Chopped, Part II

Our Chopped party carried on...and then we were 3.  The main course awaited us, along with 35 very short minutes to make an entree.  The mystery ingredients were:

Fennel (which I loathe and have no experience cooking)

Imitation Crab (ick)

Plantains

and Farina

My plan from the get-go was to fry some potatoes up for the main course.  Everyone loves a roesti--grated potatoes pressed into a pancake and fried to a crisp.  I figured that no matter what else was thrown at me, that would carry my team a long way toward victory.  Integrating the plantain into that was child's play, and the farina could also be buried into that crisply fried potato.  I set C to work slicing the fennel, X grating the plantains and potatoes, and K making the Farina according the package directions.  

And I stared, trepidatiously at that imitation crab.  I didn't want to adulterate my beautiful potato pancake with that gross fake shellfish.  We had been told by the judges that we had to use the ingredients in a way that showcased them.  So I made a crab and fennel salad with watermelon, lime juice, onion, and chili pepper, and I arranged it in an artfully displayed Romaine lettuce leaf.  The potato-plantain-farina cake fried to a crisp perfection, we leaned it jauntily against the lettuce boat, quickly made a Sriracha Ketchup for dipping, and wrote the initials of the birthday girl in the sauce.  Nice touch, huh?

Our competitors concocted the following:

Farina breaded crabcakes with salsa and a ragout of sauteed plantains and fennel;

Crab tacos with fennel-beet slaw, chipotle farina and fried plantains.

Alas, the fried potato cake was not enough to carry the day.  We were "chopped", primarily on the grounds that our dish was more of an appetizer than a main course.  Later, my nephew, who advanced to the dessert round said, "Aunt Ker, when I saw you just standing there staring at that crab for a long time I knew that was good for us!"  He was right.  The crab flummoxed me.

With this basket of ingredients, what would you make?

Next post:  the dessert round.

What to Cook for Dinner..? Crab Pillows of course!

Crab Pillows with Pineapple Chili Dipping Sauce

  

It's nearly midnight.

We're still at the shore but a thunderstorm is expected tonight so everyone is going to be bad-tempered hanging around the house.  

The freezer has been emptied progressively, following three week's solid of hungry house guests.  What to cook for dinner?  

Rummaging through the freezer I spot some good looking jumbo lump crab meat, which cost me an arm and a leg when I bought it from the local fish shop here in Stone Harbor.

Saved!  

Crab tonight.  



But everyone is sick of crab cakes as the kids tend to order these whenever we go out.

I throw down the gauntlet to our ever helpful Facebook fans and am OVERWHELMED by the response (remember it's midnight!)

• Three people suggest different types of crab salad (thanks for your suggestions Joe and Tracy); 
• Marjorie suggested a Crab Mac N Cheese - the idea of which sounds most tempting (next time!); 
• Carol's suggestion of crab in a fresh tomato sauce and pasta is a definite potential. 
• Tracy posted Shelfish and Grilled Asparagus Pasta (I'm hoping she sends in the recipe!) and Dawn a Crab and Shitake Risotto.  Yum!!!
• But my favorites two suggestions came from Joe for a Crab Bruschetta and Darby Logan who posted her recipe for Crab Pillows. Get this...

Darby's Crab Pillows

Ingredients:

1 cup crab meat, 
4-ounce package Boursin cheese, 
3 tsp sliced scallions, 
1 pkg. wonton wraps, 
freshly ground pepper to taste, 
Vegetable oil for brushing on wontons 

Now for the hard part - primping the wontons into little bundles

Directions:

1. Combine crab, cheese, scallions, and pepper, mix well. 
2. Place 1/2 tsp of crab mixture in middle of wonton sheet and fold to form triangle, or pull all 4 sides 
up and create a flower pillow. Press and seal edges(with a small amount of water. 
3. Repeat with remaining filling and wontons. 
4. Place on prepared baking sheet and brush pillows with oil. Bake @350 until puffed and golden. 

Says Darby:  "This makes about 25 crab pillows.  These are great with a cocktail -- which I know is not for the kiddos!   OR, try them with a walnut-arugula salad for a light dinner. "

Thanks to everyone who posted their ideas.  What a fun (and democratic) way to decide on what to have for dinner tonight!