Easy, Sustainable Seafood Stew (with variations)

By Vanessa | Published: June 19, 2011

Here’s a method for making a quick seafood stew that’s both sustainable and perfect for casual summer dining. No need to turn the oven on or fuss for hours in the kitchen.

Sustainable seafood is a complex topic. Even if you conscientiously refer to the guidelines of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, you’ll likely still encounter grey areas and gaps in information.

Just a few of the common problems:

1. Species are often misnamed at fish counters; for example: rockfish is commonly referred to as red snapper, which is endangered. And while some Northern California rockfish are plentiful, others are not.

2. Sustainability often depends on where and how a fish was caught (information that isn’t usually available).

3. Farmed seafood can be farmed poorly or environmentally responsibly. Without visiting the operation, you’ll never know.

4. Not all types of seafood make it on to those little wallet cards, so you’ll often find yourself left in the dark.

Thankfully, there are a few fairly sure bets in the world of sustainable seafood. And they happen to make great seafood stew!

US Farmed clams, oysters, and mussels:

Mollusk aquaculture has low input (feed) requirements, if any, and mollusks are low on the food chain, (and consequently low in environmental toxins), fast reproducing, and plentiful

California squid:

Our local squid comes from a sustainable fishery and is also quick to reproduce and low in toxins. Make sure you buy California squid and clean it yourself. If you buy cleaned squid, it’s entirely possible that it was caught here, shipped to China, processed, and shipped back. Not so great from a carbon footprint point of view. Plus the fresh (never frozen stuff) just tastes better. Read this post for instructions on how to clean them.

DIY Delicious includes one recipe for sustainable seafood stew, but I like to use the basic technique and vary my stew according to my mood, the season, or what’s in the market. We made the stew pictured above in a cooking class I taught at River Myst Haven in Healdsburg, CA. It was a hit!

Here’s the basic recipe with variation suggestions:

Sustainable Seafood Stew

You can make this stew as basic or as luxurious as you like. The basic broth is easy, quick, and invaluable in the kitchen. You can vary the alcohol, adding anything from wine, to beer, to Pernod. For a Southeastern US flair, add Old Bay Seasoning. For a classic Mediterranean flavor, add saffron. If tomatoes are in season, add them. If not, leave them out. You can vary the aromatics and herbs however you like. You can even add chiles, lemongrass, and coconut milk and go in an entirely different direction. Experiment away. For serving this version, I like to float baguette croutons spread with a homemade lemony, garlic aioli in each individual bowl.

Serves 6

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for croutons

1/2 medium onion, (or 3 leeks), roughly chopped

1 celery rib, roughly chopped

1 medium carrot, roughly chopped

1/2 small fennel bulb, chopped

2 garlic cloves, left unpeeled and smashed with the side of the knife blade

Salt

1 pound fish heads and bones (from a sustainable, local fish—I use wild salmon in season)

1/2 cup dry white wine (or Pernod)

1/2 cup fresh, chopped Roma tomatoes (optional in season)

3 or 4 sprigs fresh parsley (and/or other fresh herbs)

6 black peppercorns

Pinch fennel or coriander seeds

A pinch of saffron (optional)

2 pounds mussels, washed and debearded

2 pounds clams, washed

1 pound squid, cleaned (see Note)

Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium soup pot over medium heat, warm the 1/4 cup oil. Add the onion, (or leeks) celery, carrot, fennel, garlic, chiles (if using), tomatoes (if using), saffron (if using), and a few pinches of salt. Let the vegetables cook gently until soft and aromatic, about 10 minutes.

Add the fish heads and bones, 5 cups water, the wine, (or other alcohol), parsley, (or other herbs) peppercorns, and fennel (or coriander) seeds and bring to a boil. (this is when you would add lemongrass, if you were using it) Skim any scum from the top and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer until fragrant and the broth begins to color, about 20 minutes.

Remove the broth from the heat and strain it. Return the broth to the pot, taste, and adjust the salt, pepper, and acid by adding a little more white wine (this is when you would add the coconut milk if you were using it) if desired.

Add the clams and mussels, cover, and simmer until they just open, 3 minutes or so. Add the squid and turn off the heat. Let sit, covered, for 30 seconds. Discard any unopened clams or mussels and ladle the stew into 4 warmed, shallow bowls.

