Easter Greetings! The weather has started getting nicer...this means it is grilling season again. We took the traditional Easter Ham Dinner and put a spin on it this year. Instead of waiting for hours, baking a ham in the oven, we had our boneless ham sliced into 2"-thick slabs and grilled them in about half an hour. This resulted in a tender meat with a delicious charred flavor...not to mention the glazes. I was inspired by a few ham glaze recipes in The New Best Recipe...as you'll see, all sound amazing, and I can promise that all taste amazing. The consensus was that all the glazes tasted pretty much the same...though I swear I picked out the Coke/lime glaze. Moving on to the sides...again, New Best Recipe inspired my take on scalloped potatoes (though of course I added more cheese than "necessary")...and same inspiratory source for the green bean dish (something a bit different...if you like lemon pepper, you'll like this). The whole meal cohered rather nicely, being that there were a few repeated ingredients. Read on for deliciousness.
Grilled Ham Slices
7 lb boneless ham, sliced into 2"-thick slabs (this yielded about 7 slices)
Glaze of choice
1. Prepare the glaze(s).
2. Preheat grill, on high, for about five minutes to get the grate sizzling.
3. Use a spoon (forget the brush, this glaze will be too thick) to slather one side of each ham slice with glaze. Plop that side down on the grill. Glaze the top and sides. Shut the grill lid.
4. Return in about 7-10 minutes. Flip the slices and glaze the new top side. Repeat until a thermometer inserted into the middle of each slice reads 145 (about a half hour to forty five minutes depending on the heat of the grill and the thickness of the slabs).
Glazes!!!
Coke-Lime Glaze
1.5c brown sugar
1 c Coke
Juice from 2 limes (about 1/4c)
1T or so of lime zest (about half a lime's worth)
Pineapple-Ginger-Red Pepper Glaze
1.5c brown sugar
Juice drained off from one can of chunk pineapple (about 3/4c)
1 small piece candied ginger, minced (or 1/2t ginger powder, or 1t fresh sliced ginger)
1/8t (that's a pinch, people) red pepper flake
Orange-Cinnamon-Star Anise Glaze
1.5c brown sugar
Juice from 2 navel oranges (about 1 c)
1T or so of orange zest (about half an orange's worth)
1 stick of cinnamon (or 1t ground)
4 star anise pods
Mix ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over high heat, constantly stirring, for about ten minutes. You will get to a point where the entire mixture bubbles up--when this happens, remove from heat and stir until you see the surface of the liquid again. Put back over the heat and stir until the bubbles get up high again...repeat. You'll want to prepare this at least a half hour before you're ready to grill the ham. The glaze will thicken up upon sitting, but when you stop after ten minutes or so, it will only seem syrupy. It will get more like molasses after sitting for a half hour or so. As you can imagine, you can make whatever glaze you want. Just start with 1.5c of brown sugar and add a cup or so of liquid and you're in business.
Scalloped KA Potatoes
8 medium potatoes, unskinned, sliced into 1/8"-thick slices
1 c chicken broth (I recommend Progresso--it is the most natural)
1 c cream (remember, 2 c in a pint)
2 medium onions, quartered and sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 c shredded parmesan cheese
Here's a tip for cutting onions...use the natural growth pattern of the onion to your advantage. After you skin the onion, cut it in half from root tip to leaf tip end. Cut each of those halves in half again, in the same direction. Now, slice perpendicular to those lines. You will end up with a whole bunch of sliced onion that will fall apart along the growth rings, with less work for you. Yay!
After you slice the potato, par-boil them in water for about ten minutes, until they're pretty soft.
1. In a large pot, saute the garlic and onion with a bit of oil or butter.
2. Add the par-cooked potato slices, broth, and cream.
3. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Dump into a greased lasagna pan and top with cheese.
