Fresh Rock Crab Salad
This morning, I bought 2 live Rock Crabs right off the docks at the Channel Islands Farmers’ Market.
Add 2 Tablespoons Sea Salt and 2 Tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning to a huge stockpot 2/3 full of water.
When water reaches a full boil. pick crabs up from behind so they can’t grab you! Drop them in the water and let them boil for 20 minutes.
Drain and allow to cool before removing the shells and cracking the legs. We used an antique Salmon Whacker, a nutcracker, and picks to remove all the white meat. We then rinsed the meat and chilled it.
To create the salads, we lined the bowls with Red Oak Lettuce leaves from our garden, placed a scoop of Crab Meat in the bowls and surrounded it with halved Cherry Tomatoes and a diced Avocado.
Mignonette Sauce – of sorts
Mignonette Sauce is normally served with fresh Oysters, but it complements all shellfish nicely. It’s normally made without Olive Oil, but we couldn’t resist finishing it with a bit of Lime Olive Oil.
At least 1/2 hour in advance, stir together:
1/2 cup Sherry (or other wine) vinegar
1/4 cup Lime Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, minced
1 teaspoon Chives, minced
2 teaspoons Tarragon, minced
1 Tablespoon Capers
1/2 teaspoon Honey
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Drizzle over fresh Crab Salad, to taste.
Rib-Eye Roast
John created a paste with Sea Salt, Fresh minced Rosemary, Pepper and Olive Oil and coated the roast with it. Then he roasted it on a rack for 1 1/2 hours at 425 degrees. Let the roast sit for 15 minutes before carving it.
Potatoes au Gratin
I was excited to use my new mandoline slicer! I could not believe how quickly I sliced through 5 Russet Potatoes and 1 Maui Sweet Onion – and all the slices were uniform!
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt 1/2 cup Butter.
Whisk in:
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon Salt and Pepper, each
A tiny bit of ground Nutmeg
When flour absorbs butter, gently whisk in 4 cups Milk.Stir continuously for about 8 minutes until sauce thickens.
Pour enough sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan to thinly coat it.
Add one layer of potatoes
Scatter sliced onions
Cover with sliced, or grated cheese – I used Cheddar
Cover with cream sauce
Repeat.
Add one more layer of potatoes and onions, cover with remaining cream sauce.
Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
Remove foil and sprinkle top with Parmesan Cheese.
Return to oven and continue to bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork.
Broiled Tomatoes
Pre-heat Broiler.
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Slice fresh Tomatoes in half horizontally.
Drizzle with Olive Oil
Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper
Top with shredded cheese – I used an Italian Blend
Sprinkle with Italian Herbs.
Broil for about 10 minutes until cheese is browned & bubbly.
This wonderful recipe comes from Jenifurla’s delightful blog, Indigo’s Sugar Spectrum. When I saw her post for her daughter’s 3rd birthday, I happened to have a bag of fresh cherries, so I couldn’t resist making this beautiful cake!
Neither my husband, nor my brother, like the taste or texture of cooked cherries, but both of them loved the taste of fresh cherries that permeates this cake & buttercream! And, the color is remarkable, too! This great, fresh summery cake adds the perfect finishing touch to almost any meal, or celebration!
Enjoy!
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| Blue Heron in flight – Channel Islands Harbor |
These recipes are provided for your personal use. If you publish them, or re-post them, please give me credit. Grazie e Buon Appetito!
Another impressive menu, Susan. I love, love crab and your salad looks so delicious. That cherry cake looks to-die-for! My husband feels the same way about cooked cherries-he doesn’t like the texture, so I really want to make this cake and see how he likes it. I enjoy the blue herons so much and love your photo!
Susan, Love your new look! As always you have done a fabulous job on this dinner! Every thing looks so delicious! Your cake looks beautiful!
Btw…I haven’t had any Russians coming around…sounds very strange! Good luck getting rid of unwanted visitors!
Yeah, so glad you liked it!