Posted in DIY, food sustainability, from the market, healthy, seafood | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Kitchen Hacker: Cowboy Stovetop Buttermilk Biscuits & Sorghum Syrup

By Vanessa | Published: May 23, 2011

I enjoy a kitchen challenge. My favorite variety of challenge is when I don’t have the necessary equipment for what I want to accomplish and I have to make do with what’s on hand. I think problem solving in the kitchen makes us smarter cooks.

Recently a special someone and I had a hankering for biscuits, but the oven was broken. The situation was made all the more urgent because there was a big ‘ole jar of hand-made, slow-cooked sorghum syrup that had traveled all the way from Sneedville TN to San Francisco, CA and I badly needed to convey some of it into my mouth on a hot, crispy biscuit. It was suggested by a smarter cook than I that we try the stovetop.

We figured if we could make biscuits on a home stovetop in a cast-iron pan then biscuits in the campsite would be in our future. All the more reason to make a go of it.

But first: the sorghum syrup. If you’ve never tried it, it’s kind of like molasses, only more edible. It’s overall milder, and shares some of the characteristics of molasses. It has a similar flavor—pungent, minerally, and sweet, but less bitter and with a (for lack of a better word) bright aftertaste that’s missing from molasses. It’s gorgeous, reddish brown and thick. It’s made the same way as molasses, but from sorghum instead of sugar cane. If you’re interested in the process, here’s a video by Whole Foods Market about a small producer called Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill.

Oh, yeah, there was no rolling pin or biscuit cutter either. But a Straus milk bottle and champagne glass worked just fine.

Bonus points if you’ve recently made the Cultured Butter (page 121) from DIY Delicious and you have some buttermilk to use for your biscuits. So much better!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Makes about a dozen small biscuits

1 3/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat a dry cast iron skillet over medium high heat.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together. Add the butter and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender or your hands (if you can work fast), distributing it evenly and stopping when the chunks of butter are the size of peas.

Pour in the buttermilk and mix with a spoon, just barely. You want to stop messing with the dough well before you think you should because this is the secret to flakiness. The dough will still be crumbly and wet and not at all a neat mass. Get over it and dump it on a clean, floured surface. Working quickly, push and pat it together with your hands. It will still be awfully messy. That’s ok. Messy dough=better biscuits.

Roll it to a one-inch thickness. Cut into small circles.

Put a tiny knob of butter in the skillet and swish it around. Put in the biscuits. Feeling free to crowd them. Slap a lid on ‘em. (it doesn’t have to fit tight).

Cook them until you can see they are cooked halfway up the sides. Flip them and cover them back up.  Take the lid off after a few minutes to let them crisp up.

Remove biscuits from skillet, and turn that mother off before it explodes, and then eat.

Posted in DIY, Food and Drink, breads and pizzas, breakfast | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Hands-On DIY Delicious Cooking Class in Healdsburg

By Vanessa | Published: May 4, 2011

If you’re looking for something fun to do in a beautiful setting on Memorial Day weekend, you should consider joining me for a hands-on DIY cooking class at River Myst Haven. It’s a gorgeous place that’s nestled among the hills west of Healdsburg on Westside Road.

From scratch, we’ll create building blocks of the DIY kitchen and then use them in a seasonal menu that we’ll all enjoy together.

Participants will learn how to make mustard, which we’ll use to create a glaze for pork canapés and also the vinaigrette for a seasonal salad. We’ll enjoy homemade Meyer lemon parsley aioli on a sustainable seafood stew. We’ll learn how to make yogurt and talk about all the different ways to use it, as we create a yogurt cake with seasonal fruit. Finally, we’ll have a cultured butter making demo and tasting. $100. Sign up here.

MENU:

Mustard Glazed Pork Canapés

Seasonal Vegetable Salad of

Artichokes, Asparagus, Snap Peas and Fava Beans

with Homemade Mustard Vinaigrette, Fresh Herbs,

and Ricotta—(subject to change based on availability)

Sustainable Seafood Stew with Meyer Lemon Parsley Aioli

Yogurt and Seasonal Stone Fruit Cake with Streusel Topping

Butter Making Demo and Tasting

Posted in DIY, book events, classes, community, food sustainability, from the market | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

DIY All-Purpose Red Chili Sauce, Posole, and a Little Appreciation

By Vanessa | Published: April 5, 2011

A couple of months ago I was gifted a lovely chile ristra by Annabelle Lenderink of La Tercera Farm. That same day, my friend Ellen came by and I shared some chiles with her. The next thing you know we’re scheming up dishes to make with dried chiles.

