The impetus for the cooking weekend was our foodie friend from Portland, “HouseBoat Don” arrived Friday nite for a food fest, as only the three of us can do and probably shouldn’t.
Saturday was ‘duck’ day and Sunday was Crab day – and did we ever overdo….
The favorite new dish was Tom Douglas’ Crab Potato Pancakes – oh my, these are delicious –
Crab Potato Pancakes
1 ½ lbs. large Yukon gold or russet potatoes, peeled
6 oz. onion, peeled
3/4 lb. crabmeat, drained, picked clean & lightly squeezed if wet
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 T. + 2 tsps. dried bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Peanut or canola oil, for frying
Lemon Dill Cream – (didn’t make this)
Preheat oven to 200 F.
Grate the tatoes and onion using a box grater or med. grating blade of a food processor.
Lay a large piece of cheesecloth or dishcloth in a large bowl, & pour in the potato-onion mixture.
Gather up the edges of the cloth, and wring out as much liquid as possible – discard.
Shake the potato-onion mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the crabmeat, eggs, crumbs, salt & pepper.
Using a 1/2 cup measurer, scoop up a portion of the batter and pat it between your hands into a pancake shape 1/2” thick and 3-4” wide.
Continue till all the pancakes are shaped, plating them on a plate. You should have about 10 pancakes.
Place 2 large nonstick or cast-iron skillets over med-high heat and pour in enough oil to coat the bottoms of the pans.
When pans are hot add the pancakes and fry till golden, turning to brown both sides, about 5 minutes per side.
Turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking the pancakes until cooked thru.
Transfer the pancakes to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and keep them warm while finishing with the pancakes.
Lemon dill Cream
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh dill
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
Combine all the ingred. and season with the salt and pepper.
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These pancakes are just delicious. We also made the Windsor crab cakes (I’ve posted this one) and a couple of toppings that were good, but not great.
The sauce that was wonderful on all the goodies we had (even made the parmesan-leek bread pudding for Don to try) was Dijon Cream Sauce that goes with the Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Cuisine, Issue 54, pg. 25) that I made a week or so again. It was a wonderful combination. That sauce is probably going to be the go-to sauce for a lot of things from now on.
Great weekend, but we’re all thinking of going to a dry-out clinic for this week…..
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
www.achefsjourney.com