Maryland Style Crab Cakes

I’ve had friends in Baltimore for nigh on twenty years now, and when I visit them, I always make sure to enjoy some of that most ubiquitous of Maryland dishes, blue crab.  Way back in the mid Nineties, my friends Les, Chris and Donna treated me to an official Maryland Crab Boil (though they were steamed, actually), and we sat for hours on Chris’s back porch pickin’ crab and drinking lots of Natty Boh Beer.  Those were some good times, hon. 

But, as fun and tasty as that was, I’ve found that the way I best enjoy the meat of these little Chesapeake Bay bugs is pre-picked and formed into a delicious, spicy crab cake.  Not only is it easier, but I think it’s tastier too, as the crab meat is augmented with some herbs and spices to really make it sing.  Then of course, it’s fried.  Fried stuff always tastes better. 

Oh, and did I mention spice?  Well, proper Maryland crab cakes are spiced up with a product called Old Bay Seasoning.  

Old Bay is to Maryland what Tabasco is to Louisiana.  Fact is, they put it on everything up there...eggs, slaws, potato chips, corn on the cob, etc.  And of course, I don’t blame them, because Old Bay is delicious.  I keep a can in my spice rack at all times. 

So, a couple of weeks ago the Superbowl (pretty much the biggest yearly sporting event here in the States) took place. My Baltimore friends were quite excited, as their team, the Ravens, were playing in the affair.  I too enjoy the Superbowl, even though my beloved Dallas Cowboys haven’t been in it for quite some time now.  Anyway, when we watch the Big Game, the wife and I like to whip up some grub to enjoy as we watch.  I thought, ‘Hey, Baltimore’s in the game, why not make some crab cakes?”

Well, I’d never made them before, so I inquired of my friends for their recipes.  They obliged, and the wife and I went with a somewhat hybrid version of what they sent.  The crab cakes came out great, so I decided to get ‘em up on the blog as quick as I could.  I hope y’ins enjoy ‘em, hon.

Maryland Style Crab Cakes

12 oz Lump Crab Meat, Blue Crab if available
10 Ritz Crackers, crumbled very fine
1 Egg
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons Chopped Parsley
2 Teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Dash Cracked Black Pepper
1 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Crush the Ritz crackers very fine.  Pulsing in your food processor works great.  Mix with the egg, lemon juice, mayo, parsley, Old Bay, Worcestershire and black pepper.  Stir until all is incorporated. 

Now for the crab.  If you can get hold of fresh blue crab meat, this is your best yet, but if you live in Texas or similar, like me, you may have to settle for canned.  If so, get the best quality canned crab you can afford.  It’ll make a difference.  We made our crab cakes during the Superbowl with canned, and they were great, so don’t sweat it too much. 

Pour your crab meat into a separate bowl from what you’ve already mixed and pick through the meat to make sure there is no cartilage or bits of shell.  Once this is done, slowly add the crab meat to the spice/mayo mixture, stirring until all is incorporated.  Don’t over stir the mixture, do only enough to combine.  Too much mixing and you’ll break up the nice lumps of crab meat into shreds. 

Shape the mixture into five or six small patties...

 Coat with the Panko bread crumbs

...then refrigerate them for at least an hour. 

Heat a skillet with vegetable oil about ½ inch deep in it to 375F.  Use a fork to lower the cakes into the oil, and fry them on each side until they are golden brown.  

Serve immediately by themselves, or with some tartar or remoulade sauce. 

Until next time,

No need to get crabby, have some crab cakes!

Sauce Remoulade

Remoulade is a tasty sauce invented by those saucy French that tastes great on fish, shrimp and other seafood dishes.  It found a foothold here in the States via New Orleans cuisine, but we thought we’d try it with the Maryland Style Crab Cakes we made recently, and it was a match made in heaven.  Here’s a quick and easy recipe to make your own Remoulade sauce. 

Sauce Remoulade 

3/4 Cup Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
2 Tablespoons Dill Pickle Relish
1 Tablespoon Sweet Paprika
2 Teaspoons Prepared Horseradish
1 Teaspoon Creole Seasoning (Tony Chachere’s or similar)
1 Teaspoon Capers, plus a few reserved for garnishing
1/2 Teaspoon Louisiana-Style Hot Sauce
1 large Garlic Clove, minced

Stir all the ingredients together until well incorporated.  

