The Cowboy Vegetarian Cookbook - Baxter Black My kind of Cowboy!

Caribbean Crab Cakes with a Key West (Lime) Touch

I have been in the mood for Crab Cakes for quite some time.  Finding decent fresh crab meat is not that easy though, so it has been almost two years since I have made them at home.

After the Komen Race, I walked around the West Palm Beach Green Market with friends. You can find vendors with anything from fresh bakery goods, seafood, local produce, orchids and other plants.

My friends stopped at a Seafood Vendor’s booth and inquired about the crab meat. It appeared very fresh. It better have been. The Jumbo Lump crab was 23 dollars a pound! 

I have found a lot of the crab being sold comes from Vietnam. No offense to the country but I don’t trust crab meat from Vietnam. I have read too many bad things about the handling of seafood from this country, including this article from November 2010 http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40198123/ns/today-today_health/

The crab meat we considered buying was not from the US either. It was from Brazil. Now I don’t know if that makes it better or worse, but I haven’t read any bad press about it.

My friends did buy some of the Jumbo Lump. I just couldn’t resist, but instead of the Jumbo, I bought the “poor man’s” regular lump crab. It is fine for crab cakes and only 16 dollars per pound (maybe it is really poor man’s because of how your pocket feels after buying it! Empty.) I can rationalize a bit of extravagance once every two years!

Upon returning home with my “find” I had to decide how I wanted to enjoy it. Something healthy might be good. Then again, when was the last time I had an extravagant meal? Hmm. Caribbean Crab cake Benedict for breakfast on Sunday sounded like a good reward for my not so famous Komen run/ walk.

My mother has a very easy recipe for Hollandaise Sauce using a blender. She was kind enough to share it with me. Hollandaise isn’t something I use frequently. I can almost feel my arteries complaining just thinking about it. It’s has enough butter to make Paula Deen smile!

 

I had saved a recipe for Caribbean Crab Cakes Benedict from an issue of Coastal Living.  I used it as the basis for my happy fat breakfast (oh, ok I will stop…if it makes you happy it must be healthy, right?).

I must admit that as always I didn’t follow either recipe exactly. I only used as much as was necessary of the mayo, the oil (I used canola) and the breading.

I wanted more of an Island style Hollandaise so instead of just lemon juice, I used ½ lemon juice and ½ lime juice. I also took a chunk of ginger and pressed it into a garlic press just to extract some juice. I added a little of the ginger juice to the hollandaise and a little more to the crab cakes. I also put a little lime juice into the crab cake mixture in place of the powdered ginger.  The added ginger and the lime juice were really the special touches that made this recipe outrageously good.

Finally, I skipped the avocado although that sounds pretty good. I put the crab cake on top of a whole wheat English muffin half and then topped it with the poached egg and some sauce (not a lot, you don’t want to drown it.)

I hope you will take the time one Sunday (or Saturday) and make these for your special someone and you. Put on some nice morning music, pour Mimosas or brew up some rich espresso coffee, share the Sunday paper and have a relaxing day.

Then get your rear up and get some exercise! Enjoy!

Caribbean Crab Cakes Benedict

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 3  saltine crackers
• 3  (1-ounce) slices French bread, torn
• 1  pound  fresh lump crabmeat, drained
• 1  cup  mayonnaise
• 1  egg white
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 1/4  teaspoon  seafood seasoning
• 1/4  cup  peanut oil
• 2  tablespoons  unsalted butter
• 2  avocados, peeled and sliced
• 6  large eggs, poached
• Key Lime Hollandaise (recipe follows)
• Cracked black pepper
• Garnish: diced red bell pepper

Preparation

Place crackers in a blender or food processor; process until finely ground. Place bread in blender or food processor; process until finely ground.

Combine crabmeat, mayonnaise, cracker crumbs, breadcrumbs, egg white, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Shape crab mixture into 6 (4-inch) patties. Cook crab cakes, in batches, in hot oil and melted butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat 4 minutes on each side or until golden.

Place avocado slices and poached eggs on crab cakes, and top with Caribbean Hollandaise Sauce and pepper. Garnish, if desired.

