Fresh easy seafood recipes are of course every chefs dream.

A food best served as fresh as is humanly possible, very often before it has even stopped moving, cooked as simply as possible for as little time as possible and rushed to the table as quickly as possible. With any seafood recipes the main thing to worry about, if you really need something to worry about, is the freshness of the ingredients. This is paramount to almost all easy seafood recipes. The less time from boat to table the better.

And the good news about this really is that easy seafood recipes are the best seafood recipes. In general, the less you do with it less you cook it the better it will taste, all you need is a few simple seasonings and a light touch with the pan or broiler and your easy seafood recipes will take on a whole new dimension.

Seafood salad recipes especially Italian seafood salad recipes, will always compliment freshly caught and gently cooked seafood. Whether you are cooking lobster, crabs, prawns, crabs, mussels or oysters, the combination of fresh lightly cooked seafood and crisp fresh salad is a winner. Like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor they just belong together.

As I said (over and over again) freshness is the key to a successful seafood recipe. But how do you tell if the tasty looking crustation in the fish mongers window is as fresh as a seaside daisy or as fresh as a three day old doughnut?

Seafood, especially shellfish should, if at all possible always be purchased alive. With “fresh sold” i.e. not frozen shellfish ( and all seafood ) this is of paramount importance. If it is not alive then it’s cat food, and then only for a cat that you don’t particularly like.

There is no point in cooking wonderful easy seafood recipes with anything other than the freshest seafood. Don’t just take what you are given by the fishmonger check it yourself. The shells should be tightly shut, if any are open tap the shell lightly on the table, if they shut then they are fine. If you are buying shucked oysters and scallops there should be only a faint smell of the sea if they smell at all fishy then discard them.

Crabs and lobsters should move if tapped, after all you would move if somebody tapped you on the head wouldn’t you move?. With seafood, if you are not sure how fresh it is don’t buy it! When storing your freshly bought, or caught seafood, you need to follow a few simple guidelines to make sure you eat it at it’s best. Then your seafood recipes will always be at their best.

Always store seafood in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Do not put live lobsters, crabs, clams, mussels or oysters in an airtight plastic bag, they need to breath the same as you do. Keep, separate from meat, egg cheese etc. and do not ever reuse seafood marinades. If you’re not used to cooking seafood there are plenty of quick and easy seafood recipes to start you off.

Clam chowder recipes offer an easy start for the unsure cook. For four people finely chop one onion and dice two potatoes and two sticks of celery. Fry in a pan until the onion is transparent, then add a pint of a mild fish stock bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer until the potatoes are nearly cooked through. In a separate pan lightly sauté (fry) a pound of clams (scallops) in a little butter with some thyme and garlic, add to the stock and simmer for a further ten minutes or until the clams are cooked but not overcooked. Remove from the heat a cup of heavy (double) cream and half a glass of wine and some chopped parsley and put on to a nice bowl with a chunk of fresh bread on the side.

Cooking easy seafood recipes need be no more complicated than this: buy it fresh cook, it simply and eat it quick!