Ultimate Crab Cakes

We will have to make these again, if for not other reason than to get a better picture of the finished product!

It’s been a while since I posted.  We are still eating, but I am trying to lose a few (how very generous of me to say a few) so we have been trying new recipes.  Experimenting to determine just how much less fat we can use and something still resemble what we would like to eat.  In addition, we took a little trip to visit some family.  I really do love that when we let them know we were going to head that way, they let me know what they wanted me to cook while we were there.  Most of what people wanted has already been seen here, but there was this one item that I have not yet posted here.  I forgot to make a plate for a picture at the end, but that won’t change how wonderful these taste. 

The vibrant colors can be seen even after the Crab Cakes are prepared.

Now, I have to preface the posting of this recipe with fact that it is not mine.  Mark and I were searching for the perfect crab cake recipe and we finally narrowed it down to three recipes that had potential.  Through Mark’s trial and error we combined those three recipes, tweaked the measurements for what we thought was the best flavor and gave it our own little twist. 

Place the formed cakes back in the bowl until you are ready to begin cooking them.

You want the crab cakes to be the same size and to have a uniform thickness, about 5/8 of an inch.  This will help you make sure they are evenly cooked and make it easier to avoid over cooking.

 The most important part of any crab cake recipe is the crab meat.  Crab meat is expensive so this is not an everyday meal for most of us.  It is a special occasion meal, so get quality crab meat, you won’t be sorry.  We have found that we prefer the lump crab meat for this recipe. We will use claw meat is a chowder, but the cakes work best with the mild sweetness of lump crab meat.

 If the oil is not hot enough, the crab cake will absorb the oil, so don't over use the oil and make sure it is good and hot. 

 

Cook until the crab cakes are a golden brown, and then enjoy.

Ultimate New England Crab Cakes

1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
crushed crackers (saltines, usually one sleeve is plenty)
3 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper (I like to use a variety of colors)

1/4 cup celery diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp old bay
Dash to ½ tsp cayenne pepper (you can make the crab cakes as spicy as you would like, but we prefer to keep this dish mild and let the flavor of the crab be the star)
1/2 cup  oil

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and peanut oil. Shape into patties. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately with a sauce for dipping if you would like, but no sauce is really necessary. 

Shrimp Creole!

Ahhh, New Orleans.  The home of my youth and the city that would begin my love affair with food! Seriously, when I first moved to New Orleans (and stayed for a while) I was about twelve and was just about as finicky an eater as you ever saw.

I remember a time when my grandparents visited and took us out to eat at one of the local seafood restaurants.  I loved seafood...Indiana seafood.  I ordered a shrimp platter and very excitedly awaited its arrival.  I loved shrimp!  Well the server brought our food and plopped a plate of shrimp in front of me, in the shell with tails and heads intact!  I could not believe this.  Shrimp had heads!?  Never had I seen such a thing!  And on that day I swore never to eat shrimp again.  Luckily, that was just a teenage girl overreacting. I mean if I wouldn't eat shrimp because they had heads, I never would have eaten crawfish either.  What a loss that would have been!

Anyway, this is one of the family's favorite recipes.  When my son is home we always ask him, what would like to eat while you are here.  Three dishes always make the list, Shrimp Creole, Krapow (a wonderful Thai dish) and Chicken Marsala.  While I can make the Chicken Marsala, it is my husband, Mark who has perfected the recipe, so we will have to talk to him before I can post it here.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.  It is our own little taste of Nawlins!

2 large cans (around 30oz) plum tomatoes; chop the tomatoes and reserve the juice.

