Grilled Oysters with Garlic Butter Oil and Basil

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One of our very favorite spring through fall dinner starters is grilled oysters. We prepare them very simply so as not to muddy their fresh-out-of-the-water salty-sea taste.

That's right.Harvested on Wednesday afternoon and delivered to our door on Thursday morning. These oysters are as fresh as fresh can be.

We usually order Kumamotos and small Pacifics. Mr CC likes his kumos raw with a squeeze of Meyer lemon juice and a small grind of black peppercorns. He says they're superb. I myself will never know. A terribly traumatic run-in with a raw oyster when Mr CC was courting me left me with - dare I say it - a bad taste in my mouth.

I really don't think I'm missing out on much. Swimming in their own little teaspoon of butter and olive oil with minced fresh garlic, grilled just enough to heat them through, then topped with a few drops of hot sauce - could there be anything more sublime?

Grilled Oysters with Garlic Butter Oil, Basil and Cholula
Ingredients:
fresh oysters in their shells
olive oil
butter
garlic, peeled a minced
fresh basil, chopped
Cholula hot sauce
Preparation:
This is more technique than a recipe and the foremost thing you need is to have an accomplished oyster shucker in your midst. One who doesn't fear the knife. More to the point, one who is quite handy with an oyster knife.
That would not be me.
That would be the intrepid Mr CC who does a damn fine job of shucking oysters.
So, you open the oyster's shell (I'll try to get Mr CC to do a video to show you how) and discard the top shell, reserving the oyster in its bottom shell with the liquor.
Place each oyster on this very cool rack and when filled, put on the grill over high heat.
Meanwhile you will have placed several tablespoons of good olive oil, along with a few teaspoons of unsalted butter, in a small saucepan over low heat.
Add about 4 cloves worth of minced garlic and heat until it's simmering gently.
Spoon a small amount of this delectable elixir over each oyster as they are cooking.
The oysters are ready when their edges begin to curl slightly.
Remove them from the grill, sprinkle with a bit of chopped basil and serve immediately, in the half-shell, not forgetting to pass the oh-so-important bottle of Cholula.
Pure heaven.

Copyright © 2005-2009, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Corn And Crab Chowder

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Simple, fresh, satisfying.

There's something about the summers up here: One day a little warm and sunny, another day foggy and cool, yet another warm in the sun, cold in the shade. It's chowder weather.

The last of December's crab catch combined with fresh, local vegetables and this gentle corn stock make a very satisfying meal-in-a-bowl. If you don't happen to have crab on hand, use scallops or a thick white fish such as halibut or cod. I think catfish would work as well.

If you're vegetarian, skip the fish business entirely. Vegans can be assured that this chowder will still be wonderful without the dairy.

The important thing is to use the freshest ingredients you can find. Enjoy!

Christine's Corn and Crab Chowder
Ingredients:
1 quart corn stock
2 yellow summer squash, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 fennel bulb, cut in half again and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8-10 yellow cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
corn kernels and corn milk cut from 4 ears of corn (save the cobs for your next stock)
1 teaspoon dried thyme, heaping, crushed
1/2 cup half 'n half
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound crab meat (fresh is best, freshly frozen is a good substitute)

Preparation:
Bring the stock to a simmer in a large pot.
Add the carrots and fennel and cook for about 7 minutes or until they are just tender.
Add the summer squash, corn and tomatoes and cook for 5-6 minutes more.
Add the crushed thyme and crab and cook until the crab is heated through.
Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Gently stir in the cream and half 'n half and your chowder is ready to serve.

Cook's Notes:
Use whatever summer vegetables you have available for this chowder but avoid broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and others of that nature as they will overpower the stock.

The addition of a little dry white wine wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

It's Time to Celebrate!

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Marking the start of the Holiday season, commercial crab fishing opened on December 1st here on the north coast. On December 2nd and 3rd we got hit by the southern edge of a storm that caused numerous power outages, Internet failure and very high seas. Thank heavens our intrepid crab fisherfolk who risk life and limb to bring their succulent, glorious catch to our tables were not harmed.

