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Delicious crab cakes

December 29, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

A traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner is comprised of numerous courses of fish. It was a sin, way back, to eat meat on Christmas Eve and many folks fasted all day too.

However, my brother David was born on Christmas Eve so things got all catawampus at our house. David is the second oldest, was born with no name in mind. The story goes that after attending midnight mass, my father went back to the hospital and said he had to be named David, as that was the most mentioned name in the entire service.

Then I moved to New York and every Jewish person I met was totally surprised that our Catholic family had a son named David! Oy vey!

Well David and his brood (7 kids and 10 grandchildren with 2 more on the way) still live in St. Louis. So all of us on the East coast could go back to a more traditional meal, rather than his birthday request.

Here is what I served for this year.

Appetizers:
Taramusalata with red pepper and celery sticks
Greek cheese & aged Gouda with Breton crackers
Beautiful bunch of grapes

Dinner:
Crab cakes on a bed of Boston lettuce with chipotle mayonnaise and 1/2 slice of warm homemade Polish bread just out of the oven.
Steamed whole striped bass with ginger and lemon
Fennel salad
Coarse bulgar with olive oil and parsley
Oven roasted plum tomatoes with oregano

Dessert:
Christmas cookies, of course!

David’s wife, Pat, requested the crab cake recipe. This is from Preston Clark at Food and Wine magazine and it is the best crab cake recipe I have found so far. Now my husband is from Baltimore, so this is a big deal. Baltimoreans know their crab and they serve up the BEST jumbo lump crab cakes. A fine restaurant there will never use a lot or maybe any breading, but then I could never figure out how they got them to hold together because every time I would try to replicate their recipes, they would taste good, but look terrible as they always fell apart.

This recipe uses another fish as a binding – it’s genius! Fresh and full of flavor with the jalapeños and scallions, and crispy on the outside, you will love these. And they hold together nicely.

Crab cake on a Boston lettuce leaf with organic watercress and chipotle mayo

Here you go!

CRISP CRAB CAKES WITH CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE – ADAPTED FROM PRESTON CLARK
-serves 8 as a first course or 4 as a main

Crab Cakes
1/4 – 1/2 lb. skinless flounder fillet, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 scallions, thinly sliced
3 jalapeños, seeded and minced
3 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbs. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 lb. lump or jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells, lay out on a paper towel and pat dry on top
1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
Pure olive oil, for frying (I think I might try canola or peanut next time to get it at a higher temperature.)

Chipotle Mayonnaise
This makes a lot and all is not necessary for the crab cakes, but you can use leftovers for other meat sandwiches, especially turkey would be good
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 chipotle chile in adobo, seeded and minced (or leave the seeds in if you like it spicey – I did)
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper

To make the cakes:
In a mini food processor, puree the fish. A small fillet is about 8 oz and my fishmonger wouldn’t sell any less so I used the whole 1/2 lb. and pureed it in two batches. Transfer the pureed fish to a large bowl and add the scallions, jalapeños, lemon juice, parsley, cayenne, salt, pepper and mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the crabmeat. Form the mixture into 8 cakes. Place the panko in a pie plate and gently coat the cakes with the panko and refrigerate for 30 minutes. It is important to refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes, so you can handle them and they hold their shape when frying.

To make the mayonnaise:
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, chipotle, lemon juice, Old Bay and mustard and season with salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate.

To fry the cakes:
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook over moderate heat until browned and heated through, about 3 minutes per side. Use 2 skillets or do 2 batches as 4 at a time is enough.

To serve:
I served the crab cakes on a bed of one Boston lettuce leaf topped with watercress with a dab of the chipotle mayonnaise. Squeeze a tiny bit of fresh lemon juice on the outside rim of the lettuce, before placing on the crab cake, then put on your dab of mayonnaise.

So pretty. So fresh. So good!!

Covered bread

Homemade Polish bread on a white napkin.

Homemade Polish bread – the slight sweetness of this bread offset the spiciness of the crab cake with chipotle mayo – yummy!

A very special day.

November 27, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

Yesterday was my birthday and as has become a tradition from my husband and sons, I am to stay out of the kitchen the whole day and only do what I want. Pretty special! So I slept late, went for long bike ride, chatted with an old friend (actually my second employee who never forgets my birthday after all these years) from San Francisco and then some of us went to the movies to see J. Edgar.