No need to use a food processor here, Remoulade should have some chunks of pickle from the relish and the whole capers in it.  Let the sauce sit for a few hours in the fridge so the flavors can meld.  Serve cold with seafood dishes, chips, raw veggies, etc. 

Here's to a saucy evening! 

Chris

Navy Beans

My father served in the United States Navy, and...he loved navy beans.  Coincidence?  I think not.  When I was a kid and Mom would serve up a mess of her navy beans, Dad always seemed a little happier than he might have been otherwise.  As he ate his navy beans, he’d have a look on his face as if he were standing on the bow of his ship, staring off into exotic ports beyond the wine dark sea.  Yes, those beans were that good. 

(Dad in the Navy during World War II)

I never learned Mom’s exact recipe for her navy beans, but I’d imagine it was quite simple.  Little bacon grease, salt, pepper...and that was probably about it.  So in concocting this recipe, I tried to keep it simple as well and not get all crazy Nouveau Cuisine on it.  But I couldn’t resist putting a few tweaks on it to make it my own.  So, I compromised, and only added a little here and there to get a flavor I was satisfied with, but not depart too far from Mom’s original version.  I also didn’t want to add anything that would mar the beautiful white color of the beans, so that was a criterion as well. 

So, without further ado, here we go:

Navy Beans

5-6 strips hickory smoked bacon

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 ½ teaspoons cumin

1 ½ teaspoons white pepper

48 oz chicken broth (6 cups)

1 pound navy beans, soaked overnight and drained

The night before, soak the beans in enough water to cover them by a couple of inches.  Beans will absorb some of the water.  The next day, just before you’re ready to cook, drain the beans and discard the water.  Reserve beans.

Simmer five or six strips of bacon until crispy.  Reserve the bacon.  In the bacon grease, sauté one chopped onion until it’s beginning to get translucent but not brown.  

Add garlic and cook for two minutes.  Add cumin and white pepper.  Cook another minute.  Add beans and then add chicken broth.  

(I decided to use chicken broth instead of water to boost the bean’s savory character.  Simmering the beans with ham hocks would be more traditional, but I’ve had trouble getting good hocks around here these days.  The ones I’ve purchased at the grocery store are often slightly rancid, which ruins the dish.  So I’ve sworn off of them until I find a better source)

 Bring beans to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 3-4 hours, or until beans are tender. 

Serve with a little of the reserved crispy bacon crumbled on top. 

Until next time,

Anchors Aweigh, my friends!

Chris

The Eat'n Man ponders life, the universe, and navy beans on the deck of the USS Missouri.

Smoked Chicken Pot Pie

It has been unseasonably cold this winter, so I figured it was time for a warm and comforting recipe on the ole food blog this month.  And in this capacity, you can’t do much better than a good, hearty chicken pot pie. 

This dish brings back memories of youth for me, as the steam rising from the fresh-cracked pastry shell of a pot pie hot from the oven always delighted me on a cold winter day when I was a kid.  Of course, the pies in those days were usually of the frozen Swanson variety, but they did the job back then.  

Of course, we love cooking, right?  And homemade is almost always better, right?  In this case, it is right, for the fresh veggies and cream (and homemade pastry dough) in this dish will win the Pepsi Challenge with those frozen pies any day.

Also, this recipe amps up the flavor a few notches by using smoked chicken in the pies.  Yes, adding a tangy smoked flavor to these already creamy, buttery, savory pies really takes the flavor to a higher plane of existence.  They might just be...the best chicken pot pies you’ve ever tasted.  They are for me.

  

Pastry Dough

2.5 Cups Flour
2 Sticks Butter
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Teaspoons Sugar
A Few Ounces Ice Water

Don’t skimp on the dough by using store-bought frozen dough.  Making your own is quick and easy and sooooo much more flavorful. 

Mix flour, salt and sugar in food processor.  Cut in butter in cubes...

...and process until fine granules form.  Slowly add ice water in drops until dough forms.  

Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour, longer of you wish.   

