Archive for the ‘mustard’ Category

WHY MAKE CRAB CAKES WHEN YOU HAVE LOBSTER?

Posted: June 27, 2014 in Food, frying, lobster, mustard, Recipes, seafood
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I had a pound of leftover lobster meat (I know, I know…how could you ever have leftover lobster?!) So I wrapped it tightly and kept it frozen. When I had a craving for crab cakes, I figured I’d try my recipe out with lobster instead. So good, I sprained my arm patting myself on the back!

lobstercake2

 

Ingredients:

1 lb cooked lobster meat (thawed, if frozen)

1 cup mayo (I like Hellman’s)

1/4 cup Dijon mustard (I like Maille)
3/4 cup saltine crackers or oyster crackers
1 teaspoon old Bay seasoning
Olive oil

In a bowl, combine mayo, mustard and Old Bay Seasoning.

Chop the lobster into small pieces and add it to the mayo/mustard mix.

Pulse the crackers in a food processor until it resembles oatmeal. Add it to the bowl and gently combine the ingredients.

Form small patties. I use either a small beef slider mold or the lid from a small mouth Mason jar. I won’t kid you: it gets messy, but it’s worth it! Place the patties on a sheet pan lined with Reynold’s non-stick aluminum foil.

Place the sheet pan in the freezer for about 15 minutes to stiffen up the patties.

Heat some olive oil in a pan. Cook the patties on both sides until golden brown.

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MAKING MUSTARD: SHOULDA DONE THIS SOONER!

Posted: January 14, 2014 in Food, mustard, Recipes, spicy
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It’s so easy to make your own mustard. And really good mustard. Mustard that hasn’t been sitting on the store shelf for a year. Mustard with real flavor.

Once the mustard is made, you’re supposed to wait a few weeks before using, letting its heat mellow a bit. But I enjoy it right from the start. Feel the burn!

 

mustard

The great thing about this recipe is that you make it with your favorite beer, so use what you drink and you’ll have a mustard like no one else. I used Samuel Adams Boston Ale for this recipe.

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup yellow mustard seeds

1/4 cup brown mustard seeds

3/4 cup Sam Adams Boston Ale

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. brown sugar, firmly packed

2 garlic cloves, smashed

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. fleur de sel

1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper

 

Put the yellow and brown mustard seeds in a bowl and pour in 1/2 cup of the beer. Push the mustard seeds down to submerge them in the beer. (I lay a sheet of plastic wrap down on top to keep them submerged.) Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of beer, the vinegar, honey, brown sugar, garlic, bay leaf salt and pepper in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the honey and the sugar. Boil for 1 minute, the immediately remove the pan from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Toss the garlic and the bay leaf in the trash and pour the liquid into a blender. Add 3/4’s of the plumped mustard seeds and blend to break the seeds. Add the remaining 1/4 of the mustard seeds and pulse just once to mix. You want the mustard thick, with some whole seeds remaining.

Put the mustard in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 3 days, and up to a week, depending on how mellow you want it and how much waiting you can tolerate! After about 3 weeks, the mustard will be at its peak…but it will keep in the fridge for several months. (I can’t imagine it will last that long.)

SIMPLE, FAST, EASY AND DAMN TASTY CRAB CAKES

Posted: November 5, 2012 in crab, Food, frying, mustard, Recipes, seafood
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The fact that I can’t remember a damn thing anymore has actually worked in my favor when it comes to getting recipe ideas from television. I can no longer get the exact ingredients down and so I wind up make stuff up as I go along. The end result: my own original take on a particular recipe.
A perfect example of that was a few months ago when I was watching Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich In America on the Travel Channel, which featured some of the most innovative sandwiches from around the country. I was particularly intrigued by the methods used by the folks at Faidley’s in Baltimore to make their famous crab cake sandwich. I jotted down what I thought they did (of course, they don’t reveal their recipe secrets) and I wound up creating the best crab cake I’ve ever made:
Alz Crab Cakes

1 pound crab meat
1/3 cup oyster crackers
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 cup mayo/mustard blend

To make the mayo/mustard blend, combine 4 parts mayonnaise to 1 part mustard. You your favorite. I use Maiile Chablis mustard, but it’s only available in France. (See my previous blog about the Maille mustard shop in Paris.) However, Maille Dijon mustard is great, too. Set aside.

Take the oyster crackers and pulse them in a food processor until it resembles oatmeal…not too fine.

In a bowl, gently mix all the ingredients. With your hands, form small crab cake balls, like meatballs. Place on a tray lined with foil, and pop in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to set.
Heat oil in a pan to 375 degrees. Gently drop the crab cakes into the oil, and fry for only 10 to 15 seconds. Flip over, and fry 10 to 15 seconds more, just to form a light crust. Don’t over-fry or they will fall apart!

Drain crab cakes on paper towels and enjoy.

Any leftover mayo/mustard works great as a tartar dipping sauce, or a spread if you’re making a crab cake sandwich. Just finely chop some pickles, add a splash of Worcestershire and/or hot sauce, and mix with the mayo/mustard.

This recipe works equally well with a light, flaky fish, like cod. Combine mayo/mustard mix with Old Bay. Slather the fish in it, then roll the fish in the crumbs and fry in oil.

 

Don’t let the fact that your brain isn’t what it used to be get you down. Take advantage of it! You just might come up with an original recipe that blows the doors off anything you copy down word for word.

MAILLE IN PARIS: A TRIP TO MUSTARD HEAVEN

Posted: October 21, 2012 in Food, mustard, Paris, travel
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It seems silly to travel all the way to Paris for a jar of mustard, but that’s exactly what we do. OK…we happen to be in Paris when we make the pilgrimage to the Maille mustard shop, but I couldn’t imagine a trip to the city of light without making the stop.
Back in 1747, Antoine Maille was known by many as the greatest mustard and vinegar maker of all time. He created the now-famous Maille Dijon Originale mustard in Dijon, France, and opened a shop in Paris to sell it. To this day, the company follows his strict guidelines to re-create that magic. The Maille company opened a second store, in Dijon, in 1845.

The supermarket stuff.

There are several varieties of Maille mustard available in most supermarkets here in the United States, but the one mustard you can’t get…is the one you really want!
When you visit the Maille Paris shop on place de la Madeleine, you’re surrounded by beautiful displays of colorful jars of mustard. But you need to focus on the mustard taps–yes, like beer taps–at the main counter, a long oak bar where fresh mustard (no preservatives, never more than 10 days old) is dispensed into ceramic jars that are filled, corked, and wrapped in tissue paper.
Our mustard of choice is the Mailles Chablis mustard, which is unlike anything I’ve ever been able to find here in the States. And though it is potent, it has a magical quality that I can’t even begin to describe.

How do I get one of these taps in my home?

While you’re standing in line for your mustard–and there is always a line–you can sample the three fresh mustards offered with a pretzel or a cracker. Aside from the Chablis mustard, there is also a grape juice and honey mustard, and a white wine mustard.
Despite the fact that they say the potency of the fresh Maille mustard doesn’t last more than a few months, it doesn’t stop my wife and me from buying enough to keep us happy until the next trip to Paris a few years later. The way I look at it, the less potent Chablis mustard is still better than anything I can find on a store shelf here at home.
It is a sad day indeed when I open the last jar of Maille mustard, look deep down inside, and see that there is nothing left…just a dry residue of crusty mustard. I put the jar down, and go directly to my computer to book the next possible trip to Paris!
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