OUT WEST: Food & Lifestyle

Appetizers

The Best Dungeness Crab Cakes

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The Best Dungeness Crab Cakes are packed full of delicious Dungeness crab, a little minced celery, red bell pepper and Panko breadcrumbs.

The best crab cakes have just enough breadcrumbs to hold together the Dungeness crab meat, giving you the full flavor of rich, buttery crab. Packed full of jumbo lump meat that you can see and taste with every bite.

Perfect bite sized as an appetizer. Pair with your favorite dipping sauce like spicy sweet chili sauce, roasted pineapple and habanero or more of a traditional creamy dill sauce. These Dungeness Crab Cakes will disappear at your next party.

For a dinner entrée, I like to serve full size Dungeness Crab Cakes over creamy mashed potatoes topped with sautéed fresh corn off the cob and sugar snap peas. For an Asian inspired twist, serve with sautéed baby bok choy and hoisin sauce.

Dungeness Crab Cakes can be frozen, if desired. Place a small piece of parchment paper between the cakes and freeze in a Ziplock bag. Although, I truly believe fresh is best, sometimes it’s good to have a few frozen items for those emergency situations.

Ingredients

  • Dungeness Crab – Fresh Dungeness crab is found on the west coast and has a rich, buttery taste like no other.
  • Celery – Celery adds a light, fresh taste to the crab cake.
  • Red Bell Pepper – Minced fine, adds color and sweetness.
  • Garlic – One small clove of fresh garlic.
  • Panko Bread Crumbs – Unseasoned Panko is light and adds just enough to bind the Dungeness crab together.
  • Mayonnaise – Plain old regular mayonnaise.

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Gently fold ingredients together in a large bowl.
  3. Form into either 8 large or 16 mini balls and then press to cake shape.
  4. Place crab cakes on a sheet pan and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  5. Place pan over medium heat, add oil and brown each side of crab cake.
  6. Remove to sheet pan and place in oven to finish cooking for another 5-10 minutes.
  7. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce or with lemon wedges.
Rich, buttery, Dungeness Crab Cakes are crispy on the outside and flavorful on the inside packed with fresh lump meat, minced celery and red bell pepper.

Dungeness Crab Cakes

Rich, buttery, Dungeness Crab Cakes are crispy on the outside and flavorful on the inside packed with fresh lump meat, minced celery and red bell pepper.
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine Farm to Table, Seafood

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb. Dungeness crab cleaned and shelled
  • 1/2 cup celery minced
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper minced
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 3 tbsp. mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp. cooking oil

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Gently mix Dungeness crab, celery, red bell pepper, garlic, Panko bread crumbs and mayonnaise together.
  • Form into either 8 large crab cakes or 16 mini appetizer crab cakes. Cup together in your hands to form a ball first, to make sure all ingredients stick together. Now press out gently to round shape. This recipe uses the least amount of filler possible, so you really want these crab cakes to form a nice shape before cooking.
  • Place crab cakes on a sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to set ingredients.
  • In a large sauté pan over medium heat, cook crab cakes in oil on each side until browned. Work in batches to ensure even cooking.
  • Place browned crab cakes on sheet pan in 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes to continue cooking.
Keyword Best Crab Cakes, Easy Appetizer

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Grilled Scallops & Smoked Citrus Shallot Field Greens

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Sweet, buttery Grilled Scallops Smoked Citrus Shallot Field Greens with pea pods and nasturtiums is a light, refreshing Summer dish.

Baby, It’s Hot Out There

For those hot Summer days, Grilled Scallops & Smoked Citrus Shallot Field Greens is where it’s at. Refreshing orange and lemon with a hint of smoke and minced shallot drizzled lightly over buttery, grilled sea scallops. Served on stick over field greens, fresh pea pods and nasturtiums. So light, but so very elegant and absolutely PERFECT for Summer dinner.

Buttery grilled scallops, smoked citrus shallot field greens
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Grilled Scallops & Smoked Citrus Shallot Field Greens

Sweet, buttery Grilled Scallops and Smoked Citrus Shallot Field Greens with pea pods and nasturtiums is a light, refreshing Summer dish.
Course Appetizer, Dinner
Cuisine Seafood
Keyword 15 minute dinners, Farm to Table, Light Meal
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes

Equipment

  • 4 wooden skewers

Ingredients

  • 16 large sea scallops patted dry
  • 1 handful fresh sugar peas halved
  • 6 cups mixed field greens
  • 8 nasturtium flowers

Smoked Citrus and Shallot Dressing

  • 1/4 cup shallot minced
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 drops liquid smoke
  • 1 tsp whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp light olive oil

Instructions

  • Place 4 prepared (patted dry) scallops on each wooden skewer. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with a few spoonfuls of Smoked Citrus and Shallot Dressing. Place skewers on grill and don’t touch until you see the scallop turn opaque half way through. Flip to opposite side and finish cooking until just opaque. Do not over cook. They turn hard and rubbery if over cooked.
  • In the meantime, place field greens and pea pods in a serving dish. Toss with Smoked Citrus and Shallot Dressing, saving a couple spoonfuls for the scallops.
  • Remove scallops from grill and place over field greens, drizzle with remaining dressing and garnish with nasturtiums.