5. Pop in preheated 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
Lemon-Pepper Green Bean Dish
2 bags french cut green beans
1c chicken broth
2T corn starch
1T lemon juice
1t black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
Bread crumb, for garnish
1. First up...if your green beans are frozen, thaw them. I put them right in the pot and put it on medium heat til they're thawed.
2. Toss in the garlic and saute a bit with some oil.
3. Mix in the chicken broth and corn starch. Stir and up the heat to high...keep stirring...in about 7 minutes or so it'll thicken up.
4. Stir in the pepper.
5. Turn off heat. Stir in lemon juice. Let stand for ten minutes or so. When you serve, top with bread crumbs.
That's it! Enjoy!
And the next morning, take some leftover ham and dice it...mix with some of the leftover potatoes...fry it up with an egg and a bit of oil. Top with cheese, of course. Yum!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tap-Dancing Meatloaf
Today's post features a recipe created by Marc at norecipes.com. His blog is awesome...he shares awesome recipes...in short, you should follow him. Not around physically, but digitally...please don't stalk.
Here's the original recipe: Killer Meatloaf. I, however, like to call this dish Tap-Dancing Meatloaf. Because that's what happens when you eat this. If you've never had meatloaf tap dance in your mouth, you're missing out. Seriously. If that hasn't yet convinced you to take on this dish...I shall move on to describing the ingredients. Meat (obviously). Bread crumbs, egg, milk (still normal). Soy and Worcestershire sauce (OK...). Shredded cheddar. Garlic. Onions. Powdered mustard (Getting better!). Roasted red peppers. Hard-boiled eggs. Bacon. (Aha! You're drooling.)
How awesome I think certain recipes are usually corresponds to how impressed people will be when they eat it. Not entirely, of course...but I find myself taking note of that sort of thing. This dish stands out--you roast your own red peppers, then roll them, the bacon, and the eggs up in the meat mixture...when you slice it, it looks friggin cool.Unfortunately, I don't have a good pic of this because I was too impatient...let this be a lesson to you...LET THE MEATLOAF STAND a good 10-15 minutes or so if you want the slices to be photogenic...
I rounded out the meal with my baked oven fries. I used paprika, mustard, Italian herbs, garlic, and onion for these to compliment the flavors in the meatloaf.
Two techniques that I learned in making this recipe:
1. Roasting peppers. Marc puts this pretty clearly in his post, but here's the gist. Quarter a red pepper. Put the pieces skin-up on a broiling pan. Broil them until the skins are charred (took me about 10 minutes). Pop in a sandwich bag and let come to room temp. The pepper will sweat, making it super easy to peel off the un-tasty skin. Done!
2. Boiling eggs. This may be old hat to many of you, but I have always felt a little uneasy about boiling eggs. How long do they need to be in there? Cuz you know there's no return after you crack the suckas and they're not cooked. So here's a new method I tried that worked just peachy: Put the eggs in a pot and fill with water until they're covered by 1 inch. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for ten minutes. Dump them into an ice water bath for 5 or so minutes. Peel! Miraculous. And remember that older eggs peel nicer...it's because the egg shell is porous, so the longer the egg sits in your fridge, the more air gets sucked in. More air inside the shell = more space between the albumen (10-cent word of the day for EGG WHITE) and the shell = easier peeling. Ta da!
My main recommendation for tweaking this recipe is to either put the bacon on top of the meatloaf, or fry it up before inserting. If you bake the meatloaf with the raw bacon in it, the bacon obviously does not crisp up...it is somehow very unsettling and floppy. Also, I'd recommend making 3 or 4 times the amount of glaze...it is great to serve with the meatloaf. Don't forget to let the loaf stand 10 minutes or so for clean slices...and also, don't be surprised if it takes a bit longer than 1 hour to get to 160 degrees.
Enjoy...and post your own pics when you take this fun recipe on.
