Shrimp Fried Rice

I know this is weird but, after boiling up some shrimp for dinner, I had leftovers. (There was leftover shrimp -- when does *that* ever happen?)

Not wanting to let shrimp go to waste (because they're shrimp and not using them up would be a crime against both nature AND the culinary gods) I went off in search of a fried rice recipe.

Kian and Sadie LOVE fried rice. We've taken them to Japanese teppan/hibatchi restaurants Plum Garden and Da Ru Ma (where I always order the lobster and filet mignon combo because, c'mon, how can I not?) and, on top of loving the cooking theatrics, the kids dive right into the fried rice.

I came upon this post for fried rice by Jaden Hair, hosted on Simply Recipes -- it is fantastic. Not only does Jaden provide a stand-up recipe, she explains the hows and whys behind fried rice: use day-old rice for an ideal end result, cook over high heat, fry the ingredients separately.
You don't need a wok, either. Read her post for more details.

The recipe is dead simple, comes together quickly, and tastes fabulous. Plus, once you've tried it out, you can easily see where substitutions can be made. No shrimp? Try chicken or pork -- or leave the meat out altogether and just roll with the eggs. Go vegan my swapping out the meat and eggs in favor of tofu. I replaced green onions with Bianca Di Maggio onions from my CSA (admittedly, not a *huge* difference); garlic scapes or even some diced white onion would work, too. I snuck in some whole grains and fiber by using brown rice over white rice.

So, take look what you've got in your fridge and pantry and let your mind play with the possibilities of tonight's dinner: fried rice.

Shrimp Fried Rice (adapted)

8 oz. cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp, chopped into bite-sized pieces if needed
2 Tbsp. cooking oil, divided
3 eggs, beaten
2 stalks green onion, minced
4 cups leftover brown rice, grains separated well
3/4 cup frozen peas, defrosted
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil

Heat a wok or large sauté pan to medium heat; add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan. Add the eggs, stirring to break up and scramble the eggs with a spatula (use a high-heat proof plastic spatula if cooking on a non-stick surface). When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), scoop out the eggs to a separate bowl and set aside.

Wipe out the wok or sauté pan with a paper towel, add the remaining cooking oil and turn to high heat, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the green onions and fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the pan and let the rice heat up, untouched, until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of the pan.

Drizzle the soy sauce over the rice and toss. Add the peas, the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix evenly. Let everything heat back up again, taste and add an additional teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.

Serves 4.

Chili Garlic Shrimp

I spotted Jasmine's recipe for Chili Garlic Shrimp on her blog Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and started drooling. Oh God, did it look good and Oh God, did I have to make it.

This recipe does not disappoint. Sweet, spicy, salty, fishy (in a good way!) -- it's just too delicious. Shane and I inhaled it, fighting over every last morsel. Jasmine served it with glass noodles, though I served it over some brown rice so every little bit of sauce could be soaked up.

Mmmm, delicious.

Chili Garlic Shrimp

Sautéed Tilapia with Lemon-Caper Sauce

I know I'm not the only one who's been craving lighter, brighter flavors lately. Eggnog, cookies, cheeses, meats, sauces, pies, cakes, and all those wonderful holiday foods are terrific, but after eating them for awhile, it's nice to enjoy something a little different.

Not only does this tilapia give your palate a break, but as it's easy to pull together, it give you a break from slaving in the kitchen, too. This dish is light yet satisfying, and completely delicious. I found it made quite a bit of sauce, perhaps because I didn't reduce it as much as I could have. But it was nice to mop up the sauce with a good slice of bread, and would be tasty over rice as well.


Sautéed Tilapia with Lemon-Caper Sauce (adapted from Cooking Light)

1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. drained brine-packed capers, lightly crushed
2 Tbsp. butter, divided
2 tsps. vegetable oil
4 (6-ounce) tilapia or sole fillets
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp butter
Lemon wedges and parsley (optional)

Combine first three ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Melt 1 Tbsp of butter with oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat.

While butter melts, sprinkle fish fillets with salt and black pepper. Place the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge fillets in flour; shake off excess flour.

Increase heat to medium-high; heat two minutes or until butter turns golden brown. Add fillets to pan; sauté three minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove fillets from pan, place on a serving dish and keep warm.

