Homemade remoulade/tarter sauce or your favorite store bought brand.
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce until smooth.
In a medium bowl, lightly toss the crabmeat with the cracker crumbs. Gently fold in the mayonnaise mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Scoop the crab mixture into eight 1/3-cup mounds; lightly pack into 8 patties, about 1 1/2 inches thick. In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the crab cakes and cook over moderately high heat until deeply golden and heated through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the crab cakes to plates and serve with lemon wedges.
These can be made ahead, formed or not, for up to a day.
Last week I found myself at home instead of teaching a cooking class. That lead me to cook in my free time, obviously. Although I don’t have much photo proof to show you, I did indeed make some delicious food. Pavlovas with lemon curd, scallops with an herb chili oil, esquites (Mexican street corn salad) and crab cakes with a remoulade.
The crab cake recipe that I use (Andrew Zimmern) is the only one I need, ever. Super simple ingredients, not loaded with filler, it lets the crab shine. It’s delish!
Shawna and I hit the Del Mar races. I had some luck on my side… finally.
Winner!
It was a fun day. The weather perfect, the views even better.
Our weather has been a consistent 77-80 degrees with humidity. Leaving us craving water in all forms.
We went to Mission Bay and the Plunge at Mission beach and then back to the bay. Seeking refuge in bodies of water.
I think it’s almost time for an adult poolside day. One where I’m not lugging snacks, chairs, boogie boards, water bottles and everything else that comes along with children. More like a good book and an adult beverage!
This pasta salad is truly addicting. When I read the ingredients for the dressing, I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was. Creamy, tangy, sweet and as spicy as you’d like depending on if you’re feeding adults or children…or adult children.
The girls and I made this again at home. I went a bit heavier on the heat by also adding some cayenne pepper. I thought about adding some bacon, but honestly it’s good as vegetarian side dish.
We had it for dinner, it’s just as good as the first time.
The next day, I tore some arugula and added it to the pasta salad. I suggest trying this too!
Cowboy Pasta Salad
Ingredients
1 lb. bowtie pasta
Olive Oil
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup your favorite bbq sauce
1 tbs spicy brown mustard
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tsp of your favorite hot sauce
2 ears of fresh corn
2 cups cherry tomatoes
8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated
8 scallions, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Arugula, if you want.
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta per box instructions, drain in colander.
Put cooked pasta in a large bowl and drizzle with evoo, so the pasta doesn’t stick together, set aside.
Husk the corn and cut kernels off the cobs. Add corn to pasta.
Halve the tomatoes, add to pasta.
To make the sauce, whisk the mayo, bbq sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce in a medium bowl until combined. Add the sauce to the pasta, tomatoes and corn, toss to combine.
Finely chop the green onions, add to pasta. Top with the grated cheddar cheese.
The second session of my cooking class was International baking. I had 4 girls, all 8 years old (it can’t get much better than that).
We started off the first week making Venezuelan Alfajores sandwich cookies, Albanian cornbread with feta and green onion. Indian Nankhatai cookies and South African Karringmelkbesuits.
Since they were only 8, they were more about the creating, than the outcome. So I would invite them to use their creativity, after we completed the recipe.
This is one of the girls hand made cookie.
Each of the girls reminded me of our Aves, she would have loved being in this class.
I decided to start each day with a different approach, than I did with my cooking class.
I would find a book on video that had a story about a country that we were going to “visit” or a food that resembled one we would be making. They loved it.
And if you don’t know about StoryLine Online, and you have kids, you have to check it out!
The next week we made Egyptian butter cookies and Lithuanian sour cream pockets.
The sour cream pocket recipe did not work, something was off…
But who cares.
Next, we made mango cupcakes, and stuffed Georgian cheese breads.
I was really excited about this next recipe.
Mongolian sesame flat-bread crackers with a cream cheese spread.
But somewhere along the way, the soy sauce was heavy handed in the spread and it was too salty…inedible
But I will make that again.
We also made a really good cheese pizza.
And a not so good Romanian Easter bread.
The last day of class, I asked them to make something from the ingredients that we had left. Chopped style. They put so much heart into it. But…
You guys, this raised my blood pressure.
I just can’t with chaos.
But, they did so great.
They all used cocoa powder and chocolate chips.
Most of it wasn’t edible.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was to give them the freedom to create, with no boundaries.
I was very lucky to have that group of girls, It was such a great experience .
We get to see Dave Matthews in less than 45 days, I think…. Math is not my strong suit.
With the Dead and Company being on tour and Dave has finally gone out to tour this summer, I can’t help but remember THAT DAY.
