I’m busy and lazy this week, and haven’t cooked anything new; but I thought we’d celebrate CRAB!
(If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking ping-list, please send a private message.)
-JT
Send me them crabs! Only recently experienced a crab melt, Never had a soft shell crab sammich , but He** yeah!
Maryland Crab Cakes! G&M Crab Cakes from Linthincum Heights, Maryland. Our best friends either bring it up to us or we go down for them. The only binder is egg. Absolutely delicious as are the side of slaw. The rest of the year we do frozen. Or, we go to a shack in Maryland and spread the newspaper out on the table and get cracking.
Love crab here at the ranch. Quiche, salads, various dips, and spreads. Just last week had a stuffed avocado crab salad.
Great eating.
I know they taste absolutely fabulous but those little guys are safe from me. Can’t eat em. And that is ok. But I know they are YUMMY. More for the rest of you!
Closest kosher fish to shellfish is the ugly but tasty monkfish. And caviar. Caviar and also salmon roe and that other tiny orange roe. Those are my oceany shellfish like foods.
By the way, my aunt still lives down in the inner harbor on Thames (pronounced with the ‘th’ like them, instead of the British ‘t’) just around the corner from the Admiral Fell Inn. She used to bake cheese cakes for Bertha’s, a restaurant in the area. Every once in a while we’ll see a bumper sticker: Eat Bertha’s Muscles.
Dang! It’s way past dinner time and you got me drooling over Maryland crab. Had my first softshell crab sandwich as a teen, dishwasher for a restaurant. You’re killin’ me. And then your talkin’ ‘bout Crabcakes. And it’s pronounced “Bal-eh-more” for you newbs.
One degree of separation...... I was talking to my brother on the phone & he had gotten fresh crab & was making a crab stir fry. That just sounded wrong. I love crab, but in a stir fry????! Weird!
Grew up eating blue crab from Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. Those were the meatiest and sweetest ones I’ve ever had.
I’ve never had or made a crab cake before.
Here’s a new recipe I just tried today. The muffins turned out so soft, not too sweet and delicious.
Strawberry Muffins
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup fresh strawberries, washed, de-stemmed and sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the large egg and mix well. In a separate mixing bowl sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon.
Mid the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk until everything is combined together. Fold-in the sliced strawberries by hand until they are blended throughout the muffin batter.
Lightly spray a muffin pan with non-stick baking spray or line the baking pan with paper liners. Fill the cups 2/3 of the way full. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-17 minutes or until done. Remove and let cool.
I’ve ‘lost’ another box of brown sugar that has turned into a solid rock.
Does anyone know if those terra cotta ‘savers’ that you wet and keep with the brown sugar actually work? I’m also wondering if using the vacuum packer to seal it into mason jars would keep it soft.
-JT
Love 'em but have never cooked them. They were on sale this week so I decided Why Not?
This what happened.
First it turned out the cheap ones came from China. Since I trust nothing from China that was made after the Ming dynasty I passed and bought the higher priced but still on sale wild caught scallops.
I brought them home, thawed and drained them.
First thing, the liquid from the scallops is full of flavor so save it.
Second thing, the little suckers are full of water that they ooze at the slightest provocation. For the love of humanity DO NOT SALT THEM until they are in the pan.
Let them dry on a rack over a pan to catch the lovely juice.
Check the edges to see if they have funny little tag thingies on the side. It is the muscle that attaches them to the shell. It is made of pure rubber. Cut it off.
Now it is time to pan sear... well I tried. Pan was not hot enough so instead of a sear more steamed them. Did I mention they have a lot of juice? Next time I will get the pan screaming hot.
They were thick so I did four minutes on the first side and three on the second. After the flip I gave them a dusting with lemon salt.
Out of the pan and onto a covered plate. No brown bits for the sauce but there was juice so I decided to go for it. The juice saved from the thaw went into the pan along with a splash of white wine. Chives, dill and a bay leaf. Cook for about a minute add in a splash of heavy cream. Cook for another minute. Take the bay leaf out and pour sauce over scallops.
Served with asparagus and wild rice.
Yummy!
Next time I will dry them a bit longer, have the pan much hotter and maybe add a dash of Old Bay Seasoning.