Cooking: Crab Fried Rice

Last night I decided not to go to the seafood counter for clams and mussels and a fennel bulb and instead make do with what I had already and cook what Dungeness I had left after the gratin into crab fried rice. Also a friend gave me some Thai chiles, which I first turned into a condiment with macerated garlic, fish sauce, lime juice and because I had it—basil and cilantro. And then I made the cooking sauce which was fish sauce, soy sauce, black pepper (because I didn't have white) and a teaspoon of sugar.

I'm trying to integrate more vegetables into our meals, and so I also decided to include sugar snap peas and baby carrots into the fried rice as well as substitute some leftover barbecued pork for the eggs. Like most Asian fried rice dishes, the recipe called for garlic and scallions to which I added shallots. The recipe also called for cucumber and lime wedges to serve alongside the fried rice.

I'm still on the fence about my carbon steel wok though I do admit that I like the high sides for fitting more ingredients. The problem with using a wok on a conventional stove is heating up those sides. And so I let the wok warm on medium heat for at least 30 minutes, but that still doesn't let it get screaming hot for a stir fry. I don't know if I want to go to the trouble of getting a butane burner for more stir fry cooking outdoors.

The recipe called for cooking the garlic until golden or fragrant, which I followed but it was too fast. Next time I'll throw in the vegetables or onions first and THEN add the garlic to prevent possible burning. And then I added half of the cooked jasmine rice (one cup of dry rice boiled in one cup of water)to toast in the oil.

I then added the soy sauce mixture and stirred to combine. It was looking too dark and too salty, and so I added the other half of the cooked jasmine rice.

And lastly the crab, being mindful to not break it down too much or to leave it in large chunks while folding it into the fried rice. And once it was heated through which just took a few minutes, I sprinkled the green tops of the scallions and chopped cilantro.

For the plating, I arranged cucumbers alongside the fried rice and spooned the Prik Nam Pla over the vegetables and squeezed lime over the rice.

I had been wanting to try cooking this dish for some months now and am glad I tried something new to increase my repertoire although it's not my favorite. My favorite fried rice dishes usually include Spam and a fried egg on top. But at least, the hubs ate the crab fried rice last night because seafood is not his favorite.

Cooking:Crab au Gratin

I had a pound of Dungeness crab in my fridge that needed to be consumed, and so I decided to make a Louisiana Blue Crab Gratin, but sub out the blue with my Dungeness. I set out all the ingredients (chopped shallot and red onion and green onion, celery, parsley as well as flour, Panko, grated Gruyere and Swiss--all odds and ends left in my fridge) I also needed dry white wine (to drink and de-glaze) condiments like Louisiana hot sauce, Creole seasoning, and nutmeg. And some radishes from the garden to munch while I cooked.

 

I sautéed the aliums in butter, and then deglazed it with the wine.

 

I then added the cream and milk and cheeses and continued whisking and really I should have omitted the milk because it was liquid enough.

I then added the condiments of Worcestershire, hot sauce, Cajun spice and nutmeg. Next time I need to taste the roux after each addition of spice because it was all way too salty (my Creole spice has salt) in the finished gratin.

I simmered the béchamel and cheese (does that then make it Mornay sauce?) for some minutes. And then whisked some more before folding in the Dungeness crab.

 

It looked so gorgeous, and again I wish I had tasted it because I could have probably added lemon or decided to make it a crab macaroni and cheese to drastically cut down the salt. I sprinkled panko crumbs before popping in a 400 degree oven.

I baked the crab dip for 12 minutes. I thought the mixture needed more browning and decided to broil it along with a couple slices of sourdough sandwich bread (I had no baguette and made do).

 

In retrospect, maybe my usual crab, avocado and Swiss/Gruyere melt would've been a better meal with those ingredients, but I committed and aimed to follow through on a gratin and arranged the toast points, which looked clumsy and not artful at all.

Better, n'est-ce pas?

I repeat that if I even make this dish again, I'd do it a lot differently. Just hot sauce, and no Worcestershire sauce or Creole spice mix (both which made it way too salty). I still have half a container of Dungeness crab, and so it'll either turn into French bouillabaisse or a Thai fried rice this weekend.