Here's the original recipe: Killer Meatloaf. I, however, like to call this dish Tap-Dancing Meatloaf. Because that's what happens when you eat this. If you've never had meatloaf tap dance in your mouth, you're missing out. Seriously. If that hasn't yet convinced you to take on this dish...I shall move on to describing the ingredients. Meat (obviously). Bread crumbs, egg, milk (still normal). Soy and Worcestershire sauce (OK...). Shredded cheddar. Garlic. Onions. Powdered mustard (Getting better!). Roasted red peppers. Hard-boiled eggs. Bacon. (Aha! You're drooling.)
How awesome I think certain recipes are usually corresponds to how impressed people will be when they eat it. Not entirely, of course...but I find myself taking note of that sort of thing. This dish stands out--you roast your own red peppers, then roll them, the bacon, and the eggs up in the meat mixture...when you slice it, it looks friggin cool.Unfortunately, I don't have a good pic of this because I was too impatient...let this be a lesson to you...LET THE MEATLOAF STAND a good 10-15 minutes or so if you want the slices to be photogenic...
I rounded out the meal with my baked oven fries. I used paprika, mustard, Italian herbs, garlic, and onion for these to compliment the flavors in the meatloaf.
Two techniques that I learned in making this recipe:
1. Roasting peppers. Marc puts this pretty clearly in his post, but here's the gist. Quarter a red pepper. Put the pieces skin-up on a broiling pan. Broil them until the skins are charred (took me about 10 minutes). Pop in a sandwich bag and let come to room temp. The pepper will sweat, making it super easy to peel off the un-tasty skin. Done!
2. Boiling eggs. This may be old hat to many of you, but I have always felt a little uneasy about boiling eggs. How long do they need to be in there? Cuz you know there's no return after you crack the suckas and they're not cooked. So here's a new method I tried that worked just peachy: Put the eggs in a pot and fill with water until they're covered by 1 inch. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for ten minutes. Dump them into an ice water bath for 5 or so minutes. Peel! Miraculous. And remember that older eggs peel nicer...it's because the egg shell is porous, so the longer the egg sits in your fridge, the more air gets sucked in. More air inside the shell = more space between the albumen (10-cent word of the day for EGG WHITE) and the shell = easier peeling. Ta da!
My main recommendation for tweaking this recipe is to either put the bacon on top of the meatloaf, or fry it up before inserting. If you bake the meatloaf with the raw bacon in it, the bacon obviously does not crisp up...it is somehow very unsettling and floppy. Also, I'd recommend making 3 or 4 times the amount of glaze...it is great to serve with the meatloaf. Don't forget to let the loaf stand 10 minutes or so for clean slices...and also, don't be surprised if it takes a bit longer than 1 hour to get to 160 degrees.
Enjoy...and post your own pics when you take this fun recipe on.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Cranberry Relish to Relish
OK people, this one is good. I do recommend having it side-by-side with the "cranberry-jelly-in-the-shape-of-the-can" just to see the two extremes of cranberry relish. This one is definitely tart, but balanced. No cups and cups of sugar added--just honey and some orange/cherries. And of course the beer helps. Easy to make...tasty...and as always, impressive. Many thanks to Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, for the original recipe!
Cranberry Relish to Relish
Yields about 2 cups
6oz cranberries
1 clementine, or about half a can of mandarin orange slices
1 cinnamon stick
1/2c honey
Splash maple syrup (the real stuff!)
1/2c dried cherries
1 normal bottle of a slightly sweet beer--a trippel, a bock, a spiced holiday porter...
Pinch of salt
1. Combine everything in a pot. Heat over high heat, stirring, until simmer occurs.
2. Turn heat to low, cover pot, and let cook for 15 minutes or so.
3. Eat with turkey. Or over vanilla ice cream.
The end!
Cranberry Relish to Relish
Yields about 2 cups
6oz cranberries
1 clementine, or about half a can of mandarin orange slices
1 cinnamon stick
1/2c honey
Splash maple syrup (the real stuff!)
1/2c dried cherries
1 normal bottle of a slightly sweet beer--a trippel, a bock, a spiced holiday porter...