Add broth mixture to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced to about a cup. Remove from heat and whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter. Serve sauce over fillets. Garnish with lemon wedges and parsley, if desired.

Salmon with Agrodolce sauce

This is a very impressive, delicious dish -- if you like salmon, that is -- that takes very little effort. I was especially in love with the look and texture of the crust; it's a gorgeous deep-gold color and lends the fish an appealing crunch. I served this along with piselli con asparagi e basilico .

Note: be sure to finish the sauce with a pat of butter, or risk an overly acidic sauce.


Salmon with Agrodolce sauce (adapted)

3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (1 inch thick) with skin
2 medium red or sweet yellow onions (about 1 pound total), cut into wedges
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pat salmon dry and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place salmon skin side up into the hot pan and cook until undersides form a golden crust, about 12 to 15 minutes. Turn fish over and cook until just cooked through, about 3 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a separate skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sauté onions until golden brown and crisp-tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until sauce is syrupy, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

Spoon onions with sauce onto plates and top with salmon, skin side down.

Serves 4.

Singapore Mei Fun with Shrimp

Before Shane and I got engaged and I moved Upstate, I used to eat Chinese take-out at least twice a month, sometimes more. It was cheap, it was flavorful, it was everywhere.

But Shane isn't a big fan of Chinese food, and I haven't found any Chinese restaurants I really like, so now I eat Chinese food maybe three or four times a year.

So I was thrilled to walk into Wegmans a few weeks ago and see them pushing their recipe for Singapore Noodles with Shrimp. Make no mistake -- this is definately a marketing tactic, with the goal of you spending your money in their store, on their products.

But I hadn't had Singapore Mei Fun in ages, and the mere thought of it transported me to 2000, when I would buy a quart of it for $4.00 from a tiny, dingy restaurant around the corner from my first real job at the corner of Broadway and Houston. The place was always packed at lunchtime, with people from all walks of life: executives, construction workers, hungry students, shop girls and guys, all looking for something fast, tasty and cheap.

The memory pushed me up and down the aisles, pulling ingrediants off the shelves, and then drove me home and into the kitchen. Things came together fairly quickly (though it made me wish I had a bigger wok) and result was suprisingly tasty, with a strong curry flavor, and shockingly healthy.

The only changes I made to the recipe below were to increase the curry (which I love) by 2 teaspoons -- I might add more the next time; and skip the egg to streamline the entire process. The recipe also says it serves 4, but I think you'll get more like 6.

Singapore Mei Fun with Shrimp (adapted)

1 pkg (8.8 oz) Mei Fun (rice vermicelli)
1 Tbsp plus 2 tsps Hot Madras Curry Powder
1/4 cup Oyster Sauce 1/4 cup Thai Culinary Stock or chicken stock
1 egg
1 lb. frozen, peeled and deveined shrimp (41-50 ct)
1 Tbsp +2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 large onion, peeled, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
12 oz. Cleaned & Cut Asian Slaw (a mix of Napa cabbage, carrots & celery)
1 cup scallions, thinly sliced

Follow directions for preparing mei fun; drain well and set aside.

Combine curry powder, oyster sauce, and stock in small bowl; set aside.

Blanch shrimp 30 to 60 seconds in large pot of boiling salted water. Add slaw and green onion; blanch 5 seconds. Drain well; set aside.

Drizzle 2 tsp oil around sides of the largest wok you have; tilt pan to distribute evenly. Heat oil in pan on high until oil faintly smokes. (If oil smokes too much, pan is too hot.) Add egg; cook, scrambling it, just until set. Set aside. Wipe out pan with paper towel.

Drizzle remaining Tbsp oil around sides of pan; tilt pan to distribute evenly. Heat oil in pan on high until oil faintly smokes. Add onion slices; cook, stirring, about 2 min.

Add noodles and curry powder/stock mixture to pan. Stir fry about 1 min. Add shrimp, vegetables, and egg. Stir fry 1 min.

Nutrition Info, based on 4 servings: Each serving (2 cups) contains 330 calories, 43 g carbohydrate, (3 g fiber), 21 g protein, 7 g fat, (1 g saturated fat), 200 mg cholesterol, 280 mg omega-3 fats, and 910 mg sodium.