It’s funny how one really special ingredient can spark an idea for an entire meal…and when that meal comes together effortlessly and becomes something so absolutely memorable that nearly two months later, I’m still thinking about it, the whole process can seem a little bit like magic.

Valentine’s Day was the following week, and let’s just say neither of us were spending it with a special someone. So we figured we should have dinner together.

Ellen had the idea to make posole with trotters she bought at Marin Sun Butcher Shop. My job was to source the hominy, make the red chile sauce for the posole, bring a six-pack, and provide all the traditional posole garnishes. All easy enough tasks that I eagerly took on. Of course I used the All-Purpose Red Chile Sauce recipe from DIY Delicious.

I got the easy part of the bargain because, like magic, when I showed up with my contributions there was already a simmering pot of perfectly seasoned, porky broth on the stove. I know from experience that Ellen had to first buy the best pork she could find, simmer it slowly and strain it, balance its flavors, and keep an eye on it for the better part of a day. But, since I didn’t see any of that happening, it seemed like magic to me.

It’s the same way with all the food we buy. It doesn’t just show up at the store or farmers’ market by magic. A farmer has to grow the crops; and workers have to tend and harvest them, and then pack them up. If it’s a chile ristra, someone has to dry the chiles and then string them carefully. If there’s meat involved, a rancher has to raise the animal, and get it to a slaughterhouse. A butcher has to break it down. To say nothing of what the animal has to give. So no, great food isn’t magic. It’s love. It’s art. It’s skill. But it’s not magic. Without the humans who raise and harvest the food, and the animals too, us cooks would be nothing.

All-Purpose Red Chili Sauce (from DIY Delicious)

Use this sauce as enchilada sauce, or stir it into any soup that would benefit from a little kick. If you have some of this sauce and a good homemade chicken broth, you can make a great tortilla soup. Just add avocado, cilantro, some shredded chicken, and fried tortilla strips. The depth of flavor it adds to a bean or lentil soup might surprise you.

Makes about 2 cups sauce

5 or 6 dried ancho or New Mexico (or similar) red chiles

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 a yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 to 1 1/2  cups chicken broth or reserved chile soaking water

Salt

1/2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

With scissors or a knife, slit the chiles up the sides and remove the stems and seeds.

Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Open the chiles up flat and lay them down in the skillet in a single layer. You may need to work in batches. Toast them for about 30 seconds per side, holding them flat and turning with tongs, until fragrant. Don’t let them to smoke or they’ll turn bitter. Transfer the chiles to a small bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Push down to submerge them. Soak until soft, at least 15 minutes.

In the same skillet, warm the oil over medium heat and add the onion, garlic, 2 pinches of salt and the oregano. Cook, stirring, until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave undisturbed.

When the chiles are soft, transfer them to a blender, reserving their soaking water, and add the sautéed onions, garlic, and enough chicken broth (or reserved chile water) to keep the mixture moving. Blend until smooth, adding additional broth or water as you go until the sauce is the desired thickness.

Wipe the skillet to remove any onion or garlic pieces and pour the sauce from the blender into the skillet. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thick and smooth, 10 to 15 minutes. This will help tame the natural bitterness of the chiles and blend the flavors. Season with salt. Use immediately, or let the sauce cool. Transfer to a nonplastic container, cover, and refrigerate for up to 7 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

Posted in DIY, Food and Drink, Latin American, from the market, hearty | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Will Cook for Art—Beth’s Ultimate Dinner

By Vanessa | Published: February 26, 2011

My friend Beth is an artist. I am a cook and food writer. I can’t afford art. At her last open studio event, I was admiring this piece portraying East Oakland. She suggested I cook her an “ultimate dinner” in trade for the piece. I gladly accepted.

The deed went down a few weeks ago and it was a blast. I love cooking for people who love to eat unabashedly and are happy to entrust the menu to me.

I’d been wanting to cook from Jessica Theroux’s lovely new book Cooking with Italian Grandmothers.  And since Beth has one Italian grandmother on her mother’s side, I thought she’d appreciate it.

