Scungilli (Conch) Salad

I was checking out a new market here in Western MA, when I was shocked to see conch in with the rest of the fresh fish. My mom mentioned that my grandmother used to make a salad out of conch, so I decided to grab it and try and make it myself. The issue was that my grandmother hasn’t made it in years. She couldn’t remember or even find the recipe! She told me a few ingredients, and I looked online a bit, to create something that my mom claimed to be “absolutely nothing like my grandmothers version.” This didn’t matter, because it was delicious. I love when 3 out of 4 people have never even tried the main ingredient, but everyone likes the final product.

I had a lot of lemon to squeeze, so I delegated that job to John

The conch is kinda sketchy looking. Get rid of all the colored parts, they are too chewy for this application.

It was best for me to butcher off the tough parts to form a cylinder, then cut this into small rounds. Lots of recipes suggested pounding out the conch to tenderize it, but cutting it this small and cooking for such a short time, I didn’t have an issue with toughness.

Just a very quick blanch in salted boiling water. There is diced shrimp in there too.

After 3 minutes, the fish goes strait into ice water to stop the cooking. Don’t skip this step!

I mixed the fish with some salt, pepper, pepper flake, agave, onion, celery, cuke, olive oil, and lots of lemon juice. All to taste!

Yum. Let this sit in the fridge for an hour before serving. Super citrusy and fresh tasting.

While I waited for the salad to marinate, I prepped the rest of the meal. Just some grilled sausage, peppers and onions. This pepper looked like a pumpkin, so I made a jack-o-pepper.(pepp-or-lantern?)

These sausages were courtesy of US Wellness Meats. I highly suggest their website for awesome meats. See my pic on the front page?

Fresh, lemon, seafood, olive oil, bit of spice, this is the perfect appetizer or snack on a summer day. Kinda tasted like an Italian ceviche.

Cut some fresh conch (1 lb) and shrimp (1/2 lb) into small chunks. Blanch in salted water for about 3 minutes until the shrimp is no longer translucent. Place it right into an ice bath to stop the cooking. To do this efficiently, I put the chunks into a strainer, dipped the strainer into the boiling water for 3 minutes, then placed the strainer right into the ice water. Mix the seafood with some thin sliced onion(1/2 a small one), cuke(1), and celery(3 stalks peeled). Add 2 cloves of garlic(microplaned), some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I also added a few drops of agave to sweeten the mix. Lastly, add olive oil and lots of lemon juice! (3 – 4 juicy lemons) Let it all sit together in the fridge for an hour before serving.