Mr CC and I traditionally celebrate the beginning of the crab season with a glass of champagne and a crab apiece, simply boiled, cracked and consumed using fingers and large bibs. It's a messy job but, hey, someone's gotta do it.

Here's to the crabbers! May your catch always be a sweet success.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Celebrating Humboldt Bay Oysters

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Minutes from being pulled out of the bay, you can buy these beauties, harvest-fresh and tasting of briny salt water, from Humboldt North Bay Oyster Company (sorry, no web site) on Saturday mornings at the Arcata Farmers Market .

These are plump, sweet Kumamoto oysters, a specialty of Humboldt and Arcata Bays (actually one very large body of water stretching from Arcata in the north, past Eureka to the National Wildlife Preserve in the south.)

Interesting reading about how this strain of oyster came to be grown just 1/2 hour's drive from my kitchen may be found here.

And did you know that Arcata is host to the annual Arcata Bay Oyster Festival which attracts 10,000 to 15,000 oyster-loving revelers each year? Yes it is. And this year the event is being held on June 16th which also happens to be our 23rd wedding anniversary. You can bet we'll be there.

Mr CC likes to serve these babies hot off the grill, dribbled with melted butter and sauteed garlic slices. That's the way I like them best.

Not at all fussy when it comes to libation pairing, oysters go well with Champagne, a zingy white wine or a good microbrew.

Slurp!

4/28/07 - Cook's Notes:
Now here's a lesson in shoddy research. The oyster pictured above is not a Kumamoto, it's actually a Pacific oyster, also originally from Japan. We got Kumamotos at the Farmers Market this morning. Photos coming.


Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

Prawn Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms With Crisp Comte Cheese Caps

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My posts are few and far between these days as I re-think eating habits and the incorporating of foods that make for a healthier eating lifestyle.

For the past few weeks I've cut all meats and a goodly portion of dairy products from my (and, subsequently, Mr CC's) diet. Opting for fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains instead. And, interestingly enough, I've been quite happy, have not felt deprived, and have lost 5 of those extremely-hard-to-lose last 10 pounds that I've been packing since Thanksgiving.

I didn't set out to do this. When our vegan son Jeffrey was here, I cooked entirely vegan for all of us because it was just too much hassle to do otherwise. After he left I discovered that I really liked eating fruits, veggies and grains and didn't miss the meat and dairy that had started feeling heavier and harder for me to digest.

So, here I am, on the cusp of change, thinking, thinking, thinking of ways to be creative and inventive without using the meat and dairy I've spent a lifetime cooking with.

Then I saw these US wild-caught prawns and, for the moment, meatless went careening 'round the corner. Add to that a chunk of Comte cheese that had been sitting idly in the fridge and cheeseless, joining meatless, zoomed right over a cliff.

I'm still on my food re-assessment kick, don't get me wrong. Expect to see some changes coming out of my newly-tiled kitchen. But a little seafood and a smidge of cheese isn't what I consider to be unhealthy eating. Not by a long shot.

Prawn Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms With Crisp Comte Cheese Crisps
Christine's Original Recipe
Ingredients:
2 large, deeply cupped portobello mushrooms, stems removed, caps brushed clean
olive oil spray for the baking sheet
1 1/2 cups hard, salty cheese, such as Comte or parmesan-reggiano, coarsely grated
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
10 large prawns (preferably wild-caught in the US), peeled and de-veined
juice of 1/2 of a large orange
1-2 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh basil, thinly sliced (chiffonade)
good olive oil for the saute skillet
Good coarse sea salt (I used Fleur de Sel de Guerande)
freshly ground black pepper (I use Tellicherry)

Preparation:
Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray. Place the portobellos on the sheet, smooth side down, and roast in a 350-degree oven for about 25 minutes.
Turn the portobellos over in the last 10 minutes of roasting to allow them to drain of liquid. Keep warm.
Set a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Do not add oil.
When the pan is hot, place about 3 tablespoons each (very approximate) of cheese in small piles in the pan. Don't crowd.
Allow the cheese to melt and bubble and form circles about 2 inches in diameter (bigger if you wish). When you can lift the edge of a circle with a spatula, start working around the edges until the melted cheese can be lifted and turned over. Do that, and melt the other side of each round taking care to not let the cheese or the weeping oil burn.