I built the whole thing around the semolina gnocchi. I’m a sucker for savory, cheesy carbs and the photo drew me right in. I wanted something stewy and wintery to go with so I made the stewed pork with juniper berries and porcini mushrooms from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials. Since an ultimate dinner needs multiple courses, we had a simple garlic soup with a poached egg that Haven gave me the recipe for. Couldn’t be easier. Just sauté tons and tons of sliced garlic in olive oil, add some good homemade chicken broth (it’s got to be homemade in a simple soup like this) Poach the eggs right in the broth and serve with croutons fried in olive oil. For dessert I made the panna cotta from Cooking with Italian Grandmothers.

Here’s the entire menu:

Albacore tuna canapés with olives

Garlic soup with poached egg

Stewed pork with juniper berries and porcinis

Semolina gnocchi

Sautéed kale

Fennel and blood orange salad

Panna cotta with plum sauce and blood oranges

stirring the semolina batter

semolina cooked

semolina molded

Semolina gnocchi ready to serve

Garlic soup with egg and fried croutons

Stewed pork

Softened sheet gelatin ready to go into panna cotta

Cooling the panna cotta in an ice bath

Panna cotta ready to serve

Posted in entertaining, hearty | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Pan-fried Tempeh with Lemongrass, Garlic, and Ginger

By Vanessa | Published: January 28, 2011

Trust me. This is better than you think tempeh can be. I’ve had plenty of bland, or just plain nasty tasting tempeh in health food restaurants over the years. But here it is January and we’re all trying to eat better after the holiday excess.

I’ve eaten my share of dal, beans, and leafy greens, and now I’m ready to branch out of my healthy cooking rut, so I thought I’d give tempeh another try.

What’s tempeh? It’s a fermented soybean cake that originated in Indonesia. The fermentation process makes it one of the healthiest forms of soy. It’s more digestible than tofu and it retains live active cultures that are good for your gut flora. High in protein, vitamins, and minerals, tempeh makes a good meat substitute.

It’s made by drying partially cooked soybeans and then adding yeast and letting the beans ferment. The process creates a firm cake that has a full nutty flavor when cooked properly (which, unfortunately for fat phobics, means frying). Don’t worry, there isn’t much oil required. This recipe calls for Kecap Manis, an Indonesian condiment found in Southeast Asian grocery stores. If you can’t find it, substitute a mild flavored molasses.

Make sure you slice the cake thinly on the diagonal. It makes for a greater surface area to caramelize and crisp while frying. This improves both the texture and flavor. The easy sauce for this recipe can be whisked together in moments. Add it to the pan after the tempeh becomes golden brown, and it will create a tasty sweet-tart-savory glaze. I like to serve this over brown rice with sautéed greens, and a little kim chi or sauerkraut on the side.

Pan-Fried Tempeh with Lemongrass, Garlic, and Ginger

Serves 3

1 tablespoon very finely chopped lemongrass

2 garlic cloves, minced

1-1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated on a microplane or holes of a small grater

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons Kecap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

A couple shakes of your favorite chili sauce (Siracha works great)

8 ounces plain, unflavored organic tempeh (sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices at an angle to produce wide slices)

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Whisk together the lemongrass, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, Kecap Manis, soy sauce and chili sauce.

In a large sauté pan (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat, warm the vegetable oil. Start with 2 tablespoons and add more as needed. You may need to cook the tempeh in batches because it won’t crisp up properly if it’s crowded in the pan. Add the tempeh slices and let sizzle on one side, without turning, for 3-5 minutes, or until deep, golden brown. Turn and cook on the other side until brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate if cooking in batches.

After all the tempeh slices are browned, turn off the heat, pour off excess oil, if any remains, and return the slices to the pan. While the pan is still hot, add the sauce and shake the pan to make sure the sauce coats all of the tempeh slices evenly. It will sizzle and make a thick, dark, glaze. Serve immediately.

Posted in Asian, healthy | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Portuguese Pickled Pork Plus New Class Announcement

By Vanessa | Published: January 11, 2011

Every year, my brother-in-law’s family descends on my sister’s house the morning after Christmas to consume large amounts of pork, poached eggs, and bread fried in pork fat. Even the mostly vegetarians join in for what’s become known as Porkmas.

