blog 19 recipe 16

 
The book club that I belong to, http://thisbookmakesmecook.blogspot.com/ is so enjoyable.  While I enjoy the books that I actually get a chance to read, the real reason why I enjoy it so much is that the people in the club are from all over the world. That said...the members choose the book of the month, thus I am introduced to authors and books that I would never have stumbled upon on my own. Two months ago many members were so excited to read a story that many remember from their childhood. I of course had no idea what they were referring to, and had a 3 week wait for the book to be delivered from a remote sender in England. I missed the deadline for the book club, however dear daughter was thrilled with the read, and was thrilled to read the posts based upon the book.

Not being familiar with the author or  local of the plot was the theme for me this read. Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond was a fun romp on the beaches of England. I can certainly relate to a beach vacation (aka holiday), and life on the beach so my imagination wasn't stretched to the gills, but I was unfamiliar with one of the particular food item that was mentioned throughout the book....pasties.

Now my memory chip was a bit sketchy and my lovely shots went missing so please envision crusty triangles of warm, melty goodness.

 I am going to be completely honest and tell you that I used all left overs for my pasties, and refrigerated pie dough. I can only imagine how much tastier it would have been with homemade dough, but I am not good at making rolled out dough so I opted out. There is really no recipe involved as I believe anything that is considered yummy warmed up would work....savory or sweet. The fillings were all homemade even though they were leftover. I rolled and stuffed ...meatballs and fresh mozzarella, sausage peppers and onions, steak fajitas, and ham and Swiss with sauteed onions. Dear family were picking up the crumbs!!

Blog the 14th...recipe the 11th

We just spent a few relaxing days touring our nation's capital. I have not been to Washington DC in years, and we decided it was high time that our kids saw all that DC has to offer. Dear family and I were very impressed with; how clean the city proper was, how family friendly, easy to maneuver, all in all how delightful of a getaway it was. A few highlights: we toured Arlington National Cemetery in the midst of a thunderstorm. (I will say it was a highly dramatic way to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier), as the weather improved we hit many museums and monuments, took many touristy photos, and ate some very good crab cake. As we sampled various crab cakes it was decided that more crab and less filling is the way to go. Everyone seemed to have their own version, from the frilliest restaurants to the corner delis. I came home and googled a few recipes, but am an old-fashioned girl and love a good cookbook so I went to The Gourmet Cookbook edited by Ruth Reichel. http://www.gourmet.com/ I've even included photos this time around....Enjoy. The visit to Julia's kitchen will be forthcoming...stay tuned.

Crab Cakes
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons lightly beaten egg
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
accompaniment: lemon wedges

Put a rack on middle of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil a small baking sheet.
Whisk together mayonnaise, egg, and mustard in a medium bowl. Fold in crabmeat until just combined. Gently form mixture into four 1 inch thick cakes and transfer to baking sheet.Bake crab cakes until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. let stand on baking sheet for 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges.