a crabby app

Last week, I wrote about a really cool iPhone app...today's app is a little different...less "digital".  It harkens back to a past vacation we had in Prince Edward Island...a place where we unplugged, where the seafood was plentiful and the sun, sand and smiles were even more abundant.

Every summer we head to the cottage and enjoy the beaches in and around the area.  When we asked the kids which beach they'd like to go this summer, the little one piped up "PEI"!!!


There was something very special about that vacation.  Maybe it was the various beaches (white sand like the Caribbean on the northern part of the island, red sand with seafood right on the beach on the southern part).


I think what made it special was the lack of commercialism.  There were no fancy hot dog stands.  No beach towel/jewelry/sunglass stands on or near the beach.  There was just water...and whatever the sea had to offer.   Souvenirs came from nature, not a store.

It brought us back to our primal instincts...to catch our own food. Unfortunately for some rural communities, the generational tradition of catching their own food has been replaced with the dependancy of foods being shipped to them instead.   And as the world gets more populated, the supply and demand will just drive the costs of food to almost unreachable costs. (here's an article on the prices of food up in Nunavut)

Now while I'm not suggesting that we now start hunting for our food...I think it's important to understand and respect where it came from, and take baby steps towards growing our own garden, maybe even learning how to fish, and enjoy real food made from real ingredients. I was very proud to hear my husband mention after a trip to the grocery store, that our son was reading all the labels and checked if the food "was organic or not".   

Good manners, the understanding of food and how to cook it, and an open mind about trying new things is an important lifelong skill. I hope I'm creating the stepping stones to future health and wellness.

Baked Crab Cakes

(a combination of Ellie Krieger, Paula Deen and Kikkoman's recipes)

Ingredients

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 pound of lump crab, picked over for cartilage (or 2 cans of 120g crab meat and 1 can 213 g of salmon, cartilage and bones removed, if fresh crab is unavailable.)
• 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs 
• 1/4 cup of panko crumbs (or an extra 1/4 cup of bread crumbs)
• 1/4 cup mayonaise
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl mix together the egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice. 
• Stir in the bell pepper and shallot. 
• Gently fold in the crab, 3/4 cup of the bread crumbs and salt and pepper to taste. 
• Spoon approximately 1/4 cups of crab mixture onto the baking sheet, making approximately 12 mounds/patties.
• Press the mounds down with a fork, about 1-inch high.
• Top each with approximately 1 tsp. of panko crumbs.
• Bake until golden on the bottom, about 10 minutes. Gently flip the crab cakes and cook until the second side is golden, 5 to 10 minutes longer.

Serve with mixed greens (with goat cheese, raspberries and poppy seed dressing).  


Enjoy.

lobster travels

With Hurricane Irene's arrival at the Eastern seaboard and wishing everyone there stays safe, I've been thinking about our previous trip to Prince Edward Island, a beautiful island on the east coast of Canada.  When we landed, I knew our family would be in for a real treat. The culinary offerings of seafood, specifically lobster, was everywhere, and to watch the boats come in to deliver them while we were waiting for our dinner to be made, was a wonderful experience, especially for the kids.

Climbing light houses or catching a glimpse of the world far away over magnificent red clay cliffs. In awe with the large bridge, running and listening to the “singing sands”, finding lobsters and other creatures in the ocean, and just smelling the salt air…nothing can match the experience.

And nothing can match my first time getting lobster right off the boat, scratching it’s way through a brown paper bag to the cottage we rented, where I had my first foray into lobster cooking. Finding oysters and mussels right on our beach during low tide, and eating a seafood feast from our very own pickings…now that’s fresh seafood!

Sometimes I wonder if the kids would have rather gone to Disney than to this place known as the “gentle island”, but with all the amazing experiences with the ocean and natural surroundings...

...I doubt it.

How to cook a lobster

The best way to cook a lobster is by steaming or boiling. No sauces, no spices. Just dipping the juicy crustacean in simple melted butter. Here's the proper method the lovely cottage owners left behind for us.

"Lobster should be cooked either in clean seawater or salted fresh water (add 2 tbsp./25 ml of salt to each quart/litre of fresh water). Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the lobster and bring it to a boil. Grasp the lobster firmly by the back just behind the claws and plunge it head first into the boiling water. Cover, return the water to a boil and then lower the heat to a bubbly simmer. Lobster will cook in 12-20 minutes depending on the size. Canners will cook in 12-15 minutes, while large lobsters will require up to 20 minutes of cooking time. Timing should start only after the water has returned to a boil. Once cooked, the lobster should be drained immediately, They can now be served hot or chilled quickly by being dipped in cold water. It is important to cool the lobster quickly so that they do not remain in the temperature range in which bacteria multiply rapidly."

(source:  PEI Tourism)