Monthly Cooking Thread - July 2021

[Jamestown1630]

We’re in crab season, here in Maryland.

Some versions of Crab Imperial can be totally ‘keto friendly’, and here is one, from the long-time Maryland seafood company and restaurant ‘Phillips':

http://www.phillipsfoods.com/recipes/classic-crab-imperial

Crab Imperial

1 lb. Phillips Jumbo Lump Crab Meat

1 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 egg

1 tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

3 oz. Hellmann’s mayonnaise

1 tsp. melted butter

Imperial Topping:

3 oz. Hellmann’s mayonnaise

1 oz. half & half

1/2 tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning

1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

Pinch of paprika

1/4 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

4 ramekins for baking (or empty natural crab shells)

Combine all Crab Imperial ingredients (except for the crab meat) in a medium mixing bowl and whip until smooth.

In a separate mixing bowl, add Phillips crab meat and pour imperial mixture over crab meat.

Blend all ingredients together by tossing very gently in order to avoid breaking delicate crab lump meat. Place 4+ ounces of the mix into each of 4 individual ramekins (or empty natural crab shells) and bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes.

While the imperials are cooking, combine Imperial Topping ingredients (mayonnaise, half & half, seafood seasoning, lemon juice & Worcestershire sauce) in a medium mixing bowl and whip until smooth.

After imperials are finished baking, remove from oven and switch oven to broil.

Top each ramekin (or natural crab shell) of baked crab imperial with the imperial topping and a pinch of paprika. Top each crab imperial with a Tbsp. of shredded Cheddar cheese.

Place in broiler to finish off until cheese has melted and imperials start to brown.

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And for those who don’t care about carbs, here’s another Maryland tradition: the Smith Island Cake which, since 2008, has been the Maryland State Dessert. (There are varying opinions on why the layers are so thin. Some say that in the late 1800s, when legend has it that the cake originated, it was easier to bake thin layers in a wood-fired oven; others say that it’s because the fudge packing the layers caused the whole thing to hold up better out on the watermen’s boats.

Doesn’t matter to me – more chocolate gets my vote no matter the reason):

http://www.visitmaryland.org/article/Smith-Island-Layer-Cake-Recipe

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And for your late-night listening pleasure, here is the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain performing ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLgJ7pk0X-s

[Jamestown1630]

This month: Crab – and yet another Cake.

(If you would like to be on or off of this monthly cooking thread ping-list, please send a private message.)

-JT

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Won’t be crabbing for Dungeness out here until December.

[Jamestown1630]

Sigh. We don’t have those, here; and by December, we’ve ended our season.

But I can’t believe yours are better than our Beautiful Swimmers...:-)

[rlmorel]

I used to go crabbing in the Chesapeake bay with my dad as a kid, getting up at 3:30 AM, me and my two older brothers and my dad, gather up the nets and bushel baskets, rent a little powerboat, and head to the pilings sticking out of the water. The crabs would be clinging to the sides of the pilings, so we would lower chicken necks tied to strings into the water near a crab, and when they grabbed it, we would pull it up and scoop them with nets before they let go and tried to swim away.

We has six hungry kids, so this was something my parents could feed us that was only limited in quantity by how many bushel baskets we came home with, so we did it often.

My mother would cover the table with newspapers, and with the big pot on the stove with water on the bottom, using big tongs, would transfer the crabs one by one into the pot. She would throw in three or four, pause, pour (not sprinkle...pour) Old Bay Seasoning all over them. Then transfer a few more, stop, and pour more seasoning, making a crab and Old Bay parfait until they were all the way to the top. She covered it and steamed them, and when they were done, she would pile all the crabs on cookie sheets and put them on the table where we would devour them. I was always squeamish about the insides, but I ate the claws and legs. I used to spike my butter just like my mom, with scads and scads of ground black pepper, lemon juice, and...Tabasco sauce! I would extract the meat, and throw it into my butter-bowl concoction to marinate for a few minutes, then take a break from cracking the claws to eat that crab in the hot butter. This was ingrained into me, this love of Blue Crabs.

I went to a conference in Baltimore some years back, and the vendor took us out to a crab house, steamed crabs covered with Old Bay Seasoning, and lots of butter, all you could eat. I tore into those things like a fox tears through a henhouse, and smashing them with wooden mallets, I was piling up carcasses while bits of crab, shell, and crab guts were flying around. The majority of the people in the group were from the midwest, and seeing their faces of fascinated horror as they watched me eat, I am certain they thought I was a brutal, carnivorous madman piling up the crab carcasses trophy-like, looking for all the world like Vlad the Impaler to them.

