Cooking Light Crab Cakes

I made these a couple of weeks ago for lunch with a friend. They were very good. I made them into crab cakes and then took about a 1/2 c of the crab cake mixture (uncooked) and put it with 4 oz of cream cheese and a couple of strips of bacon cooked and crumbled and stuffed it into mushroom caps and baked them. YUM!

Crab Cakes with Spicy Remoulade
* Crab cakes:
* 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
* 1 1/2 tablespoons canola-based mayonnaise (such as Spectrum brand)
* 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1 large egg
* 1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
* 1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed
* 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
*

Rémoulade:
* 1/4 cup canola-based mayonnaise
* 1 tablespoon chopped shallots
* 1 1/2 tablespoons capers, drained and chopped
* 2 teaspoons Creole mustard
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

1. To prepare crab cakes, combine first 8 ingredients. Add panko and crab, tossing gently to combine. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Fill a 1/3-cup dry measuring cup with crab mixture. Invert onto work surface; gently pat into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Repeat procedure with remaining crab mixture, forming 8 cakes.

3. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 crab cakes to pan; cook 4 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Carefully turn cakes; cook 4 minutes or until bottoms are golden and crab cakes are thoroughly heated. Remove cakes from pan; keep warm. Wipe pan dry with paper towels. Heat remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in pan. Repeat procedure with remaining 4 crab cakes.

4. To prepare rémoulade, combine 1/4 cup mayonnaise and remaining ingredients in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Serve with crab cakes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - tip

We love chocolate chip cookies around here, so we have a lot of experience making them! ;)

I find they turn out best when all ingredients are at room temperature and I put the butter in the mixer, turn the mixer on and never turn it off until I'm ready to put in the chocolate chips. It makes a light fluffy batter.

Cute idea

At our ward auction we bid on Family Home Evening treats for a month. Last Monday Celisse brought us these adorable cupcakes inside ice cream cones. She brought them in cups with the side sliced open so they were easy to get out. They were yummy!

Brie with Apricot topping - crock pot

I made this for a baby shower a few weeks ago. I got the recipe from the 365 days of crock pot cooking website. It was really really good. It was all gone. I used my little dipper crock pot and it was super easy.

Brie with Apricot topping
--1 large round or wedge of brie (the round I used was 13.2 oz)
--1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
--2 T brown sugar
--2 T water
--1 tsp balsamic vinegar
--1/4 tsp dried rosemary
--1/2 cup chopped walnuts

The Directions.

I used a 1.5 mini round crockpot. If you are going to use a big one, put the brie in an oven-safe dish. As long as the dish and the crockpot heat together, you're all good.

If your brie has a really hard rind, cut the top part off. This was the first time I had used this brand of brie---I've always reached for the stuff from Trader Joe's---and I was alarmed at how thick the rind was.

Put the brie into the crockpot.

In a bowl, mix the chopped apricots, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, water and rosemary together. Spoon on top of the brie.
Sprinkle on the chopped walnuts.

Cover and cook on high for 1-2 hours, or on low for about 3. Check after an hour in both cases just in case.

Serve with your favorite crackers or apple slices.

Kicked up Spinach Dip

I love using the basic Knorr Vegetable Soup mix spinach dip recipe (minus the water chestnuts, I don't like them, weird, I know) and adding diced green onion and a bunch of dried dill (to taste). It just adds a yummy freshness.

Sister's Cafe Baguette

I needed some bread quickly for dinner last week so I tried this baguette from Sister's Cafe. It was really good, fast & easy. Mine didn't turn out as crispy on the outside as I like my baguette to be, but it was mostly likely cook error & not recipe error!


Baguette
submitted by Brittany ~ www.sisterscafe.blogspot.com

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbs. (2 packages) dry yeast
2 tsp. sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt

In a small bowl mix the warm water with the yeast and sugar. Let it sit for about 5 minutes - foam should form on the top.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour and salt. Gradually add the yeast mixture. Mix until the dough becomes a smooth ball and knead for 5 minutes. (I use my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook)

Cut in half and then shape into 2 baguettes. To make them smooth and pretty, roll each half of dough into rectangle and roll up lengthwise. Pinch the edges to seal and place on lightly greased cookie sheet (or silpat) with seam down. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. With a very sharp knife (I like to use a serrated blade) gently make a slash down the length of each baguette. This will give it that authentic look. Pour water in a cookie sheet and place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the bread for 15 minutes. Half way through, brush the bread with melted butter. **I tried it with olive oil too... it was less crispy and salty. We liked the butter a lot more!

Camille's Chicken Teriyaki

My mom just sent me my cousin Camille's cookbook. I'm so excited to try all of her recipes! She's a great cook. Here's the first one I tried. I love teriyaki and this is a delicious recipe.


Camille's Chicken Teriyaki

8-10 chicken thighs, tenders or flat steak

1/3 – ½ cup soy sauce, sugar and water

(depends on how much chicken or meat you cook)

1 tsp. chopped fresh ginger root

1-2 garlic cloves – chopped or minced

½ - 1 tsp. sesame seed oil (dark oil) optional

1-2 tsp. lemon juice or orange juice

Mix all ingredients in plastic bag add the chicken or meat then marinade over night.

Broil desired meat in pan with marinade juice until brown or grill. Cover it and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until tender (if you cook longer it will be really tender)

Baked Kale Chips

I was looking for a new recipe for kale and came upon this recipe at allrecipes.com. My first reaction was, that looks weird. I decided to try it anyway. I followed the instructions and kept looking in the oven to see what was going on. The kale looked like it was wilted and not crisp at all, so when I finally pulled it out of the oven and tried it I was amazed to find that it was super crispy!! It had a spinachy taste, but was super crisp like chips. It was a fun healthy snack. I baked mine on a silpat baking mat just to make sure it didn't stick.

Baked Kale Chips
allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.