Tag Archives: seafood

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The Best Crab Cakes?

I’m a crab snob. I moved to Montgomery County, Maryland (just outside Washington, DC) when I was in the 7th grade and lived there until we moved to Texas in 1990, so I grew up eating Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs. Bushels of them. One of my fondest memories was going to a friend’s parents’ house on the lower Potomac River on a Saturday morning. We purchased a couple of bushels of fresh cooked crabs and ate them all afternoon. My youngest daughter Stephanie was given her own crab picking tools when she was 5!

Now, if you have had the pleasure of eating these crabs you know they are not very big and do take some work to get the meat out. But oh my! The meat is so sweet and succulent, the work is worth it. When I pick crabs, I am a piler. I pick the whole crab and pile the meat in front of me. When I’m done, I add a little melted butter, a little Old Bay Seasoning and savor the meat. Yes, I am that patient. Just ask Karen!

So, when anyone tells me that the Pacific Northwest Dungeness crab are better, I turn up my nose. I do eat all kinds of crab, including Snow Crab and King Crab, but in my book there is nothing better than Chesapeake Bay Blues.

So, my cuisine of choice when I am in the Maryland area is crab, of any kind. I am always on the lookout for the “best crab.” A couple of months ago I was in Baltimore staying at a hotel next to BWI. For dinner I looked online for some recommendations for a good crab shack. When I asked at the hotel they gave me the name of a place just a couple of miles away. That restaurant is G&M Restaurant and it advertised it had “Baltimore’s Best Crab Cakes.” Being the skeptic that I am, I had to try it myself.

It was a very good crab cake. If fact, I might not call it a crab cake at all. It was more like a crab mound. It was filled with large lumps of back fin (the best of the crab) and it had just enough filling to hold the meat together.  This place is highly recommended if you are in the vicinity of the BWI airport outside of Baltimore. Just understand, it’s a crab shack. It is nice but certainly not fancy.

G&M Restaurant
804 N. Hammonds Ferry Rd
Linthicum, MD 21090
(410) 636-1777

www.GandMCrabCakes.com

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Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined without tails
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons white wine
  • 2 tablespoons brandy

Preparation
In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly. Dredge shrimp in flour mixture.

In a large skillet, sauté dredged shrimp in olive oil for 5 minutes over high heat. Toss shrimp often to prevent burning. Transfer shrimp with a slotted spoon to a serving dish, leaving the oil in the pan.

In the same pan, sauté the garlic, shallot, parsley, and oregano over medium heat for 3 minutes; stirring constantly. Spoon the mixture over the shrimp. Return pan to the heat. Preheat your broiler for medium heat.

Pour the wine and brandy into the skillet and ignite with a match or lighter. When the flames die down, stir to loosen any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet; pour over shrimp.

Place the serving dish of shrimp in a preheated broiler for about 2 minutes.

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Pasta with Lobster, Wild Mushrooms, and Cream

Ingredients
This can be prepared with 20 ounces of large raw shrimp instead of lobster, if you like. Peel and devein the shrimp, then sauté uncovered in butter until opaque in center, about three minutes. Cut each shrimp lengthwise in half.

  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
  • 2 10- to 12-ounce frozen lobster tails, thawed
  • 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup (packed) thinly sliced fresh basil
  • 6 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 1/3 cups whipping cream
  • 1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
  • 12 ounces fettuccine
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese (about 1 ounce)

Preparation
Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add lobster tails and sauté until shells are bright red in spots, about 5 minutes. Cover skillet; reduce heat to low and cook until lobster is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Using slotted spoon, transfer lobster to work surface. Using heavy large knife, cut each tail lengthwise in half. Remove meat from shell. Cut meat crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces.

Return same skillet to medium-high heat (do not clean). Add mushrooms, half of basil, green onions, and garlic; sauté until mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes. Add cream and clam juice. Boil until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add lobster (or shrimp if using) and simmer 1 minute. Stir in remaining basil. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain well. Return to pot. Pour sauce over pasta and add cheese; toss over low heat until warmed through, then serve.

Makes 4 servings.

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Simple Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients
This recipe delivers juicy, tender shrimp scampi and takes only 10 minutes to prepare. Serve the scampi with plenty of bread to soak up the garlicky juices.

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 pounds large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled and deveined, if desired
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press
  • 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon dry vermouth
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
  • Pinch cayenne
  • Salt and ground black pepper

Preparation
Heat 12-inch skillet over high heat until hot, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat bottom of pan. Add 1 pound shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until just opaque, about 1 minute; transfer to medium bowl. Return pan to heat and repeat process with remaining oil and shrimp.

Return empty skillet to medium-low heat; melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Off heat, add lemon juice and vermouth. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons butter; add parsley and cayenne, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Return shrimp and accumulated juices to skillet. Toss to combine; serve immediately.

Serves 4 to 6.

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Karen’s Spiced Shrimp

Ingredients

  • 1 C veg oil
  • 1 C butter
  • 1 ½ T black pepper
  • 3 Bay leaves
  • 2 tsp. rosemary
  • ½ tsp. Prudomme’s Blackened Redfish Seasoning
  • ½ tsp. cayenne
  • ½ tsp. oregano
  • 1 T paprika
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 lemon (sliced)

Preparation
Melt butter and oil, add spices, and simmer 10 minutes. Pour over shrimp in shallow baking dish and add lemon. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. (1/2 pound shrimp per person.)