Category Archives: Seafood

Cream of Crab Soup

Posted on by
1

DSC_1075 (2)

Maryland weather isn’t known for it’s consistency. Last week we were all told to expect upwards of 10 inches of snow. Jokes were made about water, milk, toilet paper and bread. Thankfully it was just too warm here, so when the snow fell, it was just rain. Lots and lots of rain.

Although the sheer warning of snow led to the closing of the federal government, and among other business’, my office (YAY FREE DAY!!). With the day off, I wanted to make my daughter and husband something that would warm their bellies. But I’m not in to stews or chili as comfort food – so cream of crab it was.

Just like all recipes that I use crab in, I mix a cheaper crab meat throughout the soup so that crab flavor and texture permeates the entire dish, and then gently fold in lump crab meat towards the end. Every spoonful is full of tender vegetables and tons of crab meat wrapped in a silky broth.

When it’s freezing and blustery outside, it doesn’t get any better than cream of crab soup – except, when it doesn’t snow at all. That tickles my fancy almost as much.

DSC_1077 (2)

Cream of Crab Soup

  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup diced celery
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 6 oz backfin crab meat
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
  • 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 12 oz lump crab meat
  • 2 Tablespoons cream sherry
  • 1 Tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • salt and pepper

In a medium pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the celery and onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add in flour and whisk until you can’t see any white spots from the flour anymore. While whisking, add chicken broth.

Once this mixture begins to thicken, add the backfin meat, half and half, Old Bay, hot sauce, and celery salt. When the mixture returns to a simmer, cook for 5 minutes.  Slowly add the half and half and milk. Simmer for another 2 minutes.

Gently fold in the lump crab meat and simmer for another 15 minutes, stirring gently occasionally. Turn the heat off and add the sherry, parsley and lemon. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.

Resist the urge to eat it all by yourself while the others are occupied.

Oh, and make snow never come to the East Cost again. Please and thank you!

Print Friendly

Steamed Maryland Blue Crabs

Posted on by
3

I should probably be scrubbing the kitchen floor on the weekends. Or hanging up the pile of clean laundry that’s been sitting beside the bed for an embarrassing amount of time. I’m thoroughly convinced hangers are overrated.

Sometimes after a long week of work it just doesn’t happen.

The weekends now are the screeching of neighborhood kids, like they’ve just been let out of a cage. It’s the ice cream truck playing Christmas music in June and the smell of smoky grills wafting in every direction.

It is driving home from the market and seeing handmade signs in someone’s yard advertising live crabs, just caught.

We asked for a dozen and since it was our first time buying from him, he slipped us five extra crabs. Any good dealer gives you more just to entice you and let you know how good his product is. And it was.

Every once in awhile rather than bombard your life with tasks, just sit with your family and encrust your nails with spices -  enjoy the moment entirely – eat it up. Consume love.

Steamed Maryland Blue Crabs

Whatcha Need:

  • One large pot with a platform, rack, or screen in the bottom (You want the crabs to steam, not touch or cook in the liquid – that is no good).
  • One part water, one part apple cider vinegar, one part beer. This amount will vary depending on the size of your pot.
  • Live crabs. Please do not cook ones that have already gone to the bay in the sky.
  • Old Bay or JO seasoning. The choice is yours – but man, people have some strong feelings about which is better. I’ll stay out of this one.

In the bottom of your large pot, combine the water, vinegar and beer. Place your rack/screen over the liquid.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Layer the crabs, and with each layer pour on the seafood seasoning. Don’t be shy – pour it.

Cover your pot and steam for about 20-30 minutes. When they are all fully red with no dark or green spots, you’re ready to serve. Cover your table with the finest tablecloth.

Dump your crabs on top and dig in. I’d tell you how to pick a crab but I don’t like hate mail. Plus, you know how to Google.

Optional for serving:

Like your seasoning of choice, people have big opinions about how to eat their picked meat. Some like it straight, and some like to dunk! Here are a few things you might want to serve with your beautiful crabs (besides beer).

  • Melted butter
  • Vinegar
  • Cocktail sauce

Cleaning the crime scene is just as easy; just roll the newspaper up and throw it away!

Cheers!

