I have a dozen or so crab cake recipes but I chose this particular one for Peggy’s birthday because it is extra light. What makes it so, is separating the egg and folding in the whipped egg white just before cooking. The presentation with the herbed salad and aïoli is especially lovely, but the cakes are delicious on their own, so make it “easy-breezy” and leave those elements out, if you wish. I know I’ve mentioned before the fabulous real crab sold at Costco, but it is worth talking about again. The brand they used to sell was Phillips, now they carry Blue Star, both are exceptional quality and totally fabulous. What makes them so? Real lump crab that has been pasteurized with a “use by” date on the bottom of the container that is generally about 9 months to a year out. So there is no excuse to not have crab on hand anytime you need it. For this particular recipe, only about half of the container is used, so you can either double the amounts or be sure and use the remaining half container within a day or two.

To that end, I shall post another crab recipe tomorrow to finish it off. Another thing I have talked about before is the fact that the food processor has a special feature especially for making mayonnaise and aioli. If you need a refresher, click here to go back to that post. Finally, as always, if you don’t have Meyer lemons, no problem, just substitute regular lemons.

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Soup and salad… the two of the most versatile parts of any meal. Or complete meals all by themselves. I’ve previously mentioned my deep admiration for soup. My husband, Dave, on the other hand, has those same feelings for salad. Given the choice, he would take salad over soup about 90% of the time. I’ll take soup over salad 99.9% of the time when it is under 100 degrees here in sunny AZ. But once the thermostat hits the century mark, I turn my back on my favorite child. I feel like a traitor, but I’m just not a huge fan of most cold soups, so salad it is. And considering that is reaches 100 degrees an average of 106 days a year here, that’s nearly a third of the year I give up on my beloved soup. So I need a backup plan!

Currently on this blog, I have 13 soups and only 10 true salads. What do I consider a “true” salad? One that has lettuce or greens as the primary player; not just a tart on a bed of greens used to “fancy it up” or a salad with fruit only, or quinoa laying on a little bit of spinach. But a Real Salad with lettuce! So soup is currently winning the war, I mean the race! Unfortunately, salad is gaining ground with this entry, and with the dog days of summer only a couple months away… I need to make more soup!

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Lately, I’ve had a seriously strong craving for spicy food. I finished off the chipotle mayo that was used for the Jamaican sliders from the neighborhood Progressive, eating just a little each day for lunch, and now that it is gone… I want more! So I Googled (Oh, how I love Google) “What does it mean when you crave spicy food?” and found this;

“…people crave it in part because it releases endorphins in the body. When capsaicin, the element of chili peppers that cause the “spicy” sensation, comes into contact with the tongue, the body is tricked into believing that it is in pain and releases the pain-relieving endorphins. This explains why, like anything that releases endorphins, spicy food can become somewhat addictive. People may crave it and build tolerance levels.”

and then there was this;

“When people have trouble cooling down they may crave spicy foods to make them perspire. Some research also suggest that people can become addicted to the rush of spicy food that is associated with spiked blood pressure, accelerated heart rate and rapid breathing says Tammy Shames, R.D.  People that crave spicy food are perfectionists. They love order, hate wasting time, and pay attention to all the details.”

OK, now every little bit of that makes sense to me; I naturally have low blood pressure, I do like order and details, etc.  And just like Kathleen Turner’s character, Matty Walker, in the 1981 movie Body Heat, “My temperature runs a couple of degrees high.” Plus if I can get my endorphins from food instead of from the so called “runner’s high” and actually having to run… Bring It On!

If you want to tone down the spiciness, just leave out the chipotle pepper.

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My various citrus trees are producing pounds upon pounds of citrus. The oranges, lemons, and grapefruit are being picked and eaten or used in cooking daily. The limes, blood oranges, and Meyer lemons aren’t quite ready yet, and I’m grateful for that, I can’t keep up as it is! So don’t be surprised to see citrus popping up in just about every post here on out, for months to come.

To kick it off, here is a quick and light salad using another couple favorites; avocado and fennel. The fennel bulb, fronds (leaves), and seeds are used in cooking. The bulb is a crisp, root vegetable and may be sauteed, roasted, stewed, braised, grilled, or eaten raw.  The fronds are delicately flavored and look very similar in shape to dill. The seeds are used either fresh or can be found dried in the spice aisle. The hollow stems are tough and stringy and are usually discarded or used in making vegetable stock. Fennel pollen is actually the most potent form of fennel, but is very expensive and difficult to find. Fennel grows like a weed, so be sure to cultivate the pollen yourself, if you grow fennel in your garden, it is amazing! For this salad, we’re using the bulb and a few of the fronds, as garnish. If you can not find, or do not want to pay the price for, blood oranges or Meyer lemons, use regular oranges and lemons instead.

