
Fried Soft-Shell Crabs (how I do it)
Ingredients
4 soft-shell crabs (just enough for me)
1 quart canola or peanut oil for frying, or as needed
½ cup buttermilk & ½ cup water or 1 cup buttermilk
1 large or extra-large egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
a dash or two of hot sauce (to taste)
a good pinch of Creole seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
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Lift one pointed side of the top shell of one crab; pull out and discard the gills. Lower the shell and repeat on the other side. Remove the tail flap on the bottom side by twisting and pulling. Use a pair of scissors to cut behind the eyes and remove the face. Repeat to clean remaining crabs. Rinse cleaned crabs thoroughly with cold water, then dry on paper towels.
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Heat oil in a deep fryer to 365 degrees F (180 degrees C).
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Whisk milk, hot sauce, and egg together in a shallow bowl. Combine flour, cornstarch, creole seasoning, salt, and pepper in another shallow bowl. Dredge in flour; shake off excess. Dip into beaten egg. Lift up so the excess egg drips back into the bowl. Press into flour to coat both sides.
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Working in batches if necessary, carefully lower crabs into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully turn and cook until golden brown on the other side, 1 to 2 minutes more. Drain on paper towels.
I like chicken piccatta. Capers, lemon, parmesan, what’s not to like? It’s not your easy after-a-long-day-at-the-office recipe, but it’s worth the tiny bit of extra time and trouble. Here is a recipe for chicken piccata meatloaf from allrecipes.com! Very faithful and delish. Or make the chicken breast version. You may not have capers and shallots, but get them. They make all the difference.
Ingredients
Meatloaf
cooking spray
1 pound ground chicken
1/2 cup panko (Japanese-style breadcrumbs)
1 shallot, finely minced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
1 tablespoon capers, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Glaze
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, finely minced
2 tablespoons capers
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes
chopped parsley, for garnish
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Lightly spray an 8×4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
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For meatloaf, stir together chicken, breadcrumbs, shallot, Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, egg, parsley, capers, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a large bowl until just combined. Transfer mixture to the prepared loaf pan.
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Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
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Meanwhile, for glaze, stir together mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and garlic powder in a small bowl.
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Remove loaf from the oven and spread mayonnaise mixture over the top. Return to the oven and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of loaf reads 165 degrees F (73 degrees C), 10 to 15 minutes more.
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Remove loaf from the oven, and let it rest 10 minutes.
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While loaf is resting, prepare the sauce. Heat oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot, capers, and garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Pour in wine and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until liquid is reduced by half, stirring occasionally, 6 to 7 minutes.
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Whisk lemon juice into reduced sauce. Add cold butter, and stir constantly until well incorporated and slightly thickened. Remove from heat.
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Slice meatloaf and drizzle generously with sauce to serve. Garnish with chopped parsley.
I am making quick spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. Here’s my recipe for 4 servings:
- Cook the spaghetti until it is al dente, or however you like it. Rinse it and set it aside.
- Brown 1 pound of ground meat, beef, turkey, chicken, Italian sausage, or some combination in a saucepan. (My personal favorite is 1/3 turkey, 1/3 beef, 1/3 Italian sausage) Break up into small pieces. Use a fork or a potato masher if you like.
- Prep some veggies:
- 1 rib of celery, chopped finely
- 1/4 of a small onion, yellow or white, chopped finely
- 1/2 of a small bell pepper, chopped finely
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped very finely
- Add the celery, onion, bell pepper, and carrot to the meat. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the onion is wilted.
- Take one jar of your favorite marinara sauce. (Mine is Rao’s.) Add sauce to the pot with the cooked meat.
- Add to the sauce and meat:
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 1 small can of fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 good squirts of garlic paste or roasted garlic paste, about 2 – 3 Tbs
- a big pinch of dried Mexican oregano
- Put the garlic bread in the oven at about 350F. Follow the package directions, except for the temperature.
- Stir gently now and then while cooking the meat sauce on low heat. Let it simmer for maybe 20 minutes while you sit down and take a breath. If it is making a mess on the stove, turn the heat down and put a lid on the pot, canted slightly to let some of the steam escape.
- Get someone to set the table while you check the bread and raise the temperature to 400F if you want to eat soon.
- Put the drained spaghetti in a bowl, pour the sauce over it, put the cheese on the table, take the bread out of the oven, and call everyone to dinner.
The Best Homemade Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
• 3 slices white bread, crusts removed, cut into cubes (about 2 cups)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/2 large yellow or white onion, grated using the large holes of a box grater
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1/4 cup sour cream (use full-fat or the sauce may curdle)
• 2 tablespoons lingonberry, red currant, raspberry, or cranberry jelly, to taste (optional)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Place the cubed bread in a large bowl and mix with the milk. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Once the bread has soaked up all the milk, shred with the tines of a fork or by hand.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a sauté pan on medium-high heat. Stir in the grated onion and cook until translucent and softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for a minute.
- Stir the cooled onions into the milk bread mixture. Add the egg, ground beef and pork, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. Use your (clean) hands to mix everything together until well combined. (If you have extra time, chilling the mixture for 20 or so minutes will make it easier to roll out the meatballs.)
- Use your hands to form the mixture into meatballs about 1 1/4-inch to 1 1/2-inch wide and place them on a plate or sheet pan. This recipe should make about 40 meatballs. Note that the meatballs will be a bit on the wet side.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat. When the butter is melted and foamy, start adding some meatballs to the pan.
Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, slowly brown the meatballs on all sides. Use a wooden spoon or tongs to turn them. Handle the meatballs gently so they do not break apart as you turn them. Once the meatballs have browned on all sides and are just cooked through, remove them from the pan to a bowl. You’ll warm the meatballs in the sauce later. Once you have removed the meatballs from the pan, wipe out the butter and blackened bits with a paper towel. We’ll want to start with fresh butter so we don’t pick up any burnt bits from the pan. This way, we will be able to more accurately gauge the amount of fat in the pan for making the meatball sauce in the next step. - Add 3 tablespoons of fresh butter to the pan. Heat the butter in the pan on medium heat until it melts and starts to bubble. Slowly whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour. Stir until smooth. Continue to stir, allowing the flour mixture to cook for several minutes, until the roux is the color of coffee with cream.
- When the roux has cooked to a lovely shade of light brown, slowly add the stock, stirring as you do. The stock will sputter at first, and the roux may seize up, but keep adding the stock slowly and keep stirring. Eventually, the sauce will loosen and become silky.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sour cream. If you are including jelly, either stir it in now or serve it on the side. Taste for seasonings and add more salt and pepper to taste. (I use about 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.)
- Return the meatballs to the pan with the sauce and cook on low heat to warm them through for a few minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles. Or serve individual Swedish meatballs dipped in gravy as an appetizer.
This is truly yummy. Made it yesterday. I can eat all of it by myself.