When you’re ready to make the pie shells, divide dough into thirds.  Roll out one third for two pastry bases, the next third for two more, and one third for all four pastry tops. 

When you roll out the bases dough, roll it into a rough rectangle, then cut in half with a knife or pizza cutter.  Take these and press each into small, straight-sided soup bowls or large ramekins.  Let excess dough drape over the edge, then cut or tear off excess dough, making sure to leave enough for the top to connect to.  

You should refrigerate the dough-filled ramekins until your pot pie filling is done.  Also, you can wait to roll out your tops until after you’ve filled the bases.  Keep top dough refrigerated until you roll it out. 

Filling

2 Smoked Chicken Breasts, cubed
2 Potatoes, chopped
3 Carrots, chopped
1 Cup Frozen Peas
Salt, Pepper and Celery salt to taste
4 Tablespoons Butter
1 Medium Spanish Onion, finely diced
3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Heavy Cream, heated
2-3 cups Chicken Broth

Preheat oven to 400F

Chop the potatoes and carrots into half inch pieces...

...then parboil them for a few minutes. 

Sauté diced onions in butter over medium heat until they turn clear and just start to look golden. Sift in flour, salt and pepper and celery salt, let this cook for a couple minutes.

Add garlic and continue to cook for one minute.  Add the chicken stock and heavy cream.  

Stir in frozen peas, then the parboiled carrots and potatoes. 

While this is cooking, cube your smoked chicken... 

...and then stir it in.  Let mixture simmer for 10-15 minutes. 

Retrieve your ramekins with the pastry dough bases inside, then ladle your chicken mixture into them.  Make sure you get several pieces of chicken into each ramekin.  

Add another circle of dough on top.  Seal with fork. 

Carefully tear off excess dough. 

(Note, if you wish, you can leave the extra dough draped down the sides.  The pie will bake fine, and you'll have extra crust to munch)

Cut slits in surface of pie so steam can escape while the pies are baking.  

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Until next time, 

Here's hoping for a chicken in every pot.

Chris

Smoked Chicken Breasts

There are a myriad of ways to smoke chicken:  whole, halved, spatchcocked, cut in pieces, sauced, skin on, skin off, bone in, bone gone, sittin’ on a beer can, etc.  But for simple, unadorned smoke flavor, a boneless, skinless chicken breast is your huckleberry.  I usually buy them in large packages when they are on sale at the grocery store and smoke the whole lot of them, then freeze them for use in a myriad of other recipes later on, such as Smoked Chicken Pot Pies, Smoked Chicken Fajitas, or Smoked Chicken Pizza.  My wife even makes a killer Smoked Chicken Salad with ‘em.  They are as versatile as they are tasty.  Hell, you can even serve ‘em on their own with just a little BBQ sauce and some simple sides. 

As to smoking woods, I would say just about anything but mesquite will work for this technique.  My preferences are any of the fruit woods, maple, pecan or hickory.  In fact, if you're new to smoking or are trying a new smoking wood that you have never used and you want to taste the unadulterated smoke flavor without tastes from what you are smoking dominating your palate, then this recipe twill serve.  The chicken flavor on its own is so subtle that the majority of what you taste is the smoke.  When I try a new wood I’ve never used before, I always use this technique so I can get a good feel for the taste of that particular wood. 

It is for this reason that I don’t really season the breasts at all before I smoke them.  I’m just trying to impart smoke flavor and nothing else.  Since I mainly use this technique for chicken that goes into other recipes, I do my seasoning later, when I know what I’m making, and not in the smoker. 

So, how do we do it?  Simple.  Get your smoker going according to whatever technique you use.  Lately I’ve been using my Weber kettle to smoke in, so I get about a half-chimney of charcoal going, dump it in my indirect heat tray, then add my wood on top.  

Do I soak the wood?  Yes, for a few minutes.  What does this do?  Not much.   Wood doesn’t really absorb water, but it does delay the onset of flame-up until I get the lid on the smoker, so I do it. 

Let the breasts smoke for about 45 minutes to an hour at the rather warm smoking temperature of 300F.  Chicken is very moist and porous, so it will absorb the smoke flavor readily, and you can easily over-smoke it if you leave them in longer than an hour.  But, you do want to cook your breasts to 160F, so check them with a meat thermometer at the 45 minute mark, and continue to cook only if they haven’t reached that temp.  Don’t go much over 160F or your chicken will start to dry out.  You can even pull them at 150F or so and they will continue to cook until they reach 160F.

