Maryland Style Crabcakes
Ingredients & Directions 1 lb Fresh jumbo lump crabmeat 1 Sweet red pepper; seeded, -diced fine 1 Sweet yellow pepper; seeded, -diced fine 1 tb Finely-chopped fresh garlic 1 Jalapeno peppers – (to 2); -finely chopped 1/3 c Fresh cilantro leaves; -chopped 1/3 c Mayonnaise 1 c Fresh white bread crumbs 3 tb Maryland-style “Old Bay” -brand seasoning Powder 1 ts Salt 1 ts Freshly-ground black pepper Olive oil or vegetable oil; -for sauteing Even though crab meat is packaged fresh and clean of shell there are always some shell fragments remaining. Open the crab meat, dump into a clean dish, and with scrupulously clean hands, pick through and clean the crabmeat of all shell fragments. Be careful of the delicate nature of such a high quality product and try not to crumble the large lumps of crab. Mix the crabmeat with the sweet peppers, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro leaves, and mayonnaise. Add the seasoning powder, 4 tablespoons of the bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Mix well then refrigerate the mixture for twenty minutes. A cold mix is easier to work with and form into cakes. Cover a work surface with waxed paper and sprinkle with half of the remaining bread crumbs. Scoop up and divide the crabmeat into 6 equal-size portions and place each mound on the work space. With the portion of crab in the palm of one hand pat the crab with the fingers of your other hand into a disk-shaped cake approximately 3/4-inch thick. It is important for the crab cakes to be the same thickness so that they will cook uniformly. Pat each cake with the bread crumbs, turning them so they coat evenly on all sides. Refrigerate for at least an hour so that they firm enough to cook, and in this way prevent them from crumbling. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Not more than half an hour before you plan to serve the crab cakes add enough oil to cover the bottom of a saute pan. Heat until just before it begins to smoke. Add the crab cakes gently, being careful not to crowd the pan. (Cook them in two batches if necessary.) Turn the cakes and brown the second side. When the crab cakes are well browned to a rich golden on both sides, place on a heat-proof platter and into a 375 degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes to ensure that they are fully cooked and hot at the center. Serve with chili mayonnaise and a mango salad. This recipe yields 6 to 8 crabcakes, 4 to 6 appetizer servings or 4 main course servings. Yields 4 servings
Honey Cookies
Ingredients & Directions 2 c Honey 1 c Sugar 1 c Lard 1 c Sour cream; or milk 2 Eggs 2 ts Baking soda 1 ts Cinnamon 1 ts Nutmeg 1 ts Cloves 1/2 ts Salt Flour; to form a soft dough Cream fat. Add honey, sugar and continue creaming. Add eggs and mix well. Add alternately dry ingredients sifted together and sour cream or milk. Chill and roll. Cut with lightly floured cookie cutter, place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in moderate oven 375 F. Yields 1 Servings
Portugese Sweet Bread (santos)
Ingredients & Directions 2 Pkgs. yeast 1 c Milk 1/2 c Warm water 1 ts Salt 1 c Sugar 2 oz Butter or margarine 3 Beaten eggs 7 c Flour Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine yeast, water & 1 teas. sugar; let stand 5 minutes. Beat eggs in large bowl. In small pan, combine milk, salt, butter and sugar; stir over low heat until milk is warm (butter may not be melted). Gradually stir in egg, then beat in 3 cups flour; add yeast and heat until smooth. Gradually add enough remaining flour to make dough; turn on to lightly floured board and knead 8 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover, let rise until doubled in bulk (1-1/2 hours). Form into 4 small loaves (I usually use cake pans for baking the bread.). Let rise until doubled or at least an hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool on rack. Yields 1 Servings
Herbed Cornbread Dressing, Part 1 Of 2
Ingredients & Directions CORNBREAD 1 1/2 C Cornmeal, yellow 1 Egg (lightly beaten) 1/2 C Flour, all-purpose 3 T Vegetable oil 1 t Salt 1 C Milk 2 T Baking powder Vegetable oil -TURKEY BROTH- 1 Turkey neck -celery stalks -(skin removed) 1 Celery stalk Giblets and gizzard 1 sm Onion, quartered -from 1 turkey 12 C Water Leaves from 4 DRESSING 12 oz Bread cubes (herbed) 1/2 lb Mushrooms, sliced 1 lg Yellow onion, 2 C Pecans, roughly chopped -chopped fine Butter (or margarine) 3 Celery stalks, Salt -chopped fine Black pepper 3 C Rice, cooked (cooled Rubbed sage -uncovered overnight Thyme -in a shallow dish) MAKE CORNBREAD: The night before, make the cornbread. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Thinly coat the bottom of a standard Pyrex pie plate, or 9-inch square baking pan, with vegetable oil. Put pan in oven while it is preheating and you are mixing the cornbread batter. In a mixing bowl, blend together the cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the egg and about 3 T vegetable oil. Add milk and mix thoroughly by hand. The consistency should be a thick, but not “doughy,” liquid. It may be necessary to add a little more milk. Pour into preheated pan and bake for 30 minutes or until slightly brown on top. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and break up into very large chunks in a large mixing bowl. Let stand overnight, uncovered. This will ensure that it is dry and stale. MAKE TURKEY BROTH: The night before, make the turkey broth. Bring about 12 C of water to a boil in a large pot. Thoroughly rinse turkey neck, giblets and gizzard. Add turkey parts, onion, celery leaves and celery stalk to water, cover and reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer on very low heat for 2 hours. Strain the broth, cover, cool quickly and refrigerate. : Continued in Part 2 : Yields 8 servings
Jolly Snowman Cookies
Ingredients & Directions 1 c Butter or margarine,softened 1 1/2 c Granulated sugar 1 Egg 1 ts Vanilla extract 2 3/4 c All-purpose flour 1/4 ts Salt Pretzels Miniature chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350?F. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth. In a small bowl, combine flour and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. For each cookie, shape 3 small balls of dough, graduated in size. Place on a greased baking sheet and flatten balls slightly to resemble a snowman (cookies should be about 4 1/2 inches long). Break pretzels into twig shapes. Insert pieces of broken pretzels into sides of cookies for arms. Press small pieces of pretzels onto cookies for mouths. Press chocolate chips onto cookies for eyes, noses, and buttons. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. Yield: about 14 cookies Yields 14 Cookies
Fudge Wreath
Ingredients & Directions 1 cn Sweetened condensed milk 2 c Chocolate chips ts Vanilla 1 c Chopped nuts Candied Cherries; (or red -and green M&Ms) Heat milk and chocolate chips until chips mix in with milk and are completely melted (I did this in microwave for about 1-1/2 minutes). Mix thoroughly, add vanilla and nuts and mix well. Set aside for 15 minutes. On a wax paper-lined platter, drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper in a wreath shape. Top with cherries or M&Ms. Chill before slicing. Yields 1 Servings
Cream Pineapple Pie
Ingredients & Directions FOR CRUST 300 g Marie or other unsalted -biscuits. 1 tb Melted butter 1 tb Icing sugar 1 tb Pie plate -FOR FILLING- 1 c Chopped canned pineapple 1 c Drained syrup 1 1/2 tb Cornflour Few drops yellow colour 1/4 tb Pineapple essence -FOR TOPPING- 1 c Fresh cream 2 tb Icing or ground sugar Crust: Use a grinder to crumble biscuits to fine crumbs. Add sugar and butter. If it feels too dry add a tbsp of milk. Grease pie plate. Put mixture and press down evenly on base and sides. firm down the mixture. Allow to set firmly in freezer. Filling: Meanwhile take all ingredients of filling and heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir continuously. when thick take off from fire and cool. Spread mixture onto the crust evenly chill to set. Topping: Over a bowl of chilled water beat the cream with a hand beater to incorporate air . Beat in small sharp upward strokes. Add sugar and gently mix till thick, light and fluffy. Spread onto filling to cover and form peaks all over. Chill for 3-4 hours before serving. Note: If harder crust is desired bake blind lightly in a hot oven, before adding the filling. Let it cool and then proceed Fresh pineapple may also be used. But it must first be sweetened and softened in sugar water for some time. Yields 1 servings
