3 Perfect Brunch Sandwiches!

Host a better brunch and leave your guests thinking you had it catered with these three delicious brunch sandwiches!

Open-Faced Curried Egg Salad Sandwich




Brie, Prosciutto and Pear with Arugula and Honey Whole Grain Mustard Sandwich




Crab Cake BLT Sandwich
 



You'll find my post and recipes here at SheKnows.com: 3 Perfect brunch sandwiches

Simple Fish Cakes

An affordable alternative to jumbo lump crab cakes, these appetizer sized Fish Cakes made with 1.5 lbs of fresh Cod are a fun and delicious treat for dinner or a party!

Serve with your favorite sauce such as cocktail, tarter or a lemony mayonnaise.

Simple. Delicious. Crab Cakes.

Some women are easy for diamonds. Some women are easy for furs.  Some want trips to Paris, Tuscany and Belize.  Some want the Mercedes-Benz model C63 AMG Coupe Black Series... 

Well, I've said it before...

Spicy Asian Salmon Cakes ~ Five for Fridays ~ Five Photos and a Recipe

Chili Lime Crab Cakes

So...I was away for a few days with family and kept thinking I would sneak in a post...

Clam Fritters atop Sweet Corn Pudding with Caviar Dressing

Completely inspired by (and partially taken from) page 267 of Chef John Besh's, "My New Orleans, The Cookbook," what's so wonderful about this first course dish is its contrasting flavors and textures!

The creamy sweetness you get from this "souffle like" Sweet Corn Pudding...



with the fresh and tangy richness you get...



from Chef Besh's (what I would describe as "ranch like") Caviar Dressing...



both accompanying the focal point of the entire plate, this clam based batter...



all deep fried up....



and beautifully transformed into golden crunchy fritters...



for an appetizer dish that when all plated up in the following form...



is sure to make anyone smile.  Ask, "where the heck is my fork!?"



I found the Sweet Corn Pudding recipe here at, epicurious.com

I found the Clam Fritter recipe here from Better Homes and Garden via, Recipe.com

Louisiana Caviar Dressing
Chef John Besh, "My New Orleans, The Cookbook"

Ingredients:

1/4 cup buttermilk (I made my own buttermilk by taking regular milk and adding 1 tsp fresh lemon juice and letting sit at room temp for 15 minutes - SO simple!)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Dash of hot sauce
Dash of ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Louisiana paddlefish caviar (I used caviar from Iceland as it was all I had on hand...my sincere apologies to Chef Besh and the entire state of Louisiana!)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Directions:

Whisk together first 11 ingredients in a medium bowl. Fold in caviar and chives.

Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes ~ Worth Every Penny!

This time of year I like to keep special ingredients around in case of impromptu holiday gatherings! It paid off last night...as after a busy day of shopping...our friends came over for dinner!

A pound of jumbo lump crab meat waiting patiently in my refrigerator...in just a few simple steps...was transformed into 10 medium sized crab cakes! 

I'd say a decadent dinner for four adults ~ makes buying jumbo lump ~ worth every single penny!  Enjoy!

Carefully folding the mixture together ensures a HUGE chunk of crab meat in each and every bite!


A simple cocktail sauce made from ketchup, horseradish and freshly squeezed lemon is the perfect accompaniment...


I used crushed oyster crackers in this recipe instead of bread crumbs...


Click here for a true crab story from my earlier blogging days

Simple Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes

1 pound Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
1/4 cup celery, finely diced
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon parsley, finely diced
2 teaspoons Grey Poupon Mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tsp+ OLD BAY
1/4 cup mayonnaise
12 oyster crackers crushed (saltine crackers could be used too)
1 egg lightly beaten
Panko Bread Crumbs for coating
Oil +1 Tablespoon butter for frying

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Place all ingredients (except last two) in a large bowl and carefully fold together until just incorporated. Form 10 crab cakes, again being careful not to compromise the integrity of the lump meat.

Pour Panko crumbs on a dish and then roll crab cakes in the Panko, covering entire cake.

Heat oil and butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Saute the crab cakes until lightly browned on all sides. Set crab cakes aside on paper towel.

