Crab without a "K"

I am following through on my promise to myself to expand the range of foods I make. This was greatly helped by a spontaneous trip to Whole Foods on Sunday. From the moment I walked in the door I was amazed by the amount of healthy food that is available. It seems like a challenge so often to expand the types of foods we eat and I think I am realizing it may be partly due to the places we shop. Don't get me wrong, I love Publix and there is no way I could afford Whole Foods on a weekly basis, but I think that more trips to Whole foods along with our regular shopping might make all the difference.
I have always like radishes and have not been able to find them at our grocery store or at the farmer's market. Of course, Whole Foods had them. I got a bunch of fresh radishes and decided to make radish salad. This was defiantly a successful new food venture. Recipe to follow.

Another area Raymond and I have been exploring is sea food. Snow Crab went on sale and we decided it was time to branch into the world of crab. For me the crab I am a custom to is usually the "krab" that you get in sushi. While that is delicious, it is not in fact crab. We got whole Snow Crab clusters so there is no doubt it was Crab! This being my first time making crab I got a little distracted and forgot to take any pictures of the cooking process. Then once we were eating it was so messy I didn't want to touch my phone. So not many pictures this time around. But my guess is that most people know what a big pot of boiling water and a crab claw looks like anyway...

Finally, I have been hearing all about quinoa lately so I decided to give it a try. It remind me of a soft rice and had nice rich flavor. For fun we also bought black lentils or the "caviar of lentils". I love lentils and decided to give the black ones a try.

Radish Salad

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons apple cider
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bunch (about 7-10) radishes, trimmed and each cut into slices
• 2 cups arugala leaves
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

Directions

In a large bowl whisk together the cider, orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Taste and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the radish slices and red onion. Toss gently and refrigerate for at least an hour making sure to toss the salad midway through its ride in the refrigerator.Toss the radish mixure with the arugela and serve cold or at room temperature.

Snow Crab Clusters



You will need a large steam pot for this.

Ingredients

• One Crab Cluster per person
• 1 Lemon
• 2 Tbs Old Bay Seasoning
• 2 Garlic cloves

Directions
Fill your pot with water just enough so that when boiling it only creates steam in the basket and does not boil the crab. Juice and dice the lemon into the water and add all other ingredients. Bring the water to a boil and then add the crab in the steam basket and top with a lid. Steam for 5-7 minutes depending on the size of your clusters. You may need to work in batches and replenish your water in between.

I served this with some melted butter infused with garlic and a tsp of old bay seasoning.

Quinoa and Lentils

Okay, for this I didn't exactly follow a recipe. I prepared the quinoa and lentils as directed on the package based on the amount I wanted (which is not much because there is only two of us). From there I dressed both the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, olive oil and pepper. I then topped it with a little bit of Parmesan cheese (weird I know, but I had it on hand and figured it wouldn't hurt). I did this to taste so no measurements to share on this one. I plan on using quinoa more in the future so I will be better next time about measuring.

This was not part of my crab meal, I actually served this as a side dish to fish along with some boc choy sauteed in soy and ginger. I just wanted to share my new food exploration.

Enjoy!

Fleur de Sel Caramels

For the past week I have had no light in my kitchen...which puts a pretty big damper on cooking. I rent an older condo that is big and I pay very little for, unfortunately that means things break quite often. So this week not much to report on the cooking front. I made some quick easy meals I could make by camping lantern light.

Today was the first day I have been at home AND had light. I thought I would make the best of it by making something I have always wanted to make, salted caramels.

Today for the first time I made Fleur de Sel caramels and they turned out (almost) perfect :) Fleur de Sel is a specialty salt I got from a local spice shop, Green Man Gourmet. Green Man is one of my favorite local shops in Jacksonville and I am there all the time.

I followed Ina Garten's recipe and for me 248 degrees was not high enough. I should have gone to probably 250 or a little more. My caramels were a little too soft, but still very good.

 

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon fine fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Prep the pan.

