Baked Crab Cakes

This month over at bakebakebake the theme is seafood. I’m used to making sweet dishes for BBB entries, so at first I was really thrown off on what I should do. When I got my head into the right frame of mind I decided I would make a baked crab cake. I like crab cakes when they’re fried and crispy, so I wasn’t completely sure I would find a recipe that would capture that in a baked version. Additionally, I have never used canned crab before (only canned tuna,) but I couldn’t justify buying fresh crab.

Needless to say, they turned out great. I think the canned crab actually made these work really well, due to the texture. Additionally, despite being baked they still were really crispy. Also you will see Emeril’s Essence used in these! Basically until I use all the Essence I will be replacing it anywhere salt or Cajun seasoning is called for.

Baked Crab Cakes

Ingredients
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp mustard powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp Essence
1 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 eggs
12 oz canned crab meat

Directions

1. Preheat oven the 375 and grease a baking sheet. Set aside.

2. Combine breadcrumbs, baking powder, parsley, mustard powder, pepper, and Essence. Set aside.

3. Stir together mayonnaise, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, and eggs until smooth. Fold in crab meat, then fold in bread crumbs until well blended.

4. Shape the mixture into about 12 crab cakes and placed on prepared baking sheet. They will seem kind of wet.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the crab cakes over and bake for 15 more minutes.

* makes about 12 cakes

Around the World in 52 Weeks: Fish Stew and Flat Bread

Despite my difficult making Congolese food last week, I was very happy with my kitchen’s trip to Algeria this week.

This week my kitchen teleported itself to Northern Africa. I made a fish stew, which while simple was packed with delicious, comforting flavors. I also made a flat bread. In the past, I have tried to make naan. Naan is my only experience with unleavened bread and while the naan was tasty, I just couldn’t get it right. Now, I don’t know if this Algerian flat bread is right. But it definitely was flatter than the flat bread I’ve made in the past. It also was full of flavor (thank you turmeric.)

For as much as I love turmeric, I think I need to be more careful using it because my fingernails are kind of stained yellow because of it.

The combination of the flavors of the soup and the bread was excellent, making a wonderful pair. It was a yummy trip this week. As I say every week, I am sure this is not even close to what authentic Algerian food is like. But it’s good nonetheless!

Fish Stew

Ingredients
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 0z canned whole, peeled tomatoes
1/2 tsp paprika
1 large potato, cubed
2 celery stalks, diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 tilapia fillets, cut into pieces

Directions

 1. In a pot heat the olive oil. Fry the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and tomatoes, and simmer until the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated. Add the paprika, potato, celery, and broth. Bring the soup to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Add the fish and cook for 10 more minutes.

* serves 2
* 350 calories per serving
* This soup is being shared with Kahakai Kitchen‘s Souper Sundays and KB and Whitesnake‘s Simply Delish Saturdays.
* Recipe came from here, with few alterations.

Flat Bread

Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric

Directions

 1. Stir together the flour, salt, and 2 tbsp olive oil in a large bowl. Slowly stir in the water until a soft dough is formed. Knead the dough on a slightly floured surface for approximately 15 minutes.

2. Form the dough into a ball and coat with 2 tbsp olive oil. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let stand for an hour.

3. Stir together cumin, paprika, turmeric, and the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil.

4. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, keeping the pieces you are not currently working with covered with plastic. On a floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a 9-inch circle, getting it as thin as you can. Spread 1 tsp of the spiced oil on the dough with a pastry brush. Roll the dough up like a straw and then create a spiral with the dough.

5. Place your dough spiral between two pieces of parchment paper and flatten with the rolling pin, so that the dough is 6-inches.

6. Place a dry skillet over heat. Once hot place the flat bread in the skillet. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the bread starts to puff up. Flip and cook for about 2 minutes on the other side.

7. Continue until all the dough is used.

* makes about 12 pieces of flat bread
* 183 calories per piece of bread
* I followed the recipe here for how to make the bread.

I’d like to see people travel the globe with me.
Every Saturday I will be posting my recipe, as well as pictures to ethnic cuisines you have made and want to share.

- You must mention The Law Student’s Cookbook‘s Around The World In 52 Weeks in the entry you link. You can either use a link or use the banner.
- In your post you must  at least mention what cuisine the dish is.
- Email me your recipe at elizabeth@crabtech.net. Make sure to include:

* Your name or blog name
* The direct link to your post
* A picture of the dish or permission to pull a picture from the post

- Make sure to email me by Saturday at 12noon Pacific Standard Time

Egg Drop Soup

Soup soup soup! I’m all about it recently, as I’m sure you can tell by my recent posts. So rather than break away from the soup, here’s another recipe.

I probably shouldn’t eat this, because I have high cholesterol and egg is high in cholesterol… But shoot me. It tastes good.

Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients
6 cups chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
9 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 carrot, shredded
1 cup portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup peas, frozen

Directions

1. Combine the cornstarch and broth in a pot and whisk together until fully dissolved.

2. Turn heat up to medium and bring to a low boil. Add soy sauce and garlic and stir. Add the carrots and mushrooms, stirring and cooking for 2 minutes.  Add the shrimp and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the peas and stir.

3. Reduce heat to simmer. Slowly pour the beaten eggs into the soup. Stir.

* serves 2
* 364 calories per serving
* I shared this recipe with These Chicks Cooked Weekly Recipe Collection and What’s Cooking Wednesday?