Pescatore's "World's Greatest Tuna Noodle Casserole"

An email from Mark, verbatim:

It was one of those awkward social mixers at the beginning of my first semester at The University of Alabama in 1990. All the grad students were invited to the home of the one of the professors, so we could get to know each other and meet some of the faculty before the real fun began. It was here that I tasted the world's greatest tuna noodle casserole. The dish came from the girlfriend of one of my new classmates, and she shared the recipe with me. It takes about an hour from prep to serve. It's not a complicated recipe at all, but the results are ... well, the world's greatest. In 17 years, it's never let me down.

1 can tuna (drained)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can peas
8 or 9 oz. noodles (I prefer wide)
1 can french fried onions
3/4 cup milk
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Boil noodles and drain. In casserole dish, mix in tuna, soup, milk, cheddar cheese. Add the noodles, then 1/2 the can of french fried onions. Delicately stir in peas (you don't want them mushy). Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle remaining onions on top and put back in the oven for five minutes at 300 degrees.

Enjoy!

Thai Spiced Barbeque Shrimp

Perhaps the most delicious way to prepare shrimp.


Thai Spiced Barbeque Shrimp (adapted)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons curry paste (Shane used a hot, red curry paste)
1 pound medium shrimp, deveined but not peeled


In a shallow dish or resealable bag, mix together the lemon juice, soy sauce, mustard, garlic, brown sugar and curry paste. Add shrimp, and seal or cover. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat a grill for high heat. When the grill is hot, lightly oil the grate. Thread the shrimp onto skewers, or place in a grill basket for easy handling. Transfer the marinade to a saucepan, and boil for a few minutes.

Grill shrimp for 3 minutes per side, or until opaque. Baste occasionally with the marinade.

Grilled Oysters with Fennel Butter

Normally, I am not an oyster fan. But God, throw a bunch of butter, fennel seeds, garlic and shallots on top -- how can they not be loved?

Shane and his Commie oysters.

Grilled Oysters with Fennel Butter, adapted


1 tsp. fennel seed, ground
1 c. butter, softened
1 Tbsp. shallots, minced
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced (or to taste)
1 Tbsp. chopped fennel greens
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
24 unopened, fresh, live medium oysters

Prepare and light a grill or preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).

In a small bowl, blend together the butter, ground fennel seeds, shallots, garlic, fennel greens, pepper and salt.

Arrange the oysters on the grill or oven rack, cover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until they start hissing and begin to open.

Using an oyster knife, pry each oyster open at the hinge, loosen the oyster and discard the flat shell. Top each oyster with 1/2 teaspoon of the fennel butter. Return to grill and cook until butter is melted and hot.

UPDATED! From Retro, With Love: Retro Recipe Challenge No. 7 Round-Up

Let's take trip 'round the world, retro style, shall we?

Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once offers a delicious "uber retro, Swiss-classic, fondue" perfect for any well-heeled jet-setter.

The recipe hails from Graham Kerr's classic 1973 cookbook, The Complete Galloping Gourmet Cookbook.

Retro pro Emily at Appetitive Behavior visited France via Hungary (read her post for the details) to create "Flaky, uberbuttery, layer-y, crisp on the outside and soft inside, and all told pretty darn awesome [croissants]." They look fabulously French (yet make me hungry for Hungary).

The recipe comes from the Illustrated Good Housekeeping Encyclopedic Cookbook, 1965, Vol. 3.



Theresa at Vintage Style Files (a woman & blog after my own heart) took a tour of the orient with her gorgeous Tokyo Salad. It's a "spicy Asian shrimp and noodle" salad hailing from Kitchen Fare, International Menus Cookbook, just the kind of book that inspired the RRC No. 7's theme.

Tara at the hilariously named Should You Eat That? (have you been looking in my fridge, Tara?) tantalizes the taste buds with Sweet and Sour Pork. She found a classic irony in retro recipes: turning something healthy into food that could take down an elephant.

"I found it amusing," Tara writes, "that [the recipe] required lean pork, which was then deep fried, but I suppose it is better than the alternative of 'fat' pork being deep fried."

Rachel at Coconut and Lime whets the palate and wets the tongue with her fizzy Moscow Mule, which is "credited with having popularized vodka in the United States" during the 1950s.

