First Blue Crab of the Season...Crab Cakes!

Yesterday Joel and a friend hit the mother load and caught lots of blue crabs.  Joel's intent had been to catch fish, but his friend came armed with raw chicken necks...he definitely did not intent to catch fish.  Last night Joel and some friends steamed up some of these "beautiful swimmers" with Joel bringing me more than 2 dozen that they did not eat.  So today I cleaned the crabs (removed the shell and all the "stuff" between the shell and the body) and picked out the crabmeat out of the bodies.   Now, I have to say, this is not my favorite thing to do.  Picking out crabs is lots of fun at a picnic table with family and friends and a good cold beer...standing at my sink and pickin' is just not the same.  However, the resulting crab cakes made this miserable work well worth the effort.  When I make crab cakes I use lots of crab and very little filler...it really is a crab cake!  Freshly picked crab is available at fish markets and some grocery stores or catch your own in salty water with a chicken neck tied to a string!

Ingredients

1 1/2 # crab meat   (I use body meat and claw)
3/4 cup panko
2 eggs
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup mayonaise
3/4 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
panko for coating crabcakes (about 3/4 cup)
olive oil for cooking

Makes 8 Crab Cakes

1. Combine first six ingrendients well in a bowl. 
2. Form crab mixture into patties (cakes) using about 1/2 cup of  crab mixture. 
3. Dredge crab cakes one at a time in panko and place on plate.
4. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
5. Cook crabcakes about 4 minutes on each side, until golden.

Rosemary Lemon Chicken with Potatoes

After working in the yard all day I was too tired to venture to the grocery store, so I explored what I had in the frig and in my herb garden that might come together for a good dinner.  In the frig I had chicken leg quarter, some really juicy lemons, some amazing fingerling type red potatoes, brown tomatoes I found at Walmart of all places (delicious!), a mozzarella ball and some really good crisp romaine lettuce.  I'm never lacking for rosemary in my fresh herbs outside the kitchen door and now have fresh basil.  So dinner tonight was rosemary lemon chicken with fingerling potatoes and a caprese salad.  I didn't photograph our meal...but did find a dancing chicken...this was so good I know the chicken would be proud!!!

Rosemary Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

2 chicken leg quarters cut to make 2 thighs and 2 legs
2 tbs. rosemary leaves from fresh rosemary
1 large garlic clove, smashed
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbs. olive oil
juice from one juicy lemon
2 tbs olive oil
6 fingerling potatoes, cut in half
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 lemon

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Finely chop rosemary leaves and garlic.
• Add red pepper flakes, juice from one lemon and olive oil
• Use a pestle to combine rosemary, garlic. pepper flakes, lemon juice and olive oil
• Roll chicken parts in the rosemary, lemon mixture
• Heat an oven proof (I use an iron skillet) with 2 tbs olive oil
• Brown chicken pieces and potatoes in skillet (it takes about 5 minutes per side)
• Squeeze a lemon over chicken and potatoes and put fresh rosemary sprigs on top
• Place in preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes
• Remove, serve chicken and potatoes on plate, pour pan drippings over all.

Caprese Salad

Layer tomatoes, sliced mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves on top of torn romaine lettuce.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with really good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

That's dinner!!!