May 20, 1995
I went to Vegas to see the Grateful Dead. It was hot, I wasn’t old enough to gamble and I remember being so afraid of being dosed with acid. You laugh, but we heard that squirt bottles had been dosed with acid, sigh. I walked into the outdoor stadium, it was sweltering, people were selling cold fruit, and squirting people with “water”, I put myself into panic mode, ha! But, then….this band came on stage and that was that. I fell in love right there. Soooo, I can NOT wait to see him live again with my favorite person.
Last Saturday I asked the girls what they wanted for breakfast. Being that we didn’t have pancake mix (no I am not making it from scratch, eye roll). They branched out. One asked for avo toast and another, toad in a hole (egg in toast). Extra, or kids who still need to dip everything they eat in a condiment, now insert eye roll.
I made a very good scallop recipe.
You had me at spicy herb oil.
Reality check. We can combine all of the herbs, add in some salt and some spice and we could pair it with anything. Steak, chicken, fish, pasta….seriously you guys, it’s so flavorful, and fresh and perfect for summer.
To give this dish a more Asian influence, add 1 tsp of sesame oil to the herb oil mixture.
This recipe comes from Chef Tory Miller
Pan-Seared Scallops with Heirloom Tomatoes & Spicy Herb Oil
INGREDIENTS
8 Jumbo Scallops
Salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
2 Tbs Butter
Herb oil
1 Tbs fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbs chopped fresh chives
1 Tbs chopped fresh mint
1 Tbs chopped fresh Basil
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs minced shallot
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs fish sauce
1/4 cup evoo
1 fresh Thai chili, thinly sliced
2 cups fresh, ripe cherry tomatoes
1 lime, halved
Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallops and cook without turning or moving until they start to turn brown around the edges. Add the butter to pan. When melted, use the butter to baste the scallops to complete the cooking. Do not turn the scallops. This whole cooking process should take around 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and set the scallops on a paper towel lined plate.
To make the herb oil, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and stir well.
Arrange the tomatoes on a plate. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked scallops and drizzle with the herb oil. Squeeze the lime juice over the entire dish.
A few months before our trip to Greece I landed a gig to teach a summer cooking class to kids. The days, times and location worked out brilliantly with our schedules. I was given all of the recipes for the cooking session, then I went shopping for the ingredients on the Sunday before class or that Monday morning. There is a Pavilion’s right near the school, that was so handy! The company dropped off bins full of the cooking utensils and tools I should need beforehand, so all I had to do was unpack the groceries and prep for the class.The plan was to teach two separate sessions, three weeks each. The first session was a cooking class the second was a baking class.
My cooking group consisted of 3 boys and 3 girls, ages 6-11 and they were awesome!
Each day we made two dishes/recipes. I would get to the site early and prep all of the ingredients (mis en place), the cooking equipment we would be using, and presented it on a table for easy accessibility. I wrote on each recipe card who was going to do what. Little Billy (names have been changed) will cut onions, Rose will grate cheese and so on and so forth. That way I knew that everyone was participating throughout the entire class. After a quick demo of what we were going to make and asking them about some of the ingredients, we dove in. I didn’t do any of the cooking, they did it all. I guided them, I handled the hot oven, any boiling water and the washing of knives, but other than that, they did it all. And man, they kicked ass!
The first week we made.
Gumbo, flapjacks, carrot casserole, porridge bites, egg casserole, spinach mac n cheese, Spaghetti with meatballs, and omelettes.
They were pretty good eaters. I will say that by the second week, one girl was begging to stop using onions, HAHAHA! I feel like every recipe called for onions.
When we were done with both dishes of the day, we sat down and ate together. I would bring in juice mix and they would take turns making a pitcher of lemonade or fruit punch, yes, of course it was sugar free, not my first rodeo lunatics. Then, if we had any free time before the class ended, we would play heads up or trivia or maybe just draw Whatever they wanted to do as long as it wasn’t swinging from the rafters or playing chase, boys, I am looking at you.
The second week we made;
Mash and gravy, meatball stroganoff, brussels sprout and parmesan salad, hot dogs with a veggie chili, Naan personal pizzas, macaroni and cheese and a fruit salad.
This pasta recipe, you guys, was soooooo good. I know it doesn’t look great and honestly when I read the recipe I wasn’t sold. But it’s good, guilty pleasure BBQ side dish good.
I will share the recipe.
The final week we made said pasta salad, pizza pockets, veggie sushi rolls and eggs with pico de gallo.
We had the entire previous morning to reschedule our breakfast for later on our last day in Greece. More like move it to the PM (if we were smart), but it didn’t even cross our minds. So after only a few hours of sleep, we were woken by a knock the door along with a chipper “good morrrrning!” Then we stumbled outside to another amazing breakfast on the patio. It’s hard to describe this hotel because it’s unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. But it’s very quiet and you rarely see anyone other than the porters carrying luggage up and down loads of stairs. So when Shawna was all “come here, hiiiiiii” in her cute voice, I was like what is happening? But then, she arrived.