Print Friendly

Butternut Squash Crab Soup with Roasted Red Pepper and Bacon Relish

Posted on by
5

Note: Photograph by Mike. At this moment we don’t have the ability to watermark my photos, so just don’t steal it, okay?

I’ve said it before and I still stand by my statement: Maryland has some of the craziest fluctuating weather in the universe. Our 100 plus weather dropped to below 75, then we had snow on Halloween weekend. The following week we were back in the mid seventies, and then suddenly we are near freezing around seven on any given evening.

I desperately wanted a bowl of cream of crab soup; a hot bowl of full fat, roux-based deliciousness. My brain and body made a compromise and decided butternut squash would be the perfect compliment to the beautiful crab meat. The finished soup was so velvety smooth that my entire being was satiated and all was ‘just right’ at least for a moment or two.

Perhaps it’s not just the weather that can’t make up its mind. Things have been so sideways lately in my daily life, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that my food has followed suit; the usual with a little surprise here and there.

Butternut Squash Crab Soup with Roasted Red Pepper and Bacon Relish:

For the Squash:

  • One 2 lb. butternut squash, halved and de-seeded
  • extra-virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On a cookie sheet, drizzle olive oil on the squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the squash halves flesh side down. Put the squash in the oven and cook for 30 minutes, flipping half way through.

Remove from the oven, scoop out the cooked squash from skin. Discard the skin and set squash aside until ready to use.

For the Soup:

  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup diced shallots
  • 1/4 cup diced carrots
  • 1/4 cup diced celery
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • butternut squash innards (recipe above)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 6 oz backfin crab meat
  • salt and pepper
  • Roasted Red Pepper and Bacon Relish (Recipe Follows)

In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-low. Add in the shallot, celery, carrot, and bay leaf cooking for 8 minutes until the veg is getting soft but not brown. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in stock and squash, raise the heat to medium, stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Using an immersion blender or a regular blender in batches until smooth with no chunks. If you want a super-smooth soup, you could also strain it to remove any small imperfections after blending, but if you don’t have one large enough, the soup will still be great.

Stir in the cream and crab meat. Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper as needed. To serve, top each bowl with a little relish.

For the Roasted Red Pepper and Bacon Relish:

  • 4 slices of cooked bacon, diced
  • 1 roasted red pepper, diced
  • 2 oz backfin crab meat
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
  • drizzle of olive oil
  • splash of sherry vinegar
  • pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and keep chilled until ready to top the soup.

YUM!

 




Print Friendly

Cooking With My Kid: Parchment Fish Packets

Posted on by
4

 

Cooking with my daughter is much more enjoyable than cooking alone. There are moments of love, conversation, and learning that wouldn’t happen otherwise. We talk about why we’re using a certain process or how many tablespoons make 1 cup. She gently lets me know if she thinks there’s not enough salt.

Her hands are much like mine; always itching to create something in the kitchen.

After the recent hurricane, schools were closed because of power outages and one of those days, with my mother, Alora announced, “I need to make tomato sauce.” With my mom only cutting the onions for her, Alora made the best tomato sauce I’ve ever tasted. I say that with no bias or exaggeration. I do say it with a little jealousy because it was better than any sauce I’ve ever made. She won’t even tell me what was in it. Whatever.

Children are more likely to try and eat things that they helped make so if possible, start them young. The smaller set can pull tails off of cooked shrimp, dump food and spices into a bowl, and squeeze a lemon. As they get older, let them use a butter knife to cut soft items, stir pots, and make their own sandwiches the way they want to (that is turkey, cheese, lettuce, cucumbers, pickles and a little bit of mayo for Alora).

This weekend we set out to make fish in parchment packages. Each of us getting our own little meal, made to order. Alora and I hit the market up for fish, knowing only that she got to pick what looked the best. I’m sure any fish will work in parchment packs – but she wanted the catfish. We also grabbed 6 gigantic shrimp because they were beautiful and asked me nicely to buy them.

When we got home, we preheated the oven to 450 degrees and started chopping vegetables.  Anything small or soft works great - I even used my mandolin slicer for paper thin potatoes and onion. You also want some aromatics (herbs, garlic) and acid (citrus, vinegar, wine) involved.

 

I told her about mise en place and how it makes making dinner so much easier because you don’t have to stop to do anything and clean up is easier. She retorted with some smart-ass remark about how I never do that and it’s why the kitchen is always messy. Ahem.