Line an 8-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper, allowing it to drape over 2 sides, then brush the paper lightly with oil.
Boil the sugar.
In a deep saucepan (6 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches deep), combine 1/4 cup water, the sugar and corn syrup and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown. Don't stir -- just swirl the pan.
Heat the cream.
In the meantime, in a small pot, bring the cream, butter and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Finish the caramel.
When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture. Be careful -- it will bubble up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer.
Fill the pan.
Very carefully (it's hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until firm.
Cut the caramel.
When the caramel is cold, pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the square in half.
Roll it up.
Starting with a long side, roll the caramel up tightly into an 8-inch-long log.
Cut into pieces.
Sprinkle the log with fleur de sel, trim the ends and cut into 8 pieces. (Start by cutting the log in half, then continue cutting each piece in half until you have 8 equal pieces.) It's easier to cut the caramels if you brush the knife with flavorless oil like corn oil.
Wrap the candies.
Cut glassine or parchment paper into 4-by-5-inch pieces and wrap each caramel individually, twisting the ends. Store in the refrigerator and serve the caramels chilled.

Lobster Mac N Cheese

I first started this blog to get myself to branch out when cooking. So far I have not being doing a good job of shaking things up...but this week things are changing!

Yesterday, Raymond and I did our weekly shopping trip and decided we would fill our cart with new, fresh, and healthy items. We wanted to focus our exploration around fruits, veggies, and seafood. After a good hour in the grocery store we had gone from plan A- "Try New Everything", to plan B- "Work with What You Can Find" and then finally plan C- "Here is what the store actually carries and we can afford".

We had planned on leaving the store with two lobster tails and two crab clusters. Instead we ended up with one lobster tail and a big piece of salmon. More affordable but still delicious. So what do you do with one lobster tail? Lobster mac and cheese!

To prep the lobster:

I boiled the lobster tail until the meat was just cooked (5 mintues) and then let it cool on the cutting board. From there I used kitchen scissors to cut along the back of the shell down the middle. After that I pulled the shell off of the meat using a butter knife and my husbands helping hands. It pulled away easily after the butter knife loosened the meat from the shell.

From there I followed the lovely Ina Garten's recipe with a few changes. The first being, I cut this recipe in half and still had tons left over. The recipe below calls for a large amount of lobster so you be the judge how much you want to prepare.

I put my changes below in blue.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• Vegetable oil
• 1 pound cavatappi or elbow macaroni ( I used mini shells)
• 1 quart milk (1pt)
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided (4 tbs)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (1/4 cup)
• 12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups) (I used 2 cups sharp cheddar)
• 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups) (I used 3/4 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (1/4 tsp)
• 1 1/2 pounds cooked lobster meat (1/2 lb)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed) (1/2 cup)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and lobster and stir well. Place the mixture in 6 to 8 individual gratin dishes.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Enjoy!

What to do with all of those easter eggs....

Though I may be 25, I am not to old to dye Easter eggs. I have been doing it for as long as I can remember...so why stop now? I boiled, dyed and decorated my eggs and was happy with an Easter morning well spent. It did leave me with one dilemma...what to do with all of those hard boiled eggs? All they really need is a dash of salt and they are great by themselves, but where is the fun in that?

So being a true southern girl, I deviled them.

Since I always spend Easter with my mother I brought the eggs to her house to devil. Unfortunately for this blog, my mother is a southern cook and does not believe in things like measuring cups...so just bear with me on that.

What you will need

1 dozen hard boiled eggs
2 Tbs yellow mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs dill relish
dash of Cayenne pepper
Pepper to taste


Peel and rinse each boiled egg. Split the eggs length wise, remove the yolks and place them in a small bowl, and set the whites aside for filling. Mix the rest of the ingredients with the yolks until a creamy consistency is achieved. If your filling seems dry or chalky add more mayo. Do not add salt until the end, because the dill will add a lot of saltiness and you may not need any.

Fill each egg white with the yolk filling (you can use a pipping bag for a pretty filling, but I just use a spoon). Sprinkle Cayenne pepper over all of the filled eggs. Be careful while sprinkling the Cayenne. A heavy hand can make for very spicy eggs!

For some more unique ides of what to do with your left over eggs check out Real Simple's 10 Ideas for Left over Hard-Boiled Eggs- Real Simple Ideas Here!

And of course...my Easter bunny!

Enjoy!

Baby Shower Cake

One of my biggest joys is baking for someone and having them enjoy it. A few Fridays ago I threw a baby shower at work for one of my Administrative Assistants. She is the sweetest person so I couldn't have been happier to throw the shower for her. It also gave me a reason to make a cake!

I looked at tons of different cakes online for baby showers, but somehow none of them felt right. So I just decided to come up with something on my own.

I normally would make the cake from scratch and buy the frosting, but this time I used a cake mix to save time.