Having recently been to Russia, I can definitively say the Moscow Mule is vast improvement over the traditional Russian summertime drink, квас (kvas).

The Expat Chef in The Expatriate's Kitchen takes a turn updating a classic favorite, Spinach Artichoke Dip, with her Spinach Artichoke Tart in Puff Pastry.

She writes, "You can actually taste the vegetables now that your taste buds aren’t doing the backstroke in butterfat."

Last but not least, Gillian at Food History provides dessert with her Dundee Cake. Gillian writes, "This is another of those 1950s recipes from my grandmother. We used to make Dundee Cake a great deal in the late sixties, but I haven’t seen it anywhere recently. I think it’s time it was revived!"

And that's the tour of the globe! Thank you to all who participated! (If I've neglected to include a submission, please email me right away. Except you, porn site. We don't feature that kind of eating on this blog.)

If you're interested in hosting the next round of the Retro Recipe Challenge, please drop me a line!

La Festa al Fresco Submission: Shrimp with Tomato and Basil over Polenta

About a week ago, I got a note from the lovely Lis from La Mia Cucina inviting me to participate in La Festa al Fresco. Lis and the equally lovely Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice have created this foodie event featuring fresh summer food.

Lis writes on her blog:

Ivonne and I would like to celebrate the final days of another glorious summer with an outdoor feast [...] here's what we need: we need you to show up for the feast with a dish to contribute to the table. You can make anything you like as long as it features one fresh ingredient. Consider it a way to celebrate summer's bounty! The party is scheduled for September 5th so e-mail me lamiacucina67@gmail.com or Ivonne ivonne@creampuffsinvenice.ca with the link to your post featuring the dish you are sending over.

How could I resist?

The resulting dish is a bit like late summer's parting kiss: the season's garden flavors of tomato, basil, and garlic; the sea-salty-yet-sweet firmness of fresh shrimp, and the hint of cooler weather to come in the rich and creamy polenta.

Not only is it delicious but it's easy to pull together. Dinner can be on the table in 35 minutes or so. There's one stipulation, however: this meal must be eaten outside with a good glass of wine or a lightly flavored beer. It's only fitting to soak up waning moments of summer while you can.

Shrimp with Tomato and Basil over Polenta

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails removed)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
6 teaspoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes in juice
palmful of fresh basil
1 lb prepared polenta (suggested: Melissa's Organic Italian Herb; follow package directions)

Season shrimp with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 4 teaspoons oil over high. Add shrimp; cook until opaque throughout, turning occasionally, 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.

Make sauce: In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium, add remaining 2 teaspoons oil and garlic; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add canned tomatoes and their juice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes have softened and are saucy, about 15 minutes. (If the sauce becomes too thick, thin with a bit of water, chicken stock or white wine.)

Meanwhile, in a small pot, heat polenta over a low to medium flame with water to create a mush. Chop basil roughly.

When sauce is ready, add shrimp and basil, seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary, and toss. Serve immediately over polenta, garnishing with basil leaves, if desired.

Serves 4.

Grade: A+

Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Summer Fruit Salsa

Photo courtesy of CookingLight.com.

Our good friends Ken and Andrea invited us to dinner last night. We had grilled shrimp with a fruit salsa; Andrea had found the recipe in the June issue of Cooking Light. (Lis, I thought of you!) Andrea and I did the prep work -- basically lots of chopping -- and Ken cooked the shrimp. (Shane drank East India Pale Ale and ate tortilla chips -- hee hee.)

It's a lovely, light, summer's meal. (Especially when you can eat it on your friends' deck, overlooking Seneca Lake.) When I make this again -- and I will -- I'm going to try leaving out the mint, pepper, and onions. I think a purely sweet salsa with be an interesting complement to the shrimp.

(Thanks to Adam for hosting Carnival of the Grill!)

Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Summer Fruit Salsa

Salsa:
1/2 cup chopped ripe plum (about 1)
1/2 cup diced apricots (about 2)
1/2 cup diced nectarine (about 1)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint
2 tablespoons diced red onion
1 tablespoon minced seeded serrano chile (we used a jalepeno)
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
12 sweet cherries, pitted and halved
1 green onion, finely chopped

Shrimp:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
24 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 2 pounds)
Cooking spray
6 lime wedges
Mint sprigs (optional)

To prepare salsa, combine the first 13 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Prepare grill.