Julia Dowling Rutland, Coastal Living, NOVEMBER 2003

Sheila’s mother’s easy Blender Hollandaise with Sheila’s Key Lime touch

½ lb butter, melted

4 egg yolks

2 tablespoons lemon juice (or 1 tablespoon of lime and one of lemon juice)

½ tsp salt

Dash of cayenne or more to taste

A few drops of fresh squeezed ginger juice for Sheila’s variation

Put all the ingredients but the butter in the blender. Turn the blender on then slowly pour in the warm melted butter until incorporated.

If you need to keep it warm, you can put it in a thermos or keep it warmed in a double boiler over simmering water, stirring to keep it from breaking.

Herbes de Provence

I attended a week long cooking class at The Culinary Institute in Napa Valley some years ago. The class was in French Provencal cooking. During the class, I was introduced to Herbes de Provence. It is an herb blend I was not very familiar with. What a wonderful blend it is!

Herbes de Provence traditionally is a blend of herbs grown in Provence. There is no set blend or formula. The traditional version is sold in crocks or small packets to tourists in France and does not contain lavender.

To please the US tourists that identify the region with the local lavender, the Herbes de Provence in the US contains lavender and I am happy about that. I love lavender. Still it is an herb that needs to be used in moderation; otherwise it can taste like soap. A little goes a long way.


I have made my own blend, using the recipe I learned at the Culinary Institute. It comes from the cookbook by Richard Carrier, “Feasts of Provence”it and includes lavender and dried orange peel. There are many variations. Recently I bought the McCormick brand. I don’t see lavender on the ingredients list and cannot smell it, so I assume it is a more traditional recipe. I like if for most recipes. If I was going to use the blend with a tomato base, I might prefer my homemade blend with the orange peel.


Herbes de Provence pairs well with many different wines depending on it’s usage, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, White Burgundy to name a few.


You can use Herbes to Provence in many recipes. It matches well with a lot of foods. You can match it with:

Chicken dishes (think La Madeline Rotisserie chicken) http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Herbes-de-Provence-Rotisserie-Chickens-238794
Lamb :http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Wine-Braised-Lamb-Shanks-with-Herbes-de-Provence-109263 or
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/sauteed-lamb-chops-herbes-de-provence.aspx
Goat Cheese: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Scalloped-Potatoes-with-Goat-Cheese-and-Herbes-de-Provence-2999
Fish:
Trout. Sprinkle inside of Trout with Herbes de Provence. Top with slices of lemon and bake en papillote (in parchment paper or foil) or with
Cod http://miahungrylongtime.com/2010/03/07/cooking-with-paper-cod-en-papillote/
Grilled Salmon Filet Sandwich http://www.herbcompanion.com/cooking/herbes-de-provence-salmon-fillet-sandwiches.aspx
Vegetables: Sweet corn risotto http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cat-cora/sweet-corn-risotto-with-herbes-de-provence-recipe/index.html
Roasted Vegetableshttp://www.sacfoodcoop.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=726:roasted-vegetables-with-herbes-de-provence-&catid=47:side-dishes&Itemid=59


Other ideas for using Herbes de Provence:


Use in combination with Goat Cheese in omelets, scrambled eggs or with roasted red or Yukon gold potatoes or as above.


Black olive tapenade- http://recipes.wuzzle.org/index.php/54/1067


Pizza- The best pizza I have ever had was in Geneva, Switzerland. I am not sure what cheese they used (maybe Swiss cheese? Not quite but it was a white cheese!) but it was topped with Herbes de Provence and was fabulous! You could use it in place of oregano and top a traditional pizza with Kalamata olives and roasted red bell pepper, (ok you can throw a little cooked Italian Sausage on if you must).


On baked caramelized tomatoes- Core tomatoes and slice in half horizontally. Place on a baking sheet cut side up. Mix some olive oil, garlic, Herbes de Provence and salt and pepper. Pour over the tomato halves and bake for about 2 hours at 325 until collapsed and well carmelized. These are great on their own, but I sometimes put them over pasta.


