Grandpa's Home Cooking

Salmon With Lemon & Honey

My father, Lloyd Pipes, often said to me, "Son, food must look good, smell good, and taste good to be good. We eat with all of our senses. So you must always make sure the food you serve looks good, smells good, and tastes good." I prepared this salmon to meet his criteria.

Served simply with a baked potato and a nice garden salad, this is a perfect supper.

Ingredients:

• Fresh Atlantic Salmon
• Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Honey
• Lemon
• Parsley for garnish

Instructions:

There are, it seems, endless ways to prepare fresh salmon. Here is a ways that tastes good, smells good, and looks good.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Wash and then rub the salmon with extra virgin olive oil and place the fish in a baking dish. Spread honey over the top of the fish. Squeeze lemon on the fish and then put slices of lemon on top of the fish. Bake the fish until it is cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Plate the fish and garnish the plate with a fresh green such as parsley.

Salmon With Honey & Ginger

Here's a wonderful way to prepare fresh salmon. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a suitable baking dish with cooking oil. Lightly coat both sides of the salmon with extra virgin olive oil. Put the salmon in the baking dish, skin side down. Cover the top meat side of the salmon with wildflower or orange blosson honey. Peel a piece of fresh ginger. Use your grater or a sharp paring knife to chop fine pieces of fresh ginger all over the top of the salmon. Bake the salmon to your satisfaction for 20 to 30 minutes.  This is so delicious I may now use this recipe everytime I prepare salmon, which is about twice a week.

Some people who have medical issues just rub their salmon with extra virgin olive oil and bake it. I know of folks who eat salmon every night and say it has improved their medical. Whn I told my doctor I eat salmon at least twice a week he said, "Excellent!" 

Maple & Thyme Baked Salmon

Here's a wonderful way to prepare, bake, and serve fresh salmon. Put a nice coat of your best Vermont Maple syrup, seasonings, and chopped fresh thyme on a beautiful piece of fresh salmon and bake the fish at 350 degrees for 18-25 minutes. It's a healthy choice and mild in flavor. A light coating of maple syrup provides a delcate sweetness. Dressed and baked with the leaves of aromatic thyme you'll enjoy a delicious taste and a visually attractive entre. We eat with our eyes, nose, and taste so all of our senses are blessed with this wonderful fish. You can easily prepare this sensational salmon as well as a pricey gourment restaurant.

I saw a similar presentaion in the food section of our local newspaper and I made a very slight adjustment to the preparation instructions for this recipe. The fish looked and tasted so nice that my wife said she would like have it often. The portion pictured can be halved for a generous serving for two (each serving is about a half pound).  Serve more or less to your need, but allow  a two to three inch wide cut from a center section of a fresh salmon filet for each person. This amount is all a person needs for a great meal. Serve the fish with a baked sweet potato, sauteed fresh asparagus, and a dazzling salad and you'll enjoy a perfect and healthy meal. 

Ingredients:

• 1-2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
• A nice piece of fresh Atlantic salmon
• 2 -3 Tablespoons of fresh lemon thyme (or regular thyme), chopped
• Seasonings*
• Maple syrup

* I make a well balanced blend of a seasoning mix.  Combine 1 cup of salt, 1/4th cup of black pepper, and 1/4th cup of garlic powder in a wide-mouth jar. Cap the jar top and shake the seasonings well. Use your fingers to sprinkle several pinches of the seasoning mix on both sides of the salmon.

Instructions:

Lightly grease a baking dish with a very thin coating of olive oil. Season both sides of the salmon with a light dusting from your seasoning jar containing a mix of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Rub a light coating of maple syrup on both sides of the fish. Place the fish in a lightly oiled baking dish and bake the fish in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. A very thick cut might require an aditional amount of baking time. 

Note: If the supermarket where you shop does not have fishmonger to service their fish department, just pick out a package of wrapped salmon that is big enough to meet your serving needs. If there is a fishmonger available, ask the person to cut enough salmon to serve an approximately 2 & 1/2 to 3 inch serving per person wedge from the center a salmon filet. You could ask the fishmonger to trim off the skin off of the salmon filet, but it isn't  necessary to remove the skin and perhaps easier to manage with the skin.

Kabobs!

Here's a great way to make everyone happy, happy, happy. Marta will not eat salmon or fish. Period. But she loves chicken, chicken, and chicken! Grandma loves salmon, all kinds of fish, and will occasionally tolerate beef, including steak. Grandpa loves steak! We all love vegetables. So grandpa fixed up this meal to give everyone what they like, so that everyone will be happy, happy, happy.

