When I think of crab claws I think of myself as Bubba Gump. I like fried crab claws, sauteed crab claws, crab claws in gumbo... well, you get the idea. Sauteed crab claws are delicious. You can tell by the photo I didn't use the regular small crab claws like you get in most restaurants. No, sir! These are King Crab Claws. I have been able to find them at Publix at times. However, the way that I usually get them is by buying the frozen bags of King Crab Legs at Sam's when they have them. There are usually 3-5 per bag. I separate the claws from legs and freeze them separately just so I can saute them for a tasty appetizer.

There are two ways that I saute them, depending on my mood. One way is the basic saute shown here. The other is a recipe from a local restaurant that has now closed down. That recipe calls for roasted garlic and sun dried tomatoes and is delicious. But, for now I'm covering the basic saute.

Ingredients:
4-6 King Crab Claws or 12-15 reg. crab claws
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp Old Bay or Creole Seasoning
1/2 cup white wine
1 shallot, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
Parmesan Cheese, shredded

Directions:
Heat a small saute pan to medium heat. Add olive oil and 2 tbsp butter moving butter constantly to incorporate with olive oil. Add shallots and saute for about 3 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and stir for about another minute.Next add white wine,deglaze pan and reduce wine to about half. Once wine has reduced add lemon juice, remaining butter Old Bay and crab claws. Stir claws gently or tossing in pan. Reduce heat slightly and cook claws for approximately 5 minutes. Pour into augratin dish. Top with Parmesan cheese and enjoy.















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I ran across this recipe while "Stumbling" on the internet. It reminded me of some of the meals Sybil and I ate when we first got married. Neither of us was the greatest cook but did the best we could. This is similar to a Hamburger Helper recipe (something we ate plenty of back in the day.)

This is one of those comfort foods that you can enjoy during the winter months. It's easy to make and great to eat.

Ingredients:


1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
3 cups thinly sliced potatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
2 heaping teaspoons sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 Directions:

Sauteing Onions and Peppers

Add the 2  tablespoons of olive oil to a large pan. Add the onions and peppers and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Next, add ground beef and cook until browned. Once browned add cream of mushroom soup, milk, sour cream, mushrooms,salt and pepper. Stir until well mixed.

Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Add a layer of the potatoes, followed by the beef and soup mixture. Continue alternating layers using all ingredients. Cover casserole dish with aluminum foil. Preheat oven to 425 and cook for about an hour, or until potatoes are soft. Finally, remove aluminum foil, add cheddar cheese, and cook another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Add side salad and rolls and you have a full meal. I enjoy stuffing my rolls with the casserole and eating it that way.

Top with cheddar cheese and you are done!

 Note: When I cooked this recipe I was completely out of cheddar cheese. However, I had an Italina 5 cheese blend that I used to top. It was delicious. Moral of the story? Use whatever cheese you like. I also considered adding cheese to each layer, but I didn't have the cheese at the time.

 Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted anything. Close friends know why. I've had to turn my cooking talents in a different direction for a while. Now, I'm having to learn to cook entirely differently.

Tonight's menu is a good, cold night feast. It gives you all of the goodness of a lasagna with the great taste of garlic biscuits.  I ran across the recipes on two different websites and immediately thought they would make a great meal.




Lasagna Soup
2 tsp. olive oil
1 Italian sausage or ground beef
1 c. chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried basil
1 small can tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
4 c. chicken stock (more or less, depending upon how soupy you like it.)
8 oz.rotini pasta 
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

and now for the cheezy addition:
8 oz. ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook about three minutes, stirring constantly. Don't let it burn. Next add sausage or ground beef, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and cook until browned.  Add tomatoes, oregano, basil, chicken stock and tomato paste. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 

While soup is simmering cook pasta per package instructions. Cook until still firm. Do not over cook because you will add them to the soup and they will continue to cook. You don't want them too soggy or limp. Drain, then add to soup. Simmer on low an additional 10 minutes.

Cheezy Goodness

To prepare the cheese portion you need to combine the ricotta, Parmesan, and mozzarella in a bowl. 

To serve, place a dollop of the cheese in each bowl and ladle the hot soup over the cheese. Add a small portion of the Parmesan on top for decoration.

As you eat the soup stir in the cheese at the bottom and it will take on the flavor and color of the sauce in lasagna.Mmmmm. Pair this with the Parmesan garlic biscuits below and you have a scrumptious meal. 

