Eat Together, Make Life Delicious...

Eating together makes life more fun, enjoyable, dramatic, unpredictable, delicious, messy, happy, and worthwhile...

Friday, January 13, 2012

Fancy Panko-encrusted Crab Cake Sandwich: Not my grandmother’s Crab Cakes

I love eating traditional Maryland Crab Cake sandwiches, the ones I learned to make from my grandmother Edna. From time to time however, I like to take her base recipe and experiment to see how far I can push this tried and true dish to new places. On those occasions, I use panko instead of crushed crackers—it’s light and fluffy and enhances the succulent flavor of the crab; and I add a bunch of other flavorful ingredients such as caramelized onions, chives, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese and top it off with rolling the entire cake in panko which I spray with olive oil so it crisps up while baking. I plate the crab cake on a thick slice of toasted country bread, slathered in tartar sauce, two tomatoes slices and cilantro. Fancy panko-encrused crab cake sandwich is a fun departure from what I ate as a kid, yet the flavor isn't too different, so this sandwich still reminds me of weekends down at the shore and family gatherings. 
Fancy Panko-Encrusted Crab Cake Sandwich
Makes 6 3-oz crab cakes
for the crab cake:
¼ cup packed with sautéed caramelized onions, finely minced
1 tablespoon freshly chopped Chives
¾ teaspoon Lemon Zest
¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
½ cup loosely packed freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons Old Bay (yes!)
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 egg, whisked
¼ cup Panko, plus more for the crust
1 pound backfin Maryland crabmeat
for the sandwich:
12 toasted bread slices
12 tomato slices
tartar sauce
cilantro
In a large bowl combine the onions, chives, lemon, cayenne, Parmesan, old bay, mayonnaise, egg and mix until well combined. Add in the panko and mix again. Gently fold in the crabmeat and set aside in the refrigerator for 20 minutes so the flavors can meld. 
To prepare the crab cake, preheat the oven to 400F. Pour some panko into a wide shallow bowl. Scoop out 3 ounces of crab mixture and form it into a mound. Drop it into the shallow bowl and cover it completely with panko. Set it on a sheet pan and spray it with olive oil. Repeat until all the crab cakes are on the sheet pan. (These crab cakes are delicate and are best baked rather than fried, where they might fall apart because of the lack of filler.)
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. If the crust has not turned golden brown, remove the crab cakes and turn on the broiler. When it is hot, broil the crab cakes for 1 to 2 minutes or until golden.
Top the crab cakes on a piece of toast that has been slathered in tartar sauce, with the tomato slices, and cilantro. Serve with the second piece of toast to complete the sandwich.



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posted by Rebecca's blog at 8:24 AM

Friday, January 6, 2012

Tasty Chana Dal: chow down without guilt

This recipe was inspired by Jonny Bowden’s Red Lentil Dal. I cooked up the original several years ago and fell in love. Dal is a dish I can eat hot out of the pot or cold out of the refrigerator, to me it is just that good.
I love to mix up recipes a bit--make them fun and fresh again, so instead of using the traditional red lentil beans, I substituted in split chickpeas or Chana Dal*. The result was delectable. Over the course of a few days, I put chana dal on everything. It's great by itself and also incredible on toast, salad, dolloped on creamy corn soup, mixed with rice to add texture, served as a side with spicy fried fish, added to a grilled fajita wrap, served in a dipping bowl with baked cheesy nachos, well, just everything.
And apart from being super tasty, chana dal is very healthy so you can eat without any guilt. Go ahead and just chow down. It is an excellent source of protein and fiber. 
Chana Dal (Split Chickpea Dal)
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger (Store bought is great) 

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh garlic (Store bought is great) 

4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 cup dried Chana Dal, thoroughly rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 tablespoon clarified butter (ghee) 

