Man, some people!! ; )

My dear friend Pam has been after me to update this blog for some time. I admit, I hadn't realized a full six weeks had flitted by - probably because I mentally write this blog all the time, since I am obsessed with good food.

SO, dearest Pammie, and other foodie friends, here's a new post for you. I'm thinking seafood is always a good topic. Actually, Pam and I made some crabcakes and this absolutely divine sauce last week, so let's talk about that.

For my crabcakes recipe, click here. There are also other sauce recipes on this post.

For the sauce, I was fortunate to have on hand some gorgeous, organic, local, vine-ripened yellow and red tomatoes. You can pretty much do anything if you have plenty of butter and dill on hand, and we basically added various produce from the fridge. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything... I think the actual conglomeration went something like this:

Ann & Pam's Fabulous Sauce


1 to 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2-3 Tbs fresh dill, chopped
2-3 Tbs dill seeds
~1 Tbs paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper


2-3 each small yellow & red tomatoes, sliced, then quarter the slices
1/2 jar marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
1 large scallion, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
fresh ground sea salt
fresh ground black pepper


Prep all your veggies, and put the tomatoes and artichoke hearts in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Turn the heat down a bit and add the dill seed, scallion, garlic, paprika, cayenne and crushed red pepper. Saute for just a minute or two, stirring often, then add the fresh dill and saute another minute or two. Remove from heat and pour the sauce over the veggies so that they marinate in it while you're frying the crabcakes. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve in a ramekin next to the crabcakes, or else use a slotted spoon when you're topping the crabcakes with it.

Emerging from Hibernation

The snow's falling fast and thick outside, but the time has come for my blogs to emerge - however briefly - from hibernation. Even though I'm in the midst of special event hell, planning for the biggest event of the year at work, it's time for a little blogging. Actually, maybe now is a better time than ever for my blogs; I don't really have the time to cook, but I can throw something in the toaster oven or microwave and spend a little time on the old blog instead (while scattering crumbs all over the couch - eating while typing is never easy).

Credit goes to my dear friend Pam, foodie extraordinaire, who faithfully checks this blog even though it's been more than three months since I updated it. This one's for you, Pam. :)

Ironically, I've had a recipe in mind to share ever since Christmas, when we went for our usual Outer Banks family retreat and celebrated the season of giving with a veritable orgy of fresh seafood. I freaking live for that week all year. While we were stuffing ourselves with a variety of mercury-laden yumminess, I managed to perfect my recipe for crab cakes, which has been evolving for lo these many years.

There's no doubt that crab cakes are best made with fresh crab, but regardless of whether you live on the coast, I firmly believe the secret to great crab cakes is for the crab to bread ratio to weigh far more heavily on the crab side. You might be scoffing, "Thank you, Captain Obvious," but I've eaten at plenty of restaurants where people actually paid to cook have got the wrong end of the stick, crabcake-wise.

The quantities on this might be a little screwy, because I was cooking for five instead of my usual two, and ended up making way too much food, so I'm going to try and scale this to sensible proportions for four people. Still, common sense warning; adjust as you see fit.

Ann's Super-Fantastic Crab Cakes

~2 lbs fresh or canned crab
2-3 slices day-old bread, torn into breadcrumbs (can also tear up & lightly toast crumbs)
3 eggs
1 T horseradish
2 t minced garlic
1 T lemon juice
1 T minced shallots
~ 1 t dry mustard
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t fresh ground black pepper
1-2 T fresh chives or spring onions

1-2 T butter or olive oil

Blend all ingredients together except chives/spring onions; stir those in after the other ingredients are well blended. Form into cakes ~2 inches in diameter. Place on plate or wax paper and let sit in fridge for several hours, if desired (this can help the cakes hold their shape better, and is nice if you have afternoon plans but know you'll come back hungry).

Heat a flat skillet or cast iron pan over medium heat. Once heated, add butter or olive oil one tablespoon at a time, and swirl around the pan. Cook crab cakes at least 4-5 minutes a side, to desired brownness (that is now a word, if it wasn't before).