Zach and his Polish girlfriend, Agata, made breakfast and lunch, while my husband and my eldest son made dinner. Breakfast and lunch were surprises to me while the dinner menu was my request. All were amazing!!

Homemade Polish bread on a wooden cutting board.

Polish homemade bread

We have a bread recipe in our family from my grandmother that I usually make on each holiday. Since we were all spending Thanksgiving at my brother, Steve’s house in CT, Agata volunteered to make the bread. Yipee!! This is a yeast number with 2 risings and takes about 6 hours. So it was a treat to have someone else offer to make it! The most interesting thing is that her family has a really similar recipe to ours and she made a few modifications to match ours exactly, as she had tasted my bread last Christmas. Nowhere else have we ever run into this! Most people think of babka or some form of that when you say Polish bread but this is a slightly cakey, eggy version and she said we do it a little sweeter than her family.

Polish vegetable and cheese salad in a blue and white bowl.

Polish vegetable/cheese salad

She did a beautiful job!! See the photo – light, airy and just the right texture. So for breakfast she made us all a breakfast her grandmother used to make for her! Egg salad (with Tom and Ethel’s delicious farm fresh eggs) and another dish that is a mixture of fresh peeled cucumbers, Farmer’s cheese, creme fraiche, tomatoes, garlic and chives. For each bite, we put a spoonful of either one on a piece of toasted homemade bread, and it was yummy! Creamy, light, refreshing and different! All things I LOVE!

Creamy egg salad

Right after breakfast, Agata got to work on lunch. From scratch, she made nearly 70 pierogis! They were delicious. They were stuffed with a mixture of sautéed onion, mashed potatoes and Farmers cheese and then topped with a light sauce of onions and bacon. Served with a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc and we were all happy campers!! Just delicious!

A pierogi lunch!

So for dinner, our oldest son made me a terrific Rob Roy straight up. It is one of my favorite cocktails, right up there with a Tanqueray 10 straight up martini. A Rob Roy is essentially a slightly sweet Manhattan made with either Scotch or better yet, choose a single malt, like Oban. Add a lemon twist and I am set!

This drink, besides being delicious, always brings back fond memories of the first time I had it. It was at the Windows on the World restaurant at a special event for World Trade Club Members. This was the storied restaurant on top of the World Trade Center. We were doing marketing work for the private club, dealing with the legendary Joe Baum, and they were holding this single malt scotch tasting for club members and we were invited. It was like an accelerated wine tasting. You can get pretty loopy pretty fast and our host was from Scotland, enjoying every moment and Jules, our client, insisted I try this Rob Roy. It was a match for me! You should try it.

Zach, Agata and I played Bananagrams in front of the fire while dinner was being prepared. Because it was my birthday, they let me get away with “luvv” (I kept on getting those darn v’s) and “eazy”. It’s good to be the birthday girl!

I still didn’t win!

But I digress – on to dinner. We started with fresh shrimp sautéed in hot pepper, parsley, garlic, and olive oil, served with warm crusty French bread for dipping in and scooping up every last drop of the delicious olive oil, served with a ’97 San Marco from Tuscany – a beautiful Tuscan red.

Dinner was Chicken Scarpariello served with sides of spaghetti squash with a fresh tomato garlic sauce and oven roasted Brussels sprouts tossed with blue cheese. It was fantastic!! Wine was a Portuguese 2007 red from this wine store we recently found on the Upper East side. Check out Park East Wines and Spirits on York Avenue at 87^th St. Tom Anderer is the Manager and very helpful. He is a certified sommelier.

Dessert was a lovely cheese plate complete with Medjool dates, Golden Delicious apple wedges and toasted walnuts.

Quite a feast! All so wonderful!

Tonight we’re having homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches – a break from the richness of the past 3 days. I hope your holiday weekend was also filled with wonderful family times and scrumptious food!

A fantastic first course!

October 28, 2011 by Mary Frances 5 Comments

This is just so good! Easy and healthy too. Now you could ask your fish monger to do the cleaning but the last time I did that at Stew Leonard’s, he just made a mangled mess out of the cute little fish. My regular fish monger, the wonderful guys at Sea Breeze on 9th Ave and 40th St., won’t clean or filet them because they are just too small. But it’s so easy to do it yourself! So toughen your stomach and get going!

GRILLED SARDINES
– serves 2 as a first course

4 whole sardines
4 thin slices of lemon, each cut in half
4 – 8 fresh thyme sprigs
olive oil
salt
pepper

Light a grill or preheat your broiler on high.