I nicknamed her Evil Eyes only because that is what she had, but she was super sweet, a nursing mama in search for food. She liked, eggs and bacon, disliked, Greek yogurt.
Our transfer to the airport didn’t arrive until 1:15 so we wandered back into the village grabbing souvenirs and a last lunch.
We had no problems getting to the airport, getting on the airplane, getting to Rome and then getting to our hotel. We booked a stay at the Hotel Mozart. It checked the boxes of walking distance to certain landmarks, had a lift, breakfast included and a cafe next door.
We were right around the corner from the Spanish Steps. Once we checked in, that is where we headed.
We ate dinner not far from Piazza de Spagna.
Wine, pizza and pasta.
Cheese pull number one! Dinner was delicious.
We decided to head over to the Trevi fountain because, why not? And it’s more majestic at night, well I think so.
We headed back towards our hotel when we ran into Giolitto. I mean by the amount of people in line, we couldn’t pass it up.
I ordered way more than I could handle. Dark chocolate, coffee and pistachio…in a cone, sigh….
She ordered almost the same but in a cup.
Verdict; the dark chocolate was too much (who am I?) the pistachio was amazing, the coffee was good.
Why the line of people? No idea, but I also don’t understand ordering an Aperol Spritz on purpose, so maybe I am getting old and it’s lost on me.
Full and tired, we headed back to our room.
Oh, I can’t wait to show you the walk to our room!! Andpictures of the Colosseum and our spectacular dinner at a multi Michelin star restaurant, swooon!!
My coughing has been making my nights really sucky.
So when we woke up to our breakfast being delivered, I made it outside with barely open eyes.
But if there is anywhere to just sit and soak it up, this is the place.
We had no agenda for the day except making our way to my brothers hotel for his wedding. So we ate, napped and read until it was time to get ready. A very nice lazy start to a fantastic day.
All of us that were in Santorini for the wedding arrived on Monday, Casey and Aileen were also supposed to arrive on Monday however their travel plans came to a halt in Munich. Their flight was delayed and then canceled, forcing them to stay the night in Germany. After a lot of shuffling and money, they were able to catch a morning flight on Tuesday getting them into Santorini by the afternoon. They made it, however their luggage did not. Can you imagine? A day before your wedding and you have nothing.There was no ETA on when they would get their luggage either, but luckily they were able to go shopping and expense what they bought. Santorini isn’t a terrible place to shop, they had a lot of options. A day later Casey had new wedding attire and they had bought beachwear, luckily Aileen’s dress was brought there by a friend who’s luggage did make it.
We walked with our wedding shit, in the sun, up hill to their hotel but not after getting lost…of course. We really have become accustomed to getting a ride when we want it, and I will not take it for granted again. Sweaty and sunburned we climbed up and down more stairs until we were in their hotel room and laying on the air conditioner.
Then we popped some Champagne and toasted to the soon to be husband.
When summoned, we made our way to the ceremony.
Have you seen a more dramatic back drop for a wedding? I haven’t.
Casey looked mighty fine for shopping that morning for an outfit, his friends did good. And Aileen was a stunning bride. It was a beautiful wedding.
While the bride and groom went off for photos we made our way down to the bar for some adult bevarages.
Then they did the cake cutting before the sun set.
Followed by the most incredible wedding dinner. I can see how the rich and famous get used to this type of lifestyle, it’s not too bad.
We were served a seven course meal over 3 maybe 3.5 hours. Every bite of food was phenomenal. I terribly regret not taking pictures but I wanted to be in the moment.
Once we finished the dessert course we all got in a transfer back to the Oia village to the Hassapiko bar.
It’s been a hot minute. Busy with school, life and colds going around, it’s been something.
Legit pharmacy.
Finally we are all on the mend, so let’s chat.
The girls had their school’s multicultural fair on campus and it was so nice to be back on site.
Averi and her bestie ran around getting their passports stamped all while chasing the boys.
Kaili and Shayne were doing their own thing, in Shayne’s words, “living her best life”. Which meant hobnobbing with her teacher whom she adores.
It was nice to talk to the teachers we haven’t seen face to face in forever, and get to know the new ones better, even though schools about to end.
I can’t believe the older two are saying farewell to their school. It’s bittersweet.
Here they are in Kindergarten, so cute and innocent.
On another note, one thing that I have been cooking lately is baby bok choy. I have neglected this vegetable. It’s super quick and simple to cook up and is so tasty. I just halve the bok choy, sauté in some sesame oil with garlic. Add soy sauce and chili crisp then cook until tender, around 10-12 minutes.
One night we paired it with a chicken curry and another time with steak. Don’t walk by it the next time you’re at the market.
Now it’s time get back to finalizing a little jaunt that’s in our future. I can’t wait to share all of the sights, food, fun, food, wine and food with y’all.
The Art of Thyming 