The Charmed Kitchen

Crab Cakes

It is funny how things work sometimes. I had picked up a small package of crab legs yesterday. One of those impulse buys that comes from shopping while hungry. No plan really- figured I’d just boil them up and melt a little butter. Then I got a call from a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile. I made the dinner invite without really thinking much about the menu. I knew I had plenty of veggies and other ingredients on hand but no other proteins. The crab would be great- but at just over a pound of legs there was never going to be enough for dinner for 2 people. The solution- crab cakes. It worked out perfectly. With fresh coleslaw, baked potatoes, beet salad and steamed broccoli dinner was complete.

Crab Cakes

  1 1/2 c. crab meat- leave some in chunks

3/4 c. panko bread crumbs

2 eggs

1/4 c. minced sweet onion

healthy dash of hot sauce

2 T. chopped parsley

1 T. lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

1 T. butter

1 T. oil

Mix all ingredients together (except butter and oil) and chill until ready to make the crab cakes. Heat butter and oil together in skillet. Form crab mixture into 8 patties and place in skillet. Cook on high until lightly browned on one side. Turn heat down to medium, turn cakes and cook until heated through and nicely browned on both sides. They are pretty delicate so turn carefully. Serve with tartar sauce and lemon wedges, if desired.

Cook crab cakes until browned on both sides

Apple Galette

If you like apple pie  you’ll like apple galette, too. I actually find a galette easier to make. Rather than doing the whole pie pan thing for a galette you just roll out your dough and then add fruit to the middle. Fold up the sides and bake. Easy as pie, well easy as galette. I made my own crust but you can used pre-made crusts, if you prefer. I will be serving these for dessert tonight with Pumpkin Ice Cream.

Apple Galette

Flaky Pie Crust

2 c. flour

1 t. salt

3/4 c. shortening, chilled

1 T. cider vinegar

4-5 T. cold water

Combine flour and salt and cut in shortening. Toss in vinegar and water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough holds together. Use a fork to toss the ingredients together and as soon as the mixture holds together stop adding water. Makes 2. Chill well before using.

Filling:

5-6 medium apples- I used Jonathan, Gala and Macintosh

2/3 c. sugar- plus extra for sprinkling

3 T. cornstarch

1 T. cinnamon

1 T. Lemon juice, plus extra for treating the apples

1 t. nutmeg

1 t. vanilla

1/2 t. salt

Prepare dough. Roll half the dough into a 10-inch circle- repeat with remaining dough. Keep covered with plastic wrap until ready to use. Peel and core apples and slice thin. Place apples in water with lemon juice added to prevent browning. Drain apple slices well and place in a bowl. Toss with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and seasonings. Place one of the crusts on a baking sheet. Pile half of the prepared apples on the center of the crust. You should have about a 2-inch circle of dough around the edges that is uncovered. Fold edges of the crust up over the apples pressing lightly to hold in place. Sprinkle with a little extra sugar. Repeat with the remaining crust and apples. You will have a little liquid in the bowl from the apple mixture- save that for now. Place the galettes in a preheated 425 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn down heat to 350 and bake for another 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. While galettes are baking take the liquid left from the apples and cook in a small saucepan until thickened- it will take a minute or two. This will be used to glaze the galettes. When galettes come out of the oven brush the apples with the thickened  glaze.  Cool on wire rack. Makes 2.

Pumpkin Ice Cream with Candied Pecans

It’s that time of year. Pumpkin spiced everything. So who am I to buck a trend? I decided to make some seasonal ice cream with pumpkin and added candied pecans for extra flavor and texture. The end result was really wonderful. Now all I have to do is figure out the dessert to make that the ice cream will be served with.

Pumpkin Ice Cream with Candied Pecans

Candied Pecans

1 c. pecans

2 T. butter

1/4 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

1/4 t. salt

Place pecans and butter in a skillet and cook over high heat until butter is melted. Add sugar and cook, stirring often until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and salt and cook until mixture turns a dark amber color. Be careful not to burn the pecans. Remove from heat and place in a pan to cool- stirring to keep the pecans from sticking to each other. Set aside.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

2 c. whipping cream

2 c. pumpkin

1 c. sugar, or to taste

2 T. molasses

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

1 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. cloves

Combine all ingredients and stir until well mixed and sugar is dissolved. Place in an ice cream maker following manufacturer’s directions. My machine can’t take the whole recipe at once so I froze it in 2 batches and kept the rest of the pumpkin mixture chilled until ready to use. Meanwhile, coarsely chop about half of the pecans. Add the chopped nuts to the ice cream when it is almost finished. Place finished ice cream in freezer until ready to serve. Serve with extra whole candied pecans on top.