Good with all sorts of dressings; honey-mustard, sesame-ginger, a homemade pico de gallo, etc. Cocktail sauce works too. :)

Update - November 24, 2008
Last night I made mini-crabcakes for a Thanksgiving potluck using this recipe. I've updated the recipe a little, and it definitely makes a ton of crabcakes - it made 24 mini-crabcakes, so regardless of the occasion, you could easily serve 6 people or more. If you're just cooking for two or one, cut it by half (use two eggs) or a third and you should have enough to stuff yourself happy.

I'm experimenting with baking crabcakes, too, at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, flipping once. We'll see how those turn out.

I made a pretty tasty butter-dill sauce to top the cakes with. I've tried to scale this for the full recipe, since I just made the sauce for the four we ate for dinner last night (using a half-stick of butter, a heaping t of garlic and about 1/8 c fresh dill):

Butter-Dill Sauce

3 sticks unsalted butter
2 generous T minced garlic
3/4 c fresh dill, chopped/snipped
fresh ground black pepper to taste
dash sea salt

Melt butter & saute garlic for a minute over medium heat. Stir in dill, pepper & salt til thoroughly mixed, then serve immediately. You can top the crabcakes with it and then serve them, or serve the sauce in a little ramekin on the side. Garnish the crabcakes with a little fresh dill if desired.

P.S. The butter-dill sauce is also good with some cayenne or smoked paprika thrown in - I'd probably start with 2 t and rachet it up according to taste.

Dilly Potato Rolls

I just wanted to use up some leftover mashed potatoes, but when my BB pronounced these the best rolls I've ever made, I figured I should probably add the recipe to my blog. These are very buttery, soft and light. They walk a fine line between biscuits and rolls, depending on how you shape them, and make killer egg-biscuits for breakfast.

NOTE: If you're at high altitude, let the dough rise in the fridge so the gluten structure doesn't weaken. You may have to extend the rising time a little, but trust me, it's well worth it.

The recipe was adapted from the awesome cookbook, "One Potato, Two Potato" by Roy Fenimore.

Dilly Potato Rolls

~ 1 c leftover mashed potatoes, or 1 russet potato about 3/4 lb.
1 c warm water (~ 120 degrees), or 1 1/2 c water if using uncooked potato
1/4 c sugar
1 packet yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
3/4 t sugar (only if using an uncooked potato, instead of leftovers)
4 eggs
1/2 lb unsalted butter, melted
~ 5 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 T coarse sea salt
~ 1/2 t dill weed
1 beaten egg, for glazing

If using the leftover mashed potatoes, add the yeast to 1/2 c warm water and let sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes. In a stand mixer bowl, add the potato, 1/4 c sugar, remaining 1/2 c water, and 1 c of the flour to the yeast mixture, stir until smooth, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand in warm place for about 30 minutes, until doubled.

If using uncooked potato, peel and dice the potato, cover with the 1 1/2 c water and boil for at least 15 minutes, until potato is quite soft. Measure 1/2 c of the potato water and add the yeast to it with the 3/4 tsp of sugar; follow the instructions above, using another 1/2 c of potato water.

Once the sponge has risen, punch it down with your hands or a baker's spatula, put the dough hook on your mixer, and add in the eggs, butter, remaining 4 1/2 c flour, 1 1/2 tsp of salt, and the dill. Mix until it forms a smooth dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place until doubled, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Flour a work surface and your hands, and turn the dough out onto the surface.

For biscuits, punch the dough down again briefly, and pat it out to a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Use a three-inch cutter to cut out the rolls and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat, spaced a couple inches apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double, about an hour.

For rolls, divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 10 - 12 equal pieces. Generously butter two 10-inch cake pans. Shape the dough pieces into spheres and line the cake pan with them, putting one or two in the center. This creates pull-apart rolls. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double, about an hour.

About 20 minutes before they're done rising, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Brush the tops of the rolls with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with the remaining sea salt. Put the tray/cake pans on the middle rack for 15 - 20 minutes, and rotate after 8 - 10 minutes for even baking. Once the tops are a lovely golden brown, lay a sheet of aluminum foil loosely over the top so they don't burn while the insides keep baking.

Eat immediately, or can be stored at room temperature for several days. Makes about 20 rolls. They can also be frozen for several months.