1 cup each chopped celery, onion and bell pepper

8-10 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 ½ cups chicken stock

½ stick butter

1 ½ tbsp Creole seasoning (we like a little more, but start with this amount and add to taste)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 lb shrimp

1 tsp Worcestershire

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup fresh Basil chopped

1 tbls fresh Oregano chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped

Heat oil in a large skillet and add the onions, celery and bell pepper.  Sauté until vegetables are just becoming translucent.  Add the garlic and sauté one more minute.  Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, thyme creole seasoning, salt, Worcestershire and cayenne and continue cooking for a couple more minutes.  Add the reserve juice and chicken stock half a cup of each at a time until the sauce is the consistency you desire.  Add the butter (cut into 1 tbsp chunks) and blend it thoroughly with the rest of the sauce.  Allow the sauce to simmer for 10 minutes then add your shrimp.  Allow to simmer until the shrimp are done.  Serve over rice with crusty French bread.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

So Delish

Honestly, I was considering going shopping today.  Luckily, for Mark and Matt anyway, I decided to stay home and cook.  It has been so long since I posted, I thought this was a great opportunity to do so, and what luck, we have the jack pot!  Since I have not yet posted a basic chicken stock or roux (pronounced roo) I will be including them in this post.  I realize many people will already have a chicken stock recipe, but it never hurts to be thorough.  I lived in the New Orleans area for many years and it if you learn nothing else living there you learn that to cook almost anything, first you make your roux.  

So, we will start with the roux.  For a basic roux recipe you will take equal measures of flour and your fat (normally butter or olive oil) and heat them together at a low temperature until your have a dark brown mixture.  You will want to stir the roux almost continuously.  I can usually get away with not stirring constantly in the beginning, but once the color starts to change you really will need to stir constantly.  A good roux will take about 30 minutes, but it is so worth it.  For this gumbo recipe I have used 2 sticks of butter and 1 1/2 cups flour.  It is important that you add nothing else to the roux until it is done. 

When you first start the roux it will look like this, not real appetizing yet.

Hot and bubbly, use a whisk to mix and to keep the flour from clumping.

Be careful as you are stirring this as it will burn if it splashes on you.

Getting darker, and the texture is different too.  Make sure you are stirring constantly.  There is a very thin line between the perfect roux and a scorched roux. 

Now you have made your first roux.  Believe me when I say it is worth the work!
 

Chicken
1 onion quartered
2 stalks celery halved
2 carrots halved
2 tablespoons pepper corns
3 sprigs of fresh thyme

For a basic chicken stock you will need a chicken, left over is fine. We will take a rotisserie chicken and make stock with what is left over.  If we do not have a rotisserie chicken to use, we will get leg quarters or what ever bone in chicken on special.   To Place the chicken, onion, celery, bay leaves, whole pepper corns, carrots thyme sprigs and 10-12 cups of water in a stock pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for around 45 minutes.  Remover the chicken (pull the meat and use for a soup or gumbo.  Strain the stock and discard the solids.  If we are not ready to have gumbo, but we have prepared a meal with a whole chicken, we will make the stock and freeze it until we need it.  To freeze the stock, put cooled stock in zipper freezer bags and lay them on a flat freezer shelf.  Once the stock is frozen, you can stand the bag of stock up and it will take up minimal freezer shelf space.

So now you know how to make the stock and the roux.  The hardest part of this particular dish is done.  For this dish I like to have all my prep work done before I start the roux.  As I mentioned earlier, there is a very thin line between the perfect roux and a roux that taste burnt, so once the roux is ready, you will want to have the other items readily available.  The addition of the andouille (Cajun seasoned smoked sausage), celery, bell pepper, and onion will quickly cool the roux and keep it from scorching once it is the desired color.

If you are not in Louisiana, you may not be able to find a good andouille, but if you are near a Harris Teeter, they carry a very good one at the meat counter.  You can substitute smoked sausage, but we really prefer the andouille.

The addition of the onion, celery, and bell pepper will require you give up the whisk for a spoon to get it all mixed, if you have not already switched.

Add your stock and continue to stir until the roux and stock are thoroughly blended.

Your gumbo at this point should be a rich brown.  Add the garlic.

Mix in the chicken and continue to cook for about 20 minutes.

Serve over rice with a crusty bread.  If you can get a good French loaf, this is the perfect dish for it!