With her station set up, she artfully crafted her packet, thinking out loud as to what takes the longest to cook with each addition.   

 

Each layer was seasoned with her favorite flavors and paprika “for color.” After getting all three fillets ready, each one was topped with two of the shrimp. I was given the duties of wrapping the packets tightly and placing them in the oven. As much as I trust Alora, she has unfortunately inherited my clumsiness.

After 15 minutes in the hot oven, we all gathered around the table and enjoyed our personalized parcels. The master of the kitchen herself was so pleased with the result that she almost immediately started pondering more meals to make in pouches.

You can practically see the wheels spinning….

I sure do love this girl.

Print Friendly

Hot Crab Dip

Posted on by
5

I’ve seen lots of different ways to make a crab dip; some served cold and others made with a roux base. Me? I’m a hot, cheesy, dip your crusty bread in it, crab dip kinda gal. It isn’t glamorous or anything special, but it is delicious.

There are two little “secrets” I use for making crab dip. Number one is to mix a more inexpensive crab meat completely in the dip, then fold the really good stuff in to leave the little jewels of lump crab whole. The other one? I use half plain cream cheese and the other half is this glorious cream cheese:

 

Dude, I said this isn’t glamorous.

For my dip, I also don’t go crazy with Old Bay or too much spice because I want the sweet flavor of the crab to shine. And I have to admit, I’ve made crab dip a couple hundred bajillion times, but this is the first time my daughter loved it – even asking if we could have dinner of dip one night. This has never happened so this time I knew I had to take notes!

If you look really close you can see my sweet polka dot dress and Bean under the chair looking for crumbs!

One more note – if you’re planning ahead, this tastes even better the next day. Perhaps next time I’ll set it up and bake it the next day to see how that works out.

Hot Crab Dip:

This serves 6-8 people as an appetizer or 1 Mike.

  • 8 oz. plain cream cheese
  • 8 oz. chive and onion cream cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay® Seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
  • 6 oz. non-lump crab meat
  • 8 oz. jumbo lump crab meat

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer (or elbow grease), combine the cream cheeses, mayonnaise and cheddar cheese thoroughly, making sure to stop and scrape down the bowl from time to time. Sprinkle in the Old bay, Worcestershire Sauce, horseradish and the 6 oz. of non-lump meat and mix until combined.

(Doing this before folding in the lump meat ensures there’s crab in every bite, with surprise morsels of the sweet lump meat throughout.)

Remove the paddle attachment and remove the bowl from the stand mixer, if using. With a silicone spatula, gently fold in the lump crab meat.

This is when you will empty the dip into a dish, only to realize it is too small – then transfer it into the dish that your mother-in-law-to-be sent over a few months back and you haven’t returned yet. Or, if you’re smart, empty the dish into an oven safe dish that can hold 4 or more cups.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Cook for 40 minutes, uncovering half way through, or until the top of the dish is golden brown and bubbly.

Let it rest for about 10 minutes so you don’t burn your mouth. Serve with crusty bread or if you’re feeling the need for some crunch, celery and carrots.

 




Print Friendly

Weekday Cioppino

Posted on by
7

Think about when you were eight years old; what was your favorite food? Mine was a tie between pizza & macaroni and cheese.

Okay, and perhaps to this day I still list pizza as one of my favorite foods, but it is now topped with fun cheeses, prosciutto, and lots of other malarkey if I feel like it. I’m an overgrown toddler. Whatever.

So this week when I excitedly said to my own nearly nine year old daughter, “Oooooh wanna have pizza for dinner?” and in return she said “Nah, can you make that seafood soup again,” I wasn’t sure whether to be proud or weep.

What kind of child chooses cioppino over pizza? Well, I reckon the same kind that put a laptop and a pink rifle on her birthday wish list.

Help me.

I chose to forge forward with a lazy version of cioppino. Quick enough for the middle of the week and it makes enough to feed an army. The funny thing was my seafood cost was $18…much less than a pizza delivery and we still got to use our hands and be messy.

What do you need?

