Archive for the ‘seafood’ Category

Dad’s Perfect Crab Cakes

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Next to fresh steamed lobster, you would be hard pressed to find a dish I would rather eat than crab cakes. This recipe is based on some instructions that my dad gave me over the phone once when I asked him how he makes his “perfect” crab cakes. You could take this recipe any way you like, but personally I like it just the way it is—with just a few flavors added to enhance, but not overpower the crab meat.

I realize fresh crab meat is expensive, but served with a simple mayonnaise based sauce, a side salad and maybe a few wedge fries, a single crab cake makes a fairly decadent meal for one person. NOTE: There is no substitute for fresh crab meat. I wouldn’t even bother with this if you can only get it canned.

Dad’s Perfect Crab Cakes

1 lb of fresh lump or back fin crab meat, picked free of shells

1 large egg

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 tablespoon roasted red pepper, minced

A few drops of Worcestershire sauce

3 saltine crackers, crushed

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Pinch of salt

8 saltine crackers, crushed

vegetable oil for pan frying

lemon wedges for garnish

1. In a medium bowl, combine the egg, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, roasted red peppers, Worcestershire sauce, 3 crushed saltine crackers, cayenne, white pepper and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (I realize it has raw egg in it, but I taste it anyway, egg and all).

2. Put the remaining 8 crushed crackers on a large plate. Place a large biscuit ring on top of the crackers and fill it with 1/6 of the crab meat. Press down gently to form the cake. Remove the ring and sprinkle the top of the crab cake with crumbs to coat. Set each crab cake aside until six cakes have been formed and coated with bread crumbs on both sides. Alternately, if you don’t have a biscuit ring, you could form the cakes by hand (make them smaller for appetizer-size portions).

3. Heat some vegetable oil or other neutral oil in a skillet over medium heat. Unless you have a large skillet you will probably need to cook the cakes three at a time. Cook them until the cracker crumbs are golden brown and the cakes are set. You can keep the first three cakes in a warm oven while you’re cooking the second batch.

4. Serve the crab cakes with lemon wedges and your sauce of mayonnaise based sauce.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in appetizers, main dishes, seafood | 3 Comments »

Lenten Drinking Snacks? Or not.

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

This post has been a long time coming. I actually made these Shrimp Cakes about a month ago and have never gotten around to posting about them. My only excuse is laziness. The recipe was based on this one from Gourmet magazine. I also apologize for the photo. It’s not that great (when in doubt, use an extreme close up). I might have had a cocktail or two by the time I got these finished and I made myself snap a photo, right on the kitchen counter, before they were devoured by my friends, who also might have had a cocktail or two. Maybe since we’re in the middle of lent, you can make them as an appetizer while you’re having Friday night cocktails with your friends. No wait you can’t because they have bacon in them. So have them on a Thursday night with cocktails. Unless you’ve given up cocktails for lent. In that case, well, these are pretty good on their own.

Shrimp Cakes

First of all the original recipe calls for WAY too many green onions. I cut the amount in half. Also, I think it’s irrelevant what size shrimp you use since you’re just going to chop them up, so don’t buy the most expensive jumbo shrimp you can find because some little bity guys will work just as well. The coating for these is supposed to be sliced almonds, but I didn’t have any so I substituted a cornflake crust mixture from the Hudson’s On the Bend cookbook. If you happen to have any leftovers (I did because I doubled the recipe), these are great served on a bed of lightly dressed greens.

1 slice of bacon  

1 slice firm white sandwich bread (I used a bolillo roll)

1 lb of shrimp (any size), peeled, deveined and patted dry

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup sliced green onions

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 teaspoons corn starch

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (less if you have salty shrimp … they live in salt water ya know)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Fresh ground black pepper

Slivered almonds or hot and crunchy crust for dredging 

Hudson’s on the Bend Hot and Crunchy Crust

Pulse in a food processor:

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

2 cups cornflakes

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 Tablespoons red chile flakes

1 Tablespoon salt

Dipping Sauce

Combine the following:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon tamari soy sauce

juice of 1/2 a lemon

a squirt of sriracha (or other hot sauce), to taste 

1. Pulse the bacon in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the shrimp and pulse until coarsely chopped.

2. Soak the bread in the milk for about five minutes. Squeeze to remove excess moisture and combine with the shrimp.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the crust) to the shrimp mixture and combine well.