Note: If you don’t have an ice cream maker you can place mixture in a shallow pan and freeze until solid. remove from freezer and allow to that a little- about 10 minutes then breakup and place in a mixing bowl. Whip with a mixer until smooth and return to the freezer. Repeat process once more to end up with a creamy ice cream.

Candied Pecans

Honey Maple Ribs

Found myself with some ribs and I wanted to do something other than a tomato based barbeque sauce for a little change of pace. I ended up glazing them with combination of honey and real maple syrup. The end result was really good. First I had marinaded the ribs in apple cider vinegar- just placed them in a pan and poured about a cup of cider vinegar over them. The acidity of the vinegar acts to tenderize them. I also sprinkled them with some soy sauce, covered them up and put them in the fridge overnight. The next day I cut the ribs into smaller pieces and placed them in a baking pan. I poured in some of the vinegar, too. I also sprinkled them with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I baked them at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. Then I turned the oven down to 350 and cooked them 30 minutes longer. I pulled them out of the oven and drained out the fat from the bottom of the baking pan. Then I drizzled them with honey, maple syrup and a healthy dash of hot sauce. Returned them to the oven for another 30 minutes- until the ribs became caramelized on top. So good. Crisp on the outside but moist in the middle and fall off the bone tender. I still like tomato based barbeque sauces but these ribs were a nice change. Will try on chicken next.

Apple Cake Roll

I’ve made a lot of cake rolls in the past. Pumpkin, chocolate, Yule logs, lemon and more. I really like this apple cake roll. With fresh apples around I wanted to use them in something other than pie. This is a fun dessert and easier to make than you might think. I also used whole berry cranberry sauce. I just made my own, but feel free to use canned if that is what you have.  The filling is also not terribly sweet. I like it that way but you can add more sugar to the cranberry sauce. I plan on topping it later with home made pumpkin ice cream. It can also be served for breakfast or brunch. 

 Apple Cake Roll

4 eggs, room temp

2/3 c. sugar

¼ t. vanilla

¾ c. sifted cake flour*

1 t. cinnamon

¾ t. each baking powder and nutmeg

¼ t.  salt

Powdered sugar for sprinkling

2 lbs. apples, peeled and sliced thin- about 5 medium apples

1 c. whole berry cranberry sauce- homemade or canned**

Whipped cream, optional

Grease bottom of 15×10-inch jelly roll pan and line with wax paper. Grease wax paper. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla 5 minutes. Sift together flour with dry ingredients and fold into eggs. Spread in prepared pan and bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 13 minutes or until light golden. Meanwhile sprinkle a tea towel with the powdered sugar. Loosen hot cake from sides of pan and invert onto tea towel. Remove wax paper carefully and roll up cake from the narrow side. Cool. Meanwhile combine apples with cranberry sauce in saucepan and simmer until apples have softened, but still hold their shape. Stir occasionally. Cool to lukewarm. Carefully unroll cake and spread with the apple mixture. Re-roll cake, discarding towel. Serve with dollops of whipped cream. Serves 8.

* To make your own cake flour just measure out a cup of all purpose flour- and remove 2 tablespoons for 1 cup of cake flour- or – remove 2 tablespoons of flour and replace them with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. I normally do the cornstarch thing with several cups of flour at a time so I have cake flour on hand when needed.

** For homemade cranberry sauce place 1 1/2 cups of cranberries in a saucepan and add a little orange juice or water- about 1/2 c.- and sugar to taste. Simmer until berries burst and mixture thickens. Yield- about 1 cup of whole berry cranberry sauce.

Roll freshly baked cake in a towel

Unroll cooled cake and spread with apple mixture

Carefully re-roll cake

Cake can be served plain or with powdered sugar, whipped cream or caramel sauce

Concord Grape Jelly

If the only grape jelly you have ever tasted is the mass-produced stuff you get at the grocery store you really should try homemade Concord grape jelly. It is so much better. I was lucky enough to get some local grapes from 2 friends. Most were Concord grapes but there were also some lovely seeded green grapes. I combined the 2 to create a jelly that tastes amazing.