To prepare shrimp, place butter, 2 teaspoons juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, garlic, and shrimp in a large bowl; toss to coat. Thread 4 shrimp onto each of 6 (12-inch) skewers. Place kebabs on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill for 3 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done. Serve with salsa and lime wedges. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 kebab, 1/3 cup salsa, and 1 lime wedge)

Grade: A-

Paula Deen's Black Pepper Shrimp

On Tuesday evening, Shane and I returned from a fast trip to New York (City). We were there to catch a taping of The Colbert Report and, let me just say, it was FABULOUS. We had so much fun. I was a big fan before but now, I’m a colossal fan. (Incidentally, tonight's Colbert Report guest is the wonderful Michael Pollan, author of The Ominovore's Dilemma.)

Before we went to the show, Shane, my mother (who lives in the city) and I headed over to the colossal Barnes and Noble in Lincoln Square. I’m not sure how long we were there – two hours? – but I spent the lion’s share of that time in the cookbook section. (I spent the rest of my time trying to find a clip art CD with vintage ad illustrations like these, but to no avail. If you know of any, please let me know.)

There were thousands of cookbooks to choose from: standard names, obscure names, specialty books, ethnic foods, vegetarian, raw foods, modern, vintage – the list goes on. All of this is great unless you go into sensory overload as I do, and then you just stare goggle eyed at the breadth of selection, flitting from one book to another, zigzagging around like a drunk bumble-bee.

So perhaps it was boring that I went home with Paula Deen’s Kitchen Classics, but for whatever reason, it called out to me. The recipes seem similar to my own cooking and baking tastes. (Although I’m not a big fan of using condensed soup in recipes, and Deen does that an awful lot. Still, it’s much better than Snadra Lee’s extensive use of store-bought angel food cake, Cool Whip, and Stoli. )

Deen is not one for using butter sparingly (or sour cream, or cream cheese, or bacon…) but, boy, her recipes sure look good. For my inaugural recipe, I selected her Black Pepper Shrimp. It was a wonderful choice. The shrimp were fresh (a rare occurrence ‘round these parts) and deliciously complemented by the garlic butter. The black pepper adds a nice zing, but an overly heavy pepper flavor is discarded when you toss out the shrimp’s shells.

It’s a messy meal -– shells fill your plate, melted butter coats your fingers -- but well worth it. If you can swing it, eat the shrimp outside on a sunny evening by the beach. Serve with a good white wine or a Corona with lime, and mop up the garlic butter with a slice of crusty bread or a serving of tender rice.


Black Pepper Shrimp

3 lbs fresh shrimp, unpeeled
1 stick butter
2 to 3 Tbsp. chopped garlic
4 Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450-degrees F. Wash and drain shrimp, then place in a shallow baking pan.

Melt butter in a saucepan, add garlic and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Pour garlic butter over shrimp and toss to coat.

Pepper shrimp until well covered, then place in the oven and bake until pink (about 5 minutes). Turn, bake a few minutes longer, and pepper again. This will not be good unless you use a heavy hand with the pepper.

Grade: A

Tags: cooking, dinner, Black Pepper Shrimp, seafood, Paula Deen, recipe

Fondues and Don'ts

Fon-don't-know-where-the-crab-went.

Last week, when Shane and the kids were away, I decided to make a fondue using some leftover crabmeat. I threw everything together, popped it in the oven and 25 minutes later, it was done. I sat down with some slices of French bread and a glass of Spanish red wine. I dipped, I tasted.

Very, very good. The type of good that makes your tastebuds sing. I inhaled it happily, wondering all the while why I couldn't taste the crab.

Then I realised: the crab remained its container, unopened, in the fridge. Oops.

I'm always impressed with a recipe that works even when I leave out a key ingredient. I can only imagine this would be even better with crabmeat.

Crabmeat (or not) Fondue (Courtsey of Food Network)

4 oz. crabmeat (evidentally optional)
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 c. grated Asiago cheese
1/2 clove garlic, minced
Paprika
1/3 of a French baguette

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.