4. Heat a large skillet with some neutral oil. Put a generous amount of crust mixture onto a large plate. Form the shrimp mixture into patties and roll them in the crust mixture until they are well coated. Drop the cakes into the skillet a few at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook until shrimp is done and cakes are well browned on both sides.

5. Serve with dipping sauce and lemon wedges. 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in appetizers, seafood | No Comments »

A Lucky Accident

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

A few years ago I signed up for The Good Cook Book Club. I had received an advertisement in the mail that said if I signed up I could have 4 books for $1. Chump change! As a self-proclaimed cookbook addict, how could I resist? So I happily picked out my four books and placed my order. And when they finally arrived in the mail I was pretty psyched … that is until I picked up one of the books. It was ‘Mexican Everyday’ by Rick Bayless. No, no! This was all wrong. This is about healthy Mexican food. Ugh! You see in my haste to order, I chose this book thinking it was one of Rick’s other books, ‘Mexico: One Plate at a Time.’ I had borrowed it once from the library and loved it. It never crossed my mind that Rick Bayless had written another book (do you see how young and naive I was?) So I flipped through it, decided it was way too much hassle to send the stupid thing back and I put it on the shelf. Lo and behold, it began to make its way off the shelf and into my kitchen … often. The recipes are not entirely authentic. You will not find any recipe in ‘Mexican Everyday’ that calls for “1 small udder.” And no, I’m not going to tell you where you can find a recipe that calls for “1 small udder” (you sicko). But the recipes are delicious, healthy and simple enough to cook every night of the week.

And so, over time, quite a few of the recipes from Mexican Everyday have made it into my repertoire. The chipotle chicken salad tacos have become a favorite way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken at our house. All of the main course salads are delicious and make really satisfying light dinners. Every mexican cookbook has a recipe for tortilla soup, but the one in this book is different and it’s perfect. I was surprised to see a recipe for a crusty bean, avocado and fresh cheese sandwich (tortas) and for the meatballs flavored with chipotle. They were a refreshing change from the typical mexican entree, and they were both very good.                          

Each time I cook a new recipe from this book I’m in awe of how Rick Bayless is able to combine a few simple ingredients to create something that always seems to be just the thing I am hungry for. The salmon with spinach and creamy roasted peppers was no exception.

     

This dish is basically a piece of grilled salmon sauced with some wilted spinach in a creamy pepper sauce. In keeping with the healthy theme of the book, the sauce has no cream. It’s made with milk and thickened with a little masa harina (a corn flour that is the base for corn tortillas and tamales). Basically what you do is this:      

Roast two poblano peppers. Peel and discard the skins, seed pods and stems and toss the peppers into your food processor. Then slice a few cloves of garlic in half lengthwise and cook them in a few tablespoons of oil until they are browned all over. Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and add them to the food processor also. Add a tablespoon or two of masa harina and a cup and a half of milk (I used 1%, but whatever you have will work) and blend the whole thing up until the sauce is smooth.                 

Season four salmon fillets with salt and pepper and sear them in the pan with the leftover oil from cooking the garlic (I like to undercook my salmon just a little). Remove the fillets and keep them warm in the oven. Add 10 ounces of cleaned spinach to the hot skillet and cook until wilted. Set it aside and add the sauce to the pan. Bring it to a simmer so it thickens. If it’s too thick, add more milk. Stir the spinach into the sauce and remove it from the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
 
Plate the salmon and ladle the sauce over the top. This was great served along side the Pioneer Woman’s crash hot potatoes, but it would be just as good with a salad.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in main dishes, mexican, seafood, vegetables | 3 Comments »

Vietnamese Spring/Summer/Winter rolls

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Vietnamese salad rolls or Goi Cuon make a light, refreshing meal. In the spring. That’s why people call them spring rolls. But don’t get them confused with Chinese spring rolls, which are fried crispy. They’re also good to eat in the summer, which is why some people also call them summer rolls. Get it? And now it’s winter so … sorry. I know that was lame, but I couldn’t resist. Apparently this has been a topic of some contention. Really, I don’t know what the seasons have to do with these crunchy, fragrant little rolls, but if you took the wrapper out of the equation you would be left with … salad. Not only does the name “salad roll” make the most sense, but apparently this is also the literal translation of “Goi Cuon.” Besides, you’re supposed to eat them year round.

