Hurricane Sandy

Living in Northeast Maryland we are all hunkered down right now has Hurricane Sandy is approaching.  I'm also on storm duty so I have to be up all night.  But the benefit I guess is that I can finally get caught up on some posts.

Maryland Crab Pretzel

There are a ton of restaurants around the Baltimore area that serve crab pretzels.  But at about $10 a pop they are pretty expensive for an appetizer.  Shop Rite had a sale on lump crab meat this week for $9.99 for a pound so I thought why not try it myself.  Also the frozen soft pretzels were $1.99 for a pack of 6.

These turned out awesome!

Ingredients:

• Ingredients for the hot crab dip
• Box of Frozen Soft Pretzels
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook hot crap dip as the previous post from May 2012 says.  Let cool for 15-20 mins so it doesn't run off the pretzels.

Microwave pretzels for about a minute.

Set the oven to broil.  On a cookie sheet lay down the pretzels.  Top with crab dip.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Broil until the cheese is bubbly.  Done!

Maryland Crab and Zucchini Balls

I'm always looking for ways to trick my kids into eating veggies and with the surplus of zucchinis and my zucchini challenge I've started it was the perfect time to try this idea. 

I've been making crab cakes for years.  I live in Maryland and its what we do :-)

This is a twist on the traditional Maryland crab balls.

Ingredients:

• Dash of salt
• Dash of pepper
• Packet of Old Bay Crab Classic mix
• Sprinkle of Old Bay
• 1 tsp of yellow mustard
• Dash of worchester sauce
• 1 cup of zucchini (shredded)
• 1 lb of lump crab meat
• 1 tbsp of Mayo
• Sprinkle of panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Dump crab meat in bowl and pick out shells.

Dump in other ingredients and mix delicately with your hands.

Take a scooper (I used the pampered chef one) and scoop out crab mix and scoop on cookie sheet in ball shape.

Cook under the broiler of the oven on High for approx 5 mins or until the tops brown slightly.

Maryland / Baltimore Soft Shell Crab Sandwich

So let me start out by saying that I don't know if I will ever actually make these for tailgate.  People seem to either love or hate soft shell crabs so I don't know how many folks in the tailgate like them.  But I LOVE them.  Actually during my pregnancy last summer I had a craving for them and had them once per week so I go pretty good at cleaning them.

So I went to ShopRite today and they had fresh cleaned soft shell crabs.  I thought I died and went to heaven :-)

No one else in the family likes them so I didn't feel guilty for eating both of them on my sandwich. 

If you can't find soft shell crabs fresh and/or cleaned then many seafood places have them frozen.  If you don't know how to clean them there are several You Tube videos out there with instructions.

Ingredient:

• 2 Soft Shell Crabs (cleaned and fresh/thawed)
• Old Bay Seasoning
• Flour

Directions:

So start with the crabs...YUM!

Take them out of the package (if frozen make sure you thaw before cooking).  Sprinkle lightly with Old Bay Seasoning.

Coat with flour.  In the meantime heat some vegetable or other oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.

Place the crabs in the heated oil.  Cook 2-3 minutes on each side until the outsides are slightly browned.

Take them out of the pan.  Let them cool for a few minutes.  Don't want to burn your mouth on the hot oil.

Serve with favorite topping on a roll.  I like mine with tomatoes.  And yes I put them on the same bun.  It was like the soft shell crab version of a double cheeseburger :-)

Loving Local Businesses This Week

So we are getting ready for our annual Memorial weekend bash on Sunday and I'm planning the menu. First stop for food supplies was Jones Family Farm in Edgewood, MD. Love this place! Some of the nicest people in the world work there. Produce is fresh and delicious! The second local place I found was Amrein Foods in Joppa, MD. Family owned and operated since 1963. Going to order my meat from them for pit ham and beef. They buy local and from the Amish whenever they can. Love that!