Chicken Sausage Gumbo

2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cup flour
1 lb shredded chicken
1 lb andouille (or other smoked sausage)
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 onions, coarsely chopped
6 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely minced (we use around 9, but most people do not want as much garlic as we do)
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Cooked white rice

Make your roux with the butter and flour following the directions in the roux recipe above.  Add the andouille and continue to cook until the sausage begins to release the fat it contains.  Add the chopped celery, onion and peppers and cook for a couple more minutes.  Add stock (8 to 10 cups), garlic, and seasonings.  Stir well, making sure the stock and roux are thoroughly mixed.  Stir in the shredded chicken and cook for another 15- 20 minutes.  Serve over cooked rice.  

This dish does have some heat.  If you prefer milder food, cut down on the amount of cayenne pepper called for.  When tasting the dish, remember the rice will temper the heat a little.  Enjoy and let me know what you think of this one.  I have some other Cajun/Creole recipes that I am holding on to fro another day.

 Creole Tomato Basil Soup

I have a recipe for Shrimp Creole that me and mine dearly love.  It is wonderfully good.  Not the recipe for today, but it prompted this recipe.  On a cool fall day, who could argue with a steaming cup of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich?  Anyway I was making shrimp creole one day and it occurs to me that the creole itself is wonderful and as much as I love shrimp, I could eat the creole by itself.  

Many creole or cajun recipes start with "first you make a roux", the rest of them start with sauteing this flavor tri-fecta!

The wheels were turning.  It was not more than two weeks before I was making my own Creole Tomato Basil Soup. I hope you enjoy this cozy (quick and easy too) dish as much as I do.  This soup is perfect to whip up after a long day at work and is ready in no time.  This recipe makes enough for 3 generous mugs of soup.  

At this point your mouth will start watering, smells so good!

Just simmering now, waiting patiently, or you could be making those grilled cheese sandwiches.  Gouda, havarti, try different cheeses.

The butter mellows the color of the soup, but what else does it do?

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced 

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, strain juice and reserve

2 1/2-3 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon creole seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter

Add the olive oil to the pan and saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper until the onions are beginning to get translucent (do not brown the veggies).  Add the reserved juice from the tomatoes and continue to simmer. Meanwhile, puree the diced tomatoes (this can be done easily right in the can with a wand or hand blender ). Retain some of the texture of the tomatoes, but not chunky.  Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and basil continue to simmer (about 10 minutes more).  Add the butter and simmer until the butter is melted.  Spoon into mugs and top with fresh ground black pepper

I don't know why, but adding the butter at the end of the cooking adds something vital to this soup, helping to create a richer texture and flavor.

Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup with Fennel

So, we are all out to dinner at Carrabba's or Olive Garden one, I can never remember.  What I can remember is the soup.  I really enjoyed the soup.  No huge surprise there, I generally love soups and will almost always be in the mood for a good soup.  When we got home, I logged on to the internet and began searching for a similar soup.  Unfortunately, all I could find were casseroles.  We tried a couple of them and they were pretty good, but I longed for the soup.  Finally, I decided to wing it and see what I came up with. This is not exactly the same, but it is very similar.  

If you cannot find a fennel bulb, you can use the fennel seed from a jar, but the bulb gives a richer flavor.

Chop some of the fern like part of the fennel too!

Saute your onion, celery and garlic.

Stir in the ferny part of the fennel you chopped.

Once you have added everything allow the soup to cook until the lentils, carrots and potatoes are cooked through.

We like our soups hearty, so it definitely has more "stuff".  Overall the flavor profile is the same.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage (if links, slice into bite sized pieces)

10 cups chicken or vegetable stock (you can add more if you like a less hearty soup)

6 cloves garlic chopped (this amount is for normal people which we are not, we like garlic, so I use a whole head of garlic when i make this soup - choice is yours)

1 medium onion chopped

4 stalks celery, sliced

4 carrots peeled and sliced

4 potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized pieces (none in the original, but I like them)

1 bulb of fennel diced (use the white part of the bulb)

1 tsp chopped fennel leaf (the fern looking part of the fennel)

1 cup diced canned tomatoes

1 1/2 to 2 cups lentils - the type is your choice.

salt and pepper to taste

A bowl full of yum!!!

