.
7. Pay due attention directly to the products themselves. For example, octopuses should have a dark shade, and mussels, on the contrary, should not have black spots on the wings. At the same time, shrimps of the correct form resemble a comma (dot with a leg), while squids are produced in the form of even dense rings.

Sea cocktail soup

One of the most popular ways to cook seafood is cooking. The process does not involve preliminary defrosting of the composition, the ingredients are sent to salt water for a short period of time.

• seafood - 470-500 gr. (1 package)
• dry white / semi-dry white wine - 120 ml.
• carrots - 1 pc.
• fresh green onions - 1 bunch
• onions - 1 pc.
• celery root - 1 pc.
• olive oil - 40 ml.
• pepper (peas) - 12 pcs.
• parsley - 0.5 bunch
• dill - 0.5 bunch

1. Peel the celery root and cut it into small pieces, if desired, grate the product on a coarse grater. Peel the onions, chop. Wash the carrots, remove the top layer, grate on a medium grater.
2. Pour olive oil into the pan with non-stick coating (can be replaced with vegetable oil), put celery, carrots, onions, and fry.
3. Pour filtered water into an enameled pan, add the fried vegetables there, simmer for a quarter of an hour at low power. After the set time, strain the broth through 3 layers of gauze or colander.
4. Add wine to the prepared composition, put it on the stove again until it boils, reduce the heat, cook for 10 minutes. At this time, start processing seafood.
5. Put the cocktail in a colander, pour over with running water, mix well to remove ice crystals and foreign matter. After that, put the seafood in a deep bowl, pour over with boiling water, wait 2 minutes.
6. Drain, send the ingredients to the broth. Cut green onions, parsley and dill, also put in a pan. Simmer the soup for 7 minutes, turn off the stove.

Sea cocktail pizza

• cakes for pizza (base) - 1 pc. (diameter 30 cm.)
• seafood - 400 gr.
• tomato paste or ketchup - 40 gr.
• mayonnaise - 40 gr.
• olives or olives - 15 pcs.
• tomatoes - 2 pcs.
• hard cheese - 250-275 gr.
• milk - 70 ml.
• chicken egg - 1 pc.

1. Make pizza dough or use a purchased base. Make a few holes with a toothpick or kitchen fork.
2. Mix tomato paste / ketchup with mayonnaise, grease with the resulting cakes, leave for 10 minutes to partially soak the dough. If necessary, increase the amount of sauce.
3. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stalks, cut into very thin half rings. Remove seeds from olives / olives, cut each fruit into 2 parts.
4. Send a sea cocktail in a colander, rinse with plenty of running water. Lay out paper towels in 3-4 layers on a flat surface, place the ingredients on them so that the glass is excess liquid.
5. Put the cocktail on the cake with a thin layer, if necessary, cut the composition into thin cubes or slices. Place olives between mussels and shrimp. Spread the half rings of tomatoes on top so that they cover the whole pizza.
6. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees, send the cake there for 10 minutes. At this time, prepare the cheese mixture that will cover the pizza.
7. Grate hard cheese on a fine grater, break 1 egg to it, pour in the milk. Mix the resulting composition with a knife or fork until a homogeneous consistency.
8. Remove the pizza from the oven, spread the cheese over the surface with a tablespoon. Re-bake for 10 minutes until the top layer has completely melted.

Fried seafood with garlic

• garlic - 4 prongs
• sea ​​cocktail - 475-500 gr.
• king or medium prawns - 225 gr.
• chopped sea salt - 50 gr.
• lemon - 1 pc.
• bay leaf - 5 pcs.
• peas - 10 pcs.
• ground black pepper - 5 gr.
• olive oil - 80 ml.
• spicy tomato sauce - 55 gr.
• greens (fresh) - for decoration

1. Place frozen shrimp in a colander, wash under running water, and remove ice. Pour water into a saucepan, bring to a boil, add bay leaf, 30 g. salt and peppercorns.
2. Send the shrimp to the container, cook for about 7 minutes over low heat, the exact time is indicated by the manufacturer on the package (it all depends on the size of the product).
3. Peel the garlic, cut into thin slices. Heat the pan to the maximum mark, pour in olive or vegetable oil, send garlic cloves to the bowl.
4. Wash the cocktail under running water, lay on paper towels so that the glass is excess liquid. After that, place the seafood in the pan to the garlic, fry for 6-8 minutes at medium power.
5. At this time, remove the cooked shrimp, peel off the shell, add to the sea cocktail and garlic. Gently mix the composition with a wooden spatula, pepper and salt (to taste). Add tomato sauce, mix again.
6. After frying, start serving the dishes. Put the fried sea cocktail on a square or round dish, sprinkle with lemon juice, sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Sea cocktail pilaf

