Singapore Chili Crabs – King of the Crab Recipes?

Living in San Francisco, I’ve had more than my fair share of crab; prepared in more ways than I can remember, but I’ve never enjoyed it more than in this Singapore-style chili crabs recipe. Just be sure to have lots of napkins around. Lots of napkins.

Apparently, this is the national dish of Singapore, and you can’t throw a rock without hitting someone eating a plate of it. By the way, that’s not something you’d want to try. Just ask Michael P. Fay.

As far as I can tell, there’s no one standard way to make this. Besides the crab, and some kind of tomato product, I couldn’t find two recipes alike. What you see here is my take on this, but it does contain many of the most typical ingredients.

Most are easy to find, except maybe the tamarind paste, although any high-end grocery chain should stock some in their international foods section. If you can’t find it, maybe add a little extra pinch of sugar, plus the juice and zest of one lemon.

Obviously the most important ingredient is the crab, so find something really nice. The store up the street had a special on freshly steamed, Dungeness crab, so that’s what I used here, but any similar variety will work. 

If you can somehow get live crabs, that’s the ultimate choice, but I know that’s not realistic for most of you. The good news is, this is incredibly delicious either way. I really hope you give this Singapore-style chili crabs recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Please Note: My friends in Singapore tell me they serve this with at least twice the amount of sauce, and a type of fried roll to soak up the goodness with. So, if you want to rock the chili crab like a Singaporean, then you should probably double the sauce ingredients!

Ingredients for four appetizer size portions:

2 whole cooked Dungeness crabs (about 2-3 lbs. each), cleaned and cracked

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup minced shallots, or other onion

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp minced fresh ginger root

1 tbsp minced serrano pepper

For the sauce:

1/2 cup tomato ketchup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon tamarind paste

2 tablespoon sambal (or any spicy ground chili sauce)

2 tsp fish sauce

2 tsp palm sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup chicken broth or water

Finish with:

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp sliced green onions (the green parts) or 1 tbsp sliced chives

Homemade Flatbread – If You Have Flour, You Have Bread

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, possibly in our last post, today is National Homemade Bread Day. So, I decided to do a flatbread video, demonstrating what was probably the world’s first wheat-based bread.

It never ceases to amaze me how a little flour and water can be transformed into such delicious, gorgeous bread, and in just a matter of minutes at that. Inspired by the thought of these earliest flatbreads, I went with about half wheat flour and half all-purpose, as well as a little spoon of corn meal for some extra texture. 

I’ll be giving no ingredient amounts below. Flatbread’s not like that. Combine water, flour and a pinch or two of salt; and mix together as shown until you have a soft, sticky dough. That’s it. The other key is to use a very hot cast iron pan or griddle. You can wipe the surface with a tiny bit of vegetable oil, but basically a dry pan works the best.

If you’re not in a hurry, wrap your dough and let it sit on the counter top for an hour or two. This will give the flour time to hydrate, which will provide a little nicer texture. Having said that, I didn’t wait at all, and mine came out fine.

So, if you’re interested in making flatbread like they did when people thought the earth was flat, then I hope you  get this easy and delicious technique a try soon. Enjoy!

Lose Weight and Live Longer with the New Homemade Bread Diet!

Word on the street is that tomorrow, November 17th, is National Homemade Bread Day, and to celebrate I thought I'd post a few of our most popular, and critically acclaimed videos. By the way, I have this idea for a diet where you get to eat bread, but only if you bake it fresh yourself. 

Since most of us are fairly lazy, this would become maybe a once a week thing, which has to be a better alternative than that daily dosage of supermarket, pain d'preservative. It's still in the brainstorming stage, and there's no book deal yet, but I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, go make some homemade bread. Click on the title to see the original post, and as always, enjoy! 

	No-Knead Beer Bread You like beer. You like bread. So, what are you waiting for? Pro Tip: Even though you only need one beer, get a six-pack.
	Perfect French Baguette This is the video French bakers don't want you to see. People don't think they can make bakery-quality loaves at home, but those people are wrong.
	No-Knead Ciabatta One of the most popular Food Wishes videos of all time. If you've never made bread, this is the recipe for you. Warning: The dough is going to be sticky. Don't be afraid.
	Pita Bread What this amazing bread lacks in height, it more than makes up for in stuffability. And yes, that is a word.

How to Make Puff Pastry Shells – Vol au Venting!

As promised, here’s the video for how to make your own puff pastry shells, or vol au vents, as they'd be called in France, and select U.S. locations. These are fairly simple to make, and once baked the real fun begins, as they can hold so many amazing fillings, both sweet and savory.

The key is making sure your puff pastry dough is very firm, and very cold, preferably still partially frozen, before you start cutting it. You want nice clean cuts, because if you mash the layers of pastry together, your shells will not rise as high, and they can also bake into some strange shapes. Having said that, even though I was filming, and working way too slowly, these still came out pretty well.