Brown the Italian Sausage in a skillet.  Remove the sausage from the skillet and put to the side.  Take one tablespoon of the drippings from the sausage and put it in your stock pot (8-10 quart pot).  Add you garlic, onion and celery to the stock pot and saute until the onions are just translucent careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the stock and the lentils and cook on medium for about 15 minutes.  Taste at this point and add any necessary salt and pepper.  Add all the other ingredients, except the sausage, and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Add the sausage and continue cooking on medium heat until the lentils, potatoes and carrots are done.  Adjust the amount of stock as needed for your taste, and remember lentils are a dried bean, so the different types could require more or less, so be flexible.   

Let me know what you think.  I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do.

Southern Chicken Salad Plate

We love chicken salad, but to make it a meal inclusive of veggies, you have to make it more than just a sandwich.

Well, I guess we could call that blog interrupted.  We have still been cooking, and I have even thought to take some pictures, but I have just not had the time to get here and document any of the meals we have been preparing.  So, what has been keeping me so busy?  Probably the same thing that keeps all of you busy.  Family, work, and a nasty cold, yuck!  However, it seems all is much better on that front and it is time for me to do something just for me.  Something like posting on here.

I am also busy working on Christmas presents for a few people, but I can't put those on here until after Christmas.  It may end up being the same few people who check out the recipes.  Speaking of which, I guess some people consider chicken salad a summer dish, but for me it is a year long favorite.  There are as many recipes for chicken salad as there are people in my home town, so you probably already have one, but if you are like me, you never turn your nose up at a new way to try something.  For this particular version I have used a bread and butter pickle relish and Dijon mustard.  So here goes:

4 chicken breast - boneless, skinless are easiest, but not necessary
Salt
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or sage
1 medium bell pepper, diced (the salad is really pretty if you can use a variety of colors, but this time of year I stayed with just green as the others are getting too expensive)
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup pickles chopped or pickle relish
3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Cayenne pepper to taste, I use about 1/4 a teaspoon when people other than family will be eating
1 teaspoon Nature's Seasoning (seasoning blend from Morton's, different flavor profile than a season all and works really well with chicken and vegetables)
15 grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup sliced cucumbers
2 cups chopped lettuce, the type is your choice, we use romaine
half dozen eggs

Rinse the eggs and the chicken and place them in a pot of salted water, add poultry seasoning (or sage) and bring to a boil.  While the chicken and eggs are cooking, prep the bell pepper, celery, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.

Remove the eggs from the water after it has boiled for 5 or 6 minutes.  Place them in a bowl and run cold water over them until they are just cool enough to handle but still warm.  Crack the shell of the egg thoroughly and peel it away from the egg.  Put the eggs to the side.

If you have ever had trouble peeling boiled eggs I have found the key being plenty of salt in the water you are using to boil the eggs, the temperature of the egg when you are peeling it, and finally when you crack the shell, you will need to get under the membrane that is between the egg shell and the white of the egg.

Dice the chicken being careful to remove any fat, gristle or bone.  As a side note, I don't always dice the chicken.  Sometimes I will shred it by using two forks to pull it apart (a favorite, but labor intensive), sometimes I will put in the food processor, or I will vary the size of the dice.  The version pictured is a medium dice.  All of these variations can change how your chicken salad comes out.  Place the diced chicken in a bowl with the celery, bell pepper, mustard, mayonnaise, pickle or pickle relish (I have substituted diced jalapeno on occasion, which is also good) and the seasonings (celery seed, Nature's Seasoning, cayenne pepper and mix well.  You will notice the salad is not real wet with mayonnaise.  When you are having a chicken salad sandwich, the salad requires more mayonnaise, but a plate only requires enough mayonnaise to help bind the salad.  This is great if you have someone who doesn't like mayonnaise (like my hubby).