Pinch of salt
1. Combine everything in a pot. Heat over high heat, stirring, until simmer occurs.
2. Turn heat to low, cover pot, and let cook for 15 minutes or so.
3. Eat with turkey. Or over vanilla ice cream.
The end!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuna Salad a la Bricolage
bri·co·lage
[bree-kuh-lahzh, brik-uh-]
1. a construction made of whatever materials are at hand; something created from a variety of available things.
2. (in literature) a piece created from diverse resources.
3. (in art) a piece of makeshift handiwork.
4. the use of multiple, diverse research methods.
www.dictionary.com
Now you know a nice way to say "I threw this together with a whole bunch of random crap that was around my kitchen!"
On to the "recipe."
It's easy to make a kick-ass tuna salad sandwich...you just need the following. Be creative!
1. TUNA. Deeerp.
2. Creamy base. This could be the typical mayo, the blue cheese dressing I used, ranch dressing, hard-boiled eggs (the yolks break up and add to the creaminess), etc.
3. Vegetables. Celery is the usual...try onion, broccoli, carrots, tomato, corn, bell peppers...
4. Seasoning. Paprika, salt, celery seed, garlic powder, cumin, etc...
We were hungry. We didn't appear to have anything to eat. Joe suggested that we make tuna salad. I replied that we didn't have ANY of the stuff to make it except tuna. He gave me a look...and then we started making this version.
Mix together 2 cans of tuna, a hearty squeeze of blue cheese dressing, 3 diced hard-boiled eggs, 1 stalk of chopped celery, 1 cup of corn, 1 chopped green bell pepper, a pinch of salt, and a couple pinches of paprika.
That's it! Substitute whatever you have on hand...if you manage to keep two cans of tuna in your pantry, you'll be able to make this tasty sandwich filling anytime.
With the time you saved whipping up that quick little dish instead of running to the grocery store, you can explore the joy of singing the word "Bricolage" to the "Ricola" song. Brriiiiiiiiicolaaggeeeeee...
Friday, October 22, 2010
Broccoli Salad with Orange Dressing
The boy and I have started a food swap with a few people. Though the group is very small at this point, we're hoping to add a few members eventually. The goal is to prepare X servings of a delicious meal and then trade with the other chefs once a week. This way, we all get to try new things, and also have several meals ready for the week (the one we made, and the ones the others made). I have to tell you...it is pretty great. If you are already going to cook for two, how much harder is it to cook for 4 or 6?
Here is the very first thing we made for our nascent food swap. It's adapted from The Biggest Loser Cookbook--the original was a little too soupy for us.
Ingredients per serving:
-5-6 ounces of broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces
-1/4c red onion, chopped
-1T apricot preserves (Polaner is awesome...100% fruit and no corn syrup etc, and just about the same price as the less-desirables)
-1T orange juice
-3T plain non-fat yogurt
-Dash of soy sauce
-Pinch of granulated garlic
1. Combine sauce ingredients. Mix the preserves, OJ, soy sauce, garlic, and yogurt in a large bowl.
2. Taste. Better taste it now and make sure you like it before you cover all your carefully chopped veggies...
3. Combine veggies 'n sauce. Toss the veggies into the big bowl with the sauce and stir, preferably with an aged wooden spoon that feels just right in your hand. This creates a tremendous sense of well-being that adds that je ne sais pas quoi to the dish.
4. Fridge it. Get that deliciousness into a sealed container and pop it in the fridge for awhile. Overnight is good, if possible...that way the flavors leech into the flavorless yogurt and it really tastes good! Aaaand...only 140 calories per serving.
Here is the very first thing we made for our nascent food swap. It's adapted from The Biggest Loser Cookbook--the original was a little too soupy for us.
