Dungeness Crab Cakes a la Bittman!

It is crazy how lucky I am to live in a place where the world's greatest crab is available at insanely cheap prices. w and I tend to get that "I have to have it...now!" glint in our eyes with ever increasing regularity during the cold weather months when our Dungeness crabs are at the peak of their delicious powers. Usually when the "need" strikes we'll head up to ABC Seafood on SE Powell and have them yank a couple of unlucky specimens out of their hot tub-sized holding tanks and take them home, all the while listening to them clawing futilely to escape their paper sack in the back seat. Which is actually kind of creepy to listen to...something you know that has these sharp pinchy claws and is probably really pissed off making this "scratch...scraaatch" sound right behind you while you drive, like they're going to jump up and grab you from behind..."You think I'm going into that pot of boiling water, asshole? Guess again!"

But this time there was no such fear as our local QFC market had already-boiled crabs on sale for a measly $4.99 a pound. $4.99!! As soon as I saw their ad, I knew crab cakes were shortly to follow. We LOVE crab cakes. So savory, so delicious, and if you follow Mark Bittman's perfect recipe, so easy! These are all about the crab, with very little filler to distract you from the whole point of your efforts: to eat some kick ass crab! With our Dungeness crab cakes, I don't make any sauce, just a squeeze of fresh lemon juice is all I want. This recipe makes six really good sized crab cakes, so if you can restrain yourself you'll each have one left for breakfast the next day (I had mine with a poached egg...yum)!
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Dungeness Crab Cakes
adapted from How to Cook Everything
time: 20 minutes plus refrigeration time

ingredients:
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat (make sure all cartilage is removed)
1 egg
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
1/2 cup scallion
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons plain bread crumbs, or as needed
about 1 cup flour for dredging
1 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
2 tablespoons peanut, olive, or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter (or use all oil)
lemon wedges for garnish

method:
1-Mix together crabmeat, egg, bell pepper, scallion, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper. Add sufficient bread crumbs to bind the mixture just enough to form into cakes. Start with two tablespoons and use more if you need it.

2-Refrigerate the mixture until you are ready to use it (it will be easier to shape if you refrigerate it for 30 minutes or more, but is ready to go when you finish mixing)

3-Season flour with salt, pepper (and curry if you like). Preheat a large skillet, preferably non-stick, over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the oil and butter and heat until the butter foam subsides. Shape the crabmeat into six cakes, carefully dredge each in the flour, and cook, adjusting the heat as necessary and turning once (very gently), until golden brown on both sides. Total cooking time will be about ten minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Getting Steamy over Crab & Fuji Apple Salad!

Don't give me that "it's too cold outside to grill" whine. In 25* degree weather in Portland, the perfect antidote to a midwinter chill is throwing some fatty rib eyes on the grill, getting a nice, crusty char on them, and digging in to some serious meaty goodness while dreaming of summer 'ques to come! What's that? Yeah, yeah, I know that isn't a new recipe, and this month is all about making only new dishes at home. Do you really think I'd forget??

That's why, to precede these hunks 'o flesh, I made an awesome new salad I picked up from my blogging pal Jaden's fabulous food site, Steamy Kitchen. If you've been paying attention, you feel my love of all things crabby when we're in the height of Dungeness crab season here in the NW. There was the silly good holiday crab pasta, the killer crab cakes, and now another new favorite thing to add to the repertoire. Jaden adapted this insanely fresh and delicious (and a snap to throw together) Fuji apple and crab salad from Crab: Buying, Cooking, Cracking by Andrea Froncillo and Jennifer Jeffrey. I grabbed a couple of live crabs on the way home from work from ABC Seafood to throw in the crab pot. After they succumbed to a bubbly demise, w and my sis were kind enough to shell them while I got the other edibles ready. This mix of fresh crab and Fuji apples was off the hook, and the Thai dressing was the perfectly piquant set off to the crab/apple/baby greens mix. It could be a main course all by itself with some crusty bread and a good bottle of Sancerre, but it rocked pretty hard as a warm-up to our steakage. You've gotta give this a taste while the crabbing is good. Thanks, J!!
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Crab/Fuji Apple Salad with Thai Dressing
adapted from Crab cookbook by Jennifer Jeffrey and Andrea Froncillo
serves 4-6 as first course

ingredients:
8 ounces fresh crabmeat (I used snow crab)
1 large Fuji apple, cored, julienned and tossed with a squeeze of fresh lime juice
4-6 cups mixed baby greens
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tbl julienned fresh mint

Thai-Style Salad Dressing
3 tbl rice vinegar
2 tbl fish sauce
1 tbl sugar
1/4 tsp finely minced chili (leave seeds in if you like it hot)
juice of 1/2 lime

method:
Prepare the dressing by combining ingredients and whisking. In a small bowl, combine crabmeat and apple and toss lightly with just a sprinkle of sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Assemble plates by layering baby greens, a mound of crab/apple mixture. Top with fresh mint and freshly ground black pepper. Use a teaspoon to drizzle salad dressing onto the salad. Be careful not to use too much - you should have some dressing left over.