What you need:

2 Yellow Cake Mixes
3 Containers of Vanilla Frosting
2 Bunches of Hydrangeas
1 Wilton's Rose Food Coloring
1/2 Pint Fresh Strawberries
9" Cake Pan
6" Cake Pan

Prepare the cake mixes as directed and bake two 9" rounds and two 6" round cakes. You will have left over cake batter, I just made a pan of cupcakes with the extra. While the cakes are cooling, thinly slice the strawberries. Fill the 9" and 6" cakes separately with a thin layer of frosting and one layer of strawberries. Dirty ice each cake and put both of them in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until the frosting is firm. Put the finishing layer of icing on each cake and stack the 6" in the center of the 9" cakes. Mix 1/2 to 3/4 cups of frosting with one or two drops of the rose food coloring. Pipe a line at the bottom of each layer of cake. Cut the hydrangeas into the desired bunch size and wrap the bottom of the stems well with plastic wrap. Hydrangeas are not edible, so you want to make sure the the stems are cover well before pushing them into the cakes. See the attached pictures for placement of the flowers and piping style.

The cake was not perfect but it was delicious, simple, and beautiful.

Chili- Round 1 and 2

Even though I live in the Sunshine State, it is not always sunny. After a January of no rain February has decided to make up the difference.

So what does all of this rain and dreariness mean? Chili of course! What is better than a warm bowl of chili on a cold day? That's right, nothing.

My chili recipe I can truly call my own. After several mishaps with chili, with some batches tasting like spaghetti sauce while others were so hot they almost melted the bowl, I finally came up with a mild flavorful chili.

Oh, did I mention its turkey chili?

Chili Round 1

What you need:

1 pound ground turkey

1 medium white onion

1 can zesty chili tomatoes

1 can concentrated tomato soup

1 can mild green chilies and tomatoes

1 can spicy chili beans (sm. can of Rotle)

1 can black beans

1 Tbsp. oil

Spices:

1 packet original McCormick chili seasoning

2 Tbsp. chili powder

dash cayenne pepper

black pepper

Toppings:

Cheddar Cheese

Sour cream

Saltine Crackers

Chopped green onion

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Chop the onion and reserve one half for later. Place onion and oil in the pot and sauté until just tender. Add the turkey, chili powder, and cayenne pepper and cook until no longer pink. (Here is your opportunity to kick up the heat! If you like your chili nice and hot add more cayenne pepper.)

Once the turkey is cooked through add the tomatoes, tomato soup, green chilies and tomatoes, chili beans, black beans (drained), seasoning packet, and pepper.

Bring the chili to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer for at least 10 minutes before serving but half an hour is best.

Serve with toppings of your choice (see above for ideas).

Now the big question, "what do you do with left over chili?" The answer: Chili Pasta Bake

Chili Pasta Bake is something I invented in my kitchen about three hours ago. I like it so much I had to share it here.

Chili Round 2

What you need:

2 cups cooked whole wheat pasta

2 cups cheddar cheese

Left over chili (at least 3-4 cups)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a 7 1/2 x 11 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Line bottom of the pan with 1/2 of the cooked pasta, layer on 1/2 of the chili, followed by 1/2 of the cheese. (I really eyeballed all of the measurements so these might take some tweaking.) Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the chili is hot and bubbling. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

And a bunny on a couch....Enjoy!

Raymond's 25th Birthday Celebration!

My husband turned 25 earlier this week. Its has happened, we are old and married!

In order to celebrate his birthday with a the dignity and class that it deserves I made the most refined desert there is...funfetti cupcakes.

I found a recipe on this blog, Simply Scratch . I altered her recipe just a bit by adding more sprinkles and creaming the butter and sugar first then adding the wet and try ingredients alternately. I am sure her way and my way work equally well.

ingredients:
4 whole Egg Whites
1 cup Whole Milk
2 teaspoons Real Vanilla Extract
3 cups Cake Flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups Sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 1/2 sticks of Unsalted Butter, softened
1/2 cup Sprinkles, plus more for garnish
1 recipe of Cream Cheese Frosting


preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

Combine the egg whites, vanilla whole milk. Whisk together and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl; sift the dry ingredients. Fitted with a paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients with the butter and half of the milk and egg mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl, and then slowly add the remaining mixture and stop mixing once combined.

Fold in sprinkles and fill paper liners half way. Bake in preheated oven for 17-20 minutes. Watch carefully so you don’t over bake.

Lastly, frost with the prepared cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with remaining sprinkles.

Refrigerate any uneaten cupcakes.

Enjoy!

Married Life, Bubble Tea, and Easy Dinner

I am now officially a married woman!