From the top of the picture down we have a salmon kabob, a chicken kabob, a NY strip steak kabob:-), and a family kabob of extra vegetables and chicken.

How hard is this? Not. This cooking project requires that you first broil one side of the chicken, steak, and vegetable kabob. Use your tongs to turn the kabobs to the flip side when the first side is cooked perfectly. Then add the salmon kabob to the rack (because fish doesn't require as much time to cook). You can cook both sides of the salmon kabob while the flip side of all of the other kabobs cook. When you see the first side of the salmon kabob cooked, flip it over to the second side. And when all of the kabobs are perfect use your hot pads to pull the pan out of the broiler.

And wala! All four kabobs are cooked perfectly and are ready to serve at the same time! 

Ingredients:

• 2 and 1/2 inch strip of salmon fillet (a Whole Foods/other store fishmongers are delighted to cut only as much as you request).*
• 1/2 of a skinless boneless chicken breast (ditto Whole Foods/other meat cutters are delighted to cut and wrap only what you want).* 
• 1 NY strip steak
• 1 large onion cut into large pieces
• 1 Orange and/or yellow pepper cut into large portions
• 1 Green bell pepper cut into large portions
• Seasonings (Marta loves Toronto Rub which is pictured on her chicken kabob, Grandma wants just a little salt, and Grandpa wants his mix of salt, pepper, and garlic powder.)
• wood or metal kabob skewers (available at most stores) 

* If your store fish or meat counter is not staffed, ring for a butcher. Ask them to cut a package open and cut and package only what you want. I've yet to find one who hasn't been happy and/or agreed to cut and package only what you need!

Instructions:

Preheat range broiler.

Add sections of meat or fish and vegetables to kabob skewers.  Set the kabobs on a metal rack on a broiler pan or in a dish as shown in the picture. Broil one side of the meat and vegetable kabobs until the food is well done. Use your tongs to turn the kabobs. Add the uncooked salmon kabob to the broiler rack. Cook both sides of the fish kabob while the flip side of meat and vegetables cook. When all of the kabobs are broiled, use your tongs to move the skewers to a sering platter and serve immediately.

You can bet that our cat, Frisky:-), wasn't sitting in "Frisky's big chair" when this meal was served. She was at her usual place on the floor by Grandpa's feet, looking up wantonly in my eyes every time I looked down. Here's Frisky all nice and cozy in her big chair.

 

 

 

Island She-Crab Soup w/ Fresh Marjoram

My 100th post since Grandpa's Home Cooking was launched March 12, 2010.

♫ If your fond of sand dunes and salty air, quaint little villages here and there♫  ... then you may love Island She-Crab Soup. Try topping it with chopped fresh marjoram. Nancy went out to our herb patch on a cold January night and picked and chopped some fresh marjoram for our soup. Ooh, oh, oh, is that a nice flavor to lift an already great soup up a notch. If you make this soup in the summer, try chopped marigold leaves.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup crab meat, drained and flaked*
• 2 cans cream of celery soup
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4th teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4th teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4th cup of good dry sherry
• Chopped fresh marjoram or marigold leaves

*Ask the fishmonger about crab meat options. For this supper, Nancy got the soup started while I sat at a table and carefully picked the crab meat out of leftover Dungenous crab, added it to the pot, added the seasonings, and served the table. You can also use fresh Blue crab, Snow crab leg, Alaskan king crab leg, or even canned crab meat. 

Instructions:

This is easy cooking. Just combine the celery soup, milk, cream, eggs, butter, Old Bay seasoning, Worcestershire, garlic, and white pepper in a large soup pot or dutch oven. Stir the soup while bringing the mixture to a boil. Then add the crab meat and lower the heat to medium. Stir the soup until heated through. Then stir in the sherry. Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle the top of the soup with chopped fresh marjoram or marigold leaves. 

Here are Nancy and I pictured on our first ferry boat crossing to Ocracoke Island, NC, circa 1978.(33 years ago). We were newlyweds. I believe we got the She-Crab soup recipe from the Island Inn while we were on this trip. We would soon move to Kansas City, Missouri. A year later we returned to Chicago where we lived on the 32nd floor of a hi-rise apartment just off of Michigan Avenue. We had a nice view of the The John Hancock Center, Lake Michigan, and the Chicago Skyline. With North Carolina still on our mind, we finally moved here in 1986. 

 

Crab Legs

King and Snow Crab in your fishmonger's refrigerated case is generally precooked. Ask the fishmonger to be sure. All you need do is warm and serve the crab.  How easy can it get? You can warm the crab in your oven or briefly boil or steam the crab.