IMPORTANT: As the Comte cheese melts, it will weep oil. Wipe the excess from the pan with each addition of cheese.
Be very careful to not allow the cheese fat to burn in the pan as this will impart a nasty flavor to the finished crisps.

Remove the cheese crisps to a paper towel to drain. Repeat until all the cheese is used. You should get about eight crisps from this amount of grated cheese.

This next series of steps is to be done very quickly so have the rest of the ingredients prepped and close at hand.
Heat a small amount of olive oil in another cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Reserving 4 of the prawns, chop the remaining 6 prawns into small pieces.
When the pan is ready, add the minced garlic and stir until soft and aromatic, about 1 minute.
Add the chopped prawns and saute, stirring, until they turn pink, about 1 minute.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Immediately remove the garlic and prawns to a plate and return the pan to the heat.
Place the 4 reserved prawns in the pan and quickly sear until pink and barely cooked through, about 1 minute.
Add the orange juice and golden balsamic vinegar to the pan and allow to boil for about 1 minute. The liquid will thicken and the large prawns will finish cooking. Turn them during this time so they become coated with the glaze.
Remove the prawns from the pan.
Sprinkle the basil into the pan and stir briefly. Remove the pan from the heat.

To assemble:

Place a portobello mushroom, round side down, on a plate.

Spoon 1/2 of the chopped prawns into the mushroom cup.

Place 2 of the large, sauteed prawns over the chopped ones and drizzle 1/2 of the glaze with basil over it all.
Top with a cheese crisp.

Cook's Notes:
I can't stress enough the importance of not allowing the cheese oil to burn. If it does, a very nasty flavor will imbue rest of the crisps and it's very off-putting.
If I were to make this again, I might spoon the chopped prawn saute into the mushroom caps, top them with a grated cheese such as gruyere, place them in the oven long enough for the cheese to melt then continue with the rest of the steps.
I liked the cheese crisps but, if I were to do this again, I probably would use parmesan-reggiano instead. Why? I just like it better.


It's time once again for Weekend Herb Blogging, an event where food bloggers around the world post recipes featuring herbs and plants. Hosted this week by Ahn at her lovely blog Food Lover's Journey, this event was begun almost 2 years ago by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. If you're not familiar with WHB, click here to read how to join in the fun. Then check in with Ahn, from the land down under, on Monday for her international round-up.

Copyright © 2005-2007, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved.

Dungeness Crab: Worth Its Weight In Gold Plus a Recipe for Golden Balsamic Vinaigrette

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A quick Internet search for current prices of mail order Dungeness crab (for those who don't live on the west coast of the United States between San Francisco and Alaska), found that one company sells it for $14.95 per pound, another offers a cooked whole 1.5 to 2-pound crab for $37.99, and Gorton's offers a 2 to 2.5-pound whole cook crab for $39.99. All of these do not include the shipping costs.

You do the math. Anyway you pencil it out, it's darned expensive.

Here in the tiny fishing port village of Trinidad, California, we can buy crab from some local fishermen at the beginning of the season (this year it started just before Christmas) for $5.00 each. That's right, you read correctly: $5.00 each.

At an average weight of 2 pounds per crab, that's $2.50 per pound. (You can't see me but I'm doing a smug little Snoopy dance right now.)

Of course you have to know who to call and when to call, and you have to be on time to pick up your order or the crabs just might be gone when you get there. All part of the fun, excitement and tension of waiting for the season to begin and the crabs to come in.

We had our fill of crab over the holidays, mostly freshly cooked, cracked and slurped down with a glass of champagne. Sometimes in salads like the one pictured here. Dressed with a golden balsamic (recipe below) or champagne vinaigrette, you can't go wrong.

