Culinary expedition with seafood
It's very rare I cook anything with seafood, but there was a rather
broad hint from a certain group of lasses that crab stuffed mushrooms
might be welcome.
Crab stuffed mushrooms
2 tins of crab with leg meat
2 tbsp whipped peppercorn cream cheese
fresh cracked white pepper
10 large white mushrooms
handful of crisp baked rosemary crackers, crushed
Drain and dry the crab, then mix gently in a bowl with the cream cheese
and pepper and crushed crackers. Remove the stems of the mushrooms
(keep the stems!), leaving a cavity in the mushroom. Fill with tasty
crab goodness, pressing it in to ensure it fills the space, and then top
them off. There will be some left over, but we have a use for it.
Place in a 8x12 pan brushed with olive oil. I added some garlic cloves
to the pan as well. Bake at 375 for 18 minutes or so, until juices
start coming out of the mushrooms.
Sauce for crab stuffed mushrooms:
250 ml whipping cream
3 tbsp butter
pinch of fleur de sel
chopped mushroom stems
port
1 tsp white truffle oil
rosemary
Warm the cream and 1 tbsp of butter in a small sauce pan with a bit of
white pepper.
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a pan and add the chopped mushroom stems and fleur
de sel. Once the butter has started to vanish, add the cream and bring
to simmer. I'm a big fan of my flat whisk for sauces like this to keep
it moving. Reduce, add port. Repeat a few times ;) Once you're ready
to serve the mushrooms, reduce the heat to about medium low and whisk in
the truffle oil.
Spoon that happy goodness over the mushrooms. I decided to do this part
while the mushrooms were still in the pan since it's a bit messy, then
used tongs to plate them.
Wild sockeye salmon rolls
One small container of whipped peppercorn cream cheese (minus a couple
tablespoons)
10 black olives, sliced
1 tbsp capers
Fresh cracked Tellicherry black peppercorns
These were a spur of the moment decision. I spotted it at the market,
and figured I could make a roll of some sort with it.
Started with some pretty decent ingredients methinks! Used up the
whipped peppercorn ranch cream cheese, sliced up some black olives and
tossed in some capers and of course, some fresh cracked Tellicherry
black peppercorns. Cuz I love those damn things.
Pure awesomesauce right here folks!
And then of course, the wild sockeye salmon. Yum!
Sadly, the best of intentions only take you so far. In this case, they
went as far as a very tasty end result that wasn't very elegant.
Little did I know that it wasn't continuous, so after having spread the
cream cheese invention across it and starting to roll it... I discovered
it was actually layers. Unfortunately, it was a bit late in ye olde
process to back out so I pressed on. Damned tasty and earned it's share
of happy noises from the lasses though, so I'll toss this one into the
win column with a note to go over the game tape later ;)
I also made a pasta salad that went over gangbusters.
2 packages of vegetable fusili
half package of firm tofu
1/4 cup concentrated lemon juice
2 tbsp pear and pomegranate vinegar
3 celery stalks
2 small sweet peppers
olive oil
tin of pitted black olives
1 carrot
white peppercorns
1 small lemon
Boil the pasta for 7 minutes, then rinse and cool the pasta in the
fridge after tossing with some olive oil.
Chop the tofu into small pieces, then toss in a small bowl with the
lemon juice and pear pomegranate vinegar. Add white pepper.
Finely slice one stick of celery, chop the other two normally. Slice
the olives and peppers as well. Grate the carrot into a small bowl.
Add all of this to the pasta and toss. Zest the lemon onto the pasta,
toss, and zest again.
Personal columnists are jackals and no jackal has been known to live on
grass once he had learned about meat - no matter who killed the meat for
him. - Ernest Hemingway
broad hint from a certain group of lasses that crab stuffed mushrooms
might be welcome.
Crab stuffed mushrooms
2 tins of crab with leg meat
2 tbsp whipped peppercorn cream cheese
fresh cracked white pepper
10 large white mushrooms
handful of crisp baked rosemary crackers, crushed
Drain and dry the crab, then mix gently in a bowl with the cream cheese
and pepper and crushed crackers. Remove the stems of the mushrooms
(keep the stems!), leaving a cavity in the mushroom. Fill with tasty
crab goodness, pressing it in to ensure it fills the space, and then top
them off. There will be some left over, but we have a use for it.
Place in a 8x12 pan brushed with olive oil. I added some garlic cloves
to the pan as well. Bake at 375 for 18 minutes or so, until juices
start coming out of the mushrooms.
Sauce for crab stuffed mushrooms:
250 ml whipping cream
3 tbsp butter
pinch of fleur de sel
chopped mushroom stems
port
1 tsp white truffle oil
rosemary
Warm the cream and 1 tbsp of butter in a small sauce pan with a bit of
white pepper.
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a pan and add the chopped mushroom stems and fleur
de sel. Once the butter has started to vanish, add the cream and bring
to simmer. I'm a big fan of my flat whisk for sauces like this to keep
it moving. Reduce, add port. Repeat a few times ;) Once you're ready
to serve the mushrooms, reduce the heat to about medium low and whisk in
the truffle oil.
Spoon that happy goodness over the mushrooms. I decided to do this part
while the mushrooms were still in the pan since it's a bit messy, then
used tongs to plate them.
Wild sockeye salmon rolls
One small container of whipped peppercorn cream cheese (minus a couple
tablespoons)
10 black olives, sliced
1 tbsp capers
Fresh cracked Tellicherry black peppercorns
These were a spur of the moment decision. I spotted it at the market,
and figured I could make a roll of some sort with it.
Started with some pretty decent ingredients methinks! Used up the
whipped peppercorn ranch cream cheese, sliced up some black olives and
tossed in some capers and of course, some fresh cracked Tellicherry
black peppercorns. Cuz I love those damn things.
Pure awesomesauce right here folks!
And then of course, the wild sockeye salmon. Yum!
Sadly, the best of intentions only take you so far. In this case, they
went as far as a very tasty end result that wasn't very elegant.
Little did I know that it wasn't continuous, so after having spread the
cream cheese invention across it and starting to roll it... I discovered
it was actually layers. Unfortunately, it was a bit late in ye olde
process to back out so I pressed on. Damned tasty and earned it's share
of happy noises from the lasses though, so I'll toss this one into the
win column with a note to go over the game tape later ;)
I also made a pasta salad that went over gangbusters.
2 packages of vegetable fusili
half package of firm tofu
1/4 cup concentrated lemon juice
2 tbsp pear and pomegranate vinegar
3 celery stalks
2 small sweet peppers
olive oil
tin of pitted black olives
1 carrot
white peppercorns
1 small lemon
Boil the pasta for 7 minutes, then rinse and cool the pasta in the
fridge after tossing with some olive oil.
Chop the tofu into small pieces, then toss in a small bowl with the
lemon juice and pear pomegranate vinegar. Add white pepper.
Finely slice one stick of celery, chop the other two normally. Slice
the olives and peppers as well. Grate the carrot into a small bowl.
Add all of this to the pasta and toss. Zest the lemon onto the pasta,
toss, and zest again.
Personal columnists are jackals and no jackal has been known to live on
grass once he had learned about meat - no matter who killed the meat for
him. - Ernest Hemingway