Ingredients per serving:
-5-6 ounces of broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces
-1/4c red onion, chopped
-1T apricot preserves (Polaner is awesome...100% fruit and no corn syrup etc, and just about the same price as the less-desirables)
-1T orange juice
-3T plain non-fat yogurt
-Dash of soy sauce
-Pinch of granulated garlic
1. Combine sauce ingredients. Mix the preserves, OJ, soy sauce, garlic, and yogurt in a large bowl.
2. Taste. Better taste it now and make sure you like it before you cover all your carefully chopped veggies...
3. Combine veggies 'n sauce. Toss the veggies into the big bowl with the sauce and stir, preferably with an aged wooden spoon that feels just right in your hand. This creates a tremendous sense of well-being that adds that je ne sais pas quoi to the dish.
4. Fridge it. Get that deliciousness into a sealed container and pop it in the fridge for awhile. Overnight is good, if possible...that way the flavors leech into the flavorless yogurt and it really tastes good! Aaaand...only 140 calories per serving.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Banoffee Mini Pies
These are awesome. I first had banoffee pie in London. It's got toffee, and it's got bananas--a delicious combo. This recipe does take a bit of time...a good 2 hours to make the dulce de leche, and then, depending how many mini pies you're making, a good 2-3 minutes to prep and caramelize the bananas for each. It is worth it, my friends. They are impressive looking, and delicious, and you will impress the pants off anyone you serve them to. So just be prepared for the off-pantsing.
Side note...I used a jumbo muffin pan to make my mini pie crusts, but you could also make a normal pie, or in a square pan (cutting them up will be messy, but they will still be tasty), or you could use ramekins or small oven-proof bowls. I'm pretty sure mini foil pie pans also exist.
Ingredients:
Crust (x2):
2.2 oz shortening
1.25c flour
Dash salt
1/2t cinnamon
5T ice water
Filling:
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
6-7 bananas, ripe but not squishy
Spiced rum
Sugar
1. Make the tasty caramel. Pop those 2 cans of s.c. milk open and pour them into a pie plate. Cover tightly with foil. Now plop that sucker into a larger pan with taller sides, and pour enough hot water in to cover the pie plate about halfway. Bake in a 425-degree oven. Set your timer for 45 minutes. When it goes off, check the water level and make sure it's halfway up the pie plate. Set the timer for another 45 and check. Finally, set for 20 minutes. Take the pan out this time. Remove the foil and stir the caramel well. Cover it again and let it sit for a while.
2. Make the pie crusts. While the s.c. milk is doing its thang, you can make the pie crusts. First of all, get a small bowl, and put ice and water in it. Then, grab a big bowl, and measure out the shortening, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix it all together by pinching off pieces of the shortening until it's all pea-size or smaller, and incorporated into the flour. (Hack: I’ve since found a quicker way to do this. Prepare yourselves. You throw the shortening into the flour mixture…then pick up handfuls and rub your hands together over it. Place the fingertips of one hand on the heel of the other, and then slide those fingertips toward the other hand’s fingertips, and vice versa. This sounds like b.s., but believe me, it works! Kinda reminiscent of making Play Doh snakes…I know you remember how.) Separate the mixture into four little piles inside the bowl. Measure out 1T of ice water into each pile, and mix together with your fingers. Use the last T of water to wet any remaining dry stuff, and mix everything into a big ball. Put the dough on a well-floured surface, and make sure to dust it thoroughly with flour. Rip a small gob of dough from the ball--slightly smaller than a golf ball is about right. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. Roll one way, then flip and turn the dough and roll the other way--keep the dough roughly circular. The edges will be ragged, but that's OK...it'll make the mini crusts look rustic and awesome. Make sure you grease the jumbo muffin pan very well--then arrange a piece of dough in each cup.
You'll need to repeat this step...it pays to only make one batch of pie crust at a time. It's some sort of baxter magic. (Did you know there was a word for female baker? Now you do.)
When you've got all 12 cups prepped with dough, poke 'em all with a fork. Then pop them in the oven. Check them every few minutes until they're crispy, but not burnt! It should only be about 7 minutes in that hot hot oven.