If the seafood is frozen, thaw the crab in your refrigerator for about 10 to 12 hours. If you do not have this much time, you can immerse the crab legs in cold water. My experience is that a family dinner size portion of meat will thaw in cold water in less than an hour.  I don't like to thaw or warm crab legs in a microwave.

I prefer to warm crab in a steam basket over boiling water or by dropping the legs in boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes. You may prefer to preheat your oven to 350 degrees and warm the crab on cookie sheets for 8-10 minutes.

Use crab leg crackers or kitchen scissors to cut the shells and extract the meat with your fingers. Dip the crab meat in hot butter or cocktail sauce and enjoy eating this delicious treat. I find that clean scissors make the job easier.

Serve the crab legs with a salad, baked potato, and a nice white wine. I like to serve a good Alsatian Gewürztraminer. I love the herbal fragrance and taste of this wine with seafood.

King crab for the Pacific Northwest is more expensive than Snow crab. Although pricey, you can minimize the cost of crab legs by buying and freezing the crab when it's on sale.

Delicious Sea Scallops

R.C. Wilson often asked, "Just what is a scallop?" "It's a muscle." "A what?" "It's a muscle that powers the sea Mollusk to swim freely. Scallops don't have brains, but they do have eyes." "Well, how do they know where they're going if they don't have brains?" "Ah well, ahh?" 

These beautiful shells are not clinging to a rock beneath the ocean like other shellfish.  What are shellfish? Shellfish is a term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of mollusks, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Say what? Well, a lot more could be said, but what's the point? They are delicious seafood! And yes, they are rich in nutrients.

Aren't there little baby scallops good too? Yes. They cook in half the time and are also very tasty!

Jumbo scallops can be pricey. I love fresh jumbo scallops. But if they're priced at $23.99 a pound, I mosey on over to the frozen seafood department. There I'll find a bag full at half the cost. They taste the same but are a little smaller. I usually just salt them and fry them in a little olive oil. Today I added a tablespoon of butter to the oil and seasoned them with Herbes de Provence. You can also season them with thyme.

What are Herbes de Provence? They are a collection of herbs frequently used for cooking by people who live in the south of France. It depends on which French person you talk to as to what this collection might include. I've found there are a lot of combinations. When you buy a bottle of herbs labeled Herbes de Provence it might contain dried  marjoram, rosemary, thyme, sage, savory, fennel seeds, and basil. Others might, for example, include lavender, ginger, coriander. Whatever! The bottle you buy or the mixture you prepare is likely to be very good. 

So why not get busy and prepare some delicious scallops. Salt them and roll them in Herbes de Provence and cook them just so. Yum. Here is my recipe.

Ingredients:

• Fresh or frozen jumbo or large scallops
• Salt
• Herbes de Provence
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon butter

Instructions:

Season the scallops with salt and Herbes de Provence. 

Heat olive oil on a medium high stove top burner. Add 1 Tablespoon butter. Use tongs to set the scallops in the hot skillet. Cook them for 1-2 minutes until the one side is golden brown. Gently turn the scallops with tongs and cook them for 1 -2 minutes until the second side is golden brown. Use your tongs to take them from the skillet to a pretty plate and serve them.  They are this easy to prepare!

If you use the baby scallops, they'll cook to a golden brown in exactly 1 minute on each side.

Whether jumbo, large, or small, they are fine dining. Scallops can be served as a main course or as an appetizer. 

Tuna Steaks!

These are baked tuna steaks served with a Mango Teriyaki Sauce. Did I make the sauce? No. I bought a bottle of it at Whole Foods. You'll find a selection of sauces near the fish or meat counter. You might also try putting a spoon of Sweet Onion Marmalade to the side and eat a bit of it with a bite of the tuna.  I buy an English Sweet Onion Marmalade at A Southern Season. You can make sweet onion marmalade (using a forthcoming recipe). You could also put a bit of stone ground mustard to the side for dipping. Actually, fresh baked tuna tastes delicious by itself. Here's how to prepare it.

Ingredients:

• Tuna steaks
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Ground pepper 
• Dipping sauce such as Mango Teriyaki (optional)

I plated the tuna on a stalk of purple basil from our garden. If you have leftovers, put the fish in a dish and pour some Mango Teriyaki  over the fish. Put the baking dish in the oven and warm the fish at 285 degrees.   

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

It's so easy. Rub the tuna steaks with olive oil (top, bottom, and sides). Sprinkle the tuna with salt and pepper. Lay the steaks in a baking dish. Put the baking dish in a preheated 350 degree oven. 20 minutes ought to be perfect for the thickness of the steaks pictured. Keep your eye on them. You'll be able to tell when the steaks are baked through. If they look good in 18 minutes, pull them out. You don't want to over bake the fish. 