My sister gets up early and arranges the house so as to fit the whole family in chairs around the living room, and my brother-in-law goes out to the summer kitchen and begins boiling the pork. Everyone arrives at once in a flurry. The younger adults poach the eggs, people drink coffee, fill their plates, talk all at once, and eat with gusto. Then it’s over as fast as it began. Two hours later, the place is cleared out and we don’t know what hit us.  Everyone goes his or her separate way, marking the official end of Christmas. This year, I got in my car to drive home, my brother-in-law’s mother went to the casino, and the late-20 and 30-somethings went on a hike. I’m pretty sure my sister took a nap.

The recipe has been prepared by the men of the Rogers family for at least 100 years, since the family arrived here from the island of Madeira. Nobody knows how the dish may have changed since its days in the old country. If you look at the stews of Goa, in Southern India, and the escabeches of the Philippines, you might notice that vinegared meats are common in countries that were once colonized by the Portuguese. (Although in the case of escabeche, the word is Arabic, and the culinary influence could have come from Portugal via China). Either way, the Portuguese are big on vinegar. Maybe because it cuts the pork fat? I’ve been told that my brother-in-law Nick’s grandmother drank a cup of vinegar a day for her heart.  And yes, she lived a long time.

I’m a little late blogging the recipe. But of course you can make pickled pork any time of year, or bookmark this one for next year. It freezes well too.

Without further ado, the recipe:

3 pounds bone-in, untrimmed pork shoulder

4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

2 bay leaves

3 or 4 small, hot dried chiles, broken in half

Leaves from 3 or 4 sprigs of thyme

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Approximately 1 1/2 to 2 cups apple cider vinegar and an equal amount of water

Cut the meat into 1- 2 inch cubes. Put it in a large bowl and add the garlic, bay leaves, chiles, thyme, and salt. Add equal parts cider vinegar and water, to cover. Mix well. Marinate the pork in a non-reactive food safe container or in heavy-duty plastic zip-lock bags for at least 10 days and up to three weeks. Mix every two days to distribute marinade evenly over the pork.

To cook: Put the pork and all of its marinade in a heavy, non-reactive cast-iron or enameled cast-iron Dutch oven or skillet. Turn heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Cook at a vigorous boil until most of the liquid has cooked off, stirring occasionally (about 45 minutes to an hour).

Lower heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is cooked off and the fat begins to render, another 20 minutes or so.

Turn the heat to low and continue to cook until the pork becomes brown and crispy, stirring often.

PS: I’m teaching an indoor microfarming class through the Biofuel Oasis with Nishanga Bliss on January 23rd.

Posted in breakfast, entertaining, hearty, holidays | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Orevnitza—The Serbian Bread we eat at Christmas

By Vanessa | Published: December 24, 2010

This bread is something my mom’s Serbian family made for holidays. Even my mom, pretty much a non-cook, felt duty bound to make it at Christmas time. Strangely, there doesn’t seem to be much information on the Internet about the origins of this bread. I have no idea if it’s still made today in The Balkans.

My aunt’s typed recipe says,  “the Slavic Catholics call it Potica.” My family was Christian Orthodox. I knew a Catholic Slovenian whose family made a similar bread that they called Potica. If you do a Google search you will see references to Potica. However, Orevnitza seems to be completely unknown outside my own family. All references to Orevnitza on The Internet that I can find originated with me, with the exception of this site.

It’s the site for a self-identified Byzantine Catholic Church (Orthodox customs, Catholic beliefs) in Indianapolis that sells baked goods (including Orevnitza) I’ve never heard of anyone but my family eating or making a bread by this name with these ingredients.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the dates are a Middle Eastern influence like many of the other foods in the Balkans. But that’s all I know. Someday, I’ll go on an Orevnitza vision quest. Until then, here’s the recipe:

We like to eat this for breakfast, toasted and slathered in butter.


Orevnitza
makes 2 loaves

4 1/4 to 4 3/4 cups flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups whole milk plus approx. 2/3 cup for the filling
1/4 cup granulated sugar plus 1 cup for the filling
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs (1 for brushing the loaves)
1 pound ground walnuts
2 cups dates, pitted and ground fine in the food processor

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the 1 1/4 cups milk, the 1/4 cup sugar, butter and salt, stirring occasionally, until just warm, but not boiling, and butter is melted.

