Lobster Rolls and Puffs (or Crab or Shrimp) and Crab Cakes!
I recently acquired 1 pound of fabulous fresh frozen lobster meat and decided to try it three different ways. These recipes could work with crab or shrimp and, of course, you can adjust seasonings and condiments to your taste as you go.
I divided the lobster into two 8 oz piles once I had defrosted it in the refrigerator. Drained it well and blotted it dry with paper towels. Then proceeded as follows.
Filling for Lobster Rolls and Mini Savory Puffs
Ingredients:
8 oz lobster cut into small pieces
2T mayonnaise
1t lemon juice
2T minced celery
2t chopped Italian parsley
2t green onion, including some green tops
1 dash hot sauce
Pinch salt
Freshly ground pepper
Fresh long rolls
Butter, melted
In small bowl combine mayo, lemon juice, celery, parsley, green onion, hot sauce, salt pepper and taste for seasoning. Divide the lobster into two batches if you are making both the rolls and the puffs, or just make the whole recipe. I chopped the lobster finer for the mini puffs.
For the rolls, toast the bread very lightly and brush the inside with melted butter before filling.
Mini Savory Puffs
Follow the recipe in the last blog (visit article here) for cream puffs and drop one teaspoon of batter on parchment to bake. Be sure to puncture the warm puffs with a toothpick as soon as you remove from the oven to let out the steam. Then, cool on a rack. When you are ready to fill, just split open with a serrated knife, fill and enjoy!
Crab Cakes
Ingredients:
8-10 oz crabmeat
1C crushed saltines (more if needed)
1 small shredded carrot (once you have a pile, then, the next two items should be same measure as carrots)
Equal amount of thinly sliced celery
Equal amount of shredded yellow onion
Good Italian Seasoning to taste
1t pepper
1 egg
1T mayonnaise
2t Old Bay or to taste
Mix all gently with forks.
To form into patties, I line a ramekin with plastic wrap, letting the extra paper over-hang the dish. Then, one-by-one, I press the mixture into the bottom of the lined dish, evening out the top while pressing down with the overhanging plastic wrap brought on top and wrapped around. I place each wrapped patty on a plate in the refrigerator until ready to cook and serve.
To serve, fry gently over medium heat in olive oil and butter in a covered pan 3 – 4 minutes per side. I try not to get the pan too hot, so the cakes just get nicely browned.