Mussels with Tomatoes, Garlic, Olive Oil, & Wine

MOULES À LA PROVENÇALE ... Hot off the range! They were delicious!

It is not difficult to prepare this dish. Ask the fishmonger to clean and beard the mussels you order. When the mussels are displayed on ice, a fishmonger will only select mussels which have not opened. You can not use mussels when the shell is open and will not close because they are no longer alive. When you get home, put the mussels in a dish in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them. Cook them the night you buy them. Do not be surprised if some more shells are open when you take the mussels from the refrigerator. Tap the open shell on the counter. If the shell closes the mussel is still alive and can be cooked. It the shell doesn't close, throw it away. I've found that mussels are usually reasonably priced and you can therefore afford to throw some away.

When mussels have already been cleaned and de-bearded, you run the risk of some of them dying before you can prepare them. Some people prefer to clean them and de-beard the mussels themselves to reduce the loss of dead mussels. Use a stiff plastic brush and water to clean mussels. De-beard them with a paring knife. 

When you cook mussels in a frying pan the closed shells will open in 3-4 minutes. This is how you'll know they have been cooked and are ready to eat. Immediately remove the mussels when the shell opens and put them in your serving dish. If you leave them in the boiling water after they have opened, you may over cook the mussels and they may then be tough to chew. Cooked right, using the recipe below, mussels are delicious and worth the minimal effort of preparing them.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of fresh mussels
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 Tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1, 28 oz can of imported peeled plum tomatoes, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Non reactive large skillet (such as Teflon)

Instructions:

1. Put the ingredients in the skillet and cook the mussels until the shells open. Pour the cooked mussels and shells into a serving dish. Each person will open the shells and eat the mussels. Mussels are sometimes served in a large bowl at restaurants. They bring you a bowl of mussels in the cooking sauce and you pull them from the pot, open them, and eat them.

Or

2. If you or the folks you're serving do not want to open and eat the shells at the table, prepare the mussels as follows:

Put the first 6 ingredients in the skillet and cook the mussels until they open (3-4) minutes. Immediately remove them from the skillet with a slotted spoon and set them aside in a dish to cool. Pour the liqueur through a a strainer layered with several thicknesses of cheesecloth and reserve. Wipe out the frying pan and pour the reserved liqueur back into the skillet. Add the tomatoes and red pepper flakes and reheat the ingredients over low heat. Set the pan aside when the soup has warmed.

Meanwhile open the mussel shells. Throw away the top shell and arrange the bottom shells with the meat on a serving platter. Use a spoon to top the juices and tomatoes over the mussels and serve.

Or

3. Alternatively you can spoon mussels and soup into individual serving soup bowls.

Catfish Fingers

Thanks to Denise for sharing her recipe for Catfish Fingers. Yes! This is a delicious fish dish. And, it is easy to prepare. So go fishing or to your favorite fish market and pick up some fresh catfish filets.   

Ingredients:

• 6 Tablespoons medium-grind cornmeal
• 1 Tablespoon pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika) or Paprika
• 3/4ths teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 4 (5-6 oz) catfish filets, cut into thick strips
• 2 Tablespoons canola oil
• Lemon wedges

I had a new bag of fine ground cornmeal and it worked well.

Instructions:

In a wide shallow dish, mix together cornmeal, paprika, thyme, salt, and pepper. Working with a few pieces at a time, dredge catfish in cornmeal mixture, turning to coat evenly. Heat oil in a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, arrange catfish in the skillet in a single layer and cook, flipping once, until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a serving dish. Serve with lemon wedges.

Speckled Trout

This is the before. It was a beautiful and delicious Speckled Trout. When available, buy the whole fish. Ask the fishmonger to gut and butterfly the fish. Open the fish and season the flesh. Then bake the entire fish at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. After 30 minutes, this fish was perfect for presenting it to the table. Open the fish to present the flesh to the hungry gathering. Here it is, ready to eat!

I served this speckled trout with a delicious Beurre Blanc sauce.

Baking the fish:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a baking dish by putting a metal rack in a baking dish (or pan) to provide an elevated a cooking surface. Pour a couple of inches of water in the bottom of the baking dish, leaving space between for steam to rise up through the rack and through the fish. Rinse the fish in cold water. Season the inside of fish with salt and pepper. You may wish to sprinkle some herbs on the flesh; I didn't. I think I would sprinkle a bit of thyme on the flesh. (I'm tempted to try green tea leaves). Close the flesh; lay the whole fish on the rack.  