Once the breasts are done, you can vacuum-seal them and freeze them whole for later use, or use them immediately.  

Until next time, 

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.  

Chris

Cowboy Beans

Anyone who knows me knows I like my chili Texas style, and that means no beans.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t like beans.  I love 'em.  Just not in my chili.  But beans, on their own, are wonderful things, and lend themselves to a myriad of dishes.  They have some nice flavor on their own, but also hold up well to spices and other flavor additions.  And that’s where this recipe comes in. 

Like chili, beans were a staple in a cowboy’s diet while on the range, and this dish is prepared with many of the same spices that one would find in a proper chili dish.  This recipe is similar to the commercial product called ‘Ranch Style Beans,’ but with the flavor kicked up a few notches more. 

This is also a recipe that lends itself to camp fire cooking in that most ubiquitous of all camp cooking items, the Dutch oven. 

If you don’t have one, any pot will work, but the even heating properties of a cast iron Dutch oven work well for the long, low and slow cooking times required to make these beans shine. 

Cowboy Beans

1 lb Pinto Beans
1 small onion, chopped
5 cloves Garlic, peeled
½ oz dried Ancho chilies, rehydrated and pureed
7 oz Ground tomatoes
1.5 oz Tomato paste
1 tblsp apple cider vinegar
6.5 oz Beef stock
¼ cup chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dried mustard
1 1/3 oz Better than Bullion base paste
1 tsp salt
2 oz Jalapeno sauce (optional)
Water, enough to top up and cover beans by ½ inch
1 tsp vegetable or olive oil

(note, in the pictures that follow, I’m making a quadruple batch, so I’ll have lots left over for freezing)

Sort beans and discard any weirdos.  Soak beans overnight.  

Drain beans in colander and rinse.  Add to your pot or Dutch oven and set aside.   (note, discard the soaking water and use fresh water for cooking the beans)

Chop onion and sauté until soft, clear and slightly browned.  

Add onion to beans when they’re done.

While onions are simmering, remove the stems and seeds from the dried Ancho chiles. 

Boil a pint or two of water and add the Ancho chilies.  Let them boil for 5 to 10 minutes until soft.  Remove them from the water and place in food processor with peeled garlic cloves.  

Add a bit of the reserved Ancho chile liquid.  Process until smooth paste forms.  

If necessary, add a more of the Ancho chile liquid, a little at a time, until all the bits of garlic and chile are smoothly processed into a paste.  Add this paste to the beans. 

Next add the ground tomatoes and tomato paste to the beans, as well as the apple cider vinegar and beef stock.  

Top up the remaining Ancho chile water with enough additional water to make about a quart of liquid.  To this add the chili powder, paprika, smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, mustard, salt and bullion base paste.  Stir until spices are evenly suspended in the liquid and the paste is dissolved.  Add this to the beans.  If using, add jalapeno sauce.  Top up with enough water to cover beans by about a half inch.

If cooking in oven, set it for 275F and cook beans for 6-8 hours, until tender and flavorful.  Stir every couple hours. 

When I cook a 4 lb batch in my large Dutch oven, I can’t fit it in my stove, so I do things ‘cowboy style,’ as if I were camping out or on the trail.  I fire up about a half chimney of charcoal, place half of it in the base of my Weber kettle, place the Dutch oven on top...

 ...and then place the remaining coals on the lid of the Dutch oven.  

I then open the dampers fully on the Weber, and place the lid loosely on top.  I let cook for 3 hours, add more charcoal, then cook for another three hours, for six hours total.   

Carefully remove the lid of the Dutch oven, so as not to get any ashes in your beans, and taste the beans.  If there is still some firmness to them, let them cook another hour or two.  If they are soft enough for you and the flavor seems right, serve away. 

 Here we've served the beans with some simple grilled Flat Iron steak.

And so, there you have it.  A great way for a Texan (or anyone else) to enjoy their beans.  (We'll discuss that chili on another day) 

Until next time, 

Happy trails, pardner!

Chris