Appetizers
Crabcakes and Remoulade Sauce
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Please note: You should start on Remoulade first because it has to be refrigerated for 30 mins. Additionally, to help them “set” after cakes are combined and shaped, you will have to refrigerate for 30 mins. as well. If you’re looking for an even easier morning, shape and store crab cakes overnight in the fridge on baking sheets wrapped in plastic; fry just before serving.
Crab Cakes
Crab Cake Ingredients:
- unsalted butter
- olive oil
- 1 cup small-diced red onion (1 med. onion)
- 1 1/2 cups small-diced celery (4 stalks)
- 1 cup small-diced red bell pepper (1 small pepper)
- 1/3 cup small-diced yellow bell pepper (1 small pepper)
- 1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained
- 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1 lb jumbo lump crab meat (in the refrigerator bin in seafood dept.)
- 1 cup plain breadcrumbs (or panko, Japanese bread crumbs)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
- Juice of 1 lemon
Directions
Place 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of oil, the onion, celery, red and yellow bell peppers, parsley, capers, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay Seasoning, salt, and peppers in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat and cook until the vegetables are soft, approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Empty crab into a bowl by itself and gently check for shells. Add bread crumbs, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, and beaten eggs and toss lightly.
Add the cooled cooked veggies and mix well. (Whenever you’re working with raw eggs, you want to be sure to not scramble the eggs by adding them to anything hot) Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Shape into crab cakes, and try to be as uniformed in size as possible. Be sure they are not too big because you need to be able to flip them.
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the crab cakes and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until browned. Drain on paper towels; keep them warm in a 250 degree F oven and serve hot.
Makes 8 crab cakes
Note: I’ve also been able to freeze uncooked cakes separated with parchment paper and they came out fine the next weekend when I set them out for a few minutes to defrost and serve after church. It would be just as easy to sub out the crab (if you feel like being cheap or just like eating fish) with canned or smoked salmon as I did in the Ina’s Salmon Cakes post.
Remoulade
Remoulade Ingredients:
2 cups mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons capers, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
Several dashes hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup Chili sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tea. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tea. black pepper
OPT: 1 tablespoon chopped tarragon leaves (I used them because I had them but the sauce will be wonderful even without it!)
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
Superbowl Sunday’s Coming
0Although I HATE foosball, my husband (and seemingly a lot of other idiots, lol) loves the game. Incidentally, I have to cook for it and THAT, I don’t mind. Here are a few of his favorite Super Bowl Snacks:
Bourbon-Glazed Chicken Drumettes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced
- 1 cup bourbon, divided
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup hot pepper sauce (such as Crystal)
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 6 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
- 30 chicken drumettes* or drummette / wing combo (about 4 pounds)
- Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce (see recipe)
*A chicken drumette is the thick, meaty section of the chicken wing that resembles a drumstick.
Preparation
- Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup bourbon; boil until most of liquid is absorbed, 6 to 8 minutes. Whisk in 1/4 cup bourbon, ketchup, hot pepper sauce, tomato paste, and brown sugar. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season marinade with salt and pepper. Remove marinade from heat; cool to room temperature.
- Place chicken drumettes in 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour marinade over and turn drumettes to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Place cooling rack atop prepared baking sheet. Arrange drumettes on rack, spacing slightly apart. Spread any remaining marinade from dish over drumettes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake drumettes (still on cooling rack) until cooked through and brown in spots, about 45 minutes. Transfer drumettes to serving platter. Serve Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce (recipe below) alongside.
Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 ounces blue cheese (such as Maytag), finely crumbled (about 2 cups)
- 1 16-ounce container sour cream
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Preparation
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Whisk blue cheese crumbles, sour cream, and parsley in medium bowl until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl. DO AHEAD Dipping sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
Devil Eggs
12 Large eggs (Peeled and cut lengthwise)
Mayonnaise
Sweet Relish (Completely drained)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Red Pepper flakes
Please follow the steps to preparing hard-boiled eggs in the post How to Boil an egg. I cannot tell you exact measurements for the filling because it is a matter of preference. However, I can tell you exactly WHERE I’VE SEEN THIS DISH GO TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY WRONG…
1) Too wet!!
Possible Cause: Too much mayo. It is okay to start with a little and build. You cannot GO BACK but you can always add.
Possible Cause: Pickles not drained. The pickle juice can be overpowering for the sweet pickle. When I say drain, I mean to press the pickles as hard as you can against the wall of the colander to get all of the excess juice out.
2) Not enough pickle. You should have a good balance of sweet and savory with the egg filing. You should be able to SEE IT.
3) Too much salt. Again, balance. If I find that mine are a little too salty, I add more pickle. Start out with a 1/4 tea of salt and a 1/2 tea. of pepper to begin.
4) HOT. THEY SHOULD NEVER BE HOT. Please be careful when serving folks, keep them cool and everyone will be safe and they taste better that way.
5) Overcooked eggs. The egg whites become rubbery and the yolks are no longer yellow.
6) Visually unappealing. I think we solved some of the trouble in the cooking process in “Tips for Perfect Devil Eggs” article. However, as far as presentation, there are a few simple tricks for “pretty eggs”:
- Instead of spooning them, pipe them into the egg whites with a simple Ziploc bag. All you do is cut a hole large egg for the filing to pass and presto. Equally filled and decorated eggs. If you wanted, you could go as far as using a pastry bag and decorative tip. If I’m doing a party, I like to pipe them onsite. I carry the whites in a Tupperware and my Ziploc bag with the filing separately.
- make sure they don’t slide and can turn over. If you don’t have a dish with devil egg cavities, use leafy stuff like Romaine lettuce, cabbage (green and purple varieties), I’ve even seen dry beans used before.
- Go easy on the paprika and try to sprinkle it on evenly among the eggs. Too much and your vibrant red accent color becomes a brown downer. I also LOVE parsley for garnish (curly or flat leaf). It adds a special touch and you’ll see that I use it a lot (but mainly because they make you buy a huge bunch and I never have any other uses for it). I also like green onions or chives.
Everyone makes devil eggs but everyone doesn’t take the care to make them GREAT! Follow these tips and you’ll be adding eggs to the list of things they ask you to bring to every function. (Hey! I don’t mind…this is CHEAP!! It’s the Jumbo Lumpmeat Crab salad I hate being asked to make, lol)
T.G.I.F. Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded mozarella cheese
- 1/2 tea. garlic
- 1/8 tea. onion powder
- 10 oz. frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
- 8 oz. artichoke hearts broken apart
- chopped tomatoes (to garnish)
Preparation:
- Lightly cover the bottom of a casserole dish with cooking spray
- Combine all ingredients in bowl and pour into dish with the exception of the tomatoes.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. (Usually, I multiply this recipe by 4 and bake at 350 degrees for 50 – 65 minutes. Just make sure the cheese is melted)
- Garnish with tomatoes
- Serve immediately in a bread bowl or in a pretty dish with tortilla chips, toast points or bread of choice. Or, if it’s for a party, I like to put it in the crock pot to keep it hot.