Ideally you’ll need about 1/4 of the grapes to be a little under ripe. When making grape jelly you have to first extract the juice from the grapes.  Best method is to wash and stem the grapes and place them in large kettle with a little water. For every 3-5 pounds of grapes 1/2 cup of water should suffice. Crush the berries and cook over high heat until they are softened. Stir once in a while to prevent scorching. Drain the juice with a colander then strain again through a jelly bag or several layers of dampened cheese cloth. Place juice in the fridge for 12 hours or up to a couple of days. Sometimes crystals form in grape juice. After chilling you can strain the juice again to remove any of them.

Skipping this chilling/straining step may result in crystals in your jelly. Harmless but unappetizing. Now that you have juice you can make your jelly. Here is the recipe I used.

Concord Grape Jelly

5 1/2 c. grape juice

1 box powdered pectin

5 c. sugar

Combine juice and pectin in pot and heat to boiling over high heat- stirring often. Add sugar and return to the boil, stirring pretty much the whole time. Once the mixture comes to a full, rolling boil- cook it one minute longer. Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Ladle hot jelly into clean, hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes. Yield- about 6 half-pint jars.

Swiss Chard with Bacon

I really enjoy the taste of Swiss chard- but then I also like beet greens. Swiss chard is a close relative of beets. Unlike beets, chard does not produce edible roots. All leaves, all the time. They cook pretty quickly and have a rich, earthy flavor. Combined with a little bacon the chard is elevated to a whole new level. 

Braised Chard

1½ lbs. Swiss chard

2-3 slices bacon, chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash chard and trim ends off stems. Place leaves in large pot with boiling water and cook until stems are fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse chard with cold water. Cool and squeeze out excess water. Coarsely chop chard and set aside. Heat skillet and add bacon, cooking until bacon starts to brown. Add chard and garlic and cook, stirring often until chard is sizzling- about 5 minutes. Season to taste and serve. Serves 4.

Kale Chips

You can’t get much better than kale chips when you are looking for a healthy snack. They are easy to prepare and fun to eat. My garden is producing a lot of kale these days and I find myself making a fresh batch every few days. If you never had them before I urge you to give kale chips a try. While I often make mine with Tuscan kale you can make them with any variety of kale you like. Cooking times my vary.

Tuscan Kale Chips

These make a different and fun appetizer when served upright in a tumbler or vase.

12 large Tuscan kale leaves, rinsed, dried and split lengthwise with the ribs removed

1 T. olive oil

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl toss kale leaves with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange leaves in a single layer on 2 large baking sheets. Bake until crisp- about 30 minutes for flatter leaves and 33 minutes for more crinkly leaves. Makes 24.

Brie Truffles

I love brie. There are several classic ways to serve it and I have done them all. This is a fun twist. Brie is combined with cream cheese and butter until smooth and then rolled in fresh pumpernickel bread crumbs and placed in little paper cups. The effect is that the cheese looks like little cocoa coated chocolate truffles. Rich and melt in your mouth these “truffles” are sure to be a hit at your next party. Thanks to Carol Thompson for hosting the party where I made these.

Brie Truffles

8 oz. brie, room temperature- I remove the rind from the brie for a smoother texture.

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 stick ( 4 0z.) butter, softened

2 c. fresh pumpernickel bread crumbs*

In food processor combine cheeses with butter until smooth.  Chill mixture 30 minutes or longer. With a small cookie scoop or teaspoon form mixture into small balls. Place crumbs in a bowl and roll the balls of cheese in the crumbs to coat. Place in small paper cups and chill until ready to serve. Makes 3-4 dozen.

* To make the crumbs just place torn up pumpernickel bread in a food processor and run until bread turns into crumbs.

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Had a great class last night with a wonderful group of ladies. Thanks to Carol Thompson for hosting the event. The class was on quick and easy appetizers. I got a special request to make water chestnuts wrapped in bacon. They were a hit last night. No surprises there. These are always a hit and easy to make. Just a suggestion- make more than you think you will need- the disappear quickly.

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

20 slices bacon, cut in half

40 whole water chestnuts

hot sauce

brown sugar

Roll half of slice of bacon around a water chestnut and place in a baking pan, seam side down. Repeat with remaining bacon and water chestnuts. Cook in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until bacon is well browned. Remove from oven and place bacon rolls on paper towels to drain. Drain off the fat in the pan.  Return bacon roll ups to the pan- or you can place in a fresh baking pan, if you prefer. Sprinkle a little of the hot sauce on the bacon rolls and drizzle with maple syrup and some brown sugar. Return to oven  and bake until caramelized- about 15 minutes- but watch so they don’t burn. Makes 40.

Note: You can make these ahead of time and just reheat when ready to serve. They can also be frozen.