Smoked Citrus and Shallot Dressing

  • Combine shallot, lemon juice, orange juice, honey, liquid smoke and cream. Whisk in olive oil.

Edible Flowers

Yes! You CAN eat those flowers. Nasturtiums are one of a few edible flowers that add a beautiful, farm to table feel to your dish. They are very delicate, have a sweet, but spicy flavor and are possibly the easiest flower to grow in your home garden. I always grab a few packets of seeds early Spring and drop them in the soil next to a trellis or climbing garden art.

Here are a few other edible flowers:

  • Zucchini Blossoms – Delicate and sweet, perfect for filling with creamy goat cheese and lightly frying
  • Pansies – Grassy with a hint of mint flavor, goes well in a field greens salad or in shaken cocktails
  • Violets – Sweet and floral flavored, often seen sugared on desserts, tossed in greens or in cocktails
  • Roses – Floral with a hint of sweetness, used in jellies, teas and salads
  • Sage Flowers – Sweet, yet savory, perfect in fresh lemonade
  • Lavender – Perfumed and sweet, pairs well with cream based desserts and refreshing drinks
  • Calendula – Earthy, sometimes pungent floral with honey flavor, used to add color and depth to your dish
  • Nasturtiums – Sweet and spicy like pepper, goes well in my Grilled Scallops & Smoked Citrus Field Greens and rolled in rice paper for fresh rolls

Notes:

Liquid smoke is one of those things where a little goes along way. This recipe calls for 2 drops of liquid smoke and I mean just two drops. We don’t want to over do it on this. It will over power the other flavors, so be gentle.

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Bacon Wrapped Poblano

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Fire roasted poblano stuffed with creamy Oaxaca cheese and crumbled sausage, wrapped in smoky bacon and served on a plate of corn crema

Bacon wrapped poblano stuffed with Oaxaca cheese and sausage served in corn crema

One of my favorite dishes to make are Bacon Wrapped Poblanos. I’ve made them a million different ways, but this might just be my favorite. If you’ve ever tried a poblano pepper, sometimes called pasilla pepper, you know that one time you’ll get a spicy one and other times they have a definite kick to them, which makes this sweet corn crema the perfect way to eat these up! These babies are stuffed with a creamy Mexican melting cheese called Oaxaca and spicy crumbled sausage, them wrapped up in a smoky piece of bacon. You’ll want to make extra of these!

Bacon Wrapped Poblanos are hearty enough to serve as a main dish or perfect for an appetizer.  Serve with Enchiladas Suiza and a plate of freshly shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and avocado.  If you are having friends over, set out a couple poblanos, a batch of Frijoles Charros, your favorite tortilla chips and pico de gallo for an Out West inspired gathering.

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  • Carne en su Jugo
Stuffed poblano wrapped in bacon in cream corn sauce
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Bacon Wrapped Poblano

Fire roasted poblano stuffed with creamy Oaxaca cheese and crumbled sausage, wrapped in smokey bacon and served on a plate of corn crema
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword bacon wrapped peppers, pasilla pepper, stuffed pepper, stuffed poblano
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 5

Ingredients

Poblano Peppers

  • 5 poblano peppers (pasilla peppers)
  • 1 lb hot ground sausage
  • 10 oz Oaxaca cheese, grated (found in Mexican section of dairy)
  • 5 slices bacon

Corn Crema

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
  • 2 cup corn, frozen
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp cilantro, chopped
  • 1 tsp lime juice, fresh
  • 1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions

Bacon Wrapped Poblano

  • Heat oven on broil
  • Place poblano peppers on sheet pan and broil on each side until blackened
  • Remove from oven and quickly place in a bowl with lid.  Leave here for about 5 minutes to allow the skin to steam off.  After 5 minutes, remove and place on cutting board.
  • Carefully, using the back side of your knife, scrape off the blackened skin. Make a small slip in one side of the pepper and remove seeds.
  • In a medium pan over medium heat, cook sausage untl browned and crumbled.
  • Place bacon slices between two thick paper towels and microwave for two minutes, cooking partially.  Set aside.
  • Stuff peppers with 1/5 of cheese and 1/5 of cooked sausage.
  • Wrap a piece of par cooked bacon around each pepper and secure with a toothpick. 
  • Place on a sheet pan and bake for about 10 minutes while you make the corn crema.

Corn Crema

  • Heat oil in a medium pan over medium heat.  Saute onion until softened about 2 minutes. Add corn and cook another two minutes. Add chicken broth, cream, cilantro, lime and sugar. Remove from heat. 
  • Blend mixture using an immersion blender or pour into a standard blender and blend until creamed.

Plate

  • Place a ladle of the corn crema on plate, set poblano on top and serve with desired garnishes such as lime and cilantro.