In a medium bowl, mix crabmeat, mayonnaise, onion, Asiago, garlic, and paprika together. Put mixture into an ovenproof baking dish. Cover and bake until mixture is heated through and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Remove cover, and bake until golden brown, an additional 5 minutes.

Serve with torn pieces of baguette. Serves 1.

Grade: A+


PS: Happy Birthday Andrea!

Crab Salad Redux

See the first crab salad recipe here.

Here are the flavors you’ll find at a New England Crab Shack, all heaped upon a buttered English muffin. Close your eyes, take a bite, and imagine sitting at a little café by the water.

The sun beats down, but you’re shaded by an oversized yellow umbrella striped with white. Condensation forms on your plastic cup of iced tea, dampening the napkin tucked beneath it. Darting between nearby tables are seagulls looking for discarded crusts or, if they’re lucky, a piece of fish. If you listen hard, you can hear the ocean over the din of chatting diners.

Enjoy your lunch.

Crab Salad

4 oz. crabmeat, picked over
1 Tbsp. finely chopped scallions
1 Tbsp. finely chopped bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow)
1 Tbsp. finely chopped celery
2 tsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. lemon zest
1 to 2 Tbs. mayo
Salt and Pepper

1 English Muffin, split, toasted and lightly buttered
1 Bibb lettuce leaf, torn in half

In a medium bowl, combine crab, scallions, pepper, celery, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add mayo, mixing to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Top each English muffin half with half a Bibb lettuce leaf. Place spoonfuls of crab salad on top of each muffin half, garnishing with a bit of lemon zest or pepper slice. Serve with lemon wedge. Serves 1.

Grade: A

New England Crab Melts

I can't help but think that this pic will be in the 2050 edition

of The Gallery of Regrettable Food. It's tasty but it just has that look.

Shane is attending a training session in Detroit and the kids are at their mom's place.

I am home alone.

WHEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, all right. There are lonely moments. Like when I have to choose which side of the bed to sleep in, and then decide to stay right in the middle. Or how I don't have to continually clean out gobs of toothpaste from the bathroom sink.

But those hardships aside, I'm using this as an opportunity to try some new recipes (among other things...). I'll be focusing on cooking smaller serving amounts: food for either one or two.

To that end, this first recipe has been adapted from the current issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray, entitled "New and Improved New England Crabby Melts" and serves 4. I halved the recipe and changed the name.

This is good. Before tasting it, however, I expected something else so, when I did bit into it, I was a sort of disappointed. I prefer the taste of "traditional" seafood salad flavors: lemon, some bell pepper, a touch of mayo, accentuating that lovely sweetness from the crab. Next time, I'll go with those flavors.

But back to this recipe: there's a bit of heat from the hot sauce and Old Bay, tempered by the English muffin base. The watercress provides a nice backdrop and the Gruyere adds a hit of creaminess. And the crab -- well, crab is always good.

It's very pretty; it would be perfect for a casually elegant spring ladies' lunch. (Served with a nice Chardonnay or, for something a bit stronger, a fizzy lemonade with a touch of vodka?)

New England Crab Melts

1½ jarred roasted red peppers, drained
Salt and pepper
Juice from half a lemon
½ tsp. hot sauce
1½ to 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
6 oz. fresh crabmeat
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 rib celery from the heart, finely chopped
1 sprig tarragon, leaves stripped and chopped (no stems)
1½ scallions, finely chopped
2 standard-size English muffins, split
Unsalted butter softened, for buttering muffins
1 cup watercress, chopped
½ cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Place peppers in bowl of food processor and season with the salt and pepper. Add lemon juice and hot sauce, then turn on processor. Add olive oil in a thin stream and process until smooth.

Preheat broiler. Using your fingers, check the crabmeat for bits of shell. In a medium bowl, combine the crab and Old Bay seasoning. Add celery, tarragon and scallions to the crab and toss with the red pepper dressing. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Toast the English muffins under the hot broiler, then lightly butter them. Top with a small handful of watercress, followed by a scoop of the crab salad. Pat down the salad a bit, then top with a handful of cheese. Return to the broiler and allow the cheese to melt, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Grade: B+ (Higher if I hadn't had that standard seafood salad taste in my head before eating.)