Start with freshest whole sardines with clear eyes. Wash each fish and with a sharp knife (always have your knives sharp), carefully slit the underside of the fish to remove the guts. You will be cutting 2/3’s of the way down the fish from under the head and not all the way to the tail and you’ll be cutting a tiny bit more that halfway into the fish’s body. Do this under running water and grab the innards out with your fingers and get the inside thoroughly clean. Pat thoroughly dry with a paper towel, inside and out. Rub olive oil on the outside of each fish, sprinkle with salt and pepper on one side, then sprinkle salt and pepper on the plate you’re going to use and place the unseasoned side of the oiled fish on the plate and rub around to salt and pepper the bottom side. (Isn’t that a neat trick? I learned this at a cooking class/birthday party for my friend Deb at a fancy restaurant.) Cut each lemon slice in half and place in the cavity of the fish along with a spring or two of fresh thyme.

Grill or broil for approximately 2 minutes on each side. They’re ready when the tip of a knife flakes the thickest part easily, and the outside is nicely browned and crispy.

Filet the fish as you eat and enjoy!! Fish are actually more flavorful when cooked with the bones in. These are yummy! You can serve with more fresh lemon but we think using the juices from the grilled lemon is enough.

Easy Friday night shrimp salad

October 1, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

This is something I threw together last evening and it was great!! I love warm cooking juices on a chilled lettuce salad, and you don’t feel stuffed after this dinner. It is clean and light – much better for you. We served it with a chilled White Bordeaux and it was very good, but a Vouvray or Sauvignon Blanc might be better.

EASY FRIDAY NIGHT SHRIMP SALAD – serves 2
5 large green leaf lettuce leaves
10 small hearts of romaine lettuce leaves
3 small patty pan squash, cut in chunks
1 medium onion, sliced in 1/4 “ slices, cut in half
3 tbs. olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 – 1/4 “ slice of pancetta, cut in 1/8” squares
2 dried red chili peppers, minced with seeds, no stem
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 – 16 oz. can cannellini beans, drained
1 lb. large shrimp, shelled and de-veined, preferable with the tails on
2 small green zebra tomatoes, quartered
1 small red heirloom tomato, cut in eighths

SALAD DRESSING
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbs. red wine vinegar
French grey salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk together mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Slowly add olive oil by droplets and whisk until emulsified.

Wash, spin dry, and chill all the lettuce leaves. Tear into bite size pieces.

Warm 1.5 tbs. olive oil in a skillet, add onions, cover and let sweat on low heat for 15 – 20 minutes. Uncover and raise heat to medium, add squash. Toss and cook until crisp tender. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Wash (at least 3 times) and pat dry shrimp. Salt and pepper one side

Meanwhile, in another skillet, warm remaining 1.5 tbs. of olive oil, add garlic and sauté on low heat for 5 minutes. Add diced pancetta and cook for 10 minutes or so. Raise heat to medium, add white wine and chili peppers. Let wine cook down by one-half, add drained beans and cook for 3 minutes. Add shrimp and toss until pink on both sides. Remove from heat.

Divide lettuce up on 2 dinner plates, spoon out squash and onion mixture on top. Top with shrimp and bean mixture. Arrange tomatoes in a circular fashion on top, drizzle on salad dressing and serve immediately. You may not use all of the shrimp and bean mixture or salad dressing. I didn’t. They make great leftovers and you will use them later.

What to do?

September 14, 2011 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

I had a craving for some gnocchi. The weather is getting cooler and gnocchi is so warm and comforting – yummy. So that’s what I wanted for dinner and I knew we should have fish – too much meat already this week. So I ask my husband what he feels like eating and he says, “Well shrimp is always good.” He loves shrimp

Hmmmm, I ‘m thinking, Shrimp and gnocchi? I was intending something more like salmon with gnocchi as a side dish. And then I have these snowpeas that need to be used. So here’s what I did.

Everyone LOVED it!

I hope you like it too.

GNOCCHI WITH SHRIMP & SNOWPEAS
1 tbs. olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 large leeks, white and very light green parts only, thoroughly washed and cleaned (slice in half lengthwise and wash all layers, then thinly slice half circles
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1 Thai red chili pepper minced with seeds
½ large red pepper cut in thin long strips and then cut in half again, OR: use the 3 tops left over from your stuffed peppers
¼ cup dry vermouth
12 oz. snowpeas, cleaned
11/2 lb. large shrimp, peeled & deveined with tails left on
1 lb. gnocchi
2 tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Set a large pot of salted water on to boil for the gnocchi. Use coarse sea salt for the water.

