01-26-12

Thursday, January 26, 2012
For previous recipes please use the Archive links in the left-hand column.

This Week's Theme: Favorite Ingredients - Crab

Today's Recipe: Crab au Gratin

We haven't had a groaner in a long time. Thanks to Rosemary Zwick for this one:

A young man has been working as a bag boy in a supermarket for five years. One day the supermarket gets new orange juice machines, and the bag boy is real excited and asks the manager if he can work the juice machines. The manager says no. The bagger says, "But I've been working here for 5 years, why can't I run the juice machines?"

The manager replies, "I'm sorry, son, but, baggers can't be juicers."

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This week's theme

• 20th Century American Classics

This week's recipes

• James Beard's Roquefort-Filled Mushrooms
• Cobb Salad with Brown Derby French Dressing
• Spinach with Sour Cream
• The "21" Club Hamburger
• Chocolate Meringue Pie

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Here's one of the things Sandi McIntyre whips up when she is pressed for time in the kitchen:

Nothing is faster than a good old BLT sandwich. It’s got all the food groups is a nice, hand-held package and tastes delicious. If I have one I like to add a slice or two of avocado to make it extra creamy and delicious. Between the bacon, mayo, and avocado I admit its a bit of a fat bomb, but if you must, substitute turkey bacon and low-fat mayo. The avocado is a good fat, at least.

Tell us what you whip up when you're lacking either time or motivation and you might win a shiny red sports car. Then again, you might not, but please put "Quick and Easy" in the subject either way.

This dish, with its cream and sherry, was probably inspired by the wonderful she-crab soup of the low country area of the Carolinas.

Crab au Gratin

2 Tbs (30 ml) butter
2 scallions (spring onions), green and white parts, finely chopped
2 tsp (10 ml) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1/4 cup (60 ml) dry sherry
1 lb (450 g) crab meat, picked over to remove shells and cartilage
2 Tbs (30 ml) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
A grating of fresh nutmeg
1/4 cup (60 ml) bread crumbs
1/2 cup (125 ml) grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Heat half the butter in a saucepan over moderate heat and saute the scallions for 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cream and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the sherry and remove from the heat. Stir in the crab meat, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased baking dish or 4 to 6 lightly greased ramekins. Heat the remaining butter in a skillet over moderate heat and stir in the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the crab mixture and top with the crumbs. Bake in a preheated 400F (200C) oven until the cheese has melted and the filling is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.

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Today's second recipe

• Peppers Stuffed with Corn and Crab Meat

Today's bonus recipes from the WWRecipes Archives

• Stir-Fried Chicken with Broccoli
• Stir-Fried Beef with Onions
• Steamed Lobster
• Greek-Style Halibut

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• Chicken in Green Mole
• Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
• Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)
• Homemade Oreos

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Thanks to Nancy Marr for this week's review:

Substituting Ingredients: The A to Z Kitchen Reference is a great little book that has a lot of information to help keep you from running to the store when you’re in the middle of a recipe. In my case, that’s something my husband will really appreciate. Click here to learn more.

	Thanks to Caryn from Manalapan, NJ for this review: My son got me this utensil last year for Christmas and I didn't think I'd ever really use it, as I had many, many tools to choose from. However, once I picked it up and tried it, I couldn't put it down. This 5-in-1 tool is just about the only utensil I use to cook. I highly recommend it. Click here to learn more.
	Thanks to Alan Duxbury for this review: I thought you might like a review for Shepherd Spy: Tales of Violence and Intrigue and Terrorist Sheep. It is available on Amazon and at only 48 pages may seem small but it's worth buying not only for the excellent artistry and plot, but also because you can keep it on your cookery book shelf next to the large sign reading "Real Shepherd's Pie isn't made with beef!" Click here to learn more.
	Thanks to Laurel Hennessy for this review: One thing in my kitchen that I use just about daily are my kitchen shears. I use them to snip herbs right into a pan and to cut my salad greens into bite-size pieces. I've also used them to cut chicken strips for stir fry. They are dishwasher safe so cleanup is a breeze. Click here to learn more.
	Thanks to Sherril Gerard of Santa Ana, CA for this review: I have a pigtail food flipper and love it. Fantastic for bacon and pork chop turning and other items. You must learn not to scratch the skillet but once mastered you will love it. It doesn't let the meat juices escape from holes made by large forks, and no stiff tongs to make your hands ache. I use it for french toast, hot dogs, etc. etc. I even gave all my girls one in their Christmas stockings this year. Click here to learn more.
	Thanks to Mary Silcox for this review: The Podleski sisters are masters when it comes to developing tasty, healthy, and easy to follow recipes. I own all three of their previous books (Looneyspoons, Crazy Plates, and Eat Shrink and Be Merry) and credit them with helping me to lose a significant amount of weight and develop a healthier lifestyle. What I like best about their recipes is that they do not sacrifice flavour for nutritional value. Indeed, they don't even eschew ingredients such as butter and bacon - they just restrict their use to small quantities when needed to add deliciousness. In their newest book, The Looneyspoons Collection, the sisters re-formulate many of their recipes following current nutritional thinking, and taking advantage of healthy alternatives (e.g., whole wheat pasta, reduced salt products) not available when they started out. So long as you can stomach their terribly cheesy puns (recipe titles include "the lord of the wings", "a wok in the pork," etc.) I think you'll find this a terrific addition to your cookbook collection, even if you already have the sisters' other titles. I particularly recommend "tube beef or not tube beef" and "worth every penne" - both delicious dishes that also make great leftovers. Click here to learn more.
	Thanks to Donna in Buffalo, MN for this review: Today the kitchen got a bit brighter when the light bulb in my head went off. Why it took me 40 of my 61 years to think of this is beyond me but better late than never, right? I purchased my first ulu knife in Bar Harbor, ME while motor home traveling in the mid '90s. This gadget is great for cleanly cutting my herbs, quickly, safely and neatly. Today, needing some of my fresh rosemary for my turkey dressing I discovered one more use. Instead of trying to strip the sticky rosemary leaves from the stem by hand I used my ulu to cut right next to the stem. It was really slick and no sticky fingers. Sure glad I wasn't any older when I figured this out. Click here to learn more.

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Barbara Forsythe, Editor

So you wanna be a chef. But the minute you graduate from school--unless you have a deep-pocketed Mommy and Daddy or substantial savings--you're already up against the wall. Two nearly unpaid years wandering Europe or New York, learning from the masters, is rarely an option. You need to make money NOW. If that imperative prevails, requiring that you work immediately, for whomever will have you--once you embark on a career dictated by the need for immediate cash flow, it never gets any easier to get off the treadmill. The more money you get paid straight out of school, the less likely you are to ever run off and do a 'stage' in the great kitchens of the world. Time cooking at Applebee's may get you paid--but it's a period best left blank on the résumé if you're planning on ever moving to the bigs. It may just as well have never happened. Country clubs? Hotel kitchens? These are likely employers straight out of school--and they promise a pretty decent, relatively stable career if you do well. It's a good living--with (unlike most of the restaurant business) reasonable hours and working conditions-- and most hotels and country clubs offer the considerable advantage of health insurance and benefits. But that sector of the trade is like joining the mafia. Once you enter the warm fold of their institutional embrace, it's unlikely you'll ever leave. Once in--rarely out.

Anthony Bourdain, from "Medium Raw"

Please address your comments regarding "The Last Morsel" to editor Barbara Forsythe at Barbara@wwrecipes.com

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