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Isn’t it strange how sometimes you go out for dinner and you are drawn to order the same thing at one restaurant and then another.  Recently, that item for me has been candied pecans. I use candied pecans often at home as well, but there is always something a little different about the ones I get while eating out. I finally asked a chef friend, what the difference was. He informed me that restaurants often first candy the nuts and then fry them. That makes sense, since I often wondered how their pecans were so much more “toasted” than mine. If you would rather not fry the nuts, just go to this previous post for candied almonds, and substitute pecans for the almonds.

You may be able to find balsamic glaze at the grocery store, I know that Trader Joe’s carried it at one time, not sure if they still do, but it is easy to make at home and easy to store extra for use again later.  I served this salad to three men last night, and in their honor, since they are “manly men”, this is a now referred to as a “manly man” salad!
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Today our Arizona Cardinals clinched the NFC West division. All that needed to happen was for the San Francisco 49er’s to lose to the Philadelphia Eagles, that happened – and for the Cardinals to beat the Detroit Lions in the Motor City, and that happened!  On to the playoffs and then off to Miami and the Super Bowl!  Another great thing that happened in today’s game in Detroit – my friend, Larry Fitzgerald, passed the 1000-yard receiving mark for the third consecutive season and the fourth time overall in his six pro seasons. He also became the youngest NFL player with 7,000 yards receiving, congratulations, Fitz! In honor of Arizona’s great day in Michigan, I have a recipe that is a Detroit area favorite. Go Cards!
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So here are my feelings about Thanksgiving leftovers – I love having mass amounts of white meat leftover for turkey sandwiches, and it wouldn’t feel like Thanksgiving without all the fabulous turkey stock I make from the carcasses, but the rest of it… not so much!  To that end, I always make two turkeys, one is roasted the traditional way, the second is always grilled or smoked. This year I wound up with 36 cups of stock, happy day!

To use up all that dark turkey meat, I just make our family favorites and add in the turkey.  Our all-time favorite salad is another of Barbara Pool Fenzl’s recipes.  It comes from her 1994 Southwest The Beautiful Cookbook. I’ve made very few changes to the recipe over the years… instead of whisking by hand, I use a food processor for the dressing.  Since the original recipe makes about 1 1/3 cups of dressing, I double all the other fixings so that all that amazing dressing can be utilized, it would be shameful to waste even one drop!  Also in the original, the tortilla strips are dusted with chili powder prior to frying. Instead I salt and dust them immediately after removing from the hot oil so the seasoning really sticks to the strips. And with all this turkey on hand, it quickly becomes a perfect main course salad for a busy weeknight family dinner.
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Before we get to the second poached pear recipe – a momentous occasion – for me, at least.  This is my 100th post, never imagined I’d get here when I began my blog back in August! Oh Happy Day!  OK, enough self congratulatory for now and on to the work at hand… savory poached pears…

Pears were poached in a sweet liquid and used for dessert in yesterday’s post.  Today, these wine poached pears with be used in a savory salad. The flesh takes on a gorgeous deep red color.

Walnut oil is used for the vinaigrette, but olive oil can be substituted. Nut oils should always be stored in the refrigerator. Just like the nuts they come from, the oils goes rancid quickly at room temperature.

The “seeds” of a fresh pomegranate are called arils and they should be showing up in markets since it is pomegranate season, take advantage and purchase them now, the season is short. The good news – arils can be frozen. To freeze, spread arils in a single layer on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Place in freezer for about two hours. Transfer frozen arils to a labeled and dated zip-lock bag. You can easily remove the amount you need when desired and return the rest quickly to the freezer.  They will keep for about 6 months.

This salad is beautiful for any of the upcoming holidays and the poaching liquid can be saved for an upcoming Thanksgiving recipe for Pearl Onions and Wild Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce, which will be posted later this week.*
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Ramen and Broccoli Salad – there are so many versions of this salad around, that I was wondering if I should even post my take on it. But after looking at some of the others, I decided mine did have something unique – the dressing.  Most of the others call for between 3/4 to one full cup of oil and between 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar.  That’s a whole lot of fat and calories ruining a big bowl of healthy vegetables!  This still isn’t a diet worthy recipe; what with the bacon, mayo, and the sodium in the ramen flavor packet, but an improvement just the same. Add cooked shrimp, grilled flank steak, or shredded chicken to easily make it into a main course salad.
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Believe it or not, it’s hot again this week in Phoenix/Scottsdale! It had been so nice and cool the last week or so, and I was fooled into thinking we were actually going to have an early fall… but no!  It was up in the 90’s today and is expected to hit 101 Saturday, setting a new record for October 17… what the heck?!  The past three days I’ve been working at Les Gourmettes Cooking School, assisting Barbara Fenzl with her classes.  The menu is in honor of  Barbara’s friend and mentor, the late Julia Child. The food was beyond delicious and the classes were a great success, but after working on Beef Bourguingnon and with these hot temps, I need something easy, cool, and refreshing – this salad fits the bill. Note to Barbara: Great classes, looking forward to the next go-round in a couple weeks! xoxo
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