3. Do something else for awhile, cuz let's face it, it probably hasn't been two hours yet. Go read. Or make something for dinner. Or melt chocolate chips in the microwave and toss with dried cranberries, then plop on a foiled cookie sheet and put it in the fridge. Mmm, those are good.
4. Add the first half of the filling. Scoop a few spoonfuls of the caramel into each mini pie crust. Take care to sample the caramel several times. This is important.
5. Create caramelized banana-rum deliciousness. Break out a saute pan and lightly grease it. Slice up one banana at a time. Dip the banana medallions into a small bowl filled with sugar. Arrange the slices in the pan. Turn the burner on high, and add a splash of spiced rum to the pan. Listen to the banana--when it really starts sizzling, flip each slice over. The top side should now be a nice toasty brown color, and look a bit crusty. It'll smell good, too, not burnt. Wait another 30 seconds or so, and then turn the heat off. Put half of the banana slices on each mini pie.
That's it! See? Impressive. Try saying the following without being impressed: Crispy, flaky, made-from-scratch mini crusts filled with freshmade dulce de leche and banana medallions caramelized with rum. You can't. Make sure you serve them warm!
Edit: I'm going to try to include beer pairings for my recipes...this one is great with Belgian tripels and also a nice hefe, I'd imagine. Golden Monkey is my vote!
Side note...I used a jumbo muffin pan to make my mini pie crusts, but you could also make a normal pie, or in a square pan (cutting them up will be messy, but they will still be tasty), or you could use ramekins or small oven-proof bowls. I'm pretty sure mini foil pie pans also exist.
Ingredients:
Crust (x2):
2.2 oz shortening
1.25c flour
Dash salt
1/2t cinnamon
5T ice water
Filling:
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
6-7 bananas, ripe but not squishy
Spiced rum
Sugar
1. Make the tasty caramel. Pop those 2 cans of s.c. milk open and pour them into a pie plate. Cover tightly with foil. Now plop that sucker into a larger pan with taller sides, and pour enough hot water in to cover the pie plate about halfway. Bake in a 425-degree oven. Set your timer for 45 minutes. When it goes off, check the water level and make sure it's halfway up the pie plate. Set the timer for another 45 and check. Finally, set for 20 minutes. Take the pan out this time. Remove the foil and stir the caramel well. Cover it again and let it sit for a while.
2. Make the pie crusts. While the s.c. milk is doing its thang, you can make the pie crusts. First of all, get a small bowl, and put ice and water in it. Then, grab a big bowl, and measure out the shortening, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix it all together by pinching off pieces of the shortening until it's all pea-size or smaller, and incorporated into the flour. (Hack: I’ve since found a quicker way to do this. Prepare yourselves. You throw the shortening into the flour mixture…then pick up handfuls and rub your hands together over it. Place the fingertips of one hand on the heel of the other, and then slide those fingertips toward the other hand’s fingertips, and vice versa. This sounds like b.s., but believe me, it works! Kinda reminiscent of making Play Doh snakes…I know you remember how.) Separate the mixture into four little piles inside the bowl. Measure out 1T of ice water into each pile, and mix together with your fingers. Use the last T of water to wet any remaining dry stuff, and mix everything into a big ball. Put the dough on a well-floured surface, and make sure to dust it thoroughly with flour. Rip a small gob of dough from the ball--slightly smaller than a golf ball is about right. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. Roll one way, then flip and turn the dough and roll the other way--keep the dough roughly circular. The edges will be ragged, but that's OK...it'll make the mini crusts look rustic and awesome. Make sure you grease the jumbo muffin pan very well--then arrange a piece of dough in each cup.
You'll need to repeat this step...it pays to only make one batch of pie crust at a time. It's some sort of baxter magic. (Did you know there was a word for female baker? Now you do.)
When you've got all 12 cups prepped with dough, poke 'em all with a fork. Then pop them in the oven. Check them every few minutes until they're crispy, but not burnt! It should only be about 7 minutes in that hot hot oven.
