Shellfish: 50 Seafood Recipes for Shrimp, Crab, Mussels, Clams, Oysters, Scallops, and Lobster

For the landlocked, cooking shellfish at home might seem daunting. What are the best places to source shellfish? Should it be bought at the grocery store? Is it OK to buy frozen seafood? In her latest title, Nims, a veteran cookbook author and former editor of Seafood Magazine, demystifies selecting, sourcing, and preparing shellfish. The book encourages intimidated readers to give home seafood preparation a try, and inspires with vivid and stunning photography. Also helpful are Nims’s brief primers on types of shellfish, focusing on varieties readily available across the United States. The recipes covering a range of basic techniques (grilling; steaming; baking) and offer plenty of substitutions, adaptations, and flavor variations (see her recipe for sautéed scallops with ginger-rose sauce). Far from encyclopedic or daunting, the cookbook is pleasurable, and Nims’s enthusiastic tone will inspire tentative and veteran home cooks alike. Comprehensive, accessible, and informative, Nims’s cookbook encourages readers to head to the supermarket seafood counter rather than the restaurant for their next shellfish dinner.