My two newest favorite uses are in grits (for all the French cowboys!) and on a vegetable Panini.


For the grits, I take a packet of quick cooking (I use Quaker butter flavored) grits, add ½ cup of milk, some dollops of goat cheese and a sprinkling of Herbes de Provence. Microwave the grits on High for 1 minute 40 seconds. Add some light butter and enjoy.


For the vegetable Panini, cut serving size pieces of either foccacia or a nice sourdough bread. Take 3-4 medium sized asparagus per serving and put them on a toaster oven sheet mixed with olive oil. Bake for about 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees until cooked to desired doneness.


Divide bread in half as for a sandwich. Spread a light coating of goat cheese on one side of the bread, top with cooked asparagus and either roasted red onion slices (can roast with asparagus) or sliced Portobello mushroom. Throw a few leaves of basil on top. Spread the top piece of the bread with some goat cheese then sprinkle with Herbes de Provence and place on top of the vegetables to complete the sandwich. Lightly grease a preheated George Foreman grill and cook the Panini until done. Alternatively, cook on medium high in a lightly oiled skillet. Weigh down the bread to compress as in a Panini. Remove and enjoy.


I hope you will try some recipes with Herbes de Provence. 
Read more:  http://ptbcooking.blogspot.com/2011/02/herbes-de-provence.html

Visualize the Size of the Starbucks Trenta Cup

Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

 People are always raving about the Lettuce Wraps at PF Changs. I did try their vegetarian version a number of years ago, and although I liked the idea of it, I found them kind of salty and greasy.

I hadn’t really thought much about it until I ran across a recipe that sounded as if it would be tasty.  I can’t tell you where I got this. I found it last year in a magazine at the local library. I am one of those obsessive types that collects recipes from everywhere and can’t always remember the original author or sometimes where I put them!

My sister came over for dinner last night and since she is the perfect guinea pig, I decided to try the recipe on her (and  also on me..the other perfect guinea pig!).

We loved them and the best thing about them was they were easy to make.  The wraps were fresh, light and flavorful.  For a couple of small women like us, it was a great meal. More hearty eaters might want to add more to the dinner menu than just the wraps.

I did change a few things and would change another if I was to make them again. The recipe called for ¼ cup of crushed red pepper flakes in the sauce. I am sure I wrote that down wrong. It sounded like too much. I added about a teaspoon.  Instead of jicama, I used water chestnuts. I couldn’t find jicama at the store and water chestnuts sounded more authentic anyway. I also put a few drops of sesame oil in the wok along with the canola oil.  I like the flavor.

The lettuce used was romaine, but romaine isn’t very flexible. I would use a butter lettuce next time.  The recipe was not enough for 12 lettuce leaves. It really just served 2 people with 2 Romaine leaves each. Double the recipe for 4 people if it is for dinner rather than an appetizer.

 I followed the rest of the recipe with success.

 How I made them:

I put together the ingredients for the wrap and stuck it in the fridge while making the sauce and the brown rice. While the rice was cooking, I threw the sauce ingredients into the blender, blended them then put it in a bowl. While the rice was cooking, I cleaned up the kitchen.

When it was time to eat, I pulled out the mix, stir fried it, added the sauce and that was it. When all was done, there was very little clean up, which to me is a big plus.

Ok, for you non-tofu lovers, feel free to substitute something else. I think some chopped up cooked shrimp would be a good substitute but you decide on that. 

You can serve these with hot Green tea or you might try a Zentini or Saketini 

http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/cocktails/zen-green-tea-liqueur.asp
(by the way The Nibble is a great newsletter too)

Tofu Lettuce Wraps- Serves two dinner size portions

Sauce:

¼ cup tamari sauce (low sodium if you prefer)

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbl minced shallot

1 tbl packed light brown sugar

1 tbl plus 1 tsp rice vinegar

¼ cup plus 2 tbl water

1 tbl plus 1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

¾ tsp peeled and minced fresh ginger (a fine microplane works great for grating both the ginger and the garlic)

Put all of the sauce ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

Wrap ingredients:

½ cup diced carrots

½ cup sugar snap peas diced

½ cup diced jicama (or substitute water chestnuts diced)

½ cup pineapple diced

¾ lb extra firm tofu, diced

A drop or two of sesame oil (optional)

Canola oil spray for stir frying

½ cup unsalted peanuts (I used salted because I had them on hand)

12 romaine lettuce leaves (or substitute boston lettuce) See note on this. I only used 4 leaves

1 1/3 cup cooked brown rice

Toss together the carrots thru the pineapple in a large bowl. Mix in the tofu.

