Crab Cakes a la Paxson

Last week I spent the whole week in the Outer Banks, NC on vacay. Fret not, though, my dear friend Katie stepped up to the challenge of not only watering my plants, but of fending off Rocky as well! I must say I was ecstatic to come home to find all of my green tomatoes still in one piece. I think she may have to come over and work her voodoo on Rocky more often!

Anywho, the beach was fun, I'm really tan, but most importantly I have a new recipe to share! One of the best parts of going to the beach is eating lots and lots of seafood. And let's be honest, what's a vacation without crab cakes?!

Luckily my friend Ashley was with me, and she happens to have the best crab cake recipe, courtesy of her dad. I've shared the recipe below (as quoted by Ashley) along with some visual aids.

Crab Cakes a la Paxson

1 can crab meat (use backfin, not claw)

1 piece of bread, torn into little pieces

1-2 eggs (2 makes them more cake like, whereas 1 is more flaky I guess is a good way to put it.)

2 tablespoons mayo

1 tablespoon mustard (these 2 are rough measurements, I normally eyeball it until it looks right, it is a trial and error thing)

**onions and peppers optional

That is the basic recipe. For the ones I made at the beach I sautéed onions and peppers in butter and added it to the recipe. You can get creative, add whatever you want. Oh, and Old Bay, you cannot make crab cakes without Old Bay, it is like against the will of God.To cook them, heat a skillet with olive oil. Form the mixture into cakes, making sure they are about the same size so they cook evenly. About 7 mintues on each side should do it, but this depends on their size.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Exhibit D:

Exhibit E:

Exhibit F:
(frozen Capri Sun's make handy ice packs for cooking injuries!)

Et Voilà!

Toll House Test Lab

Mrs. Gupte, my high school chemistry teacher, often compared chemistry to cooking. She insisted that if you could do one, the other should come naturally. Let's just say I was an A+ chemistry student in high school. :)

Introduction: A couple of months ago, the NY Times ran "The Quest for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie"on the origin of Toll House cookies. In the article they mentioned several tips, but the real breakthrough in the article revolved around the dough. Apparently, what most recipes fail to mention, is how long to let the dough sit (in the refrigerator obviously). Word on the street is 36 hours is the optimal time to let all the flavors meld together. Some fancy bakers in NY did an experiment and baked the dough at varying intervals. I was quite intrigued and decided that it was imperative I do my own testing to see if this holds true.

Objective: To find out if waiting to bake the dough makes a difference in the taste.

Equipment*:

2 1/4 cups whole wheat white flour (I try to be somewhat healthy)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup Crisco (sometimes I use the Crisco suggest 6 tblspns. of water, others I don't)

3/4 cup normal sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract (use real, not immitation)

2 large eggs (make sure they're not floaters!**)

2 cups semi-sweet (or dark) chocolate chips

Kosher/Sea Salt (optional)

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F

2. Combine dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt) in a small bowl; fluff with a fork to mix.

3. Combine wet ingredients (Crisco, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract) in a medium to large bowl and mix until smooth. I always do this by hand, but if you're lazy/wimpy you can use a mixer.

4. Add the eggs and mix 'til combined.

5. Start adding the dry ingredients to the wet, but do this a little at a time and mix well in between. It's not worth getting impatient and dumping it all in at once, because you'll only end up with a huge mess and tired arms.

6. Mix in the chocolate chips.

7. Using a spoon, scoop up some dough and drop it on a cookie sheet.

8. Sprinkle some of the kosher/sea salt on top of the mounds.

9. Here's the part in question: you can bake them immediately, wait 24 hours, or go the full 36. If you don't use the dough immediately, be sure to cover it and place it in the refrigerator.

10. Whenver you decide to bake them, do it for around 9-13 minutes; this vary's oven-to-oven, so keep an eye on them!

11. Enjoy with a nice glass of milk, or if you're me, a nice glass of Maker's Mark.

Observations:

Instant Gratification

24 Hours

36 Hours

Data/Analysis:

Instant Gratification

Since I normally bake my cookies right away, this batch wasn't going to be anything new. I decided to change things up and try sprinkling the salt on top, per the NY Times suggestion. The salted cookies were super tasty, but they didn't really flatten. At first I was afraid, I'd done something wrong, but my unsalted batch turned out just fine!

24 Hours

Nothing terribly exciting at this stage. There was a slight richer flavour, but I don't know that it's worth waiting for.

36 Hours

At 36 hours, there was a distinct difference in both the raw dough and in the final product. As shown in the pictures, the dough was much darker and drier than in when first mixed. The taste was what really wow'd me! I don't know that I can pinpoint the flavors quite as distinctly as the NY Times folks did, but there was definitely more depth; most importantly, though, they were delicious!

Conclusion:

If you have the self-control to hold out for the full 36 hours, it's worth it. However, if you can't wait that long I would just go ahead and bake them immediately. There didn't seem to be enough of a difference at the 24 hour mark to really bother waiting. Basically, I would recommend that you either go all the way or not at all.

*This is a variation of the tradtion Nestle's Toll House recipe

**Here's an easy test to see if your eggs are still good to use. I always do this instead of going by the expiration date. I find that eggs are generally good for quite some time past that date (I believe my current carton says August 28, and they're still good). Just place your egg in a container of water. If it sinks it's good; if it floats, it's rotten!

My Firsts

There was really nothing quite as exciting as my first tomato, except for maybe my first sweet banana pepper and my first batch of scallions.

While the first tomato came quite easily, the others have been few and far between. It's not that my plant isn't thriving, it's all Rocky's fault. . Rocky, you see, is the evil neighborhood squirrel. The whole Rocky saga is at least it's own post, if not several. I digress though, enough about Rocky and the tomatoes.

I have not done terribly well with peppers this season: I just harvested my first banana pepper last week (planted it in May), and I have a sole purple bell pepper that is developing very slowly. I have some things to try next year with the peppers, but that is also another post for another day.

The scallions, however, were easier than a sorority girl at a frat party. !

I started these from seed in late June. They have been virtually maintenance free, and I still have plenty to harvest

Let's not forget the best part of all this: eating them! Last night I made a salad and realized that all the vegetables (except for the lettuce) were from my garden. I felt like a proud parent gazing at my children, but then they were diced and devoured; unlike children, however, they were quite enjoyable!