Total Crab!

Sitting here looking out a wet Canadian winter has me thinking about summer. Growing up with the Atlantic coastline on my door step, gave my summers the idea place to harvest what I could from the sea. Watching the tides rise and fall wondering what was going on under the water. My favourite pastime has to be searching through all the cracks and crevices in the rocks for crabs at low tide. Our European rock crabs are similar in size to the Dungeoness crab, with the one stand out difference being the claw size. The huge pincer claws on the European rock crab are full of delicious sweet meat. As with any hunting gathering you always have to have a back up plan for when you don't find any crabs, ours was to also have a baited crab pot with us to put in a deep pool over night and see what crawled in. We would usually be guaranteed at least some spider crabs who's meat is equally delicious. There's something about the fresh sea air and the thought of crab meat that gets my stomach rumbling.

The cooking is a simple process of placing the crab in cold salted water, bring them to the boil and cook for 8 minutes. Remove them from the water allow to cool and crack the shells to reveal the succulent meat inside (I find a small hammer the best tool)

You can either eat the meat as it is or you can dress it with aioli, tabasco and lemon juice to give it that professional touch. It also goes really well with brown bread but what ever way you choose.. enjoy it!

                                             

                                                                 

 

  

Drunken Chicken Curry

When people think curry the think spicy…then it's usually associated with beer to reduce the spice heat. So I thought to myself why not combine the two?! So I came up with my drunken chicken curry! Perfect for those of you who can't quiet take the heat!

Ingredients:

1 x onion

1 x red pepper

1 x green pepper

1 x clove of garlic (crushed)

1 x chili (deseeded and finely chopped)

1 x inch of ginger (grated)

1 x chicken breast (cut into strips)

1 x lime (zest and juice)

2 cups of lager

1 cup of double cream

cilantro

Method;

Finely slice your onion and peppers and put in a pan on medium heat, add your garlic, chili, ginger and zest, sweat for 6-8 minutes without colouring. Remove the onion mix from the pan, reheat your pan to medium-high and sear your chicken strips until golden brown. Add your lime juice, beer and onion/pepper mix at this point, bring to a simmer before adding your cream, reduce by halt or until sauce thickens. add cilantro, check seasoning and you're ready to go! Perfect with egg noodles or fluffy basmati rice.

The Humble Spud

Agh the humble spud, the most versatile, under appreciated member of the vegetable kingdom. Time you give it the respect it deserves and out it back on top where it rightly belongs!
Everyone has there own way of baking potatoes, but I find the most effective was is to spike it with a sharp knife into the centre, sit it on layer of salt in a baking tray and bake it for 2hrs in a preheated oven @ 405f. The salt draws the moisture out of your potato and leave you with a crispy jacket and a light fluffy potato centre. It is the ultimate in versatile snack food, that you can fill with whatever you like!

This version is my favourite...

Caramelised onion, blue cheese and bacon
Bake your potato- scoop out the insides, mix with caramelised onions, bacon, a bit of cream cheese, blue cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Put back in the oven until warm and gooey.

Irish Brown Bread

 Soda bread is an important part if Irish culture, and it's a fantastic partner for Irish stew. So on a cold Canadian winters night the best way of warming up, and tasting a little piece of home is with a warm bowl of peasants soup and slices of brown bread. Yes, this is the same bread in the background of the peasants soup recipe, because it's such a perfect pair.

 

7 oz rolled oats 

7oz wheat bran

10 oz plain flour 

1 3/4 tsp baking soda 

1 1/4 tsp salt 

1 3/4 cups buttermilk 

1 tbsp treacle 

mixed seeds (optional)

Grind oats in blender. Add all dry ingredients together. Combine treacle and buttermilk and add them to the dry ingredients to form a dough. Place dough in a  greased 1 lb loaf tin or form into round loafs. Score the top of the loaf with a knife and brush with the buttermilk. Sprinkle with mixed seeds if you'd like. Put in a pre-heater 205c oven for 40 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap on it.

 Slice and eat with butter or as a delicious tool for soaking up soup or stew.

Blueberry pancakes

1 cup of flour

1 tbsp baking soda 

1 cup milk 

3 egg yolks 

3 egg whites 

Mix flour and baking soda, milk and egg yolks into a smooth paste. In a separate bowl, whisk egg white to form soft peaks and fold into flour mixture. Pour quarter cup measurements of batter onto a pre-heated pan. Add blueberries to each pancake. Flip over when golden brown. Serve with pure Canadian maple syrup. 

Fish Cakes

Often people don't like fish, the taste or the texture give them the willies. If you are one of those people, I encourage you to try this recipe because I think I just might change you're mind. If you already love fish, then you'll love these.

 400g of mixed fish (salmon, haddock)  

1 chili (de-seeded and finely chopped) 

1/2 inch of ginger (finely chopped) 

1/2 a clove of garlic (finely chopped) 

1/2 lemongrass 

juice and zest of 1 lime 

1 egg yolk 

1 cup of breadcrumbs 

1 tablespoon of fresh coriander (chopped) 

Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, making sure to incorporate all the chili/ginger mix through properly. The mixture should  be firm enough to form into little fish cakes (approx 3oz each) Pan fry in a non stick pan til golden brown, transfer to a pre-heated oven (180°c) for 10 minutes.. enjoy with a fresh salad and a squeeze of lemon.

 

Fishing back home with my dog