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, washed, stemmed and coarsely chopped, plus more for garnish
1 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
sea salt
In a large stock pot over medium heat, slick the bottom of the pan with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the onions for 3 minutes. Lower the heat to low and add in the ginger and garlic for 2 minutes. Keep stirring to ensure it does not burn. Pour in the broth and add in the chana dal and turmeric. Raise the heat to medium high and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The consistency should start to become thick. If more broth is required, add it little by little.
In a separate small skillet heat the clarified butter over medium low heat and add in the cumin and cayenne pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
When the chana dal is al dente but feeling slightly tender, fold in the tomatoes and the clarified butter mixture into the dal and mix. Turn off the heat and fold in cilantro. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of freshly chopped cilantro and salt to taste.
*You might also find Split Chickpea under the name Split Garbanzos at a health food store. For health benefits, of Chana Dal, check out David Mendosa. http://www.mendosa.com/chanadal.html

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posted by Rebecca's blog at 8:00 PM

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Reinvent Yourself...in the Kitchen

Family meal is the foundation to a happy and healthy family. Leading studies have shown that a family that eats together at least 5 times a week is more prosperous and happy. When I first started cooking up family meal with kids many years ago, I'll admit, there were times that I was downright bored. I kept finding myself making the same exact dishes, I was uninspired; I wasn't enjoying cooking. So, one night over a meal, I announced I was going to take all of the family's favorite recipes, the ones I found myself cooking up over and over, and reinvent them by adding some kind of special twist. I was also going to start cooking completely new dishes. Not surprisingly the table erupted in cheers. "Thank goodness Mom!" Wow, they were bored too. Cooking completely new meals for 5 people sounds easy, right? Well at first it was easy, but then it got hard. I found myself racking my brain to keep expanding my cooking repertoire: I forced myself to scour the internet in search of new recipes while also reinventing every classic dish I had ever tasted. After several weeks of cooking up new dishes and reinventing favorites, I started feeling real freedom in the kitchen--what's more, I was having fun. I looked forward to cooking and that happiness was infused into the food. Everyone was gobbling up what I was cooking and enjoying family meal together in a way that was new. We weren't just eating together, we were sharing something special. And it all boiled down to me reinventing myself. I was the key to the entire household, the kitchen, the food, everything. I couldn't be lazy. I had to take everything seriously and relish what I was doing. Once I figured that out, family meal and life has been a whole heck of a lot tastier. 

A Fun Meal to Reinvent
Meatballs are perfect candidate for reinvention because you really can give a meatball its own personality by doing something simple, such as adding different seasonings or mincing toasted pinenuts and marinated olives or doing something complex like stuffing it with mozzarella cheese. As long as you stick to the basic recipe, you can add delicious variations to make your meatballs even more memorable for family and friends. And for you, most importantly, it will make it a lot more fun and adventurous.
Basic Meatball Recipe
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs (preferably from an Italian store)
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1 large egg, beaten
1 fresh garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon salt
pinch Italian Seasoning
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for the table
Add that something special (cubed mozzarella for stuffing, 1/2 cup chopped caramelized onions, 1/4 cup minced toasted pinenuts and marinated olives, or whatever you can dream up)
1/2 pound ground beef (80/20)
1/2 pound ground pork
olive oil to spray or fry meatballs
Place the breadcrumbs in a small bowl and cover it with the chicken broth. Let it sit until the breadcrumbs have soaked up the liquid. Transfer the breadcrumbs into a large bowl squeezing out any excess chicken broth. Discard the extra chicken broth. In the large bowl combine the egg, garlic, salt, parsley, cheese, and that something special if you want to reinvent this dish, and mix until well combined. Add in the beef and combine again until the mixture is well blended but not overblended. Form into 1.5 to 2 oz meatballs. To Fry, add enough olive oil to generously coat a large skillet and fry the meatballs on medium heat until golden brown. To Bake, preheat the oven to 375F and place the meatballs on a sheet plan. Spray or brush with olive oil and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Place the cooked meatballs in sauce and let them steep for 20 minutes before serving.



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posted by Rebecca's blog at 9:04 PM