If you can get Duke's Mayonnaise and Mt Olive Pickles, I encourage you to try them.  Your salad will love you for it.

 Now that your chicken salad is all prepped and ready to go, all you have to do is put your plate together.  We start with a bed of lettuce, scoop on the chicken salad and add the veggies and halved boiled eggs to the side.  It is a beautiful plate that is also healthy and oh so good.  And, if you know me this makes a difference...the left over salad makes a great lunch the next day. :)

Doesn't that look great!

Creamy Chicken and Asparagus

You will absolutely love the creamy goodness!

Last Friday Mark and I decided to skip what we had planned for dinner and go out.  We have lived here since 1995 and we had never been to the Village Steakhouse.  We heard good things about them and decided it was time to give it a try. We were less than impressed.  So this Friday, we stuck to our planned menu for dinner and we were thrilled with the results!

This particular meal is a twist on Chicken Piccata.  The major difference is cutting way back on the lemon and adding cream.  The sauce becomes this rich, creamy, buttery sensation.  This dish takes about 35 minutes from start to finish.  Enjoy!


Asparagus is one of our favorite vegetables and it is extremely good for you.

Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter together as you dredge your chicken in flour.

Brown your flattened chicken for 3 to 4 minutes on each side


When you add the wine to the pan you used to brown the chicken, make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the flavor created while you were browning the chicken.  Reduce the wine by half (cook out half of the liquid).



Once the wine is reduced, add the chicken stock, lemon juice, capers and sun dried tomatoes and reduce by half again and add the remaining butter.

Add the cream and return the chicken to the pan.  Simmer for a few minutes (3 or 4 max).

Add the asparagus during the last minute of cooking.

 Serve over pasta.  You will love this dish!!!!!!!!!

Ingredients
 

• 4 Tbsp butter, divided 
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 2 cups chicken stock 
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup white wine, chilled  (not a sweet wine)
• 2 Tbsp capers, drained
• 2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped
• 1 bunch asparagus (approximately 1/2 pound)
• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/2  cup heavy cream
• flour 
• salt & fresh cracked black pepper to taste
• pasta

Directions

For the asparagus, you need to remove any part of the stalk that is not tender.  To do this, hold an end of the asparagus in each hand and bend.  The asparagus will naturally snap in the perfect spot to make sure what you are preparing is tender and delicious. For this dish we want the asparagus in bite sized pieces so cut each stalk into 3/4 to 1 inch pieces.  Rinse the asparagus and set it to the side.

Slice each chicken breasts into 3 to 4 pieces (you could use tenders if you would like).  Pound chicken pieces between plastic wrap until it is about 1/4 inch in thickness. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the flattened chicken.   Dredge the chicken pieces lightly in flour and shake off the excess.  Heat the 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter to a pan. Once the oil and butter are hot and sizzling, add in a few of your prepared chicken pieces.  Saute the chicken on med-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side until light brown. Having pounded the chicken, it will cook really quickly. The pounding will also make sure your chicken is very tender. Remove the browned chicken.  Continue until all chicken has been browned.

Start heating your water for the pasta. When water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook according to package directions, about 10 - 11 min.

In a separate skillet add 1/2 tablespoon of butter and heat on medium until melted.  Add the asparagus and cook for about 3 minutes.  Do not over cook the asparagus as you want it to still be crisp in the final dish.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

On med-high heat, add the white wine to the pan that the chicken was cooked in and reduce to half.  Make sure you scrape up all the goodness (browned bits stuck to the bottom) to incorporate all the flavors into the sauce.  Add the chicken stock, lemon juice, capers, and sun dried tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the sauce by half again.  Add the remaining cold butter and the heavy cream.  Add chicken back to the sauce and allow to simmer for a few minutes. In the last minute of simmering add the asparagus.  Plate the chicken over your drained pasta.