Crab-Stuffed Portabellas

By Paul Briand

My wife was overcome by mass marketing, influenced by her love for crab.

She kept seeing a television ad for a crab-stuffed mushroom appetizer at one of those chain steakhouses. Then a coupon arrived with the Sunday paper for $3 off that appetizer.

“We have to go,” she said.

But I did her -- and the steakhouse -- one better. I created my own crab-stuffed mushrooms, but used the mother of all mushrooms -- the Portabella -- to make it. And this wasn’t any appetizer, it was dinner, served on a salad drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredients
4 Portabella mushroom caps, stems removed
4 ounces Shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 pound lump crab meat
4 slices Canadian bacon, diced
½ cup Italian bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
3 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Old Bay seasoning
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat;
2. Saute the bacon and Shiitake mushrooms in skillet until the bacon appears crisp, about three minutes;
3. In a large bowl, combine the crab, bacon/Shiitake mixture, egg, and mustard and gently fold together;
4. Add bread crumbs and seasoning to taste and mix. You’ll want a mixture that’s firm enough to pack as you would a crab cake;
5. Place Portabella caps top side down on a lightly greased large baking sheet;
6. Divide mixture and evenly distribute onto the mushroom caps;
7. Bake in oven for 15 minutes;
8. Remove from oven and add Parmesan to the top of each mushroom/mixture as needed to cover;
9. Return to oven for another 5 minutes or until cheese melts and starts to brown then serve.

Click here for recipe card.

Old Bay Crab Cakes

By Paul Briand

If you know Maryland crab cakes, you know Old Bay.

At any seafood restaurant in Maryland you'll find Old Bay seasoning on the table. It's as ubiquitous as a salt and pepper shaker.

Old Bay is a combination of seasons and herbs used to enhance seafood, and I tried an online recipe from the Old Bay website for its own style of crab cakes.

According to the website, "this is the original recipe that appeared on the back of the Old Bay can ... Baking powder makes the crab cakes light and fluffy, while Old Bay Seasoning adds personality."

Ingredients
2 slices dried bread, crusts removed
Milk
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon parsley Flakes
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 pound lump crab meat

Directions
1. In a large bowl, break bread into small pieces. Moisten with milk.
2. Add mayo, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, baking powder, Old Bay, salt, egg and crab meat. Mix lightly and shape into patties. If time permits, refrigerate patties 30 minutes to help keep them together when cooking.
3. Broil or fry until golden-brown on both sides.

One issue with crab cakes is that they sometimes fall apart on the griddle. Letting the mixture rest in the refrigerator for about a half hour before cooking certainly helps but I still had a problem with the patties coming apart on the grill. But that was my fault. I had the grill on medium low. I should have had it fired up closer to medium high. That would have put an immediate sear on the patty, perhaps lessening the possibility of it falling apart at the flip.

How to serve it? Alone is fine. Between two lightly toasted hamburger buns is an option. I used mine to top a fresh salad.

Crab and Chutney Rangoons

By Paul Briand

I subscribe to a number of email feeds about food. No surprise there, really. One is particular, Taste of the Seacoast, gives me valuable insights into the food-related happenings in the Seacoast area of New Hampshire where I live.

One happy surprise in the May online newsletter was a recipe for Crab Rangoons, always a favorite for me and wife Jane when we're out for Asian food. The fact that she's a Maryland girl who loves her crab also plays into the love of Crab Rangoons.

The recipe, drawn from chief Ming Tsai (featured on the "Simply Ming" cooking show on PBS) looked simple enough for me to try at home. Originally the recipe called for Sour Cranberry Chutney, which I substituted with Major Grey's Chutney.

Ingredients
1 pound crab meat
1?4 pound cream cheese, softened
1 cup Major Grey's Chutney, plus some for garnish
3 tablespoons chopped chives, save 1 tablespoon for garnish
1 package thin square wonton skins
1 egg mixed with 2 tablespoons water
Canola oil for cooking
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to tast

Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix the crab, cream cheese, chutney, and chives. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and check for flavor;
2. Lay out 4 to 6 skins, lightly brush the edges with egg wash and place a small mound of the mix in the middle. Top with second skin and press firmly to seal. This is very important so the rangoons do not burst and leak. Repeat until the filling is gone;
3. Preheat a large sauté pan coated with 1?4-inch of oil over medium-high heat. Add as many rangoons as the pan can hold in one layer. Shallow fry until golden brown, flip and fry other side until golden brown;
4. Transfer rangoons to a plate lined with paper towels;
5. Place a small mound of chutney on a plate, surround with 3 rangoons, garnish with chives and serve hot.