On January 14, 2012 I married the love of my life. All of the stress and planning seemed worth it when I was holding his hands and pledging to love him always in front of my friends and family.

After our amazing wedding we went to NYC for our honeymoon. I could go on for hours about the sites and shopping, but this is a food blog after all.

Our first day in NYC we went to Carlo's bakery in Hoboken, NJ. I got myself a "birthday cake" which was actually tiramisu surrounded by lady fingers. Along with cannolis, a carrot cake cupcake, and a couple of other pastries. Over the next few days we had Italian, Brazilian, Japanese, and of course NY Pizza.

We were staying right on the edge of Korea Town and got breakfast at a little Korean shop selling American food (bagels, eggs, bacon) and Asian tea. One morning I got an onion bagel along with a taro bubble tea. Bubble tea is an Asian milk tea with tapioca balls. It comes hot, cold or frozen. Bubble tea is one of my favorite drinks and something I have never tried to make before. Below is a recipe I am going to try from food network. Here's hoping it goes well!

Bubble Tea

Directions
Cook 1 1/2 cups large black tapioca in boiling water, 6 minutes; cover and let sit off the heat, 30 minutes. Bring 1 cup each water and sugar to a boil; transfer to a bowl. Drain the tapioca and soak in the sugar syrup. To serve, put 1/4 cup tapioca in a glass. Shake 1 cup cold green tea, 3 tablespoons soaking syrup, 1/4 cup milk and 1 tablespoon sugar with ice; pour over the tapioca.

After returning home from a wonderful week in NYC and realizing I had very little food in the house a quick easy dinner was in store. First on the list was baked Mahi Mahi. Few recipes are as quick and easy to prepare as baked fish.

Citrus Mahi Mahi

Ingredients  

2 Mahi filet
1 lemon
1 orange
2 Tbls olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsps lemon pepper seasoning
lemon juice
salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Place each fillet on two separate pieces of tin foil. Pour 1 Tbl of oil on each of the fillets and season with 1 tsp lemon pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and salt to taste. Thinly slice 1/2 of the lemon and place on top of the fish. Squeeze the other half of the lemon onto the fish. Top the fish with one large slice of orange. Wrap the tin foil around each fillet to form a package and place in a baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until the fish is white a pulls apart easily with a fork.

I used fresh fish but frozen fish can be substituted and cooked for a longer amount of time.

I served the fish with pre-made broccoli salad and a packaged pasta side. This meal is simple, healthy, and delicious. Great for when you don't have much time to prep a meal.

Enjoy!

Candy...Just Candy

Watching Julie and Julia has reminded and inspired me to post on my blog. 

In my family there is a coveted present at Christmas time...my mother's "candy", which is not really candy...its bark. For as long as I can remember I helped my mother every Christmas whip up batch after batch of wonderful candy bark. It is a crunchy heaven of chocolate and caramel. I have of course adopted the tradition of making "candy" for my friends and family.

I have been asked numerous times how to make this "candy" and what better way to share it than here? As promised I have included many more pictures.(Taking pictures while cooking...much more challenging than expected!)

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter

1 cup of light brown sugar

1 ½ columns of saltine crackers

1 12oz package of semi sweet chocolate morsels

Tinfoil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line large cookie sheet with tinfoil. After cookie sheet is lined with foil lay out 1 layer of saltine crackers in pan (some may have to but cut in half to fit entire pan). Place the butter and brown sugar into a microwave safe glass bowl. Microwave for three minutes and then stir with a whisk. Microwave for another 2-3 minutes or until you see bubbles rise in the pan. You should watch the bubbles rise for at least 1 minute without over flowing. Stir and check to see if the mixture is completely blended. You may need to continue to microwave for 1-3 more minutes or until the mixture is fully blended and slightly thick.

Then pour the caramel mixture over the saltine crackers and spread out with a spatula. After the mixture is spread out place it in the oven for 5 minutes or until the caramel has bubbled completely. Remove from oven and use a spatula or spoon to lay the saltines back flat so they are not over lapping one another. Then spread entire bag of morsels over the pan and place back in the oven for 1 minute. Remove from oven and spread chocolate evenly over the caramel. Place in freezer until completely frozen.  Remove from freezer and peel off the tin foil. Then break up sheet with a meat mallet or large spoon. Store the candy in bags in the freezer for a harder texture or in the refrigerator for a softer texture. 

 Mopsy approves of the Candy.

Enjoy!