I have been meaning to make these for some time. The first time I ever made them we used rice noodles that were too thick and they were quite chewy. And to further add to the naming confusion, my very clever father in a fit of hilarity dubbed them, “rubber rolls.” We rolled and chewed and chewed and giggled and then chewed some more. We even took a nice photo.

When I got this lovely book in the mail a while back, I saw there was a recipe for rubber … er salad rolls and also vietnamese baguette sandwiches or Bahn Mi. They call for a lot of the same ingredients, so recently when I decided to try my hand at salad rolls again, I made plans to have Bahn Mi the next day to use up the leftover herbs and vegetables.

These were really tasty. In fact they were so tasty and I was so hungry that I failed to take a clear photo. In the midst of eating them I decided I had better get up and take a picture, but I didn’t have the patience to make a nice pretty roll for the photograph. Instead I took a big bite out of the fat, lop-sided roll that was sitting on my plate, held it still (I thought) and snapped a photo in my dark kitchen. I didn’t zoom in to make sure it was clear. I just put the camera away and continued to polish off my dinner as if I were a starving child in Africa (my apologies if any starving children in Africa are actually reading this). So I present to you this seemingly chubby hand (and why is it that my hand always looks chubby in photographs?) holding a half-eaten lop-sided blurry salad roll. Taa daaa!

I know. Hold your applause. I also meant to mention before that I was inspired to make salad rolls again when I saw this post at ChezUs. Notice the pretty pictures, the nice even rolls and the non-chubby hands.

Vietnamese Salad Rolls

Disclaimer: This is not really a recipe. It’s more like a starting point for how to make your own salad rolls written in recipe format. People put all kinds of things in salad rolls. The most basic recipe includes cucumber, carrots, a few herbs and boiled shrimp or pork (or both). Add or substitute other meats, herbs, veggies, or fruits, keeping in mind color, texture and flavor. Many rolls are made with bean sprouts or bell pepper. Jicama might be a nice variation and I’ve even heard of adding mango. P.S. A mandoline is a good thing to have for julienning the vegetables. Watch those fingers!

Rolls

1 large carrot, julienned 

½ english cucumber, julienned 

2 large radishes, julienned 

1 head boston lettuce 

4 oz rice vermicelli 

1 lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined 

fresh mint 

fresh cilantro 

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce 

1 clove garlic, minced 

1 fresh jalapeno or serrano, minced 

1 package of rice paper wrappers

Dipping Sauce

⅓ cup lime juice 

2 tablespoons sugar 

3 tablespoons fish sauce 

1 tablespoon soy sauce 

1 clove of garlic, minced 

1 fresh jalapeno or serrano, minced

1. In a small bowl combine the shrimp with the hoisin sauce, garlic and jalapeno. 

2. Place the vermicelli in a large bowl and add boiling water to cover. Soak for 15 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Rinse in cold water and set aside. 

3. Prep the veggies and carefully wash and dry the herbs and lettuce. Cook the shrimp in a small skillet until they just turn pink. Allow to cool. 

4. In a small bowl combine the dipping sauce ingredients. 

5. To serve, assemble all the fillings. Place a large, shallow bowl of hot water on the table and allow each person to make their own. 

6. To make a roll, dip a rice paper round into the water for a few seconds to soften and then lay it on a plate. The wrapper should not be softened entirely in the bowl. It will continue to absorb residual water and soften as it sits on the plate. 

7. In each wrapper place three shrimp, a lettuce leaf, some rice noodles and a small amount of each of the veggies and herbs. Fold the sides of the wrapper in and roll like a burrito. It may take some practice to create a tight roll without tearing the wrapper. Rolls that are not pretty still taste good (see chubby hand photo as evidence). 

8. Dip in sauce and eat.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in appetizers, asian, seafood, vegetables, vietnamese | 1 Comment »

The End of Cabbage, At least for now

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Coleslaw doesn’t happen in my house very often, because oddly enough, everyone I cook for outside of my immediate family has a ridiculous aversion to cabbage—especially it its raw state. This is why New Years Day is one of my favorite meals of the year. As a good-standing citizen of the American south, I can make the people I love eat the vegetables they hate under the threat of suffering a whole year of poverty and misfortune.