Heat a wok sprayed with canola oil on high heat (I added a drop of sesame oil for added flavor)

Add tofu mixture and stir fry briefly (30 sec to a minute). Stir in enough sauce to moisten well and cook another minute or until the sauce is just thickened.

Serve with the lettuce to wrap, the peanuts, rice and whatever leftover sauce there is.

Fill lettuce leaf with some of the mix, put some rice on top, then some peanuts. If you want, a little extra sauce is good too. Wrap and eat. Messy but fun and tasty too!

Fresh orange slices would be a great dessert.

I hope you enjoy these and would love to hear about it.

Food Safety

I get the Men's Health newsletters and enjoy reading them. Today they sent me a link to an article about the "10 Dirtiest Foods You are Eating". You really should read it. Some of the foods that can make you sick might surprise you!
http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/foodborne_illness/

Review: The George Foreman Indoor Grill

I spent the past week at my mother's house while she visited my sister in San Diego. I looked forward to cooking in a big, expansive kitchen and using my Coleman gas grill which I keep at her house.

I have considered buying a small indoor grill since my apartment does not allow my gas grill. I so miss outdoor grilling. Excited about the prospect of using "my" grill, I thought I would cook some kabobs for my sister and I on my last night at the house. Of course, as things go, it decided to pour rain that night. It was beautiful weather the whole week prior! I guess planning a grill night is like getting your car washed. That is the time the sky opens up and let's you know who "really" is in charge!

My mother has a George Foreman indoor grill and I have always wanted to see how well it worked for vegetables and fish. This was my chance.

I cut up some green pepper, yellow squash, mushrooms and onion then marinated them in an Italian Vinagrette (I chose whatever my mom had in her fridge!).  I also took some already cooked and cleaned shrimp that she had in her freezer and defrosted them in water, then marinated them in a combination of Sonny's Barbecue Sauce mixed with a Mango Sauce she had on hand (obviously my mother has a well stocked fridge!).

So here is what happened.... I put the vegetables on the grill first. I don't think I preheated it enough and the first thing I noticed was, I had forgotten to put down the drip pan. Between the the water in the vegetables and the vinagrette, I had to rush to contain the drippings! Not only that but the vegetables were sliding down the grill.

Once I was able to slow down the sliding vegies and close the grill, all seemed in order. You know the saying, "a watched pot never boils" ? Well checking the vegies constantly does not help the grilling process.  Not only that, but with the lack of preheating,  they seemed to be stewing not grilling.

Having a degree of ingenuity, I came up with a not so healthy but equally tasty solution, garlic butter.  Yes, my mother also had a tub of Land o Lakes Garlic butter in her fridge (she's such a thoughful mother!). I melted a bit of it and brushed a little on the vegies. Voila' my vegies quit stewing and started browning, leaving some very attractive grill marks.

I did try putting some vegies on a skewer but that didn't fare too well. The grill didn't close down enough to create enough heat.  So, when the (loose) vegies were done, I simple replaced the grill pan with a plate and slid them onto it.

I did skewer the marinated shrimp. With them all arranged in the same direction, they were flat enough for the grill. I added a little...yup..here it is again...garlic butter to the marinade, (Paula Deen would be proud of me) brushed a little on each shrimp and grilled them to perfection.

In the meantime, I cooked the only rice my mother had available (you didn't think I was actually going to the store for anything did you?), long grain "white" (blasphemy) rice.

Dinner was delicious! Once I get the hang of it, I think old Georgie will be a great addition to my pescatarian lifestyle. A little butter won't kill me. Will it?