Meat

Crab Cakes with Spicy Mustard Sauce

I’ve never been a shell-fish person but once I started eating meat again after being a vegetarian, I kept trying crab cakes thinking I would learn to like them.  But I always found them too fishy.  Then three summers ago, I attended War By The Shore, an annual boiled-crab-versus-steamed-crab battle held by two friends (one from Mississippi, one from Maryland – see more details about the battle here) where a side crab cake battle took place.  Plates of crab cakes ended up on every table at every corner and I tried cake after cake.  After that fun-filled day three Junes ago, I officially became a crab cake person and now it’s something that I order often when I’m at a restaurant.  I’ve been tucking away different crab cake recipe and tossed away any fear I had of making my own in order to make these Crab Cakes with Spicy Mustard Sauce.

Crab meat is tossed with panko, red pepper, scallions, a little mayonnaise and eggs and shaped into patties before being dredged in a light layer of additional panko.  They are then fried in a pan with the teeniest bit of oil until golden brown and warmed through.  The sauce is both light and spicy and provides a nice creamy element to these crab cakes.  I used whole-wheat panko which worked out fine but I think regular would have turned out better.  I also think using two whole eggs instead of one egg and one egg white might have made the crab meat stay together better.  The pan gets really hot so I suggest keeping the heat closer to medium than medium-high.  Only about 2 or 3 of my finished crab cakes looked presentable because the rest either fell apart or I nearly burned them.  And I was so concerned about making sure my smoke alarm didn’t go off from all of the smoke from the pan that I didn’t get a picture of the cakes cooking.  Oh well, you get the gist.  Regardless, I ate every single one of these cakes for lunch and dinner over a couple of days.  I loved them.  They are light on the filler, just the way you want crab cakes to be.  I’m so glad I’m a crab cake fan now…but I’ve got a long way to go before I start handling crab legs!!

The ingredients:

Combine red pepper, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, scallions and eggs in a large bowl.

Add 1/3 cup panko and crab; toss gently.

Divide crab mixture into 8 equal portions; shape each into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Place remaining panko in a shallow dish. Gently dredge patties in panko.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add half of the oil to the pan and add 4 crab cakes to pan.  Cook 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and crab cakes.

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, parsley, Dijon, white wine vinegar and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.

Serve sauce with crab cakes.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Whole-wheat panko
  • Light mayonnaise

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Rum-Marinated Chicken Breasts with Pineapple Relish

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I spent the weekend laying low, only going to dinner and a movie on Friday night with friends and spending the rest of my time engrossed in a new novel while watching either Food Network or reruns of various Bourne movies.  That’s pretty much how I roll.  Oh, and I made food.  Like usual.  Again, that’s how I roll.  I usually scan the grocery store circulars to see what’s on sale before I decide what to make but this week, I decided to make what I was in the mood for.  I sucked up the fact that chicken is ridiculously expensive in order to make Rum-Marinated Chicken Breasts with Pineapple Relish, a light chicken dish filled with vibrant tropical flavors.

Chicken breasts are marinated in a mixture of dark rum, barbecue sauce, Caribbean hot sauce and lime juice before being grilled to perfection and topped off with a golden relish of fresh pineapple and red pepper.  Never had Caribbean hot sauce?  I’m no stranger to Pickapeppa Sauce (a condiment made of tomatoes, mangoes, raisins and peppers, among other things) which was introduced to me by my old roommate who would pour half a bottle over cream cheese and smear it over Triscuits.  True story.  There was never a shortage of Pickapeppa in my apartment.  But I digress.  The rum marinade perfectly tenderizes the chicken and is then boiled to create a rich, silky sauce.  The golden relish is tangy, slightly sweet, tart and a tasty complement to the chicken.  Not a fan of pineapple’s acidity?  Consider substituting any summer fruit, like mango, peach or nectarine.  This is a chicken dish that I could eat, in any variation, nearly every day.  

The ingredients (disregard the honey, my bad):

Combine dark rum, barbecue sauce, Pickapeppa sauce, lime juice, salt and vegetable oil in large zip-top plastic bag.  Add chicken to the bag and seal, allowing chicken to marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

To prepare relish, place pineapple on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill 3 minutes on each side or until soft and browned around the edge.  Allow to cool slightly and chop. 

Combine pineapple, bell pepper, lime rind, lime juice, dark rum, Pickapeppa sauce and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Remove the chicken from the bag and set aside.  Reserve marinade, discarding any chicken bits remaining and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Set aside.  Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill until chicken is cooked to 165ºF.  (Remove and discard skin if using bone-in chicken.)

Bring reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan and cook 1 minute.  Drizzle cooked marinade over chicken.

Serve chicken with relish and lime wedges.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Boneless chicken breasts

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Club Burgers with Avocado-Ranch Dressing

I love a good turkey burger but I admit that I like restaurant turkey burgers much better than I like homemade ones.  Probably because when I make turkey burgers, I use the leanest turkey meat I can find while restaurant turkey burgers probably have as much fat and calories (i.e. flavor) than any beef burger.  They just always taste better.  But I do like to experiment with homemade turkey burgers from time to time and if you know me, I’m no stranger to using ground turkey in place of ground beef in any recipe.  This recipe for Club Burgers with Avocado-Ranch Dressing already used ground turkey so I didn’t worry about my burgers being dry.  At least I didn’t hope so.

Ground turkey (I used 93% fat free as opposed to 99% fat free which can be so dry as burgers) is simply mixed with grated onion, poultry seasoning and hot sauce to create a spicy, flavorful burger which is topped with a creamy, avocado sauce.  Fresh dill, parsley and chives give the sauce a real bright punch of flavor which quietly balances out the heat from the hot sauce in the burger.  I think I was supposed to add bacon to the turkey burgers before cooking them but I didn’t and used it as a topping.  Oops.  Maybe that’s why these aren’t the best turkey burgers I’ve ever had but topped with a tomato slice, baby spinach and turkey bacon, they satisfied my burger craving and got me in the mood for the 4th.  I hope everyone is out enjoying their holiday, hopefully with a burger in one hand and beer in the other, watching or anticipating the fireworks.  Happy Independence Day!

Tired of the heat?  Tomorrow, I’ll have a yummy, cold milkshake for you!

The ingredients:

Prepare bacon.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, grated onion, hot sauce, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.  Add the cooked bacon, and mix to form 4 burgers or 8 sliders. 

Cook on the grill or griddle, turning once, until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.

While the burgers cook, combine avocado, sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, chives, dill and parsley with a fork or process in a food processor.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Toast your preferred bread or bun in a toaster or broiler and top with burgers, lettuce, tomatoes and avocado-ranch dressing.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Turkey bacon
  • Baby spinach
  • Fat-free sour cream
  • Whole-wheat buns

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine

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