Cranky Cucumber - Crab Napoleon

So originally, this evening, I had planned on Coconut Pecan Baked Chicken. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of Mice & Chickens. In the end I made Squash Soup again. This was partly due to the light snow fall that occurred this morning, soup was definitely the ticket. But being, in essence, a vegetable soup, it just wasn't going to be enough "Man Chow".

So, I rummaged through the refrigerator to take stock of what was contained therein. Then I pattered off to the pantry and poked my peepers in, to peruse the non-perishables. Luckily, I had some canned crab. I will tell you right now that this recipe is MUCH better with fresh Dungeness or King Crab, but the canned stuff will work in a pinch.

Though the ingredient list is simple as well as the prep work, the presentation is quite impressive. Thankfully, as impressive as it looks, even the assembly is fairly simple. Much to my chagrin, I was out of white pepper. It's only an aesthetic thing and I think you will see why as we go through the steps. It's a case of wanting pepper flavor, but not wanting to see it.

I am not gonna lie to ya, this really isn't "Man Chow" in any way, shape, or form. This is better served for afternoon tea or as a luncheon item. But it went REALLY well with the soup and it was very tasty, I just ate 2 of them... LOL

Crab Napoleons

2 Hot House Cucumbers
3 TB White Wine Vinegar
Salt and White Pepper
20 oz of Crab Meat
3 TB Crème Fraîche
1 tsp Ginger, Ground
Salt and White Pepper
a small bunch of Cilantro, chopped
3 TB Champagne or Muscat Vinegar
3 TB Extra Virgin Olive oil
Salt and White Pepper

Cut the cucumbers into 9 cm chunks (this is about 3 3/4 inches)

Carefully slice the cucumber into 1 mm slabs. (hopefully, this should yield 24 slabs)

Place White Wine Vinegar in a bowl and season it with Salt and White Pepper (Cause black pepper shows up)

Add the cucumber slabs and marinate for 30 minutes; Turning them over occasionally.

In a bowl, combine Crab meat, Crème Fraîche, Ginger and Salt and White pepper.

When homogeneous, add the chopped cilantro and mix together.

Refrigerate until the Cucumbers are done marinating.
Once the cucumbers are done, assemble a bunch of plates and begin by placing 1 slab down on each plate.

Spoon the crab mixture over the slab and smooth it out, keeping it in a rough rectangle shape to match the cucumber, then lay down another cucumber slab over the top and press lightly.

Continue until you have 3 layers of Cucumber and 3 layers of Crab; then place the final slab on top.

Garnish with a little cucumber skin curl and chill while you make the dressing.
Place Champagne vinegar, Salt, Extra Virgin Olive oil, and White pepper in a small bowl.

Whisk until partially emulsified.

Drizzle it over the Napoleons....

And serve, with Squash Soup, even though there are unsightly bits of black pepper all over everything... LOL

Mangia!!
~~

Thanksgiving Cherry Bomb - Truffled Pancetta and Cherry Salad

This salad has become a Thanksgiving staple over the last 8 years, whether I am with my family in Portland or with my friends in San Diego. It's a modified version of a recipe by Michael Chiarello I picked up a many many moons ago. Originally calling for cider vinegar, porcini oil and dried sour cherries soaked in water. I use to make this with dried cranberries, but the only dried cranberries I seem to be able to find the last few years are "sweetened". (YUCK!) So I have returned to using the tart Montmorency cherries.

I have always thought that it was such a waste to soak them in water when it seems like the perfect opportunity to add a little kick, by macerating the cherries/cranberries in SOME sort of alcohol. With unsweetend cranberries I would typically use Orange Muscat, Moscato or Muscat Canelli for soaking, but there is no reason you could not use Gran Marnier to add a hint of orange, Maraschino to lend a bit of almond, or even St. Germaine to add some floral notes to your salad. I would stay out of the heavier liquor though, it may be a bit much for the champagne vinegar and the truffle oil.

Truffled Pancetta and Cherry Salad

1/4 cup dried Sour Cherries (Montmorency)
alcohol for soaking (Be it wine or liqueur, this year I used a wonderful Cranberry wine)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 oz Pancetta, diced
1 TB minced Garlic
1 TB chopped fresh Thyme leaves
Fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup Champagne Vinegar
2 TB Italian White Truffle Olive oil
Kosher Salt
6 cups mixed baby greens (roughly 2 of the pre-prepped bags of salad)
6 ounces fresh goat cheese (Chevre) I usually use Silver Goat brand

In a small bowl, macerate dried cherries in your chosen alcohol, then set aside to soften.

Pour 1 TB olive oil into a medium skillet over medium heat.

Add pancetta and sauté until the fat is rendered out, drain pancetta reserving 1 TB of fat from the pan.

Add 2 TB Olive oil to the skillet & increase the heat to medium-high so you can sauté the Pancetta again until it's crispy; then add the garlic and sauté a little longer until the garlic becomes golden.

Turn heat down to medium-low and add the thyme and 10 – 15 grinds of black pepper, then deglaze the pan with Champagne vinegar, be sure to scrape the pan to release the fond.

Reduce vinegar by half.

Remove from heat and whisk in the Truffle oil and a pinch of Kosher Salt.

Place mixed baby greens in a salad bowl.

Drain the Cherries and add to the salad and toss biefly.

Pour Pancetta mixture over greens and toss quickly, just until the greens begin to wilt.

Crumble goat cheese over the greens and toss lightly.

Serve immediately...

It looks a little messy, but I assure you, it is absolute heaven on a salad fork. It works better served individually with chevre sprinkled on top instead of tossed in, never the less, when there are hungry mouths to feed, sometimes speed and convenience are of the essence. LOL

Mangia!!
~~

Lettuce Grill a Salad - Grilled Romaine in Caper Dressing

It is time, once again, to appeal to my Y chromosome and grill something. Especially since it has been so hot over the last week. The only problem with this thought process is that it's actually too hot to eat meat. It's just to heavy in this type of weather... So what do you grill instead of meat? You ask...

Salad... ;) That's right, I said Salad.

I have to shout out to another BakeSpace friend, Cweich - Cathy, for telling me about this. The original recipe can be found here at Epicurious.

Grilled Salad in Caper Dressing

1 1/2 TB Champagne Vinegar
1/2 tsp Grey Salt
1/4 tsp Ground Green Pepper
2 TB minced Shallots
1 TB Capers, rinsed and drained
1/2 TB Dijon mustard
optional -1/2 tsp Orange Blossom Honey
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 hearts of romaine lettuce, halved lengthwise, core left intact
Shaved Manchego or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat barbecue (medium-high heat).
Mix vinegar and salt together to ensure it dissolves.

Add the next 6 ingredients in small processor

and blend until almost smooth.

Place romaine, cut side up.

Spray with romaine hearts with olive oil. (this is where I deviated from the recipe, you are suppose to toss the heads with 1/2 of the dressing)

Grill romaine until charred and slightly wilted on all sides, about 2 minutes.

Transfer 1 romaine spear to each of 4 plates.

Drizzle with dressing,

Sprinkle generously with shaved Manchego or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and serve.

Deliciously different and exciting..!! I will be making this many many more times this summer... Especially when I can actually use my grill. I'm sure you noticed that I was using a grill pan. It appears that I am the victim of yet another theft of my charcoal. That's 3 bags so far this year. grrrrrrr!! But, this salad is just as good in a grill pan.

Mangia!!
~~