• yellow onion - 1 pc.
• carrots - 1 pc. medium size
• steamed or long-grain rice - 225 gr.
• vegetable or olive oil - 50 ml.
• Bulgarian red pepper - 1 pc.
• seafood - 450-475 gr. (1 package)

1. Remove the top layer from the carrots, wash the vegetable, grate on a fine grater. According to Pierre Ducan’s diet, pilaf according to this recipe can be cooked without carrots, so this step can be skipped.
2. Peel the onions (it is allowed to use white or red), cut into small cubes. Pour oil into the pan.
3. Send onions and carrots for roasting, wait until the composition has a golden hue. After this, chop the bell pepper, fry it for 5 minutes along with the previous composition.
4. Wash rice grains thoroughly, after cleaning, the liquid should be completely transparent. Pour 500 ml into the pan. filtered water, bring to a boil, reduce heat.
5. Send washed rice to the container, cook it until cooked. After the expiration of the time, turn off the burner, cover, leave to insist for a quarter of an hour.
6. Put a sea cocktail in a colander, rinse the ingredients with running water, dry with paper towels or towels.
7. Place the seafood in a pan with onions, carrots and peppers. Pass the garlic through a press or chop into thin slices, add to the previous composition.
8. Pour 100 ml into the pan. drinking water, salt, pepper, turn on the stove and bring to a boil. Add cooked rice, simmer for another 7 minutes.

Seafood with mushrooms

• cream with a fat content of 30% - 400 ml.
• oyster mushrooms or champignons - 425-450 gr.
• seafood cocktail - 900 gr.
• wheat flour - 110 gr.
• butter - 130 gr.
• onions - 3 pcs.
• bay leaf - 7 pcs.
• hard cheese - 430 gr.

1. Wash the sea cocktail under running water, leave the product to drain in a colander. Pour purified water into a wide enameled pan, add salt, pepper to taste, bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then send the seafood to the bowl, cook for about 7 minutes, turn off the burner and drain the broth.
2. Peel the onions, chop them with squares or thin half rings. Wash oyster mushrooms or mushrooms, peel, chop. Mix mushrooms with onions, add butter to the pan, wait for the composition to melt, fry until cooked.
3. After that, pour the fat cream, salt and pepper. Send here a pre-boiled seafood cocktail, add wheat or flax flour, mix.
4. Stew the composition for about 5 minutes, then prepare a deep baking dish. Put the prepared mixture in it, cover with grated cheese. Preheat the oven to 180-190 degrees, send the composition there. Bake for 10 minutes until the cheese is completely melted.

Seafood vegetable salad

• sweet bell pepper - 2 pcs.
• seafood cocktail - 600 gr.
• Iceberg salad - 100 gr.
• garlic - 4 prongs
• chicken egg - 3 pcs.
• tomato - 4 pcs.
• corn oil - 70 ml.
• Russian cheese - 175 gr.
• mayonnaise - 80 gr.

1. Boil chicken eggs, peel them, cool and cut into small cubes.
2. Wash the bell pepper, chop it with straws. Remove the stems from the tomatoes, chop with squares, mix with eggs and pepper.
3. Wash lettuce leaves, tear them with your hands, send to the previous composition.
4. Put the sea cocktail in a colander, pour it well under running water to remove excess ice. Boil the product in boiling salted water, drain the broth, cool.
5. Pass the cloves of garlic through a press or chop thin slices. Combine corn oil and mayonnaise in a homogeneous mass, add garlic to the sauce.
6. Combine all the ingredients together, grate the cheese on a coarse grater, add it to the salad. Mix everything thoroughly, season with the resulting sauce (mayonnaise, oil, garlic).Add greens if desired.

Sea cocktail is considered to be a universal product. On its basis, prepare the first and second dishes, salads. The composition can be used as an independent snack, it all depends on personal preferences. Experiment, adapt recipes "for yourself", enjoy a refined taste.

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