Tempura Crab Cake and Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Cake Duo

I'm still on a mission to finally catch up on all my blogs.  Get back in the time machine, we will go back a year and a bit.  This installment has a recipe to prepare when spaghetti squash comes into season in September, or October.  This is the timeframe when crabbing season comes to a close in the Puget sound, as well.  This plating combines seafood delights and adds variety to the palate with a serving of veg built right in.

  

Start by roasting a spaghetti squash in a 400 deg. oven for approx. an hour.  Set aside to cool.  You will only need half of a smallish sized squash for the finished cakes.  To get ready, also peel and devein 1/2 lb. of shrimp and pick 1/2 lb. of crabmeat.  set aside in separate containers.

For the squash and shrimp cakes, you will need to put the prepared shrimp in a blender with 2 egg whites.  Process into a paste, small pieces of shrimp in the mixture are good.  Add the shrimp paste to the prepared squash.  Season with a few pinches of minced parsley and few dashes of smoked paprika, also salt/pepper. Finally, drizzle a bit of sesame oil in the mix.  Combine well and form into cakes much like a standard crab cake, or fish cake.

For the crab cakes, add 2 tbsp. of mayo to the crab meat and salt and pepper. Add a few pinches of flour, or tempura powder.  Fold together until everything comes together nicely.  Prepare a batch of tempura, either a homemade batch or the boxed variety works well.  You will need about 1 cup of tempura in total.  Add the crab mixture to the tempura mixture, sprinkle with a 2 tbsp. of sesame seeds.  Form into cakes vaguely.  These will start out as more of a drop cake, but can be finessed into the right shape in the pan. 

Shallow fry the cakes in batches.  Change the oil between varieties.  The yield should be about a dozen good sized cakes total. 

Serve on sheets of nori and with a Sriracha aioli.

 Sriracha Aoli

1/2 c. mayo
2 goodly squirts of Sriracha
2 grated garlic cloves  (use a microplane to get it in very small pieces)

Spot Prawn with Blistered Shishito Peppers and Japanese Corn

More summer food!  

A year later, but here is hoping the information can be used to prepare for another summer cook out.  It seems I'm using a time machine in my blogs lately, life takes over and there are a few unpublished works that need to be revealed.  

A Japanese marinade for the corn and peppers do wonders for flavour, dead simple and ready for the grill.  I've added koji in my recipe to lift the corn to another level.  When the koji and the grill work together, the corn gets lovely carmelised glaze all over without using too much sugar.   I have also included pearl onions, in a homage to the prawn spots, grilled they add a delicate highlight to the dish.  

                                         

My spot prawns were caught with a net out of a more domestic aquarium at the market.  Here is a video showing how to catch yourself, if you were to be so lucky:

How to clean the catch:

The marinade consists of a 1/2 c. of tamari, 2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar, a few pinches of brown sugar, or a dash of maple syrup, season with salt and pepper.  Use less salt and more pepper, as the koji coming up in the recipe is quite salty  Mix well, dissolve the sugar and add a large batch of peppers and 6 cleaned and blanched corn cobs that have been generously rubbed with koji.  Finally drop in 6 pearl onions that have been cut in half.  Marinade in a bag, or shallow dish for several hours, or overnight.

The peppers are great to have growing in a kitchen garden, just one plant is great for making small plates on the fly.  Shishito peppers are a thin skinned Japanese variety of pepper.   Most times just pop them on the grill and blister a bit, sorted.   A substitute to use the UK is a Padron pepper, even though it is a Spanish pepper they may be more readily available.  They have a thin skin and a mixed hot, or mild temper within each batch, a sort of roulette spin just like shishito.   Padron are often found on a tapas plate, I hope to experiment with them soon.

                                        

While the veg marinades, prepare the prawns.  Simply boil them whole in water seasoned with Old Bay for a few minutes. 

Peel the shrimp ready to flash on the grill to heat on the finished dish.

Drain the veg, but reserve the marinade.  Grill the onions with good grill marks, about 10 minutes,  set aside.  Next grill the corn and peppers, they should finish about the same time, about 15 minutes each side.  The corn should be caramelised and the peppers blistered.

  

To plate, marry everything on a platter and pour warmed reserved marinade over the top.  This dish is nice with the corn on or cut off the cob.

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Shropshire Summer Potato Salad

This salad is packed full of seasonal ingredients, most very local to Shropshire.  All the components are served cold and can be made a day ahead, ready for a summer BBQ, or a light bite all on it's own. On a hot day it can be very refreshing.  A few slices of a meaty, smoked pheasant are a welcome change up from crumbly bacon stirred into a basic potato salad.   Another gem from Shropshire featured here is a fresh cheese, a bit like feta called Shrewsbury Fretta, I found the texture a bit firmer. Capers and cornichons provide a balancing tang.

A star in this dish is lovely smoked pheasant.  This pheasant usually makes a welcome snack on it's own, but can easily feature on a composed dish.

The pheasants are raised free range on an estate in Bridgnorth, with only a supplemented diet of home grown wheat.  The next stop is MacNeils smokehouse, a Beechwood smoke is used here.  The final product is bound for Apley Farm Shop, where it can be found in season in the autumn months,  The pheasant is available year round, as it freezes rather well.

Here is some information about how this shining star was created:

The recipe for 4 small plates goes as such:

4 medium sized potatoes, sliced, steamed and cooled

1/2 cup petit poi, steamed and cooled

6 minced cornichons

2 minced shallots

1 heaping tablespoon capers, minced

1/4 cup mayo

1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard

A pinch of celery seeds

Season with salt and pepper

Gently fold the ingredients together.  This salad keeps well and actually marinades and develops flavours overnight.

Crumble a generous amount of the cheese over the top, when ready to serve on each plate.

Slice the pheasant and give each each person 4 to 5 slices along side the salad.

The cheese!  Moyden's Handmade cheeses hail from Market Drayton.  Shrewsbury Fretta is a young cheese, fretta means quick in Italian.  An unpasteurised product with delicate flavours and a "meaty" texture.  I found this cheese available at Apley Farm Shop in Norton.

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