Once they’re filled they look great, so it’s not that big of a deal, but in general, the colder the dough, the nicer the final product. Other than being too rough with the dough, the other common mistake is under cooking. Your shells might look beautiful at 15 minutes, but may still be kind of raw inside. As long as the outside is not getting too dark, don’t be afraid to let them bake a bit longer.

Regarding the scraps. You can’t re-roll the trimmed puff pastry and have the shells come out the same, but what you can do is cut it into irregular shapes, egg wash it, and dust with cinnamon and sugar. Once baked to a crispy, golden-brown, you’ll have a great little sweet treat to serve with coffee or tea. I hope you give this easy and fun technique a try very soon. Enjoy!

Lobster Newberg… I Mean, Wenberg

How Lobster Newberg got its name is one of my all-time favorite food stories. It’s also a fascinating glimpse into the twisted mind of someone crazy enough to own/run a restaurant. 

As the story goes, this dish was invented by a Mr. Ben Wenberg, who showed it to his buddy, Charles Delmonico, at the famous Delmonico’s Restaurant, in New York City. Chuck puts it on the menu, calls it “Lobster Wenberg,” and everyone loves it.

Sometime thereafter, the two men get into a horrible argument, and Delmonico takes it off the menu. Of course, the patrons are like, “You said what? He said what? Whatever, just put it back on the menu.” Which he did, but not before changing the name to the anagram, “Newberg,” purely out of spite. Hey, he could have gone with Lobster “Bengrew.”

Strange but true naming stories aside, this really is a great, and simple recipe. As long as you’re not filming it, that is. Once you start with the sauce, you really can’t stop until you’re spooning it into the pastry, so this presented a little challenge in trying to get all the shots.

The sauce is pretty rich, so you want something just thick enough to coat the meat, but not so thick that it covers it up. Having said that, if you cook it a little further, until it almost starts to simmer, it will get a bit thicker, if that’s your preference. Just don’t go too far, or the yolks may start to form curds, and you’ll lose the silkiness.

What you want to avoid is that pudding-like consistency you see on the bad hotel buffets. Besides paying attention to the few minutes of stirring, not much can go wrong. I really hope you give the recipe formerly known as, “Lobster Wenberg,” a try soon. Enjoy!

                        

Ingredients for 4 appetizer sized portions:

4 (4-oz) lobster tails

2 tbsp clarified butter (melted butter with the milky foam removed)

2 or 3 tbsp sherry or brandy

salt to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 large egg yolks

cayenne pepper to taste

pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

Serve over buttered toast or in freshly baked puff pastry shells (video to follow)

Pumpkin Time

Yes, it's that time of year already. Time to unpack the sweaters, buy scented candles, and of course, figure out some new and exciting ways to cook with pumpkin. Here’s a collection of some of my favorite seasonal recipes. To read the original post, and get the ingredient amounts, just click on the recipe title, and away you go, Enjoy! 

	Best Pumpkin Pie Ever The name says it all. And, you know you can't just make a claim like that on the Internet, unless it's true.
	Holiday Pumpkin Bread It's like banana bread, only with pumpkin. By the way, and you didn't hear this from me, but this is great served warm with a scoop of ice cream.
	Pumpkin Scones If you think scones are dry, crumbly, and boring, then you've never made these.
	Pumpkin Cheesecake I used to think that there was no way to improve on the classic New York style cheesecake, but this has me reconsidering that notion.
	Pumpkin Pancakes 10 years from now, your family will still be talking about the time you made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.

Pastrami-Spiced Duck Breast "Reuben" – Prepare to Open Face

I first tasted pastrami-spiced, smoked duck breast about 15 years ago, and ever since I’ve wondered how it would be used in a classic Reuben sandwich. I never got around to actually trying it, but this is close, and I’m going to say, way, way better.

This was one of the more delicious and interesting duck breast preparations I’ve had in a very long time. The pastrami spices are perfect with the duck meat, and the crisp, cheesy rye was a worthy base.  The quick slaw and mustard dressing helped balance the richness, and like I said in the video, the final results were stunning.

The key here, as it is with any duck breast recipe, is to not overcooked meat. I like to go about five or six minutes on the skin side, until nice and crusty, and then turn it over and continue until the breast springs back under your touch. Obviously, the cooking times I mention in the video will depend on how large the breasts are. Mine were about 5 ounces, which I found to be the perfect size for this.

If you’re using a thermometer, you’ll want to shoot for about 135–140 internal temperature. This will give you gorgeous, pink, juicy meat, that will rival the finest steak. If you can get past the idea of eating a sandwich with a fork and knife, I really hope you give this amazing pastrami-spiced duck breast Reuben a try soon.  Enjoy!

Ingredients for two portions:

2 duck breast, boneless, skin-on (mine were 5-oz each)

For the rub:

1 tbsp olive oil or more as needed

1 tbsp ground black pepper

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

pinch cayenne

For the Reuben:

2 slices rye bread

1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese

1 tablespoon reserved duck fat

2 cups chopped Green cabbage

2-3 tablespoons Russian or Thousand Islands dressing

2 tablespoons mustard dressing (see recipe below)

Mustard dressing:

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste