I realize fresh crab meat is expensive, but served with a simple mayonnaise based sauce, a side salad and maybe a few wedge fries, a single crab cake makes a fairly decadent meal for one person. NOTE: There is no substitute for fresh crab meat. I wouldn’t even bother with this if you can only get it canned.

Dad’s Perfect Crab Cakes

1 lb of fresh lump or back fin crab meat, picked free of shells

1 large egg

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 tablespoon roasted red pepper, minced

A few drops of Worcestershire sauce

3 saltine crackers, crushed

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Pinch of salt

8 saltine crackers, crushed

vegetable oil for pan frying

lemon wedges for garnish

1. In a medium bowl, combine the egg, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, roasted red peppers, Worcestershire sauce, 3 crushed saltine crackers, cayenne, white pepper and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (I realize it has raw egg in it, but I taste it anyway, egg and all).

2. Put the remaining 8 crushed crackers on a large plate. Place a large biscuit ring on top of the crackers and fill it with 1/6 of the crab meat. Press down gently to form the cake. Remove the ring and sprinkle the top of the crab cake with crumbs to coat. Set each crab cake aside until six cakes have been formed and coated with bread crumbs on both sides. Alternately, if you don’t have a biscuit ring, you could form the cakes by hand (make them smaller for appetizer-size portions).

3. Heat some vegetable oil or other neutral oil in a skillet over medium heat. Unless you have a large skillet you will probably need to cook the cakes three at a time. Cook them until the cracker crumbs are golden brown and the cakes are set. You can keep the first three cakes in a warm oven while you’re cooking the second batch.

4. Serve the crab cakes with lemon wedges and your sauce of mayonnaise based sauce.

Sunday night as I was going through my Google Reader I noticed an abundance of dumpling recipes on favorite sites like Chez Us and Use Real Butter. It turns out that the June Daring Cooks challenge is Chinese dumplings or potstickers. I had just recently learned about the Daring Kitchen and decided to sign up. But, it turns out there is a waiting period to be an “official” participating member. Something about keeping the challenges secret. Fair enough. I still wanted dumplings. Unfortunately, it was late, I didn’t have the ingredients and I was exhausted. So instead, I sobbed silently over a plate of hot dog fried rice. Don’t judge me.

There is one person I know that makes the best “mandu” (korean dumplings) I have ever eaten in my entire life. Her name is Wool and she is pretty much amazing. She can turn the simplest of ingredients into the most flavorful dishes you have ever tasted. Although she has told me the secrets of her mandu, I have never been able to replicate them, and believe me I have tried. Thinking maybe she was leaving out some ancient Korean secret, I bought this book by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee called Eating Korean. It’s a great book—I’m not by any means an expert, but to me it has the most authentic looking recipes of any Korean cookbook I have ever looked at, and most importantly, it has the Wool stamp of approval. So I’m using a recipe from it as the basis for my dumplings, with a few changes.

Korean Pork “Mandu” (Dumplings)

Adapted from Eating Korean: From Barbecue to Kimchi, Recipes from My Home

The original recipe calls for mung bean sprouts, but I substituted napa cabbage because that’s what I bought. I also added a carrot and soy sauce because Wool uses both in her mandu. The recipe calls for fresh ginger, but I used powdered, well, because Wool does. And I added a little sugar … just because I wanted to.

1 cup shredded napa cabbage, washed

1/4 of a large onion, sliced

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 lb ground pork

3 large cloves of garlic

2 stalks of green onion, finely chopped

2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp ginger powder

1 package of round dumpling wrappers (or you can make them homemade if you have time)

oil for frying

1. Salt the cabbage with 1 tsp kosher salt and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Squeeze the water out and place the cabbage into a food processor with the carrots, onion and garlic. Process until the vegetables are finely chopped. Squeeze out any moisture from the mixture.

2. In a large bowl mix the vegetables with the pork. Add the salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, sugar and ginger powder. Mix gently with your hands until the seasonings are thoroughly incorporated into the meat. At this point I like to cook a small amount of the filling in a skillet to taste for seasonings. I can then adjust them if I need to.

3. The next step is to fill and pleat the dumplings. Set up a small bowl of water at your wrapping station. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Then, dip a finger in a bowl of water and wet the edges of the wrapper (usually I do it halfway around so it doesn’t get too soggy). If you don’t want to mess with the pleats, you can just fold it over and pinch the edges closed. If you want to make them look pretty and authentic,  you’ll want to pleat them. I could try to tell you how, but to really understand you need to see photos of the process. Jaden at Steamy Kitchen has a great tutorial with photos that will be much more useful than any explanation I can give here. So if you need help making your dumplings look all neat and fancy, get on over there and check it out.

4. At this point you’ll either want to cook the dumplings or freeze them.

If you’re going to freeze them lay them out on a baking sheet sprinkled with flour. Freeze the dumplings until they are nearly solid and then seal them up in a ziplock bag. You can cook them later at any time using the instructions here. If you’re going to cook the dumplings you’ll want to do it immediately because if you let them sit for too long, they will get soggy. Then the wrappers will come apart, they’ll all be stuck together and you’ll be pissed.

To cook the dumplings (you do it the same whether they are frozen or fresh) arrange them in a hot, oiled skillet, flat side down. Once the dumplings are nicely browned on the bottom (a few minutes, but longer if you started with frozen dumplings), add about 1/4 cup of water (carefully, it will make a lot of noise and splatter) and quickly put a lid or a plate over the top to steam the tops of the dumplings. Once the wrappers look translucent (this only takes a minute or so) remove the lid and allow the rest of the water to cook out. Serve them right away. I like to make a dipping sauce out of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sambal oelek and a little sugar.

Shrimp Cakes

First of all the original recipe calls for WAY too many green onions. I cut the amount in half. Also, I think it’s irrelevant what size shrimp you use since you’re just going to chop them up, so don’t buy the most expensive jumbo shrimp you can find because some little bity guys will work just as well. The coating for these is supposed to be sliced almonds, but I didn’t have any so I substituted a cornflake crust mixture from the Hudson’s On the Bend cookbook. If you happen to have any leftovers (I did because I doubled the recipe), these are great served on a bed of lightly dressed greens.

1 slice of bacon  

1 slice firm white sandwich bread (I used a bolillo roll)

1 lb of shrimp (any size), peeled, deveined and patted dry

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup sliced green onions

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 teaspoons corn starch

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (less if you have salty shrimp … they live in salt water ya know)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Fresh ground black pepper

Slivered almonds or hot and crunchy crust for dredging 

Hudson’s on the Bend Hot and Crunchy Crust

Pulse in a food processor:

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

2 cups cornflakes

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 Tablespoons red chile flakes

1 Tablespoon salt

Dipping Sauce

Combine the following:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon tamari soy sauce

juice of 1/2 a lemon

a squirt of sriracha (or other hot sauce), to taste 

1. Pulse the bacon in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the shrimp and pulse until coarsely chopped.

2. Soak the bread in the milk for about five minutes. Squeeze to remove excess moisture and combine with the shrimp.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the crust) to the shrimp mixture and combine well.

4. Heat a large skillet with some neutral oil. Put a generous amount of crust mixture onto a large plate. Form the shrimp mixture into patties and roll them in the crust mixture until they are well coated. Drop the cakes into the skillet a few at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook until shrimp is done and cakes are well browned on both sides.

5. Serve with dipping sauce and lemon wedges. 

This year was Mexican. My dad was making Soup Nazi Mexican Chicken Chili. No soup for you! And this year was the first year that I was asked to bring something. I decided on ceviche right away. But then as my supply of Meyer lemons began to expand to levels of grotesque proportions, lemon bars started to sound like a really good idea. For several days, I went back and forth between ceviche and meyer lemon bars. My mom loves lemon bars, but would we really need more sweets? The definitive answer was yes. So I did what any reasonable person would do. I made both. And those people I was talking about? You know, the special ones? They wolfed down the ceviche before my dad got to try it, so guess what we’ll be having for New Years? (If you can’t guess, see answer below):

Looks good doesn’t it? Well, you’ll have to make your own because we’re fresh out. Let me know when you’re done and you can have some lemon bars for dessert.

Mock Ceviche

Ceviche is sort of a Latin American fish cocktail. It can be made with shellfish, squid or almost any firm white-fleshed fish. Traditionally, ceviche is not cooked with heat. Instead it’s marinated in citrus juices, which chemically “cook” the fish. And contrary to popular belief, chemically cooked fish is not as safe as fish cooked with heat. You should always treat any fish used for ceviche as though you were going to eat it raw. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to take on that burden of responsibility. So I use this trick suggested by Mark Bittman: Cook the damn fish. Nobody will know the difference. I love ceviche, but I don’t love the idea of giving anyone a tapeworm for Christmas. Ho ho ho!

Ceviche

Dressing

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the scallops, turn the water off and put a lid on it. Allow the scallops to sit for two minutes. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Cut each scallop in half and set aside.

2. In a bowl large enough to accommodate the finished dish, combine the dressing ingredients. Add the scallops, tomato, onion, jalapeno, garlic and herbs. If there’s time, allow the ceviche to marinate in the refrigerator for several hours to blend the flavors. 

3. Add the avocados and toss gently just before serving. Serve immediately with a side of corn chips.

Crispy Baked Egg Rolls

When most people think of egg rolls, they think of the kind that are served at the average Chinese restaurant: a blend of vegetables and meat all wrapped up inside a big fat greasy, doughy fried wrapper. Super. So the plan was to get as far away from that familiar object as possible. Instead of the American-style egg roll wrappers you can buy at the regular old grocery store, try asian spring roll wrappers. They are much thinner and not at all doughy. Once cooked, they crisp up sort of like an extra crunchy phyllo dough. And they are surprisingly easy to work with. Normally they are deep fried, but for a lighter version, these are baked in the oven. Serve them with sweet chili sauce for dipping.

2 tablespoons neutral oil

1 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz white mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/2 head green cabbage, thinly shredded

3 carrots, grated

2 celery stalks, finely diced

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 package spring roll wrappers (about 25 wrappers)

Neutral oil for brushing

1. In a wok or large skillet, over medium high heat, heat the neutral oil and 1/2 a teaspoon sesame oil until it shimmers. Add the garlic and fry for one minute. Add the mushrooms and a small pinch of salt to draw out the moisture. Cook the mushrooms until they are browned and fairly dry.

2. Add the cabbage, carrots, celery and green onion. Cook until the cabbage just begins to wilt. Add the powdered ginger, sugar, oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar. Cook until the flavors start to become absorbed into the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Place the filling in a fine mesh strainer to remove excess liquid. You want the mixture to be fairly dry so that the wrappers don’t become too soggy.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. For each egg roll, place one wrapper in front of you on its point so it looks like a diamond. Lay about one and a half tablespoons of filling across the bottom of the wrapper horizontally. Fold the point over the filling, then fold the left and right points over so it looks sort of like an envelope that is ready to seal. To close the egg roll, grasp the filling and roll tightly upwards toward the remaining point. Be sure that the filling is completely and tightly enclosed in the wrapper. Lay the roll on its seam on a cookie sheet and proceed with the remaining rolls.

5. Once the rolls are made, brush them on both sides with neutral oil. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden and crispy, flipping them once after 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

My hummus-making has evolved a lot over the years. The first batch of hummus I ever made (I cleverly called it bean dip so that Shawn might eat it) was a pasty combination of canned chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, and an assortment of spices I threw in haphazardly with hopes of overpowering that weird tahini flavor. Shortly after that, I developed a flavorful hummus that became my new obsession. It included roasted garlic, a whole jar of roasted red bell peppers, parsley, green olives, canned black olives and only a small amount of tahini. While that was all well and good and it was delicious, it was sort of expensive to make for a dip and it didn’t quite have the creaminess I was looking for. But my new favorite is this: spicy pine nut hummus. It gets some of its creaminess from the addition of pine nuts allowing me to eliminate some of the tahini from the recipe for a more (I think) balanced flavor. I also found a great tip for giving it some spice with a red pepper infused olive oil here. And best of all, Shawn now asks for my hummus and I don’t have to call it bean dip.

Spicy Pine Nut Hummus

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup dry garbanzo beans, cooked and drained (or 2 cups canned)

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup tahini paste

1 clove garlic, sliced

1/4 cup boiling water

1 lemon, juiced

Salt to taste

1. In a small skilled warm the olive oil with the red pepper flakes to infuse the oil, being careful not to burn the flakes. Once the oil has begun to take on a rusty hue, remove from heat.

2. In the bowl of a food processor pulse the garbanzo beans, toasted pine nuts, tahini paste and garlic. With the machine running pour the hot water into the feeder tube until the hummus becomes smooth and creamy.

3. Add the lemon juice and salt and combine. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve with chips or use it as a sandwich or wrap filling.