Prepare a delicious Beurre Blanc Sauce:

Who else would you look to but Julia Child for Beurre Blanc. And I, like Julia, sipped a bit of white wine as I cooked this fish:-) 

This recipe makes twice the amount of sauce that you are likely to need for 1 fish. So unless you're really into the sauce or you wish to have some sauce leftover to use on vegetables (which is really nice), you may wish to cut this recipe in half.

Ingredients:

Fetch a nice bottle of white wine. Pour 1/4th cup for the Beurre Blanc sauce and then pour a glass for you to sip while making the Beurre Blanc sauce. It goes without saying that you ought to use a wine you really like, instead of using the remains of a jug wine your uncle brought last Thanksgiving, a gallon jug you've been trying to get rid of for months:-)

• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/4th cup of white wine vinegar
• 1-2 Tablespoons minced shallots (I love shallots)
• 1/4th teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch of white pepper
• 24 Tablespoons of unsalted butter cut into 1 Tablespoon chunks
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice (pick out the seeds and squeeze!)

Fetch a sauce pan, a whisk, and your glass of wine (as Julia would); set the pan on a burner of your range and have the whisk and your glass of wine on the counter and at the ready next to your ingredients!  Take a nice sip of wine. Pour the 1/4th cup of wine and the white wine vinegar into the sauce pan. Set the heat at HIGH. Bring the wine and vinegar to a boil and reduce the heat to SIMMER.  Where is simmer anyway? It is NOT low. No one has ever told me the perfect setting for "simmer." I say MEDIUM, because in this recipe you need for the wine and vinegar to keep gently boiling until you have achieved a reduction in the liquid. You'd like to get this liquid down to about 2 Tablespoons.

Remove the pan from the heat and drop 2 Tablespoons of butter into the pot. You didn't remove the paper? Whut? Oh my, take a sip of wine and remove all of the butter paper. Whisk the reduction and butter until all of the butter has melted. Set the burner to LOW and put the pan back on the burner.

Add another chunk and whisk. Add another chunk and whisk. Now that you know the routine, keep adding a chunk of butter at a time and keep whisking, and keep singing like Julia, and keep sipping white wine as she did.

When all of the butter has melted and the sauce has been whisked to death, remove the pan from the burner (don't forget to turn the burner to the OFF position. Whisk in the lemon juice. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning, but only if it needs it. Like, with all that fat, how could it not be good:-)

Crab & Spinach Quiche

The day after we ate a beautiful Dungenous Crab, I used the remaining center crab meat to make a delicious Crab & Spinach Quiche. Accompanied with a beautiful salad, the crab provided yet another great meal. After the meal, I had two slices of quiche left and I used those to serve for lunch the following day. The challenge will be to find a supermarket that sells shredded Swiss cheese. I finally bought a block of fine Swiss cheese and used my grater to shred the cheese.  

Ingredients:

A ready-made, unbaked pastry crust and:

• 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 4 eggs, break yolks and whisk eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup crab meat, shredded
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Toss together the Parmesan, swiss cheese, flour, salt, and paprika and set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and milk. Add the crab and spinach and mix well.

Now fold the cheese mixture into the egg, crab, and spinach and mix well.

Pour the quiche ingredients into the unbaked pastry shell.

Bake the quiche at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and do not open the oven during this time. 

Then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking the quiche for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top of the quiche is firm and is starting to brown.

Serve the quiche with a beautiful salad like the one pictured below. My wife, Nancy, makes beautiful salads. In this salad she has added dried tart cherries and walnut pieces. She loves to use a mixture raspberry balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil for a dressing. 

 

   

Dungenous Crab Love Feast

I know. He's cute. Yeah, those are his little eyes looking at you, his little nose, and his little mouth. Poor little crab! BUT man-o-day ... he tasted really good! You'll not believe what a heavenly taste you'll experience until you have eaten one. We're close enough to the season that this one was a prime crab. You can buy Dungenous in other months, but the prime season are months ending in "r" (September, October, November, and December). By the way ... this is a big crab. The one you're looking at is sitting on a full sized meat platter. I wanted to photograph it before I reheated the crab.

I'm thankful I for the 30 years I worked on the road in the 40 years I spent working in the Health Care industry. I met wonderful people from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon, and further out to the Hawaiian Islands (where Nancy and I were married at the end of a project and honeymooned there). I worked on many projects for big corporations in 46 states. At times, my wife, a technical writer, was a member of the project teams I directed. Our daughter even accompanied us on a very long project in Oregon. We enrolled her in a preschool near the office. Clients always made sure that we got to sample the special foods of their area. For example, we did a lot of work for many years for a company in Portland, Oregon. A great friend in Portland made sure we experienced Dungenous crab. They're found in abundance on the coast of the Pacific Northwest. 

Some Dungenous crab are shipped frozen to large stores in markets where sales support a variety of seafood. For example, the Whole Foods store in Chapel Hill, NC, has a huge seafood department, and it is currently selling Dungenous crabs at a special price (take a cold bag or cooler and ask for a frozen Dungenous crab and keep it in your freezer until the morning of the day you prepare it). I purchased the crab pictured Friday and we ate him Saturday night. I posted this dinner in a category I call Love Feasts. There will be more love feasts posted in the future.

Love Feast Menu:

• Steamed Dungenous crab with individual ramekins of hot butter for dipping the meat
• Steamed small redskin potatoes
• Corn on the cob
• Heirloom tomatoes with fresh basil
• Hawaiian papaya with lime wedges to enhance the rich flavor of the fruit
• A chilled German Gewurztraminer wine (with herbal flavor and aroma)

I've provided directions for preparing the Dungenous crab following this picture of our dinner table. Notice the beautiful shell has been removed and is now preserved and saved as an attractive baking ramekin.  

Instructions for preparing the Dungenous crab:

Dungenous crabs have been fully cooked before they are shipped to your store. You can eat them cold or warm them. I like to serve them warm. Whatever you do, Do not boil the crab! You'll ruin the crab! Put a raised wire rack in a baking dish and fill the bottom of the dish with water. You can also use a large rice/pasta steamer pot. 

If you steam them in a baking dish, set the crab on top of the wire rack and put the baking dish in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Cover with a foil tent. You want to gently steam warm the crab. After 20 minutes, take the baking dish out of the oven and set the dish on the counter. 

Now don't get nervous. The next steps are going to be easy.

Gently touch the shell to make sure it is not too hot to pick up the crab. Pick up the warm crab with your left hand, with the claws pointing to the left. Move to the sink and turn on warm water. While firmly holding the crab from the bottom, use your right hand to gently remove the desert brown shell ... specifically, use the thumb of your right hand ... placed just under the edge of the shell ... to gently push the shell up and off of the body of the crab. It should come off real easy. Now you'll notice a triangle bone on the left side of the crab ... use the thumb and forefinger of your right hand to pull the triangle bone down and off and discard it. Now notice ... there will be loose, soft grainy material in the middle of the top of the crab ... move the crab under the faucet of running warm water and use your fingers to rid the center of the crab to remove superfluous grainy matter off the top of the crab. Then put the crab on your serving dish and take it to the table.

Look at the picture of the crab on our table and you'll be reassured to know you did just fine.

Now here's what your diners need to know. There is fabulous sweet crab meat in every claw. Use your hands or a tool (as shown in the picture) to break the claws open ... remove the luscious warm meat, dunk the meat in a ramekin of hot melted butter and push the crab meat into your mouth. Oooooh my, now thank God for this delicacy! After you've eaten all of the meat in the claws ... be aware ... the center section of the crab is full of delicious crab meat ... it's just going to be a little messier to get too.

The center of the crab is similar to a honeycomb, except the crab contains a very soft membrane. You just need to push the meat out of each membrane and push it in your mouth ... it's messy:-) Enjoy! 

The claws of our 2 3/4 pound crab had enough meat for my wife, daughter, and I for our love feast. I guess some guys can eat a whole crab in one setting (I used too:-). But, they are a bit pricey, so Mom, Dad, and the little might share a big one and love what is provided. If pricey isn't a concern or you have more people to serve, go ahead and buy two of the crabs.

We saved and refrigerated the middle portion of the crab for Sunday night's dinner. I'm going to sit down at a table and push all of the meat out of the membranes into a measuring cup. I'm quite sure that I'll get enough delicious crab meat out of the center of that crab to make a delicious crab and spinach quiche for dinner. I'll post the recipe for the quiche in a few days.

I always want to serve Dungenous crab with roastin' ears, redskin potatoes, tomatoes, and a desert of fresh Hawaiian papaya with lime wedges (to squeeze onto the flesh of the fruit). When you look for a papaya ... look for one that is turning gold and has little black spots on it. All green = not ripe. Yellowing = ripe. Gently squeeze the fruit to make sure it is not too ripe. It ought to be a little soft, but not explode in your hand:-)

Do you have questions? Email me. I'll respond. You'll find the email address on the blog.

Enjoy a love feast now and then! 

    

Sea Bass Stuffed With Herbed Goat Cheese and Fennel

I thought up this recipe as I relaxed by the little lake at The Woodberry Inn in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. When we returned home, I went to Whole Foods in Chapel Hill to buy fresh Chilean Sea Bass and the rest of the ingredients I needed to prepare a special dinner for Nancy. For this meal I asked the fishmonger to cut 1/2 pound of sea bass for Nancy and I. (Marta will not eat fish.)   