On the rare occasions that coleslaw does make it onto the dinner table, it is usually alongside fish tacos or pulled-pork sandwiches. Because I had so much cabbage to use up, we had it with both. If you’ve been doing the math (and I truly hope you have better things to do than keep track of how much cabbage I have), I had one head of cabbage left from Greenling. So I made two separate batches of coleslaw.

The first batch was served on top of some delicious pan fried grouper inside warm El Milagro corn tortillas. The second batch gave a little crunch to our New Years Day feast of pulled pork that Shawn smoked for eleven and a half hours. And to satisfy me, everyone ate at least one bite of their coleslaw, collard greens and black-eyed peas. Someone did try to ruin my fun by telling my friend Ryan, who is by far the biggest baby of all when it comes to eating cabbage, that he could secure his financial future with collard greens alone. Not on my watch. Tisk, tisk.

Jalapeno Coleslaw

½ head of cabbage, shredded

2 carrots, grated

4 radishes, grated

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 jalapenos, minced

½ bunch cilantro, chopped

Dressing

⅓ cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 3

key limes or one regular)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

dash of hot sauce

1. In a large bowl, combine the dressing ingredients.

2. Add the coleslaw ingredients to the dressing and toss.

3. Refrigerate one hour to blend the flavors. Taste before serving and adjust seasonings. Serve as a barbecue side dish, on a pulled pork sandwich, or in a fish taco.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in seafood, vegetables | 1 Comment »

Christmas Eve Ceviche for Everyone

Thursday, December 25th, 2008

My family has had a Christmas Eve party every year of my life for as long as I can remember. It’s become such an important part of our holiday tradition that I don’t think it would feel like Christmas without it. I remember as a kid, when the party came around, I could count on two things: getting to open one present early and eating some really good food. As a very mature adult, I have more patience and will power. I have to wait to open presents, and that’s okay. I also realize that most of all, the party is a chance to catch up with the friends and family that we don’t see enough the rest of the year—and it’s those people that really make it special. They are the party. They are Christmas. But do you want to know a secret? I still get excited about the food.

This year was Mexican. My dad was making Soup Nazi Mexican Chicken Chili. No soup for you! And this year was the first year that I was asked to bring something. I decided on ceviche right away. But then as my supply of Meyer lemons began to expand to levels of grotesque proportions, lemon bars started to sound like a really good idea. For several days, I went back and forth between ceviche and meyer lemon bars. My mom loves lemon bars, but would we really need more sweets? The definitive answer was yes. So I did what any reasonable person would do. I made both. And those people I was talking about? You know, the special ones? They wolfed down the ceviche before my dad got to try it, so guess what we’ll be having for New Years? (If you can’t guess, see answer below):

Looks good doesn’t it? Well, you’ll have to make your own because we’re fresh out. Let me know when you’re done and you can have some lemon bars for dessert.

Mock Ceviche

Ceviche is sort of a Latin American fish cocktail. It can be made with shellfish, squid or almost any firm white-fleshed fish. Traditionally, ceviche is not cooked with heat. Instead it’s marinated in citrus juices, which chemically “cook” the fish. And contrary to popular belief, chemically cooked fish is not as safe as fish cooked with heat. You should always treat any fish used for ceviche as though you were going to eat it raw. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to take on that burden of responsibility. So I use this trick suggested by Mark Bittman: Cook the damn fish. Nobody will know the difference. I love ceviche, but I don’t love the idea of giving anyone a tapeworm for Christmas. Ho ho ho!

Ceviche

1 1/2 lbs bay scallops (the small ones), rinsed 

1 cup diced tomatoes, seeded 

2 medium avocados, 1/4 inch dice 

1/4 cup onion, minced 

2 jalapeños, seeded and minced 

1 clove garlic, minced 

1/2 small bunch cilantro, chopped 

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

Thick corn chips for serving

Dressing

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 lemon, juice and zest (I used a meyer lemon) (about 2 tablespoons)

4 key limes, juice (about 2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the scallops, turn the water off and put a lid on it. Allow the scallops to sit for two minutes. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Cut each scallop in half and set aside.

2. In a bowl large enough to accommodate the finished dish, combine the dressing ingredients. Add the scallops, tomato, onion, jalapeno, garlic and herbs. If there’s time, allow the ceviche to marinate in the refrigerator for several hours to blend the flavors. 

3. Add the avocados and toss gently just before serving. Serve immediately with a side of corn chips.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in seafood, vegetables | No Comments »