Norfolk Style Seafood

This is such a good recipe and so simple to make. The story behind this recipe is interesting. When I was a young boy, we used to go to a seafood restaurant in Washington DC called O’Donnell’s. They had wonderful food, and most importantly, they had Buck.

Buck was a gentle giant at 6′ 2″ and was always talking to me about his recipe. He had invented this style of cooking seafood and had even developed special pans which could be used over open flame and then it could be delivered to the tables still sizzling. He was rightfully very proud of this. 

After being there quite a few times, Buck shared his recipe with me and told me to keep it a secret. Since this was over 40 years ago, I guess I can reveal it now. 

Ingredients

1/2 lb Shrimp, Jumbo Lump Crab or Langoustines, raw and shelled

2 Tbsp Butter
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
Dash of Old Bay Seasoning
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Few dashes of Tabasco
Splash of White Wine
Salt and Black Pepper


Heat your pan until fairly hot, then add butter and garlic and keep stirring so the garlic does not brown and turn bitter. Add your seafood and continue stirring, then add all remaining ingredients and cook until the seafood is done. 

You will want to have all ingredients handy, as you need to work quickly. If it’s shrimp, they are done when they curl and turn pink and if it’s langoustines or crab, they just need to be heated through. It’s 2-3 minutes max. 

Then remove the seafood with a slotted spoon and set aside in your serving plates and then reduce the sauce down by half and pour over the seafood and serve.  You will love it and Buck would be proud.

6 thoughts on “Norfolk Style Seafood

  1. Kathy

    OMG. I was just looking for a recipe for Norfolk-style seafood and your site came up. My late husband was stationed in the DC area from 1976-1980 and our favorite restaurant was O’Donnell’s. I was tickled to death to find this recipe was from them. Thank you for sharing!

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