I also asked the fishmonger if he would use his skills to slice a pocket in the fish. He was happy to accommodate. I already had picked up a package of herbed goat cheese, a fennel bulb, and a small container of fresh Mediterranean olives to dress up the dish. I had also picked up a fresh baked loaf of rustic batard bread, Swiss red chard to steam for our vegetable, and the ingredients to prepare a salad. Here are the instructions for preparing the sea bass.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

• Chilean Sea Bass (1/2 pound provides a nice portion to serve 2 people)
• Herbed goat cheese
• Mediterranean olives for garnish (optional)
• 1 Fennel bulb with fronds 
• 1 Large shallot, chopped
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Salt

Instructions:

Cut the fennel fronds off of the bulb. Set two fronds aside to stuff in the fish pocket. Chop the remaining 2 stems of fennel fronds and a large shallot. Saute the chopped fennel and shallot in a small skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Set the sauteed vegetables aside.

Rinse the fish in cold water and slice a deep pocket in the fish. (I asked the fishmonger to slice the pocket.) Rub the fish with olive oil and stuff the pocket in the fish with 2-3 sliced rounds of herbed goat cheese. Then lay two strips of fennel fronds on top of the cheese and close the fish pocket. Set the fish in a small baking dish. Salt the top of the fish. Spoon the sauteed chopped fennel and shallots over the top of the fish, and if you wish, put some marinated Mediterranean olives in the dish around the fish.

Bake the fish in the preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. 

Chilean Sea Bass and Baked Tomatoes

This was a fine supper of fresh Chilean sea bass, farm fresh tomatoes, potatoes, and spinach salad that we enjoyed at our house last night. I've provided instructions in this posting to prepare the complete meal from start to finish.

Ingredients:

• Chilean sea bass or other fish, enough to serve all who will be at the table (a 2-3 inch slice of a thick fish fillet could be enough for each person.)
• Medium size sweet potatoes, 1 for each person
• 2-4 fresh tomatoes (a half or two of a fresh tomato for each person)
• Fresh spinach
• Fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 hard boiled eggs, chopped (when water starts to boil, it takes 12 minutes to hard boil eggs) Spoon the eggs into a dish of cold water to cool. Remove the egg shells and slice the eggs for the salad.)
• Croutons
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh chives
• Fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Balsamic vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
• Small can of Mandarin orange slices
• Sea salt (or regular salt if you don't have sea salt)
• Artisan bread, sliced
• Butter
• Honey mustard salad dressing
• Lemon wedges for garnish and seasoning
• White wine

Note: Some stores sell fish that already has been dressed with fruit and greens. It may be fine, but I do not buy it. I suggest you ask to confirm the fish you want is fresh, buy the plain fish, and dress it yourself. I always give the fish package the smell test before walking away from the counter. If the fish smells, I hand it back and ask for fresh fish ("fish that came in today"). If you accept it, you'll know by the taste that you should have handed it back.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Instructions:

Spinach Salad: Begin your supper preparations by making a salad of fresh spinach, chopped hard boiled eggs, sliced mushrooms, and croutons. Put the salad in the refrigerator until the other dishes are prepared. 

Baked Sweet Potatoes: Wash the potatoes, use a knife to prick holes around the potatoes to provide places for steam to escape (otherwise the potatoes will explode in your oven) and put the potatoes on top of a piece of aluminum foil in an oven preheated to 375 degrees (on top of foil or you'll have a mess of sticky juices in your oven). Depending on how large the potatoes are, they're going to need to bake between and hour and 20 minutes to an hour and a half to become soft.It will be fine to bake the potatoes hour and a half if you're unsure. 

While the potatoes are baking, prepare a baking dish of tomatoes and then prepare a baking dish containing your Chilean sea bass (or other fish).

Baked Tomatoes: Cut tomatoes in half (as pictured) and place the tomato halves cut side up in a baking dish. Sprinkle the tomatoes with sea salt (regular salt is okay). Drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle the top of the tomatoes with thyme. (If you have fresh basil, chop some in a dish for the table).

Chilean Sea Bass: Put the fish in a baking dish. Sprinkle the top of the fish with sea salt. Cover the top of the fish with sections of Mandarin oranges (from a can). Cut 2-3 inch sections of fresh chives and sprinkle the chives about the top of the fish. Pour about a half inch of white wine around the bottom of the dish (around the fish). 

Put the baking dish of Chilean sea bass and the baking dish of tomatoes in the oven with the potatoes when there is about 30 minutes left on the timer. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees.

