Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

I've been wanting to do a thread on favorite dishes of the American States, so I'll start us off with Maryland where, despite being born in Washington, D.C., I've lived all the rest of my life.

Since 2008, the official dessert of Maryland has been the Smith Island cake:

http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/symbols/html/dessert.html

(It's a little difficult to parse the sentence on the website which declares Smith as "Maryland's last inhabited island, reachable only by boat". What it really means is that Smith is the last inhabited Maryland island with no land-bridge to it - one can only get there by boat. We have quite a few other inhabited islands, and perhaps too many commas ;-)

And here's the recipe (you need at least 8, and ideally 10, cake layer pans for this - no cheating, by slicing thick layers into thinner ones ;-)

http://www.smithisland.org/cakerecipe.html

*******************************************

The Maryland State Crustacean is the Blue Crab - our 'Beautiful Swimmers', as the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by William Warner was entitled. And, if 'Virginia is for Lovers', then 'Maryland is for Crabs' ; though our claim to these beauties has been met with some contention lately:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crabbing-the-truth-mcauliffe-hogan-spar-over-blue-crab-origins/2015/07/29/b262d3f6-35f4-11e5-9739-170df8af8eb9_story.html

I've already admitted that I have yet to really master the Crab Cake; but I've made Crab Imperial successfully, and Bea Tom's recipe is a good one. Mrs. Toms is a beloved Maryland caterer and writer, and here is her website:

http://beatoms.com/

This recipe is adapted slightly from the Crab Imperial recipe in her book, 'Recipes from a Country Cook', which is available for sale on her website.

Be sure to pick over your crab meat very carefully, to get out every tiny bit of shell - this recipe is ruined by shoddy 'picking', as one of my restaurant experiences has proven.

Crab Imperial Bea Toms

1/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Flour

2 Cups Milk

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

a dash of Tabasco

1 egg yolk

2 Tb. Cream Sherry

1 Cup soft Bread Crumbs

2 tsps. finely minced Onion

2 tsps. finely minced Green Pepper

3/4 Cup Mayonnaise

1 pound back fin Crab Meat

2/3 Cup buttered Bread Crumbs

1/8 tsp. Paprika

Melt the butter and saute the onions and green peppers. Slowly add the Flour, Milk, Salt, Pepper and Egg Yolk, in that order.

Continue to stir over low heat until all is blended well.

Add Paprika, 1/4 C. of the Mayonnaise, and the soft bread crumbs.

Mix well and check the seasoning. Adjust if necessary. Remove from heat, and add Sherry. Then fold in the Crab Meat gently.

Spoon into a buttered 1-1/2 to 2 qt. casserole, and glaze the top with the remaining Mayonnaise.

Top with the buttered Bread Crumbs, and sprinkle lightly with the Paprika.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes, or until things are bubbling, and the top is golden and a little crusty.

The recipe says that it should serve 6; but I would say 4 :-) For a dinner party, it's also very nice baked in individual gratin dishes, with a starch side and a wonderful salad.

-JT

[Liz]

The best upside-down cake. Luscious maple syrup
infuses apples/cake, tastes like stack of apple pancakes.

Maple-Apple Upside-Down Cake

PREP 3 Granny Smith apples—peeled, cored and cut into eighths

BTB Cup maple syrup; simmer/reduce very thick to 3/4 cup 20 min. Pour into Buttered/floured 10" round cake pan. Arrange apples in 2 concentric circles, overlap slightly.

BATTER whisk 2 c flour, tea b/powder, 1/2 tea b/soda, tea salt; set aside. In glass measure, whisk 3 lge eggs, 3/4 c buttermilk, tb vanilla set aside. Now elec/mixer/paddle 11/2 sticks sweet butter and 11/3 c sugar fluffy 3 min. Beat in dry/wet ing alternating in 3 batches til smooth; scrape sides. Scrape over apples in even layer.

Bake golden 350 deg 1 1/2 hours; cool on rack 45 min. invert onto plate; tap lightly to release; cool slightly, then cut into wedges.

SERVE with crème fraîche and salty caramel ice cream.

[Liz]

North Carolina recipe---place that grows lots of sweet potatoes.

Jalapeno Sweet Potato Chowder

METHOD Sauté/soften diced onion in 2 tb butter. Add lge
puréed baked sweet potato, qt veg stock. Btb; reduce slightly.

Now add 1 1/2 c corn kernels, tsp minced jalapenos,
1/2 cup h/cream, tsp salt. Simmer 10 min.

SERVE garnished w/ chp scallions, jalapeno wheels.

[Jamestown1630]

I’m one of those folks who like a little salad with their dressing; and that dressing sounds great!

-JT

[mschalock]

Hey, North Carolina, your recipe sounds wonderful and I am going to copy it and make it next week. I have been trying to think of ways to eat more sweet potatoes because they are so good for you. Adding the jalapeno is what makes this recipe look wonderful.

[Liz]

Good...and easy. Make it in a jif.

[Liz]

These sweets are nice---b/c you can partially pre-bake a few min in micro.

Then when you're ready, season w/ ol/oil drizzle, minced
garlic, Parm, rosemary. Cut in thin slices, and finish on grill.

Makes a nice presentation.

[Jamestown1630]

Just wanted to tell my experience with the ‘leaf-shaped herb stripper’.

A couple of threads ago, ken5050 was concerned about an efficient way to strip woody herbs like thyme; and he bought the herb-stripper gizmo and pronounced it GOOD.

I said that I’d try the leaf one

http://www.amazon.com/Chefn-Chard-Collard-Greens-Stripper/dp/B00QWNRGS8

and let you know how well it strips kale from the stalk.

Today we’ve been experimenting with fermented dill pickles and other fermented things; and I used the leaf stripper on some kale that we wanted to use to top up the dill pickles and hold them down in the brine.

So far, this thing works really well! It’s a great solution to the time-consuming task of stripping kale from the stems. I’ve only used it on about 1/4 lb. of kale so far, but so far it works efficiently, without any waste.

(Ken: haven’t tried the kale chip recipe yet, but will soon.)

Watch this space late this week, for a thread on Fermented Things.

-JT