Parmesan Garlic Biscuits
This recipe is similar to Monkey Bread. Just made differently.

rolls in pan before cooking

3 tbs. butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced or 2 tsp dried garlic
12 oz. tube refrigerated biscuits (not flaky)
2 tbs. grated Parmesan cheese


Directions:

Garlic Bread Rolls

Preheat oven to 425. Place butter and garlic in the bottom of a 9″ pie plate. Put in oven until butter melts. While butter is melting, cut each biscuit into quarters. Remove the pan from oven and arrange biscuits on top of butter mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes. Invert pie plate onto a plate and then invert that plate onto another to serve upright.

Chicken Vegetable Noodle Soup

Ok, so this will be the last soup for a little while.... I hope. I made this tonight hoping that it would be something easy that my wife (Sybil) could keep on her stomach after her surgery. She didn't need anything real heavy. But, after not eating for a while I felt like she needed something in her. And, after eating chicken broth for so many days I felt like she needed something a little different. I wanted to try to get some vegetables in her diet. So, staying with the soup idea I thought of chicken vegetable and noodle soup. Here's how I did it.....

Ingredients
1- rotisserie chicken from your local store. You will use 1/2 for this recipe. Remove all the meat from bones discarding bones and skin. Freeze the remaining meat for future use.
1- 16 oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables (corn, beans carrots and limas)
2- 32 oz boxes of chicken  broth

1 envelope Sazon Goya seasoning
1 1/2 cup tri-colored Rotini noodles precooked
1 tbs basil
2 bay leaves
1 celery stalk cut into 3rds
1 green onion, whole

Directions:
Boxed or canned  sock is quick and simple, and you can leave out the next step if you like. But, I feel like the extra ingredients put a little extra kick into the stock and make it a little more "homemade" like. To begin, pour your stock into a large pot. Add the celery, onion, basil, bay leaf and Goya Sazon seasoning. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

 In a separate pan cook your rotini noodles according to package directions. Once they are cooked pour out the water, pouring the noodles into a strainer. Run them under cold water until they are cool. This stops the cooking process. Reserve to the side for now.

While the stock is simmering and noodles are cooking remove the skin and bones from the chicken. You will only use half so freeze the other half for future use. Once you have separated the chicken cut it into bite size chunks and add to the stock. Next add the frozen vegetables and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

Finally, remove the celery, onion and bay leaf. Add noodles and cook for about 5 more minutes until the noodles are warm. Enjoy!

Chef's Secret:
Goya Sazon seasoning is a must in every spice drawer. I use it in rice, soups, and many other recipes. It is found in the Spanish/Mexican food section of your grocery store. Besides the great flavor it also adds a saffron yellow color without the expense of saffron. The boxes come with  envelopes inside. You should always keep some on hand to spice up a dish.

I don't think there is a better meal on a cold wintery night than beef stew. It's a hearty meal that everyone enjoys. The magic of this one is that all the pieces came out in just the right size bites.

Ingredients:
1- 1 1/2 lb pot roast cut into bite size chunks
2- 32oz boxes of beef broth

1- small pkg of baby carrots, cut in half
1- pkg  honey gold potatoes. (I found these at Publix. They are very tiny potatoes. I cut them in half and they were the perfect size for the stew. I did not use the entire bag. I only used about 1 1/2 cups. If you can't find them you can use 2 med size baking potatoes and cut it into bite size chunks.)
2- celery stalks
1- onion, cut into bite size pieces
2- cloves of garlic
2- bay leaves
1- tbsp dried basil crushed
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp  browning sauce

2 tbsp olive oil- more if needed

Directions:
Place the oil into a large pot on med heat. Add the onion and cook about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute.  Finally add the roast and cook until browned.  Once browned drain the fat from the pot and return to the stove.

Once the roast is brown on all sides add the beef broth. Once the broth is added scrape the bottom of the pan to get up any of the "bits" that have stuck to the pan. Next add the bay leaves, basil, Worcestershire sauce, and browning sauce. Stir and cook for about 45 minute.

After the stock and beef have cooked for 45 minutes you can now add the celery, carrots and potatoes. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.Finally, mix 1/2 cup water with 3 tbsp flour. Mix well. Turn heat up on stew to a boil, whisk in the flour mixture, reduce to a simmer.

Chef's Secret:
Browning sauce is a great ingredient to help flavor and darken the color of your stew. You can add as little or as much as you would like. Add a little at a time and stir to see the color. Continue adding until you get to the color you like. And, remember, a little goes a long way.