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
  • pinch of red pepper flake
  • 1/2 cup of white wine
  • 8 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 lb. raw scallops, cut into quarters
  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 1 lb. raw tilapia fillets, cut into small bite sized pieces
  • 1/2 lb. raw shrimp, deveined and peeled
  • 20 mussels, cleaned and closed
  • two clusters of cooked Alaskan crab legs
  • 1/2 cup chopped basil
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper

In a large soup pot, melt the butter and oil over medium heat. Once the butter melts, add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and a little salt and pepper. Cook for another 3 minutes and add the wine. Continue to cook until the wine almost completely evaporates, about 4 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and tomato sauce. Increase the heat to medium, taste and season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and add the tomatoes, scallops, shrimp, fish and mussels. Cook for 5 minutes and add the crab claws to heat through for 2 additional minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the basil and parsley. Taste again for a final seasoning and adjust as needed.

Do not eat any mussels that do not open during cooking or mussels that are open prior to cooking. It means they’re defective and are not open to your love – and they want to kill you.

Serve with a big salad, a bowl for empty shells and a loaf of crusty bread to sop up any extra broth.

I’m so thankful my child is strange,
Adryon



Print Friendly

Addiction and Recipes with a Side of Shrimp Sandwiches

Posted on by
4

Photo Credit to Mike

 

They say the first step is admitting you have a problem – fine -  I’m a cookbook junkie. Like any other addict, I think about the next one I’ll get, hoarding money to get my fix. Enablers are everywhere, discarding barely opened books or giving them as gifts.

Sitting down with a good cookbook makes beautiful pictures in your mind, and you feel capable of confidently creating anything with your two hands. Suddenly making duck confit at midnight is a good idea.

I’m particularly fond of cook books where the author truly speaks to you as if they were standing beside you at the cutting board. The light conversation making even the simplest recipe necessary to make right away. Another way to grab my attention is to sometimes not list the measurements of ingredients, but rather present a overview with room to make it your own.

The sandwich in the picture above came from a loosely guided, no ingredient list givin’ recipe from Jamie Oliver’s Jaime’s Dinners (make them by the way!). Throw a handful of shrimp in a bowl with a tablespoon or so of mayonnaise that’s been kicked in the balls by basil and lemon and call it a day. Except I can’t let a good thing be and add my own spin – a splash of hot sauce, some of my favorite spices and extra black pepper…and to me that’s the whole point.

Recipes, (especially all that gross baking nonsense) when followed are gems and are generally worked to perfection. However that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for experimentation. To me that is the beauty of cooking – nothing is set in stone; there is always room for personalization. Hell, that thought process fuels my mothering when it comes to food: “Look through this and tell me if anything jumps out at you for dinner ideas. Remember, just look at the recipe and we can always take it out or substitute something else for it.”

If you’re not the most experienced home cook, peep a food blog, grab a cookbook or grab a food magazine – take something that sounds almost perfect and make it your family’s favorite. Coming from a girl who thought frozen pizza was gourmet 10 years ago….trust me. I think Eminem said it best when he said, and I quote: “Don’t be scared, ’cause there ain’t nothing to worry about.”

Yer’s Truwly -
Adryon

 


Print Friendly

Green Curry Coconut Mussels

Posted on by
2

 My daughter has a soft spot for mussels which will confuse me until the end of my days. The little woman can fight me over beans until my face turns blue but she’ll eat any shellfish with a feverish joy I can’t compare with any other food.

Her first experience with mussels was a traditional white whine/butter sauce and she was in heaven - but Alora’s love of curry made me push mussels a little further – but not so far that she’d be turned off by the idea. It’s all about balance.

Mothering is so fun!

Green Curry Coconut Mussels

  • 2 tablespoons high temperature resistant oil
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled but not  chopped
  • 1 one inch piece of ginger, peeled but not chopped
  • 2 tablespoons green curry paste
  • 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 2 1/2 pounds mussels, debearded and scrubbed
  • 2 tablespoons chopped Thai basil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add in the onions and garlic to cook for 2 minutes.  Add the curry paste, chicken stock, coconut milk, ginger, garlic and  lime juice and bring to a simmer. Add the mussels, cover the pot, and let steam until the mussels open.

Do not eat mussels that do not open during the cooking process. Them bisshes be nasty.

When finished and ready to serve, discard the chunks of garlic and ginger. Sprinkle the finished mussels with cilantro and Thai basil.

Eat the mussels and take shots of the coconut curry sauce out of the mussel shells.