Set the table. Put a loaf of artisan bread, a bottle of honey mustard dressing (for the spinach salad), and a dish of butter on the table. Then set the spinach salad on the table when there is just a few minutes left on the oven timer.

Make sure the potatoes, fish, and tomatoes are baked as you like them. Relax! It will not be a problem to add a few minutes to the baking time if you feel the food needs to bake a little longer.

When the food looks beautiful and your hungry, call everyone to the table. Bring the food from the oven to the table. Pour wine. Give thanks. Enjoy!  

Have butter on the table. Each person can split their potato lengthwise, using their hands to push both ends of the potato to open the sides and expose the potato flesh. Knife sections of butter in the potato to melt. Sprinkle the potato with salt. Use a fork to scoop out the flesh and eat the treat.

Savor the taste of the fresh fish, tomatoes, baked sweet potatoes, and spinach salad and enjoy the fine meal. 

This is an easy meal to prepare! Let me know how your meal turned out!

Papaya and Crab

Here's a menu idea that will excite your taste buds! Nancy and I discovered this combination 32 years ago when we got married in Hawaii. In the two week's prior to Nancy's flying to Hawaii to meet me, I was assigned to a two-week work assignment in Honolulu. While working there, I discovered the delicious fruit, papaya. In Hawaii, the fruit is always served with a dish of lime wedges. A squeeze of lime greatly enhances the natural flavor. 

At the conclusion of my work assignment, I arrived at the Honolulu airport in time to meet Nancy's flight from Chicago. I hung a lei of gardenias about her neck, kissed her, and we rushed off to the Aloha Airlines gate assigned for Maui departures. From there we flew to the Island of Maui where we were married by the honorable, Judge, Richard Komo, in his office at the district court house. After the ceremony we drove to Maui's Waianapanapa State Park where we spent our wedding night and a number of nights thereafter in a cozy tent. Our campsite was high on a cliff overlooking a black sand beach. We were thrilled when we discovered our campsite was surrounded by papaya trees bearing fresh, ripe fruit. Some of the fruit had already fallen to the ground just outside our tent. It was a bonanza! While there, not having limes to enhance the flavor, we simply dined on the mild sweet fruit. We spent our last few nights in Honolulu where we bought limes and papaya, and later at home, paired the fruit with delicious crab meat. Fresh lump crab meat is best, but it may be pricey. I love to dip the crab in hot butter.  

When you inspect the fruit at the supermarket, you may be inclined to pick out a uniformly pretty green specimen and pass over fruit that is a mixed green and yellow with some black spots. The all green fruit is not ripe. The fruit that is green and yellow with a few black spots is ripe and, as long as the fruit is still firm, it is likely to be perfect for your evening supper. If you buy the fruit that is green, don't cut it until it has sat on your kitchen counter and developed a lot of yellow coloring with some black spots. Ugly and firm is good.

Ingredients:

• 1 large papaya (halved, with the seeds scraped out of the fruit)
• 1 lb of fresh lump crab meat
• 1-2 limes, quartered
• Individual portions of hot drawn butter, for crab dipping 
• Dish of fresh pineapple and kiwi chunks 
• Two halves of fruit as large as the half pictured will serve four people (or provide enough ingredients for two to enjoy two meals). If available, select a smaller piece of fruit for one dinner for two.

Instructions:

Serve the crab in a bowl of fresh, ripe papaya as pictured, or if you prefer, in separate serving dishes. Dip the crab meat in hot butter and enjoy the seafood. Then spray lime on chunks of the fruit and enjoy a bit of Hawaii! You'll also will enjoy a side of fresh pineapple and kiwi fruit chunks for a real Hawaiian feast. Where's the vegetable? If desired, prepare and serve a side green salad with my apple cider dressing which will be presented in a separate posting.

Baked Atlantic Salmon

You gotta love fresh baked Atlantic salmon and it is so easy to make!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

6 oz individual servings of Atlantic salmon

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Fresh ground pepper

White wine (use any white wine that is good enough for you to drink. Take a big sip to make sure it is pleasing. I'd reach for the herbal, aromatic, and delicious Alsatian Gewurztraminer:-)

Baking dish

Instructions:

Spill a small amount of olive oil over the top of the salmon. Use your hands to coat all sides of the fish with the olive oil. Salt and pepper the flesh and lay each piece in the baking dish. Pour a delicious white wine over the salmon to make about a 1/4th inch collar around the fish. I like to use a baking dish that is attractive and can be taken from the oven to the table. Put the salmon in the preheated oven and bake thick fillets for 30 minutes. If your using thinner filets, 18 minutes ought to do it.