3. Do something else for awhile, cuz let's face it, it probably hasn't been two hours yet. Go read. Or make something for dinner. Or melt chocolate chips in the microwave and toss with dried cranberries, then plop on a foiled cookie sheet and put it in the fridge. Mmm, those are good.
4. Add the first half of the filling. Scoop a few spoonfuls of the caramel into each mini pie crust. Take care to sample the caramel several times. This is important.
5. Create caramelized banana-rum deliciousness. Break out a saute pan and lightly grease it. Slice up one banana at a time. Dip the banana medallions into a small bowl filled with sugar. Arrange the slices in the pan. Turn the burner on high, and add a splash of spiced rum to the pan. Listen to the banana--when it really starts sizzling, flip each slice over. The top side should now be a nice toasty brown color, and look a bit crusty. It'll smell good, too, not burnt. Wait another 30 seconds or so, and then turn the heat off. Put half of the banana slices on each mini pie.
That's it! See? Impressive. Try saying the following without being impressed: Crispy, flaky, made-from-scratch mini crusts filled with freshmade dulce de leche and banana medallions caramelized with rum. You can't. Make sure you serve them warm!
Edit: I'm going to try to include beer pairings for my recipes...this one is great with Belgian tripels and also a nice hefe, I'd imagine. Golden Monkey is my vote!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Crab Bisque
If you happen to buy a big old paper bag full of cooked crabs seasoned with old bay, and then have some left over, this is the perfect recipe. It requires a modicum of effort...well, anything with crabs does. Plan on spending 45 minutes just picking the meat out of the shells...well, you probably know this, if you eat crabs. As a recent crab-eater, the money and effort spent to eat crab still astounds me. Anyway, this recipe is awesome and delicious and you don't even have to season it cuz of the spices on the crab shells. Read on!
Crab Bisque
4 crabs
8-10 small potatoes
1 bag baby carrots
3 cans evaporated 2% milk
1. Pick the crabs. Put the meat in a bowl, and the shells in a pot.
2. Make crab stock. Cover the shells with hot water and boil uncovered over high heat for 30 minutes.
3. Prep veggies. While the stock is boiling, chop up the veggies. I suggest cutting up three of the potatoes into very small pieces so they fall apart and add to the thickness of the bisque. I chopped another five into medium-size chunks, and the last couple into larger pieces. This way, there's a variety of textures in the soup. Slice the carrots into little medallions.
4. Begin the bisque. Pour the crab stock through a strainer into another pot. Discard the shells. Toss the crab meat, veggies, and evaporated milk into the pot. Here's the important part...
5. Boil the bisque. Cook the bisque over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid has cooked down about an inch. When the potatoes are done, and the smallest pieces of potato have fallen apart, and the liquid is thicker than it was when you started (check by dribbling some from the spoon every once in awhile), you're done.
Crab Bisque
4 crabs
8-10 small potatoes
1 bag baby carrots
3 cans evaporated 2% milk
1. Pick the crabs. Put the meat in a bowl, and the shells in a pot.
2. Make crab stock. Cover the shells with hot water and boil uncovered over high heat for 30 minutes.
3. Prep veggies. While the stock is boiling, chop up the veggies. I suggest cutting up three of the potatoes into very small pieces so they fall apart and add to the thickness of the bisque. I chopped another five into medium-size chunks, and the last couple into larger pieces. This way, there's a variety of textures in the soup. Slice the carrots into little medallions.
4. Begin the bisque. Pour the crab stock through a strainer into another pot. Discard the shells. Toss the crab meat, veggies, and evaporated milk into the pot. Here's the important part...
5. Boil the bisque. Cook the bisque over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid has cooked down about an inch. When the potatoes are done, and the smallest pieces of potato have fallen apart, and the liquid is thicker than it was when you started (check by dribbling some from the spoon every once in awhile), you're done.
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