Maryland Crab Cakes

“This is the best crab cake recipe I’ve ever tried! Absolutely delicious and loaded with all crab, hardly any fillers.”

To start, whisk together 1 egg, 1,25 tbsp mayonnaise, 3/4 tsp Dyon mustard, 3/4 tsp Worcestershire, 1/2 tsp Old Bay (a mix of celery salt, hot paprika, smoked paprika, cinnamon and nutmeg), 1/8 tsp salt, 30g celery in very small cubes and 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley in a large bowl until well combined.

Then add 225g crab meat (double-checking for any bits of shell or cartilage) and the panko. Gently fold the mixture together until just combined. Be careful not to break up the delicate crab meat too much—the lumps are the best part!

Form the mixture into 4 cakes. Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour to help them firm up. Don’t skip this step—it makes a big difference in helping the crab cakes hold their shape when cooking.

Make the tartar sauce. In a small bowl, mix together 120g mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp mustard, 3/4 tbsp finely hacked gurkin, 1/2 tbsp minced red onion, 3/4 tbsp lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk until smooth, then cover and chill until ready to serve.

Preheat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and add a thin layer of oil. Once hot, add the crab cakes and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on the first side, until golden brown.

Carefully flip the crab cakes and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until both sides are golden and the centers are hot. Watch out for oil splatter!

Serve the crab cakes on 2 plates, with a bimi and the tartar sauce on the side. Enjoy!

(Here Jennifer Segal's original recipe)

Lobster tail, celeriac beurre blanc

Hack 50g celeriac, 1/2 shallot and 1/2 fennel bulb and quarter a bulb of garlic. Panfry the veggies in some soy oil, with 3 sprigs of thyme

After 3 mins deglaze with 1 dl Noilly Prat vermouth and reduce.

Add 1 dl fish stock and 1 dl cream and boil softly for 15 mins.

Crush some black pepper corns with your knife and add to the beurre blanc

Strain the beurre blanc in a sieve 

Preheat the oven to 195°C

Butterfly the lobsters. Using kitchen shears cut down the center of top of 2 defrosted lobster tails down to the base. Next grab each side of the shell and gently pry the shell away from the meat- leaving the meat at the base of the tail attached.  Lay the meat back in the shell, season with salt and pepper 

Sweat 1 minced clove of garlic in 25g butter, add1 tsp thyme leaves and 1/2 tbsp hacked parsley and a knifepoint smoked paprika.

Place the tails in an oven safe pan and brush the top of each tail with herb butter

Put in the hot oven, 7 mins per 100g

Serve with the beurre blanc. I added some left over shrimps

(Here the original recipe by Bo in Dutch 

Fish Fest

Quarter 400g small red-skinned potatoes, boil them in chicken stock 

Make an aioli from 4 tbsp mayonaise, 1 tbsp orange juice, 1 minced clove of garlic and a pinch of salt

Cut 2/3 fennel in small cubes.

Sweat 1 minced shallot in 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 mins. Add the fennel cubes and 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds and fry another 5 mins.

Deglaze with 60 ml Noilly Prat and let the alcohol evaporate 

Add 200 ml chicken stock and boil 5 mins, cool a bit, add 2 tbsp aioli, blend into a smooth sauce and keep warm

Cut the other 1/3 of the fennel in mini cubes, mix with 2 tbsp hacked parsley, the zest of 1/2 orange, 1/2 minced shallot and 2 tbsp orange juice. season with salt and pepper

Panfry 200g salmon, skinside down in 2 tbsp olive oil for 5 mins, then turn and do the other side 3 mins. The inside should stay nice and pink

At the same time put 500g vongole or clams in a saucepan, close with the lid and boil on a high heat till all the shells are open

Start plating with the potatoes, then spoon over the sauce. Add flakes of salmon and finish with the vongole. Sprinkle with the crunchy fennel/parsley mix

(Recipe by Hester de Goede in Delicious Magazine)

Chicken liver paté, fermented carrot and tarragon oil

 

Finely slice 75 g carrot, cut into long matchsticks and put in a clean jam jar.

Bring 250 ml water to the boil, with 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp cumin and pour over the carrots. Close with the lid and ferment for 5 days

Blanche the leaves from 6 twigs of tarragon 10 sec, them cool in ice water, dry and blend with 40 ml grapeseed oil. Sieve and reserve

Sweat 1 small minced shallot and 1/2 minced clove of garlic 5 mins in 25g butter

Turn up the heat, add 150g cleaned chicken livers and brown them on all sides

Deglaze with 20 ml cognac and simmer for another min

Transfer to the blender, together with 20 ml double cream, 45g soft butter, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg

Blend well, then whisk airy with another 65g soft butter and transfer to a piping bag.

