I Can't Believe It's Not Crab Crab Cakes

My sister-in-law who is married to a fishing enthusiast makes wonderful seafood dishes; so when she sent me this recipe I figured it was worth my while to try. Tonight I did just that and dinner was a huge hit! My husband had one and a half "crab cakes!" (I made them extra big, so one was really all anyone needed to eat.)


These cakes smelled wonderful while frying and .................

...........were even better when they hit the palate!

I Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Crab Crab Cakes

Adapted from John Shields, chef/owner of Gertrude's, Baltimore, Md.; recipe appears in "Cooking Fresh From the Mid-Atlantic" edited by Fran McManus & Wendy Rickard

Ingredients
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
salt
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
1 ½ teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise or plain yogurt
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley (used dried and it was fine)
vegetable oil, for frying

Method
Place grated zucchini in a colander; sprinkle lightly with salt. Let zucchini sit for about 30 minutes, allowing it to drain. Squeeze to remove additional liquid - zucchini should be fairly dry.

Place zucchini and bread crumbs in a large bowl and mix together.

Place egg, Old Bay, Dijon, mayo, lemon juice and parsley in a small bowl. Mix well.

Pour egg mixture into zucchini-bread crumb mixture, and mix gently and thoroughly. Form into 8 patties the size of crab cakes. Heat a small amount of oil in a saute pan, and cook patties on both sides, browning well.

Serve with tartar sauce, chopped capers, fresh basil and/or lemon wedges. Goes really well with halved sun gold or cherry tomatoes.

I doubled the recipe and made five extra large cakes.

White Zucchini Cake Recipe

A couple of weeks ago I posted that I made a white zucchini cake. I couldn't find a recipe for anything but chocolate zucchini cake on the WWW so I created my own recipe. I served it to my knitting group and they loved it, so I'm sharing the recipe.

1 pkg. white cake mix (I'm sure yellow would work fine)
2 c shredded zucchini
3 eggs
1/2 c finely chopped walnuts
1/2 c oil
1/4 c water
1 tbl cinnamon

Mix and bake 350 degrees until done. I used a 13 x 9 pan and frosted the cake with a cream cheese frosting.

Salmon With Mustard Cream Sauce on Wilted Spinach

The Braveheart Highland Pub is one our favorite places to dine with our daughter and son-in-law. When I saw the executive chef, Nathan Roth, shared one of his recipes in our local magazine I knew I would eventually try it and tonight was the night. It was delicious and really simple to prepare. It is most definitely a "do over!"

Serves 2


2 8-oz. salmon filets
2 T + 1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 T Dijon mustard
1/4 cup white wine (Chablis or Chardonnay recommended)
1 T chopped shallot
Salt and pepper
1 pound baby spinach

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season salmon filets with salt and pepper. Heat 2 T olive oil in oven-proof sauté pan until it begins to smoke slightly. (This ensures that the fish will not stick to the pan.) Place fish in pan, skin side up. Sear thoroughly, about 2 to 3 minutes, then flip filets. Place pan in oven to finish cooking, about 8 to 10 minutes.

While fish is in oven, put wine and shallots in a small sauce pan. Heat until alcohol is reduced, about 2 minutes. Add cream and mustard, stirring to blend. Simmer for 4 minutes.

Place spinach in separate sauté pan. Drizzle with remaining olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Cover pan with lid and cook until wilted, approximately 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove salmon from oven. Divide spinach on two plates. Place salmon on spinach and cover with sauce. Serve immediately.

Spinach-Artichoke Pizza

I made this recipe from Rachael Ray's Magazine yesterday and it was a huge hit! I used toasted french bread instead of the baguette. I highly recommend trying the recipe yourself. It's sort of like spinach-artichoke dip on bread!

Spinach-Artichoke Pizza Recipe

The Harvest Begins

I have been giving family and friends produce from the garden, but today decided it was time to start cooking/baking/canning using the fruits of my labor.

The cake is a white zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting. I'll be testing it out on my knitting circle this evening. If it's a hit I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

The two large zucchini in the pot produced 6 quarts of stewed zucchini with a casserole left over for dinner tonight. The fresh broccoli was enjoyed for lunch today; steamed with a touch of butter and salt.

I'm not sure if the cucumbers will make it to pickles this year. My mom and I are enjoying them as a raw snack!

Linguine with Shrimp

Wanting a quick but delicious meal for tonight's dinner I started searching for an entree idea in my freezer and discovered a large bag of frozen shrimp. With shrimp in mind I created a delicious linguine with shrimp dish using items I had on hand that I thought would blend well together.

2 pounds frozen large shrimp
1 can white clam sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/8 cup olive oil
garlic powder to taste (maybe 1 teaspoon)
dried parsley to taste (maybe 1 tablespoon)
1 can cream of celery soup
6 cooked spears of fresh asparagus chopped
hot cooked linguine

Mix all ingredients except linguine and heat thoroughly. Toss over hot linguine. Serve with fresh bread and grated cheese.

***Yes, I know the picture is flipped, can't straighten it out for the life of me!

Here Come the Tomatoes

Mediterranean Bean Salad

After accepting a last minute invitation to a July 4th BBQ, and in need of grocery shopping; I scouted though my pantry and found ingredients for what turned out to be one of the favorite side dishes of the day! When my son tasted it he said, "It is very Mediterranean." Hence the name of my creation.

1 can of chick peas
1 can of Northerner beans
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 medium green pepper, diced
1/2 medium Vadalia onion, diced
3 full sprigs of fresh parsley, minced
4 tbl. red wine vinegar
4 tbl. balsamic vinegar
2 tbl. olive oil

Mix all ingredients; allow to chill and marinate for several hours before serving.