I like you.

Love,
Adryon



Print Friendly

Spicy Bloody Mary Cocktail Sauce

Posted on by
4

I have a love/hate cycle with shrimp. When we’re friends, I resemble Bubba Gump naming things to throw more shrimp in. I will put them in everything and anything. Then when the anti-shrimp kicks in  I can’t even be bothered with eating even one shrimp or I’ll gag. However, I’m always a sucker for a good shrimp cocktail.To me they’ve always symbolized being a grown-up and I remember being very young, ordering one and reveling in how important I felt.

For an even more “grown” shrimp cocktail, I took the flavors of a bloody Mary and threw them in my usual cocktail sauce. The result was full of flavor, spice and something a little different from this common menu item.

Next time you have guests over, take a big batch of steamed and chilled shrimp and dip them in this! And while you have the vodka out, treat yourself too. *nudge nudge*

Ingredients:

  • (1) 8 0z. can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup tomato juice (I used V-8)
  • 4 teaspoons prepared horseradish
  • 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon vodka
  • salt and black pepper
  • celery salt (optional)

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Taste and add salt and black pepper to taste. If using, a little pinch of celery salt melds everything together nicely but it is not necessary. Allow to sit for at least 15 minutes.

Dip yo’ shrimp in it to win it!

With Love,
Adryon

 


Print Friendly

Deconstructed Sushi: Spicy Tuna

Posted on by
5

**Note: I got a little distracted while cooking the damn tuna steak. What started as a quick sear turned into cooking the darn thing almost all the way through. Please don’t be like me, people – keep hot guys out of the kitchen.**

I like to break things and food is no exception. Deconstructed food started in my home when my daughter was a toddler and wouldn’t eat food that had sauces or meals that were already put together. She liked to see the parts that made it whole rather than the food put together. Her plates were little piles of segregated food.

I’ve taken this process a little further here – taking apart a Spicy Tuna Roll and putting it back together in a new way: A bed of rice with toasted sesame seeds and nori strips and wasabi crusted tuna topped with spicy mayonnaise.

I’m so pleased with myself.

This will make a solid 4 servings.

Spicy Mayonnaise:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 hefty Tablespoons Srichia sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

Mix everything together in a bowl. Taste to see if it’s needs more or less spice and adjust as needed. Set aside until ready to serve.

Rice with Toasted Sesame Seeds and Nori:

  • 1 cup long-grain rice (white or brown)
  • 2 cups chicken stock or water
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
  • 2 Tablespoons shredded nori (I used Annie Chun’s Seaweed Snacks)

Bring your water or broth to a boil and salt if desired. Stir in rice, reduce heat, cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, lightly toast the sesame seeds in a small pan over low heat. Toss frequently so that they don’t burn. The color should be lightly golden brown.

When rice is ready, remove from heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork and stir in the sesame seeds and shredded nori.

Wasabi Crusted Tuna:

  • (4) 6 oz portions of Tuna Steak
  • 1/4 cup of flour for dredging
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon wasabi powder
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons oil

You’ll need three dishes to set up a breading station. One for flour, one for eggs, and one for panko.

Season the flour in it’s dish with a little salt and pepper. Use a fork to mix together.

In the second bowl, combine the eggs, soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of wasabi powder and a splash of water. Stir to combine to an even mixture.

In the third dish combine the panko, 1 tablespoon wasabi powder and a little black pepper.

Dip a tuna steak into the flour, then shake off the excess. Next, run the tuna through the egg mixture to coat it lightly. Let any excess fall back into the bowl. Finally, lay the tuna in the panko mix, turn it over and press it into the breading to coat. Lay on a wire rack or wax paper until ready to use. Continue this process for the remaining tuna steaks.

When everything is coated and ready, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and when hot, place the tuna into the pan and cook for approximately 2 minutes on each side. If your pan is smaller, you may have to do this in batches. The inside will be a dark purpley red and not cooked through like the picture up there, unless that’s what you’re into. *Smacks head*

Slice thinly and prepare to plate your busted sushi!

To plate, put a portion of rice on your plate and top with sliced seared tuna and drizzle with spicy mayonnaise. Sprinkle a little more sesame seeds and nori if you’re so inclined.

Enjoy!

 

 


Print Friendly