Sated for the time being, it was January before I remembered I wanted to have some crab meat put away in the freezer so I could make crab cakes whenever I wanted to.

And that brings me to the reason for this post: from six large crabs in their shells to 1-pound packages of lovely lump meat, I'd like to show you the process and the yield. If you like crab like I do, I think you'll agree they're worth their weight in gold.

Six crabs, cooked whole with shell intact, weighed a total of 10 pounds. That's an average of 1.67 pounds per crab. Some were lighter, some were heavier. After removing the backs of the shells and cleaning the bodies, the crabs weighed in at 8 pounds total. I don't have photos of the "backing" and cleaning process. It takes both hands and it's not a very pretty sight.

Shelling crabs is time consuming. It took me a little over two hours to pick six crabs.

After all the picking was done I had a total of 3 pounds, 10 ounces of crab meat. I bagged three 1-pound packages to put in the freezer and kept the remaining 10 ounces to use right away in crab salad.

From start to finish it took me about 3 1/2 hours to clean, pick and bag six crabs. For each package I used two zip-lock freezer bags, double bagging and forcing out as much air as possible. Then I put them all together in another freezer bag for good measure. After all that work, you don't want freezer burned crab meat.

What will I get for my labors? I figure each pound of crab meat will yield about 16 dinner-size crab cakes.
Recipe coming...

For now, here's my golden balsamic vinaigrette recipe:

Golden Balsamic Salad Dressing

Christine's original recipe

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:

2 ounces golden balsamic vinegar

1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard (I use Maille)

1/4 teaspoon sugar or Splenda granular

pinch kosher salt

several grinds black pepper

3 ounces toasted walnut oil

3 ounces extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:

In a measuring cup, pour in the vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk until combined.
Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the walnut oil then the olive oil.
Keep whisking until the mixture has thickened and is fully emulsified.
Taste and adjust seasonings.

Oven Roasted Prawns & Asparagus

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When it's too cold to grill outside, pan roasting comes awfully close.

These babies were soaked in a citrusy - soy marinade for two hours and then roasted in a hot oven

2-4 lbs. medium-sized prawns, 31-50 per pound (depending on how many you're feeding. For this occasion, there were 12), shells and tails intact. With a very sharp knife, slit the rounded back of each prawn and remove the sand track. Combine the following (adjust to your personal taste):
1/2 cup Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar or a mix of your own citrus juices such as orange, blood orange, lemon, & lime plus some Champagne vinegar to taste.
1/3 cup lite soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup orange pineapple juice concentrate
2 tablespoons water
Place prepared prawns in a glass bowl or dish and pour the marinade over, turning the prawns until they are fully coated. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Reserving marinade, with a slotted spoon remove the prawns to a large roasting pan and roast in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until all the prawns are bright orange, shaking pan often. Remove the prawns from the pan and tent with foil to keep warm.
Strain both the marinade and the juice from the roasting pan into a sauce pan. Stir 1/4 cup orange pineapple juice concentrate and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes until reduced and slightly thickened. Taste for seasonings and pass as a dipping sauce with the prawns.

First California asparagus of the season!
For the asparagus, trim tough ends and, using a vegetable peeler, peel the skins if tough. Place the asparagus in single layers on parchment paper in a large jelly roll pan. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Roast in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

'Tis the Season for Crab Cakes

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Finally, after much price haggling plus deferments by Fish and Game, opening day for commercial crab fishing begins today. Pots will be placed in our Pacific waters so we may savor the bounty for which our local fisherfolk risk life and limb - fresh Dungeness crab! That is, of course, if the weather cooperates. Which it's not doing. Nooooo. One storm after another has been hitting us since Tuesday with another one coming on shore right now. This one is supposed to pack high, gusty winds (up to 80 mph), hurling our higher-than-normal high tides way up the beaches, flooding our already swollen rivers to the breaking point, and wreaking general havoc. And in order for our guys to be able to bring the catch in, they must be able to get the pots out. No mean feat in 17 to 25-foot waves along with a churning, frothy, angry ocean. Our prayers go out with them for a save journey and a prosperous catch.