[lee martell]

That multi layer cake looks delicious.
It’s highly constructed. Probably takes quite a while to create and assemble all the layers. It is probably stored inside a fridge as soon as its put together. You don’t want those layers getting warm, soft and wobbly.

I’m guessing it ends up as a rather small cake, mainly because most people would not chose to make a sheet cake with so many thin, delicate layers. Who has 14 baking pans? Maybe a professional bakery.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

I’ve never had any other than Dungeness so you’ll get no argument from me. I just find it interesting that our seasons are basically opposite.

[lee martell]

That’s a nice story, and it starts before the crack of dawn.
I can picture each scene you just described.

[rlmorel]

Glad you liked it.

There is something, if one is lucky enough, to the time where you get up early in the morning when even the paper boys weren’t up yet, to go out and do something with your dad.

One of those core memories!

[Jamestown1630]

Great story!

We didn’t live on the water, and my first encounter with an actual crab was when I was a young teen, sound asleep, and my brother woke me up late at night waving a crab in front of my eyes and saying, ‘Come On!’

He had brought home a bunch, and the rest of the family was at the table devouring them.

I’ve been a fan ever since. (I’ve never seen the attraction in lobster. I will always go for crab.)

[rlmorel]

"...waving a crab in front of my eyes..."

There is something humorous about that imagery you painted there!

"Come on!"

[Jamestown1630]

Mary Ada Marshall on Smith Island has made the cakes (and Crabcakes!) for many years and sent them off on boats to people who order them. She gives demonstrations in her home for tourists to the island, and you can find them on YouTube. (Not sure she’s still doing all of this, but up to a couple years ago she was going strong.)

Here’s a nice little video about Mary Ada, her husband Dwight, and Smith Island:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAqM4Y5RIEk

http://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-online/exhibits/show/baking/smith-island-cake/mary-ada-marshall

[Jamestown1630]

I don’t think I”d ever seen a crab ‘up close and personal’ before...but I don’t scare easily, so I got up and joined the party :-)

[Viking2002]

Best crabcake sammich I ever had was at an eatery a door or two down from The Admiral’s Cup at Fell’s Point. A kid was sitting there on the dock a few feet from us, chicken-necking. I don’t think it’s there under the same ownership or menu anymore, unfortunately. I was dating a girl back then who was new to the Delmarva, and we went into a seafood shop in Wheaton. They had a big cookie sheet lined point-to-point with jimmies. When she leaned close to the glass to get a better view, one of them swung up its claw at her like, “Git! Begone!” She didn’t know they were still alive. You should have seen her freak. LOL! That Crab Imperial recipe is similar to mine, but I add a tiny bit of diced green bell pepper into the mix. Try it. I’m a native Marylander and an Old Bay junkie, you can trust me here. Stuff the mix into a mushroom cap and broil them with a little Parmesan cheese on top. Delicious.

[mylife]

lets cook dem sombiches up in a pie

[Trillian]

That cake looks really good. I’ve never tried it before.

He’s another good one:

Whipping Cream Cake

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream (do not whip)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions
Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray - preferably one for baking. This will help ensure a clean release of the bundt cake from the pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy - about 5 minutes.
Add one egg at a time, beating after each egg.
Alternately add the flour and heavy whipping cream starting and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides and mix to combine. Add in vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
Start the cake in a COLD oven by placing the cake into the oven, closing the door and heating the oven to 325°F. Bake for 1 hour and 15 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 45 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.
Top with whipped cream and fresh berries.

https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/whipping-cream-cake/

[be-baw]

Cheese with shellfish!!!???

[Jamestown1630]

Hey, people do it. But I think traditionally it was usually parmesan on Crab Imperial.

(I seem to recall that even Jacques Pepin’s wife liked cheese on her shellfish dishes...)

[Jamestown1630]

Sounds good!

I was going to make a different Crab Imperial today, but didn’t have a red bell pepper. I didn’t think a green one would be quite the same, so it will wait until tomorrow...

[Viking2002]

As long as you are sparing on the green bell, you’re in for a treat. It adds a nice flavor without overpowering it. A tiny bit goes a long way.