Take a 2 cm slice of brioche, cut out two soldiers from 2,5 x 6 cm. Brush on all sides with olive oil and toast them in a 180°C oven for about 8-10 mins. till nicely brown

Serve as shown, with drops of the tarragon oil

(Recipe by Benjamin Lins in Delicious Magazine)

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Slow-cooked oxtail tagliatelle with pangrattato

Here is another example of a boring looking but really delicious plate of food, that deserves to be on my blog

Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan-forced.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large deep ovenproof frypan with a lid over medium-high heat. Season 1 kg oxtail discs well with salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper and sear in pan on all sides until golden brown. Set aside. 

Discard all but 1 tbs fat and reduce heat to medium. 

Cook 1 minced onion, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add 2 sliced cloves of garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.Bring to a gentle boil, then cover pan and transfer to oven to bake for 2 hours or until oxtail is tender. 

Meanwhile, for the pangrattato, combine 50g Panko, 3 tbsp hacked parsley leaves, 20g grated Parmesan, 1 tbsp olive oil and the zest of 1/2 bio lemon  in a bowl. Spread over a baking tray and bake on a shelf below the oxtail for the last 20-25 minutes of cooking time, until golden brown. 

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add 100g tagliatelle and cook according to packet directions or until al dente. Drain pasta and stir through the braise. 

Sprinkle the oxtail tagliatelle with a little pangrattato and serve with the remaining pangrattato alongside. Feeds 2-3

<or as an elegant small portion in a larger menu

(Here Matt Moran's original recipe for 12 pers)

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Venison, stuffed oxtail cabbage

Pre-heat the oven grill

Halve an oxtail cabbage and put under the hot grill 15 mins, then braise under a lid in 30g butter for another 15 mins

Reduce 250ml game stock with 3 junipers, then whisk in 40g butter. Finally add 2 tbsp cranberry jam

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Remove 4 of the outer leaves of the cabbage and remove the vein

Finely hack 40 gr of the pointed end, mix with chives, salt and pepper

Lightly brush 2 thick slices of brioche with olive oil and put in the hot oven for 10 mins til golden brown

Whip 50g goat butter and season with sea salt. Use a mortar to turn 1 tbsp dried pine needles into a powder

Panfry 250g loin of venison, 2,5 min per side. Cut of 50g, wrap the rest in alu foil and rest.

Mince the 50g and mix with the hacked cabbage and stuff the cabbage leave with it. Then roll up as a cannelloni. 

Torch them with a creme brûlée burner

Slice the venison, serve as shown with buttered brioche on the side, dusted with pine needle powder

(Based on a recipe by Benjamin Lins in Delicious Magazine)

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Boil 2 yellow beetroots 55 mins, cool, peel and slice

Mix 50g sour cream, 1/2 tsp olive oil, the zest of 1/4 lemon, salt and pepper. Transfer to a piping bag and keep in the fridge

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Cut a brioche in thick 5x6 cm slices. Brush them with olive oil and put in the hot oven for about 10 mins

Cover the bread with golden beet slices, then smoked eel and finally the sour cream and salmon eggs

Finish with pepper, cress and an edible flower

(Here Winnie Verswijfels original recipe in Flemish)

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Braised chicory, rustic pâté and toasted breadcrumbs

Pre heat the oven at 220°C

Halve a head of chicory lengthwise and softly braise in butter, season with salt and pepper, then put in the hot oven for 5 mins

Panfry 1 tbsp hacked hazelnuts and 2 tbsp bread crumbs in a glug of olive oil till golden. Season with 1 tsp Dyon mustard, 2 tsp grated aged Gouda cheese, salt and pepper

Cover the chicory with a thick slice of rustic pâté, followed by the bread crumbs

(Here Bart Desmidt's original recipe in Flemish)

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Tomato-coconut soup, gamba's, scallops and rouille

 

Remove the vein from  1 lime leaf, then cut the rest as fine as possible. Blend with 3 tbsp mayonaise, a minced clove of garlic and the juice of 1/2 lime

Sweat 2 finely sliced cloves of garlic and grate 1 cm fresh ginger in 1 tbsp olive oil

Save 1 tbsp from a 200ml tin of cocunut milk and add the rest to the pan, with 200g canned tomatoes, 200 ml fish stock and 2 frozen lime leaves

Softly boil for 10 mins

Then remove the lime leaves and purée with the stick blender. Bring back to the boil and add 6 peeled gamba's. Softly boil 5 mins

In the meantime panfry 6 scallops

Season the soup to taste with salt pepper and lime juice

Serve with swirls of the reserved coconut milk and coriander leaves

On the side toasted sour bread and the rouille

(Recipe by Hester de Goede in Delicious Magazine)

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Classical French Oeufs Mayonaise

Bring 150ml water to the boil with 50ml vinegar and 100g caster sugar. Add 2 tbsp mustard seeds, softly boil for 20 mins. Cool and reserve in a jam jar

Boil 3 eggs 6 mins, cool, peel and halve.