Getting Our Crab (pasta) On!

Like all couples, w and I have developed certain rituals. For our purposes here, and because you really don't neet too much information, I'll keep this post on one of our food related rituals. Not that you'd be interested in the others or anything, right??! I had meant to post this for the last several days, since it is all about Christmas Eve dinner at our place, but in the course of ingesting immoderate amounts of food and alcohol and other bits of social holiday cheer over the past several days, it didn't quite get from the "in my head" phase to the "on the page" phase. But now, with cranial clarity finally returning, and with we lucky souls here in the NW being in the heart of Dungeness crab season, this is actually the perfect time for this particular sharing moment.

You probably read a few posts ago about my deep and abiding love for Dungeness crab and all its sweetly satisfying pleasure that lies within its prettily pinkish carapace. Not to mention that smugness I feel at buying said goodness for about $5 a pound. Plus eating crab right out of the shell is one of those primal food pleasures that is really without equal. But for those of you who like me crave diversity in your crabbish comestibles, then this pasta is guaranteed to wow you, your family, and any lucky friends who get invited to partake. The sweet crab is perfectly set off by the faintly bitter radicchio, pungent garlic, and zesty lemon. So quick, so EASY, and insanely good!!
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Linguine with Crab, Radicchio, and Garlic
serves 4

ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon red chile flakes
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound linguine
3/4 to 1 pound fresh crab meat (from 2 whole crabs)
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon zest
1/2 head radicchio, shredded
2 scallions, thinly sliced

method:
Bring 6 quarts water to boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.

In a 12 to 14-inch saute pan, heat the oil until smoking. Add the shallots, garlic, and chiles and saute until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the wine, bring to a boil, then add the butter, and remove from heat. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, until just al dente, and drain.

Add the drained pasta to the pan with the wine mixture and return pan to heat. Add crab, radicchio, lemon zest, and scallion and toss until radicchio is wilted, about 1 minute. Pour into a warm serving bowl and serve.


Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Yield: 4 servings

The Source!

This is new to me. After years spent walking out of New Seasons (which I still love shopping at) with my hands heavier with two bags of groceries but my wallet lighter by about $65, I have found the source. It gives heading east a whole new meaning. I have recently discovered the joys of shopping at two of PDX's great culinary secrets. The real goods at supremely inexpensive prices can be found at two of Portland's best Asian markets: Fubonn Supermarket (2850 SE 82nd Ave.) and ABC Seafood Market (6509 SE Powell Blvd.). Here you'll find some things you'll have to work at to use, i.e.:

But I am enthralled with the possibilities walking the aisles of Fubonn and dreaming....or drooling. We've been buying wonderfully fresh whole trout here lately. Oh, and at $2.68 per pound vs. $4.98 at Seasons. One of the reasons you get such fresh fish at these markets is the incredible turnover. And if you think that carp on the right isn't calling to me you'd be wrong....
I was reading on some food site recently that pork belly is a big new ingredient, and based on what I'm eating our local boites I'd have to agree. But at the same time I was thinking "Sure, if I had a wholesale meat account, I'm sure I could grab a slab, but where's a poor schlub like me going to get a pound or two?" Well, if you look about two feet to the left to the left of these pork shanks, you'll find all you want....
Mmmmm, pork products! In case various unusual animal parts don't grab you, the packaging will....
And for fresh Dungeness crab, you won't do any better than heading to ABC Seafood on SE Powell. We were turned on to this crustacean paradise by our pals Kevin and Monique of Castagna Restaurant. Sure fresh crab is slightly more work...if boiling a big pot of water can be called work...but the flavor is far superior to the pre-cooked store bought crabs. It is so much sweeter and fresher. Plus at $3.49/#, it doesn't get much cheaper. And they really don't put up a fight...it's the lobsters that are the bad asses who will try and rip your finger off on the way into the pot. The crabs just kind of Caspar Milquetoast into the boil. And don't listen to anyone who says use that Old Bay garbage. Per Kevin, and we heartily agree, all you need is saltwater....period! And for you Uwajimaya fans who swear by their fish, a few weeks ago when w and I were in line at ABC. I poked w and whispered "Look on top of that stool" which was right behind the counter. Sitting there was a check for about $3,000......from Uwajimaya. The source, get it?!