Chicken and Shrimp Stew

Awhile back my mom gave me this decrepit looking cookbook called the Low Calorie Diet Cookbook. I actually can’t even find a picture of it online, which shocks me. This book was published in the ’70s by Success Publications. When I first decided I wanted to lose weight my mom gave me a bunch of books which she had purchased previously for low-cal recipes. Some of the cookbooks she gave me flat out sucked. I was convinced this one was going to also, but tonight’s meal was just one of many that came from the cookbook.

I did end up making some variations from the original recipe, but that had to do with what I actually had to work with in the house.

This was a delicious meal for a cold night.

Chicken and Shrimp Stew

Ingredients
8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tbsp Brummel&Brown
3 cups diced potato
2 14-oz cans fire-roasted diced tomato
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped

Directions

 1. In a pot over medium heat, melt the Brummel&Brown spread. Add the potatoes until brown. In the pot add the onion, tomato, and bell pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender.

2. Add some water or chicken broth if it seems too thick. Add the chicken. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the shrimp and cook for 5 minutes more.

* serves 4
* 380 calories per serving
* shared with Cookbook Sundays over at Couscous & Consciousness 

Easy Jambalaya

Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a file gumbo
‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou.
- Hank Williams Jr.

While this obviously isn’t a traditional jambalaya, it was tasty and it was easy.

Easy Jambalaya

Ingredients
1 tbsp canola oil
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 small red bell peppers, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cups dried rice
2 cups water
15 oz fire roasted petite diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 chicken sausage, sliced
15 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
5 oz raw shrimp, deveined and peeled

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a pot. Once hot add in the vegetables and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the spices and saute for a minute.

2. Add the rice and saute for a few minutes to toast. Add the tomatoes, water, chicken, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.

3. Remove the bay leaf. Add the sausage, shrimp, and parsley. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the shrimp are pink.

* serves 4
* 550 calories per serving

Wrapped Tilapia and Warm Sweet Potato Salad

This fish recipe was originally intended to be made with salmon. Salmon however is not my favorite of fishes. I find the flavor too powerful for my palette. I do like fish though, but I prefer the white fishes. Tilapia is one such fish that suits what I like in terms of fish. This recipe was shared with me by emilytgs24 at the recipe swap I participate in on myfitnesspal.

It was easy. I made it on a Monday night, my busiest day of the week where I’m running between class, work, and then class again. I barely have time to eat on Mondays, but this dish not only was done before I needed to run out the door, it also tasted like more time was spent on it than actually was.

With the dish I served a warm sweet potato salad. Sweet potato is my absolute favorite food (along with spinach). The fish and the sweet potato paired together perfectly and made a great dinner.

Wrapped Tilapia

Ingredients

4 tilapia fillets
8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
4 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 lemon, juiced
Salt and pepper

Directions

 1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Cut the fillets in half, lengthwise.

3. Mix the mustard and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Set aside.

4. Take 2 sheets of phyllo dough and put one on top of the other. Place both the halves from one fillet on the dough, close to one edge. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper. Place 1/4 of the mustard mixture on the fish and then roll in the phyllo dough, making sure all the corners are tucked in.

5. Place on a cookie sheet and spray the phyllo with Pam. Bake for 20 minutes.

* serves 4
* 182 calories per serving

Warm Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients
1 1/2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 russet potato, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp + 1 tsp Balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 green onion, chopped
1/2 slice bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
1/4 red onion, finely chopped

Directions

 1. Place the sweet potato and russet potato in a pot. Fill the pot with water until the potatoes are all covered. Put over high heat and boil for 20 minutes. Cook until they are tender. Drain the potatoes.

2. Meanwhile, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, Balsamic, turmeric, green onion, bacon, and red onion. Stir the sweet potatoes and potatoes into this mixture, making sure to coat well.

* serves 3
* 190 calories per serving

Shrimp in Jalapeno Lemon Cream Sauce

This is my first food post here on the new home of The Law Student’s Cookbook. One of the things about being a law student is the necessity of ease. My life is so hectic and crazy, that sometimes I just need things to be simple. While blogger has done me good for the length of me using it, I found that wordpress is definitely more customizable. And this customization is so easily accomplished. Literally, it’s as simple as pushing a few buttons instead of having to understand some sort of coding that I used to know, but has been replaced in my head with information about evidence, wills and trusts, and capital punishment law. None of that is very useful to running a blog that looks the way I want it to.

Anyway – this dish was very tasty. I have never made a spicy cream sauce before and I never would have considered mixing all these flavors together before. It came out better than I had expected, to be honest.

Shrimp in Jalapeno Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients
2 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Brummel&Brown yogurt spread
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 green onions, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
1 tbsp honey
1/3 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place the shrimp in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and 1 tbsp of the yogurt spread.

3. Cook the shrimp until they are no longer translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp and set aside.

4. Add the green onions and garlic and cook for one minute. Add the lemon juice, jalapeno, and honey and stir for another minute. Add the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Allow the liquid to reduce for a couple of minutes until thick.

5. Place the cream in a cup and combine with 3 tbsp of the hot liquid. Stir well. Pour the cream mixture into the skillet with the rest of the liquid. Allow the cream to a come to a foam. Add 1 tbsp of the Brummel&Brown spread. Add the shrimp and any juice from the plate back in with the sauce. Stir to coat and heat for about a minute.

6. Serve over noodles or rice.

* serves 4
* 474 calories per serving
* the noodles (or rice) are not included in the calorie calculation