Serve a shown with mayonaise, slices of radish, pea shoots, the mustard seeds caviar and chervil tops

Season with sea salt and pepper

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Tartare from Fuet Iberico and Padron peppers.

Pre heat the oven to 180°C

Brush 1/2 sheet filo pastry with 1 tbsp olive oil, cut lengthwise in half and then into 4cm strips.

Put on a, with baking paper covered, baking dish, sprinkle with1 tbsp black sesame seeds and sea salt. Bake in the hot oven till golden brown and crispy in 6-8 mins

Panfry 4 pimentos de Padron in a dry pan in about 8 mins till blackened. Remove the seeds from 2 peppers and cut into small cubes

Remove the skin from 75g Spanish fuet iberico sausage and cut into small cubes

Remove the skin and the seeds from a tomato and cut into small cubes

Mix the pepper, sausage, tomato with 7g hacked parsley. 1/2 tbsp Dyon mustard and 1 tbsp hacked sweet and sour gurkin. Season with Tabasco

Use a serving ring to plate, with the last Padron pepper and a fried quail egg (which I did not have and replaced with the 1 min. poached yolk of a small egg) on top

Serve with the filo crackers

(Recipe by Hester de Goede in Delicious Magazine)

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Parsley crêpes with d'Affinois, ham and chervil

Place 75 ml milk, 1 small egg,38g flour, 8g melted butter and a pinch of fine salt in a blender and whiz until well combined. Strain mixture through a fine sieve, discarding solids, and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to rest. Stir through chopped parsley leaves. 

Heat a 22cm non-stick frypan over medium heat.

Lightly grease with extra butter. Pour 60ml batter into the pan and quickly swirl around to cover the base. Cook until the top of the crepe looks dry. Carefully flip, then cook for a further minute. Transfer to a plate and loosely cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter, greasing pan with more butter as needed

Place 4 slices leg ham (85g) in the crêpe pan and cook until warm. Divide 150g Fromager d'Affinois cheese and the warm ham over one half of each crepe. Fold crêpes over and serve sprinkled with chervil (or chives) and seasoned with freshly ground black pepper. Feeds two.

(Here Ellie and Sam Studds original recipe in Delicious Magazine)

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Langoustines, scallops, cauliflower crème

Boil 150g cauliflower  in 75g milk and 75g double cream, seasoned with salt, pepper, a pinch of garlic powder and a pinch of ground fennel, for 12-15 mins

Cool and blend with a heaped tsp butter.

Panfry 4 scallops, 4 langoustines and 2 sliced shiitake

Serve as shown, with basil leaves, black pepper and a few drops of balsamic vinegar 

(Here Harold's original recipe in Dutch)

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Smoked eel, egg cappuccino, fresh herbs

 

Cut 2 filets of smoked eel into small pieces and put in a glass

Mix finely sliced sorrel, dill and chervil to 1 tbsp mayo and add to the eel

Au bain marie whisk 2 eggs, add a glug of milk and some pepper and salt and keep whisking to create a nice foam of 80°C

Pour on the eel

Finish wit fresh dill, chervil and chives

(Here the original recipe on Njam tv in Flemish)

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Steak tartare, vanilla mayo, brioche

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Thinly slice 150g tenderloin into strips, then in small cubes. Season with salt and pepper, mix with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 minced shallot and 1 tsp hacked capers.

Mix 2 tbsp mayonaise with the seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean, transfer to a piping bag. 

Cut a brioche in 2 cm slices, then into 9x3,5 cm soldiers, brush with olive oil

Put in the hot oven for about 10 mins, till nicely toasted

Serve as shown, with mustard cress

(Recipe by Janneke Philippi in Delicious Magazine)

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Zarzuela

Soak 275g vongole in ice water for a couple of hours to remove the sand.

Begin with the sofrito: roughly chop 1/2 red paprika, 1/2 green paprika, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/2 Spanish onion and 5 sprigs of parsley and sweat in olive oil for about 10 mins

Add 4 hacked tomatoes, 4 laurel leaves and the peel of 1/2 orange. Add 2 tbsp tomato paste,  1 tsp saffron, 2 tsp smoked paprika powder, 15g almond flour and 1 tsp cayenne. After another 10 mins deglaze with 250 ml langoustine stock. Cool, remove the laurel and orange peel and blend

Add 400 ml fish fond, stir well and bring to the boil

Add 4 peeled gamba's, 200g cod, cut into 6 cubes, 2 dorade filets, 4 squid rings and softly boil for about 6 mins

In a separate pan boil the drained vongole  in 25ml sherry and 25ml brandy till the shells are all open, about 3 mins. Add the liquid to the soup. 

