Fresh Crab Salad

So this weekend I prepared the belated Valentine’s Day meal for Babe and her main man. It was very lovely. We had old school Santana playing, candles burning, lovely cocktails (mock for the kid) and the meal was delicious. I am so not saying that because I prepared it either. It was really very tasty! I love that my family happily indulges my whimsy.

The meal started with this Fresh Crab Salad w/Ginger Lime Dressing. See it was supposed to be a tower of vegetables and fruit topped with fresh crab meat but my tower tumbled as soon as I took it out of the mold! While the tower would have made for a great presentation, the simplicity and deliciousness of this dish made up for any presentation worries!

Mixed greens under tomatoes, cucumbers, mangoes, red onions, avocado tossed in fresh lime juice (so they wouldn’t turn brown) and crab that I steamed the night before in Cajun seasonings. Prior to serving I drizzled with the dressing I made the night before also. As an aside, I could have drunk this dressing by the tablespoon. Simple, fresh ingredients make the best meals.

Fresh Crab Salad
Adapted from http://justataste.com/2010/07/11/la-jolla-crab-stack/

What You Need:

For the Ginger Lime Dressing:
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Creole or Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 tsp dry ginger
Zest of an entire lime
Juice of an entire lime
3 tablespoons olive oil

For the salad:
2 cups salad greens (1 cup per serving; I used a spring mix)
1 cup each diced tomatoes, diced cucumbers, diced mangoes
½ cup each diced red onion, diced avocado (tossed in lime juice, discard used lime juice)
1 ½ cup fresh, cooked crab meat

What To Do:
Mix all of the salad dressing ingredients together, except the olive oil, until combined
While vigorously whisking the dressing, slowly add the olive oil until it comes together
In a medium bowl toss the vegetables and fruit together
Plate the salad then pile a heaping of crab on top
Drizzle with Ginger Lime Dressing

Cook.EAT.Repeat.

Correction: The Ginger Lime Dressing is my personal recipe but the salad is adapted from the site listed.

Flat Out Chicken

Roasted chicken...man oh man how delicious a roasting bird smells and tastes with it's crispy skin and juicy meat, lawdhammercy! When we have roast chicken, typically for Sunday dinner, I will put it in the oven on our way to church...maaaaaan!

The wonderful thing about roasting an entire bird are the endless possibilities. I split the chicken open because I want all of the skin crispy!  The best tool IMO for cutting chicken are kitchen shears. A good pair of shears are an invaluable kitchen tool! For this bird I used my basic roast chicken recipe...

What you need:

• 3Tbs olive oil (or canola or vegetable)
• 2 teaspoons each pepper, garlic powder, paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste 
• A whole roasting chicken 10-12lbs (adjust cooking time for smaller birds) 

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• In a small bowl mix the oil and spices together. Set aside Clean and pat chicken dry
• Cut the chicken down the middle on the breast side
• Spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray
• Lay the chicken, flat out, on the cookie sheet
• Rub this mixture all over the chicken and under the skin of the chicken
• Roast at 325 degrees for 2 hours. Again, adjust the cooking time down for smaller birds.
• Once removed from the oven, cover the bird loosely with foil and LET THE CHICKEN REST for about 15 minutes before slicing into it.  That baby is tired and needs its juices to redistribute! LOL

Cook.EAT.REPEAT.

Food Photo Purge - Brown Butter Cupcakes

You know how you look at a recipe or think of a recipe and you just KNOW it is gonna be the banginest ish ever? Like, you will burn the roof of your mouth to taste it right out of the skillet, boiler, muffin tin??

Then you make it and it is a BIG FAT FAIL!!!!!

I wanted these cupcake to be great but alas they were not!  The frosting was redeemable but the cupcake was dry and grainy....it sucked sooooooooooooooooo horribly bad.

But they look pretty right! LOLOL

Food Photo Purge - Linda's Sweet Potatoes

My mother, L-Beezy (that's her rap name; family joke), has been making these stove top sweet potatoes since I was little. Try as I might I have yet to perfect these...but I have a blast trying.

Thinly sliced sweet potatoes cooked in sugar and butter and cinnamon and vanilla creates this rich syrupy goodness that the oven baked marshmallow topped stuff can't match.  Once I perfect these, I will post a proper recipe.

Cook.Eat.Repeat.

I Heart You

So I'm planning a Valentine's Day dinner for B and her fave guy (her daddy). It's just a small way for me to show them some love...I'm hokey that way. It's going to be a tad fancy as there will be invitations, a menu, four courses, a full on set table, background music and I will be their cook and server. B is gonna eat this whole concept up! Lol

I'm a little giddy with excitement too!

I love a good get together even if it's just two people. The pictures are of the name tags, menu and invitations personally made by my Ninah B.  I will give these to the dynamic duo so they can "pencil me in" on their schedules...lol.

The menu will include Fresh Crab Salad, Sweet Onion Soup, Rack of Lamb with a balsamic reduction atop a three cheese risotto with roasted asparagus and an ice cream trio of honey, pistachio and strawberry each with their own accoutréments. My plan is to give them small gifts between courses then their big gift at dessert.  I LOVE love so this psuedo holiday is right up my loving alley!

Do you all have any special Valentines Day plans?