So how, you might ask, do I happen to have fresh local crab for crab cakes? A few weeks ago we had sunny and unseasonably warm weather. Sport crab fishing being allowed, some industrious friends dropped a couple of pots in the harbor. On retrieving the pots and finding they had too much crab for themselves, they offered to share. Could I say no? Didn't even think of it. Took my kettle and went right over. There they were; big, fat, lively crabs set aside just for me. Oooooh, the richness of it all! I still have goose bumps. Clay and I took them home, fired up the kettle and soon were shelling and picking our treasure, packing it in freezer bags for Christmas Eve crab cakes. Well, we did eat one of them then and there as it came out of the boiling kettle. Standing at the kitchen sink. With a bottle of Champagne. It's a tradition at our house. Champagne chills in the fridge at all times. You never know...

I devised a recipe for crab cakes a number of years ago, using ingredients that had been written down and left in a restaurant where I worked for a brief moment in time. The list did not include instructions so I was left to figure the recipe out on my own. And I did. And the restaurant clients loved them! (I did not love cooking in a restaurant, however, and after 6 months went sobbing back to my own home kitchen where I've happily been since, which is another story.) I brought that recipe home with me, have changed it around a bit, adding this and that to suite my fancy.

Christine's Crab Cakes
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 jalapeno pepper, charred, peeled, seeded and minced
1 small white onion, peeled and cut into small dice
1 cup heavy cream

1 red bell pepper, charred, peeled, seeded and diced small
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, minced
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 cup, or more as necessary, ground toasted slivered almonds
1 to 1 1/2 lbs. cooked, picked crab meat (from about 2 crabs)

1 extra large egg, beaten lightly
1/2 cup, or more as necessary, toasted, seasoned bread crumbs

1 tablespoon peanut oil or more if needed
1 tablespoon butter, or more if needed

Place the peppers over a gas burner and char until skin is black and blistered. Place peppers in a paper bag, fold top down and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Using your fingers and a small knife, peel the skin from the peppers then remove the seeds and veins. Use latex gloves to peel the jalapeno.

Place oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute gently until tender but not browned. Add diced jalapeno and cream. Bring to boil and maintain slow boil until cream is reduced by one half. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add picked crab, diced red pepper, chives, thyme, salt (if using), ground almonds and cream reduction. Mix lightly but thoroughly with your hands.

Place the toasted bread crumbs (I use Brio seasoned croutons, spun a few times in the food processor) on a plate. Have the beaten egg in a bowl next to the plate. Scoop a scant 1/2 cup of crab mixture into your hands and shape into a patty about 2 1/2 inches across. Brush the crab cake on both side with the egg. Gently dredge it in the bread crumbs, coating both sides. Set on a sheet of waxed paper. Repeat with the remaining crab mixture. At this point you can cover the cakes and refrigerate them up to two days before cooking.

Place the peanut oil and butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Place up to 4 cakes in skillet, not crowding them, and cook until both sides are nicely browned and cooked through. Keep warm in a low oven. Repeat process until all the cakes are cooked.

You may notice that the cakes in the photo above have corn in them. Beginning with the basic recipe, you can add any number of things to your crab cakes. In this case, I added lightly roasted corn kernels. Keep in mind that the more you put in, the harder it is to keep the cake from falling apart. A small annoyance that does not detract from the divine taste in the least.

Top the crab cakes with a remoulade, tarter sauce, or this luscious roasted red pepper sauce, adapted from a recipe in Bobby Flay's "Bold American Food".

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Char, peel and seed 2 large red bell peppers and place in a blender. Add 1/4 of a red onion, chopped, 1/2 of a canned chipotle pepper in adobo, 3 tablespoons lime juice and blend until smooth. With the blender running, add 3/4 cup of olive oil in a slow stream until the sauce is emulsified. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cook's Notes:

These crab cakes are very rich. Two per person with a salad will make a very filling meal.