Once all have been browned, place the crab cakes in a pan and place in the oven to finish cooking through about, 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Crab Cakes ~ A Motley Crew

I've always been fascinated with the crab. They've appeared in so many dishes throughout my life in various forms, I can't help but be in awe of the curious crustacean. Here's one of my early memories as a little girl.

During the summer months we'd spend questionable beach days crabbing off the dock by our house. After an hour or so of finding and messing with the rusty traps, untangling the seaweed stained ropes and gathering all necessary supplies one needs to be a successful "crabber"... we were off! Bucket, net and bunker bait in hand, we would walk the block or so down the alley to the public dock. "Tie um' up and let um' drop!"

As with most eight year olds, my impatience quotient was high. I could only bear to wait approximately two minutes before lifting my trap to check, "Nope, nothing yet..." This behavior continued every two minutes thereafter until finally hunger set in and my sisters, brother and I opted to head back for lunch. Always apprehensive to leave the traps unattended, we'd pen a note to ward off intruders, "Be Right Back, Please Don't Lift!" We all agreed, it was pleasant yet strong and to the point.

The discussion during the three minute walk home revolved around, "possibilities." The possibility it wasn't a good crab season, the possibility our traps might be pirated and ransacked, the possibility we'd return to a bounty of blue claws so plentiful people far and wide would want to pay us for our secret!

We scarfed down hot dogs, drank some apple juice, fought over whose turn it was to do dishes and in all of this, inevitably became side tracked with Frogger, Pack Man, Mad Libs and the Rubik's Cube. Time passed...seconds turned to minutes...minutes became hours. It wasn't until my parents discussion as to what to have for dinner and the duty of husking corn was bestowed upon us, that we quickly recalled the business at hand. In the interest of a common goal, we begrudgingly husked the crap out of that corn and headed back to the bay.

There they were... seemingly undisturbed, lying in wait for a whole 3 hours. The possibility they could be full of crabs for that evening's dinner was more than we could handle. But wait, the scene had changed? There was a boat a few yards away near the marsh, ropes over the edge disappearing into the murky salt water, people laughing, their eyes peering into buckets. We noticed other children a few docks down cheering, slapping five and calling for their parents to "come look and see...!"

What on earth did all this mean?! Bewildered our eyes darted...mine to June's, June's to Olive's, Olive's to Jo Jo's and then all eyes down. There were little bubbles popping upon the waters surface. Now we were young - but well schooled in the "art" of dock crabbing - and this could only mean one thing...THE MOTHER LOAD! CRABS! TONS OF CRABS! Big ones..."KEEPERS!"

We jumped up and down, threw our arms in the air. Pure elation, the boat people waved to us, the dock kids smiled...there was an unspoken acceptance of each others presence. We laughed as some got away, scurrying along the wooden boards falling back into the sea. It was merely a matter of time... he'd soon be ours again we chuckled! We poured them into buckets and ran them home in shifts, "Get out the Old Bay mom because here we come!"

It turned out that summer was one of the best blue claw seasons ever! Like a motley crew returning from the Baring Sea, we still gather down the shore house, throw back brewskies (Corona's with lime) and reminisce about "The Infamous Catch" some 25 years ago, and how sadly it seems to still be affecting the crab population ...to this very day.

Crab Cakes

Ingredients:2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup small diced red or green bell pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Old Bay
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
1 pound lump crab meat, drained and picked to remove shells
1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs (or crushed saltine crackers or a mix)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 scant cup olive oil or vegetable oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Place 1-2 tablespoons butter, onion, bell pepper, parsley, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, and pepper in a large saute pan over medium-low heat and cook until the vegetables are soft, approximately 8-10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, add the lump crab meat (careful not to break up lumps too much) and fold with bread crumbs (or saltines), mayonnaise, mustard, and egg. Add the cooked mixture and gently fold. Carefully shape into desired sized portions keeping integrity of the jumbo lump.

Heat the butter and olive oil in frying pan over medium heat in a large saute pan. Carefully add crab cakes and fry for 4 to 5 minutes on each side (for smaller cakes like the ones shown here 2-3 min each side),until browned. Drain on paper towels or brown bags. Place them on a pan in the oven for approx. 7-10 mins and then, turn off oven and keep them in the warm oven to keep hot until ready to serve. Serve with classic homemade cocktail or tarter sauce and wedge of lemon.