Crabby Guacamole

By Paul Briand

So I'm thinking game food the other day and wondering how I can jazz up a chip and dip in honor of the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park.

I'm looking for something special for a special game and come up with Crabby Guacamole -- a twist on the usual guacamole and chips using crab meat and a generous helping of garlic. I like how well the guacamole stands up to the crab, especially with the infusion of the garlic. Given that lobster prices have been coming down, I almost opted for lobster meat, similarly bold in taste, but went with crab meat instead in honor of my wife Jane's Maryland upbringing.

The presentation here is as much a part of the jazzing up as the dip itself, so be sure to set aside the avocado skin as directed.

Ingredients

Six ounces of crab meat

One ripe avocado

3 garlic cloves

Dollop of mayonnaise

Dash of hot sauce

Squeeze of lemon juice

Directions

1) Halve the avocado, remove the pit and spoon out the meat into a mixing bowl. Set avocado halves aside;

2) Mash avocado meat;

3) Use a garlic press to prepare the garlic and mix directly into the avocado;

4) Add a dollop of mayonnaise, dash of hot sauce, squeeze of lemon and mix;

5) Gently fold in the crab meat, setting aside about 2 tablespoon's worth;

6) Scoop the mixture into each half of the avocado skin;

7) Top each half with leftover crab meat;

8) Serve on a large plate with yellow corn tortilla chips.

As good as the dip was, it wasn't that much of a good luck charm for my beloved Red Sox. They lost badly 9-1 in Game 3.

Crab Cake Stuffed Peppers

By Paul Briand

By nature of her birthright, my wife Jane loves crab. Born and raised in Maryland, how can she be anything but a crab lover?

We took a Maryland/Delaware vacation two years ago. For the couple of days we were in Maryland, she had to eat crab -- and I'm talking crab for breakfast, crab for lunch and crab for dinner, Eggs Benedict made with crab, crab cakes, and soft shell crab. It was as if some crab-eating gene re-emerged after years of dormancy.

During that trip I got all the benefits of learning about the Blue Crab, for which Chesapeake Bay is famous. I learned about lump crab meat. I learned how to take a mallet and bust into a crab to find said lump meat. I was encouraged, but declined, to read "Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay" by William Warner. But as a souvenir of the crab eating extravaganza, I did acquire some Old Bay seasoning, a requirement in any recipe for Maryland crab cakes.

On occasion I like to surprise Jane with a meal at home of crab cakes. I hit a moment of inspiration -- or madness, the two are closely related after all -- one time when I thought about making the crab cakes as I normally would, but then stuffing them into a red peppers. I make stuffed green peppers with the usual hamburger/rice mixture, so I wanted to vary the theme a little with red peppers and crab.

Here are a couple of variations on that particular theme. You can prepare the peppers as you normally would for stuffed peppers -- halve them, remove stem and seeds, blanch in boiling water, then put into cold water. Or you could try roasting your peppers over a grill beforehand. As for the peppers themselves, red peppers work really well, and I'm experimenting with roasted Poblano chili peppers.

As for the crab, no doubt it's expensive. You can get it prepackaged for about $22 a pound, not something you'll make a habit of, but something that creates a special something for a special eat at home occasion.

Ingredients
1 pound crab meat
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon sauce
2 tablespoons mustard
Dash of favorite hot sauce
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions
1) Combine and mix everything into a large mixing bowl except the crab and bread crumbs;
2) Add crab to mixture and mix gently;
3) Add bread crumbs to mixture and blend in;
4) A chilled mixture makes it easier to handle when forming into patties, so put mixing bowl in refrigerator and pre-heat oven to 375 degrees;
5) Halve and seed two peppers (or three peppers, depending on size);
6) Grill for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally;
7) After peppers are grilled, set aside on baking pan sprayed with cooking oil;
8) Remove crab meat mixture from refrigerator and form into patties;
9) In large oiled frying pan, brown patties on both sides;
10) Remove patties and one by one stuff them into halved roasted peppers;
11) Place in oven and heat through, about 5 minutes.