Text 3441, 144 rader
Skriven 2013-08-13 08:42:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: nah 992
===============
 JW> What you want to look for is fresh-picked lump or jumbo lump crab
 JW> meat. Crab season on the eastern seaboard runs from spring through
 JW> late fall, and on-season, it's relatively easy to find crab at a
 JW> good seafood retailer, or to order it online from a number of

Not so. Lump blue crab is tough to get at all times, and there
is no guarantee that you'll ever get proper Maryland crab unless
you go out to the shore and talk to the watermen yourself. The
supposedly fresh or flash-pasteurized stuff generally comes from
places like Venezuela and Belize.

 JW> sources. Off season, it's not quite so easy, but a good retailer
 JW> should be able to order you some from South American sources.
 JW> Your best bet? Just hope that you don't get a hankering for crab
 JW> cakes in the off season.

That is truth, but unless you are willing to take a ride to the
Chesapeake, it is better not to get a hankering for crabcakes
at all.

 JW> Tackling the issue of binders in crab cakes is not easy. Unlike,
 JW> say, ground beef, fresh-picked crab meat does not want to bind with
 JW> itself. You can rub it and knead it and press it together all you
 JW> want and all you've succeeded in doing is turning it into pasty mush
 JW> that still doesn't want to stick together. What you need is some
 JW> form of un-coagulated protein to make every stick together. The
 JW> classic choice is egg, which not only adds protein, but also adds
 JW> moisture and some degree of leavening power.

Which brings up the issue of crab Norfolk. This is the only crab
dish I at times might find superior to broiled crabcakes. It is
quite simply crabmeat and butter in an approximately 4:1 ratio,
perhaps protected with just a film of breadcrumbs, and broiled
until warm. Maybe a dash of seasoning here or there. Beautiful food.

 JW> But a simple egg and crab mixture is impossible loose, nearly
 JW> impossible to form into cakes that stay in shape, they simply sag
 JW> and spread out like a deflated jellyfish.

He uses too much egg, sounds like, and/or is cooking at
insufficient temperature.

 JW> Low-binder crab cakes easily fall apart.

But they needn't.

 JW> Not terrible, but not what I'm going for.
 JW> Alternatively, you can add eggs and breadcrumbs in some form,
 JW> whether they're regular or panko breadcrumbs, or crushed up saltines
 JW> or oyster crackers.

Avoid. A few regular breadcrumbs might be helpful (I often
use them, but not more than 20% of the total), but panko is
a textural mistake, and saltines and oyster crackers add an
obtrusive alkaline taste.

 JW> Eliminating starchy binders and instead going with a strict
 JW> egg-and-mayo base can work

No mayo, or at least very little. For best, purest flavor,
the filler must be at an absolute minimum: his supposedly
ideal recipe uses more than necessary and reminds me of a
mediocre restaurant cake. Naughty boy.

 if you're willing to have your cakes look
 JW> more like lumps and if you're ok with only broiling them as opposed
 JW> to sauteeing in butter. It's better than no solution, but still I
 JW> think we can do better than compromise.

Broiling a crabcake is no compromise. He is right in that
starch makes fried cakes hold together, but that is a real
compromise. Though I enjoy butter-fried cakes, broiled
(medium rare, no more - the problem with broiled is that
you tend to get these overcooked shards sticking out, if
you are not careful) are better.

 JW> Back when I worked at Toro, a Spanish tapas restaurant in Boston
 JW> (and soon to be New York), I learned a neat little trick for making
 JW> cod croquettes with impossibly tender innards: Make a very soft,

I knew there was a reason why I hated the cod croquettes at Toro.
Actually, all the food at Toro was okay, some more okay than
others.

 JW> barely-bound filling, then partially freeze it before coating in
 JW> bread crumbs and frying. The crumbs form a seal that keep the
 JW> filling from falling apart as they fry, resulting in a croquette
 JW> with a crisp exterior and interior that literally melts in your
 JW> mouth.

Though that seems like a method that the boy ought to
adapt to crabcakes. Cold food, really hot fat.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

      Title: Warm Crab Meat Timbale
 Categories: Emeril, Seafood, Crab
      Yield: 8 Servings

      1 tb Unsalted butter
      2 c  Heavy cream
      1    Head garlic, split in half
      4    Egg yolks
      2 tb Minced shallots
    1/4 c  Cognac
        pn Cayenne
      1 lb Crab meat, picked over for
           - cartilage
           Salt & fresh white pepper
      1 tb Parsley
           Fine chopped red onions
           Fine chopped hard-boiled
           - egg whites
           Fine chopped hard-boiled
           - egg yolks
           Capers, drained
           Caviar

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8 (4 oz) ramekins with
  butter. In a sauce pot, bring the cream and garlic up to a simmer.
  Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the garlic. In a mixing bowl, whisk
  the egg yolks together. Temper the cream into the yolks. Stir in the
  shallots, Cognac, cayenne, and crab meat. Season with salt and
  pepper. Place the ramekins in an oven proof baking pan. Ladle the
  mixture into the prepared ramekins. Fill the baking pan with water
  until it comes 2/3 of the way up the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes or
  until the custard has set. Remove from the oven. Using a knife gently
  loosen the custard from the ramekin and invert onto the serving
  plates. Drizzle each plate with the sabayon. Garnish with the
  traditional garnishes and caviar

  Yield: 8 servings

  SOURCE: Emeril Live! Cooking Show Copyright 1998, TV FOOD NETWORK SHOW
  #EMIB21 - SPIRITED COOKING

  MM Format by Dave Drum - 12 October 98

  FROM: Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen

MMMMM
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