Warm the olive oil on low heat, add leeks and garlic, cover and sweat for 10 – 12 minutes. The onion and garlic will get sweet and soft, stir every once in a while to make sure it doesn’t brown. Raise heat to medium and add vermouth and let bubble for 1 – 2 minutes, then add tomatoes and red pepper and let cook for 10 more minutes while you wash your shrimp (3 times), dry and salt and pepper one side. Add cleaned snow peas and sauté for 3 – 5 minutes, then add shrimp and toss and cook until just done and they have turned pink, about 3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste Meanwhile, cook your gnocchi in the boiling water, drain. Combine with shrimp mixture, garnish with chopped parsley.

Now I know the next night I want to make my version of a Mark Bittman recipe of pasta with a Tuscan duck sauce, but the duck takes 1.5 hours to cook so I decide to buy the duck and cook it tonight while I’m cooking this dinner and it’s easy. You just need to plan it.

Trim all the visible fat from 3 duck legs and thighs. Wash and pat dry. Put them skin side down in a non-stick skillet and turn heat to medium. When they start to sizzle, cover and turn heat to low for 60 -65 minutes, or until skin is crisp. Check every so often to make sure they are not burning. When skin is crisp, turn over and cook, covered for another 20 – 25 minutes or so, until very tender. Remove duck, cool and refrigerate. Scrape cooled duck fat into another container and refrigerate.

I forgot the pancetta!

September 8, 2011 by Mary Frances 1 Comment

So last night I made this fantastic dinner. I love one dish meals for a weeknight – so simple and neat. I bought the pound and a half of shrimp, texted Zach as to what time he’d be home and it turns out he’s going to his brother’s apartment in Williamsburg for dinner and they are having over Jen – their nanny! And I didn’t even know about it. How sweet is that!? And here I bought the shrimp specifically for Zach, as he had been talking about shrimp for dinner – he was craving. Go figure! But he enjoyed the leftovers when he got home at midnight.

ORECCHIETTE WITH SHRIMP AND BROCCOLI RABE
Serves 4

Trim the ends off, wash and chop the broccoli rabe into 2″ size pieces. Make sure no yellow flowers have bloomed. If they have, remove them and NEVER buy a head with bloomed flowers as they are really really bitter. Now put all the rabe in a large pot and cover with 2″ of cold water over the top. Salt the water and rabe with coarse sea salt, stir and put the pot on high heat. When little boiling bubbles start to form around the edge of the pot, remove from heat, drain and immerse in an ice cube bath of water to stop the cooking. When cold, drain thoroughly, spin (in your lettuce spinner) and then pat dry.

Warm 2 tbs. olive oil in a large skillet, add 7 (yes seven) cloves of minced garlic, one-half of medium-sized red onion, sliced on a hand mandoline. Saute all on low heat for 10 minutes to soften and get all melty. I would typically add the 1/4″ cubes of pancetta here, from one 1/4″ slice – but I forgot!

Fill the pot you cooked the broccoli rabe in with water to cook the orrecchiette. Salt with coarse sea salt and bring to a rolling boil. Cook the pasta 1- 2 minutes less than the minimum time on the package directions. Taste to be sure it is al dente properly. Save a half of a coffee cup of pasta water before draining, just in case you need a little moisture in your finished dish. (My boys always tease me about this as I often never use it – but just in case!)

Meanwhile, wash and dry 1.5 lbs of shrimp, cleaned and shelled but tails left on and salt and pepper one side of each. Add 1 seeded and minced habanero pepper and 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the garlic and onion mixture and saute for 2 minutes more. Raise your heat and add the broccoli rabe, saute for 2 minutes and then add the shrimp plus 1/2 cup dry Vermouth and cook until the shrimp are pink on both sides. When done remove from heat.

Put the cooked pasta in a large bowl, pour on shrimp mixture and add 1/2 cup of grated Romano cheese (don’t tell the Italians as they would NEVER put cheese on a fish dish, but here it is great and adds a little natural saltiness) and toss. To finish, drizzle on 2 tbs olive oil and sprinkle 1/4 cup of chopped fresh mint.

Let me know how you like this!

(Can you believe I forgot the pancetta?)