Scrumptious Baked Potato Seafood Casserole

Hey Home Cooked Chef’s, a little while back I wrote about my beefy smashed potatoes and had told a few of my readers that I would be making my seafood smashed potatoes the following week but being that I hate following the norm…I decided to switch things up a bit. Rather than smash um up I decided I wanted chunks of potatoes inside instead. So today, here is my spin on seafood casserole…

Ok Home Cooked Chef’s… as with all my recipes, prep is critical! The first thing you’ve gotta do is chuck those taters into the oven. While I usually use russets today I used simple plain ole white potatoes…cause that’s what I had. So wash um up, dry um off and throw them into a big ziplock bag with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and them spice um up… I just used a pinch of salt n pepper here.  Chuck um into the oven at 400° for about 45 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes. After about 45 minutes pick one with a toothpick. If it goes in without resistance, you’ve got a winner. A word of caution here…The steam that will be coming out of the hole you just poked into that tater will burn you if you let it…so my advise is not to let it!

So, now that the taters are baking you want to next start your roux.

Now if you’ve never made a roux before, it’s really not that difficult but it’s definitely not something you want to be doing while your trying to chop your onions or mushrooms. Rather then explain how to make a roux I found this site here which explains the step by step process…It even has pictures!

I used sliced ham for this recipe cause its what I had…but if I had remembered I would have taken the bacon outta the freezer last night.

Oh well…moving on…

Next you should be prepping the seafood you’re looking to have in your Seafood Casserole. In this recipe I used haddock, shrimp, salmon and scallops…( I thought we had uncooked shrimp but when I headed to the freezer all I had was the pre-cooked shrimp…so I rolled with it but I suggest you use the uncooked tiger shrimp.) I cut all the fish, with the exception of the scallops and shrimp, into good size chunks and set aside.

This is the final step in the prep process…it’s now time to make the magic happen!

You’re going to start by pouring some EVOO into a pot and heating it up to a medium heat. When your EVOO rolls around the pot easily it’s time to add your veggies. Throw in your onions, celery, garlic and your mushrooms and mix them around, you’re looking to cook this for about 8-10 minutes or until your mixture looks similar to this…

You’re next going to add in the seafood and stir everything together for another minute or so before you add in your chicken stock, heavy cream and milk. Bring that heat up a bit to medium high heat to get a bit of a boil going…you’re not looking for a rolling boil…just a few bubbles to thicken up the cream. Once the bubbles start you’re going to want to turn the heat down to a simmer.

While your seafood simmers your taters should be done…how you cut up those potatoes is totally up to you but for this recipe I simply chopped them up into bite sized chunks and then placed them in my shell plates and added some grated cheese.

Speaking of grated cheese it’s now time to add some to your casserole…along with the roux. Add the cheese first and stir gently and then once the cheese has been well incorporated add your roux gently mixing it so you don’t break apart all the bigger pieces of your fish. Your casserole should thicken right up so make sure to mix it and simmer for another 3-5 minutes and then remove from heat.

We’re so close…it must smell awesome in your kitchen right now and as much as you wanna dive right in…we’re not quite done yet! You’re now going to spoon your seafood over the potatoes and add some more of the grated cheese along with a sprinkle of finely diced green onions.

Pop these into the oven for 1-2 minutes under your broiler just to melt and brown your cheese…I suggest placing them on a baking sheet for easy transport into and outta the oven…If you opted to make garlic bread you’d throw your pieces onto the pan so everything comes outta your oven at the same time.

Obviously you gotta put that shell plate onto another plate cause it’s probably hotter then the surface of the sun and you sure don’t want to go through all this trouble to make this and end up going to the hospital to treat a severe burn while someone else reaps the rewards of all your hard work. So make sure to place a small napkin on the plate before transferring the shell plate onto that plate so it doesn’t slide around while your serving it.

While you could (and should) be eating this right now! You could always make this ahead of time and simply pour the cold seafood chowder onto your potatoes and top with cheese and onions. The difference would be to bake it for 10-12 minutes in your oven at 375° to 400° or until an internal temp of 165°F is reached.

This seafood casserole can be easily frozen and is perfect for those make ahead meals.

Hope you enjoy!