Serve as shown, finish with parsley and black pepper. With crispy bread on the side

(Based on recipes from Delicious magazine and Njam!)

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Salmon mi-cuite, vanilla mousseline and herb salsa

Peel and boil 300g potatoes

Bring 75 ml milk to the boil with 25g butter and the black seeds and pod of 1/2 vanilla bean. Take from the fire, cover and rest for 15 mins

Make a dressing from 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp mayo, 1/2 tbsp crème fraîche, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 minced shallot and salt and pepper

Mash the potatoes with the infused milk. Add 50 ml double cream and whisk into a mousseline. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm

Dab 2 150g filets of salmon dry, season with salt and pepper and briefly panfry in a couple of tbsp olive oil. The inside should stay raw and pink.

Take the fish from the pan and fry 50g samphire  1-2 min

Mix 25g dill, chervil and cress 

Start plating with the potato mousseline, spoon over the dressing. Add the fish, the herbs and the samphire

(Recipe Janneke Philippi in Delicious Magazine)

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Chicken and mushroom fricassee

Pre heat the oven to 180°C

Halve 3 chicken legs with a cleaver and season with salt and pepper. 

Mince 1/2 onion and sweat (don't brown) in 30g butter. 

Add the chicken and brown 3 mins per side

Remove the chicken and reserve, then stir in 20g flour and fry for 3 mins.

Slowly add 75 ml white wine, keep stirring.

Then add 300 ml hot chicken stock, a bouquet garni (thyme, laurel, rosemary, parsley), 200g sliced mixed mushrooms  and the chicken.

Cover with a lid and put in the hot oven for 50 mins

After 20 mins add 2 (store bought) frozen individual gratins dauphinois to the oven.

In the meantime whisk an egg yolk in 50 ml double cream to make what's called a liaison

When the time is there take out the pan with chicken and remove the chicken. Then, on a very low heat stir in the liaison to thicken the sauce. From now on you can't boil the sauce otherwise it will become lumpy!

Add a tbsp lemon juice and some nutmeg. Taste and season, if necessary ,with extra salt and pepper. 

Serve as shown, with the potatoes (Mine were French, from Picard) in the centre. Finish with parsley and chives 

(Recipe by Matthew Ryle in Delicious Magazine)

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Sea bass, pea puree and pommes allumettes

Cut 200g waxy potato into matchsticks, place in a large bowl and rinse thoroughly under running water until water runs clear. Soak in the bowl of water until ready to deep-fry, then drain well, shaking off as much excess water as as possible. 

To make the pea puree, melt 50g butter in a large saucepan over high heat. When foaming, add 2 minced eschalots and 1 minced garlic. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes until soft. Add 150 ml fishstock and bring to the boil over high heat. Stir in 150g frozen peas and cook until just boiling. Cool a bit, transfer to a blender and  whiz until smooth. Season and keep warm 

Fill a deep-fryer or large saucepan with 1 l vegetable oil and heat to 180°C (a cube of bread will turn golden in 60 seconds when the oil is hot enough). Deep-fry 2 tbsp parsley leaves for 30 seconds, or until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Season to taste.

Meanwhile, for the tarragon butter, bring 50ml fish stock to the boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook for 3 minutes, or until reduced by half. Using a whisk, add 20g cubed cold butter, whisking to combine. Add 40g cubed butter and whisk until smooth and combined. Stir in 1 tsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp hacked tarragon leaves. Remove from heat, season to taste, and keep warm until ready to serve.

Heat 3 tsp olive oil in a large frypan over high heat. Season 2 sea bass filets  and cook for 3-4 minutes each side, until lightly golden all over and just cooked through. Rest, loosely covered with foil, in a 70°C warm oven for 10 minutes before serving.

In 2 batches, deep-fry the potatoes, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes, until golden and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Season to taste.

Serve as shown

(Here Guillaume Brahimi's original recipe for 4 persons)

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Casareccia, prune sauce and crispy pork belly

Rub some salt in four 1 cm slices of pork belly (ca 250g) and rest for 20 mins

Pre heat the oven to 200°C

Line an oven dish with baking paper, cut each slice of pork in 3 and stack them like roof tiles in the tray. Put in the hot oven for 35 mins

Thinly slice 2 cloves of garlic and softly fry them in 2 tbsp olive oil till translucent (not brown).

Add 3 hacked anchovies and melt them, Add 1 tsp tomato paste and fry for another minute

Add 250g prunes (pitted and in parts) and 250g tomatoes (in parts)

Softly fry for 5 mins

Add the leaves of 2 sprigs of thyme and 100 ml water and boil for another 10 mins. 

Add 2 tbsp double cream and season with salt and pepper

Boil 150g casereccia (or fossili or penne)

Serve a shown with the crispy pork belly on top

(Recipe by Sake Slootweg)

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