Add warm milk mixture to flour. Add 2 of the eggs. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on low for 30 seconds. Turn mixer to high and beat for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes, adding the remaining flour as you go until the dough is soft and not sticky.

Shape dough in a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled. (My aunt doesn’t say how long. Inside my preheated and then cooled oven, it took about 2 1/2 or 3 hours) Punch dough down.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Combine the ground dates, walnuts and sugar and mix together with your hands to combine. Add milk until the mixture is spreadable. Set aside

On a floured work surface, divide dough into two equal parts. Roll one out into a rectangle about 12 in. x 18 in. and between 1/4 in. and 1/8 in. thick. Spread half the filling evenly over the dough, being careful not to tear the dough. It’s easiest to use your hands. Leave about 1/2 inch around the edges of each piece of dough bare.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Break the remaining egg into a small bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Brush the edges of the dough lightly with the beaten egg.

To shape, beginning at one of the wide edges of the rectangle, roll up fairly tightly, jellyroll style. Press the edges gently to seal. The egg should act as “glue.” Pinch the ends shut. Gently bend the loaf into a snail shape and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Roll out, fill, roll up, and shape the second piece of dough, in the same way, reserving the remaining egg for the top of the loaves. Cover both with a clean towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Brush the surface of each loaf with the remaining beaten egg and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown all over. Cool on a rack before slicing.

Posted in breads and pizzas, breakfast, holidays | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Creamy Polenta with Spicy Crab

By Vanessa | Published: December 2, 2010

It’s funny how recipes are developed. At least in my house. This one came out of the fateful collision between the opening of crab season and a few scenes in a bad Woody Allen movie.

Let me explain.

Crab season always opens just before Thanksgiving when everyone is busy with turkey, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes. Every year, I rush past the fish counter as I do my Thanksgiving shopping, wink at the piles of crab, and promise them I’ll get to them as soon as I can.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I was watching Whatever Works, Woody Allen’s second to latest movie. The one with Larry David. It wasn’t very good, but I was smitten by the grits one of the characters kept making throughout the movie. They just sounded so good. At the same time, in the part of my brain reserved for menu planning, I was chewing over a menu for a friend’s birthday dinner the next night. I wanted something special. Something extra seasonal. I wanted crab. But I wanted to do more than just throw it on the table with some melted butter and an empty bowl for the shells.

I went to bed with those thoughts stewing. I woke up and shouted (silently) “Spicy Crab and Grits like they do at Hibiscus!” It had all come together in my sleep.

I needed a recipe, or at least an idea, so I started googling around. Nothing except a blog post about the dish from my pal Molly Watson. I sent her an email outlining my idea for recreating the dish to see what she thought. After reminding me about the green onions, she confirmed that I was probably on the right track.

As soon as I took the first bite, I knew I had it. It was absolutely sublime and so so easy. Here’s how I did it. I ended up using polenta because I couldn’t find grits at Market Hall. And ARE they the same thing? There’s so much conflicting information out there, I decided I didn’t care. I also tried making polenta in the oven for the first time and I’ll never ever go back to the stovetop. I gleaned the method I used from this post on chowhound.

This is a terrible picture, but trust me, it’s good

Serves 2

3 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup polenta

1/4 cup heavy cream

A helluva lot of butter (I’m not sure how much I used. More than a half stick and less than a whole stick)

1 small shallot, cut into a miniscule dice

1/3 of a celery rib, cut into a miniscule dice

About 2 teaspoons good quality spicy ground chile of your choice to your taste (I used a mix of good cayenne, Aleppo, and piment d’Espelette)

About 1 1/2 cups of picked crab meat

3 green onions (white and green parts), chopped fine

Preheat the oven to 375. Combine the water, salt and polenta in a heavy baking dish with a lid. Stir together. Pop it in the oven. Remove from the oven and stir every 15 minutes, cooking for a total of 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, stir in the heavy cream, and return the polenta to the hot oven while you prepare the crab.

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, warm the butter. Add the shallot and celery and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chile, crab, green onions, and a little salt if you need it (crab can be salty) and stir to warm through. Add more butter if you like.

To serve, spoon the polenta onto warmed plates or shallow bowls. Top with crab mixture, dividing it evenly. Dig in and swoon.

Posted in Food and Drink, entertaining, from the market, hearty, seafood | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

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