Donna's Stone Crab & Shrimp Appetizer Platter, Grilled Jalapeno Pepper Jam-Glazed Salmon, Grilled Lemon Pepper Asparagus, and Grilled Pineapple "Life Savers" with Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream

Hello All!  It's the night before Halloween and we have family guests here from Colorado.  Naturally, we wanted to give them a taste of Stone Crab season here in Southwest Florida, so I pulled together an easy seafood platter with local stone crabs and fresh shrimp complemented with their respective dipping sauces.

Keeping with the seafood theme, the main course was a quick Jalapeno Pepper Jam- Glazed Salmon fillet with a side of grilled lemon pepper asparagus, while the dessert was deliciously simple grilled pineapple "life saver" rings topped with sea salt caramel ice cream.  We enjoyed plenty of conversation and dips in the pool in between courses and hope you have the opportunity to try these recipes!  Enjoy, Donna:

Donna's Stone Crab & Shrimp Appetizer Platter

Ingredients:

1 pound large stone crabs (about 5), cracked

½ pound peel and eat shrimp, cooked

1 Meyer lemon, cut into wedges

Donna’s Cocktail Sauce (for shrimp):

½ cup catsup

1 Tablespoon garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon Worchestershire sauce

1 teaspoon lemon juice, preferably freshly squeezed

Donna’s Mustard Sauce (for stone crab):

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1-1/2 teaspoons whole mustard seed mustard

Method:

Prepare sauces and set aside. Assemble all ingredients on large platter and squeeze lemon wedge to sprinkle juice onto seafood.  Serve immediately with plenty of napkins and a bowl to place shells and peels.

Serves 5.

Donna's Grilled Jalapeno Pepper Jam-Glazed Salmon

Ingredients:

One 2 pound salmon fillet

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup jalapeno pepper jam, preferably homemade

Citrus slices if desired

Method:

Preheat grill to 400° F.  Place salmon skin-side down and season fish by drizzling with olive oil, and adding salt and pepper to taste.  Heat jam for about 30 seconds in microwave to soften, if needed, and spread on top of fillet to cover. Add citrus slices if desired.  Grill on indirect heat for about 15 minutes or until done, depending upon thickness of fillet.

Serves 4 - 5.

Donna's Grilled Lemon Pepper Asparagus

Ingredients:

1 pound asparagus spears, washed

Olive oil

Lemon juice, preferably fresh

Salt

Lemon pepper or black pepper as desired

2- 3 lemon or other citrus slices

Method:

Spray large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil with cooking spray.  Top with asparagus spears and drizzle with oil and lemon juice.  Sprinkle with seasonings and top with citrus slices.  Securely close foil into a packet.  Preheat grill to 400 degrees F.  Place foil packet on grill and cook for 5 – 7 minutes until crisp tender.

Serves 4 – 5.

Donna's Grilled Pineapple "Life Savers" with Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream

Ingredients:

One fresh pineapple, cored and cut into 8 rings

Sea salt

Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream (Three Twins or other brand)

¼ cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels

Method:

Preheat grill to 300 degrees F and place pineapple rings over indirect heat.  Sprinkle with sea salt and grill about 5 minutes per side until golden.  Place 1 ring in bottom of each bowl and add generous scoop of ice cream.  Top with mini-chocolate chips, if desired.

Serves 8.

Copyright 2014.