Here is the recipe for the cioppino hot pot that we made for our recent Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 dinner
The first time I visited California, my uncle took me down to Monterey to go see the aquarium there. That evening, we went out to dinner and I ordered the cioppino. It was the best, most amazing seafood soup I had ever tasted. I was hooked on cioppino. Continue reading Cioppino Hot Pot Recipe
It’s the middle of November. In the Bay Area, do you know what that means?
That’s right, boys and girls, it’s Dungeness crab season! Dungeness crab, or Cancer majister is a large crab found on the West Coast from Alaska down to California. About one quarter of the crab is sweet, succulent crab meat, making it one of the meatiest crabs around.
Continue reading Steamed Dungeness Crabs with Old Bay
Sometimes, you just gotta have something light, quick and easy. But you don’t have to sacrifice flavor or health to do it. Crab cake with ancho pepper jelly; salad with romaine lettuce, red bell peppers and ham plus garden cherry tomatoes, topped with honey mustard dressing.
Actually, the title should be “Salad with Crab Cake” since the majority of the plate is raw veggies. It took hardly any time to assemble. Probably the most time was spent halving the cherry tomatoes.
The ancho-pepper jelly was something new. I like the spicy bite plus the sweetness of the jelly combining with the savoriness of the crab cake. I bet it would go great with pork…
Aloha, Nate
One of the great things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is the close proximity to fresh seafood. Especially fresh Dungeness crab. We don’t eat much crab but at the peak of the season when prices dip and live crab can be found for a really good price, we have to splurge.
After we buy them from the Asian grocery, we put them in the freezer to chill. It makes ’em “sleepy” so they’re not so feisty before being rinsed and tossed into the steamer. I learned this trick from Alton Brown’s show on lobsters, I think.
Trying to maneuver a live crab that is fully aware it is about to be cooked is an exciting operation. Once I tried killing one by poking a chopstick between its eyes. Didn’t work. It grabbed the chopstick in both pincers and tried to pull it back out.
So now I freeze them for a few hours before they go into the pot. 18 minutes later, it’s time to remove, rinse, and feast.
No butter necessary.
Aloha, Nate