The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

Crab and Cheddar Gougères

 

A couple of days ago Bill and the kids and Bill’s friend and one of his kids went crabbing.  Gone are the days when crabs were the occasional bonus goodies brought home in addition to the major prey – the clams, the bluefish.

Now, we are The People Who Hunt the Savory Beautiful Dancers of the Sea.  Well, of the Bay.  And I haven’t even been hunting for them myself.  (Because of course I am The Woman Who Tends the Hearth)  (okay, enough with that silliness….)

Crabby

Callinectes sapidus.

Isn’t it gorgeous?

Bill (the Hunter, the Great Provider, Farmer of the Bay and Gardener of the Back Yard) has been doing a bunch of crabbing lately.  We’re eating our fill and then packing the remaining meat in crab stock and freezing it. 

I’m looking forward to winter, when we’ll thaw one of those packages and make something yummy with locally caught crab meat…stuffed mushrooms, maybe.  Stuffed flounder.  Cheese and Crabmeat Fondue.  Crab Rangoon.  Who knows what else.

Crab Cakes

Bill’s birthday was last week, and when I asked him what he wanted for dinner, he asked for crab cakes, seaweed salad, some kind of fish on the grill, and tiramisu. 

We also had sauteed asparagus, steak, and a simple garden salad. 

But Bill said the crab cakes were his favorite part of the meal.

So here’s how I made them.

Crab and Corn (And a Bit of Lobster) Risotto

  

I think sometimes I love things like crab and lobster more the second day, when I get to mess around with the leftover meat and be all creative and pretend i'm an Iron Chef (in my head).  Okay, not that Iron Chef part.  That would be silly!

Anyway, we had some crab parts left after Friday's seafood feast...

Risotto with Artichoke Hearts, Crabmeat and Shrimp

I made this last night.  I first made risotto about 4 years ago, I think, and kicked myself for not making it sooner.  It's ultimate soft starchy comfort food, and once you've got the basic procedure down, you can be as creative as you want.

Steamed Crabmeat Dumplings

This recipe comes from a Time Life-Books series - "Foods of the World" - published in 1968.  I think my mother had (or maybe still has) all of them.  They came two books per part of the world - one large hardbound book that had a lot of historical and cultural information and recipes, and then the smaller wire ring-bound volume that just had the recipes.  Bill's mother had the two volumes for Chinese Cooking, and now we have them on our shelf.

We Interrupt This Photo Essay on Last Night's Dinner Preparation...

So yesterday Bill (mainly Bill - I was soft shell crab fry cook, dishwasher, and photographer) prepared this absolute FEAST of Japanese food.  Primarily sushi - related things, but not just that.  I'll post the recipes separately, because there are too many to cram into this one post.

But after the meal, and after the clean-up, I uploaded the pictures I'd taken while the meal was being prepared, and what struck me funny were not the pictures of the food, but the unexpected pictures that showed up here and there in between the chronology of the food prep.  Basically what happened was while Bill was making the soft shell crab maki rolls, and I was taking pictures of them, Alex yelled from the other room "Mommy!  Come quick!  The sky is pink!"  And so I just peeked out the kitchen window, saw that yes, the sun was setting and pink clouds dotted the sky, and took a quick step outside to take a few pictures before the pinkness was gone.  Alex knows I will to this, so he is vigilant.

So here's an example of my viewing experience...

Surf n Surf n Turf n Turf (sort of)

Or, my Mother's Day lunch, cooked and served by my husband.