Individual Seafood Casseroles quick and delicious

Beverly writes: When I spotted the scallop shells at an estate sale, I immediately thought of my mother. She often baked her seafood casseroles in these pink-edged seashells when I was growing up, and the table-side presentation delighted everyone — guests and her own children alike.

Of course I couldn't resist purchasing the scallop shells, and Alicia and I started brainstorming seafood casserole recipes that would be quick and easy for desperate cooks, yet elegant enough for company meals. We ended up with a flexible version of the scrumptious crab casserole my mother used to make when I was a child.

Today's recipe for Individual Seafood Casseroles is indeed delicious with crab, but it can also be made using frozen shrimp from the supermarket. We've even baked the casserole using canned tuna for a wonderful twist on tuna casserole.

Scallop shells for baking often are available in kitchen equipment shops, but several types of containers can be substituted, including ceramic ramekins, the holes of muffin tins or a small baking pan. No matter how you bake it, this casserole will be a welcome addition to your "Desperation" recipe file.

Menu: Individual Seafood Casseroles

Broccoli spears

Mixed fruit salad

---

INDIVIDUAL SEAFOOD CASSEROLES

Start to finish: 20 minutes preparation, plus 18 to 25 minutes baking time

Cook's notes: Many brands offer "butter" flavored crackers. For testing purposes only, we used Ritz.

Other brands of seafood seasoning can be used instead of Old Bay, such as Zatarain's or Paul Prudhomme Seafood Seasoning.

Small frozen shrimp labeled "salad size" come fully peeled and cooked, and are less expensive and easier to defrost for this recipe. Bags of salad shrimp sometimes weigh only 7 ounces, and a range of 14 ounces to 1 pound of shrimp is fine for this recipe. To defrost salad shrimp, place them in the refrigerator overnight (if there is water in the bag afterward, drain and discard it) or pour the frozen shrimp in a colander, run slightly warm tap water over them, and drain well.

3 tablespoons butter

1 small onion (for about 1/2 cup finely diced)

1/2 small green bell pepper (for about 1/2 cup finely diced)

38 to 40 (about 4 ounces) butter-flavored crackers, (for about 1- 1/2 cups crumbs), see Cook's notes