Food and Art Are Always on My Mind

A friend of mine recently joined Noom because of perimenopausal and pandemic weight gain, and I admitted to her my love for that third dinner. And it's not hunger that impels that desire for more food, it's more taste sensations. And the pondering and planning of those meals to induce culinary joy.

And so I look also to art to sate that craving for something exciting and new or delightful and all-consuming in the doing or making that you lose sense of time. Yesterday I was distracted by a couple of Craftsy videos on watercolor painting. And that morning I happened to have been stopped in my tracks by the brilliance of colors in my flower bed.

With this floral inspiration, I was spurred to look for my painting supplies.

 

I also found my beginning dabbling from my watercolor painting classes with William Dunn.....ooof some of them are so meh, and that's okay, which is why I'm trying to use up the student grade materials before I start using the artists' quality supplies.

And I've been so uninspired at work that I've been messing around with messaging and journaling to find inspiration.

And so given all that art stimulation, my dinner wishes last night were rather plain. Just bread and cheese and wine.

And so I was ravenous today from last night's plain fare. 

No students showed up for the learning pods on campus today, and so the lunch ladies were passing out breakfast burritos to the staff. Their sausage and potato and egg burritos were pretty darn tasty--there was some kind of hot sauce bathing the ingredients that left a nice heat in the mouth and needed none of my additional Valentina sauce. And because I had been craving the lunch ladies' egg salad, I made one for my lunch today last night. I'm thinking tonight's dinner will likewise be spartan, so I can devote some time to stitching the Bob and Lisa quilt and then watching some watercolor painting tutorials.

Cooking: Mardi Gras on a Monday

I realized that Fat Tuesday followed the day after the President’s Holiday this week. But on this particular Monday, I knew I wanted to cook oyster po' boys because I had some frozen breaded oyster I found at the Japanese market that I'd been wanting to cook for months. I finally had a day off from work to make one of my most favorite sandwiches, one I had enjoyed when I visited New Orleans and ate at the French Quarter Jazz Festival. While I don't have a French bakery from which to buy the quintessential crusty but soft crumb baguette for the sandwich, I did buy bolilo rolls which have a similar texture. 

I looked at various recipes for the remoulade sauce. When I ate the sandwich from a food booth at the music festival, there was ketchup and mayonnaise at the condiment table. However, I wanted to make a remoulade sauce like the one served on the sandwich at CreoLa, a favorite Creole Cajun restaurant near where I live. My remoulade included Duke's (go South or go home), chopped shallot, chopped capers, Louisiana hot sauce, horseradish, a sprinkle or two of tarragon, and some dill pickle juice. Oh my gosh, it was perfect. And then set up my sandwich station with the rolls, a Roma tomato (when they're out of season, sprinkles of salt and pepper are de rigueuer), and chopped Romaine (Iceberg is less available here in California than in the South), a jar of dill pickle chips and the remoulade.

 

Okay my oysters were a frozen product, breaded in probably tempure and panko from a Japanese market and not the fresh Gulf oysters breaded in flour and cornmeal until crispy, but someday....I will attempt to cook the real deal. Without having to shuck and bread the oysters myself, it was a fast fry--only 4 minutes total.

I made a total of 3 sandwiches: one pour moi, one for Cecilia, and one for Nancy who had visited CreoLa with me a couple of summers ago for our local destination dine and my craving for this sandwich. 

Maybe next time, I will just buy the fresh, shucked oysters on the half shell at the Japanese seafood aisle and cook them Louisiana style.

For dinner later, I needed to get rid of leftovers and had beef stew. I also had Brussels sprouts and freshly harvested broccoli and a potato. Sides of vegetables, my friends, are how I extend leftovers. 

I cooked the Russet into mashed potato and sautéed the cruciferous vegetables in a cast iron and microwaved the beef and root vegetable stew.

 

And the Parmesan, lemon, thyme sourdough that Cecilia baked that day was a fine accompaniment.

Still more leftovers in my fridge of Pancit Palabok, Mushroom Fettucine, and Chili con Carne which should tide the hubs and me for the week unless I cook Red Beans and Rice and Andouille Sausage to continue the laissez les bon temps rouler for this Fat Tuesday. At least I cooked for Shrove Monday even if I missed celebrating on Shrove Sunday;)