Crab and Avocado Sandwich

Once upon a time there was a restaurant in the Heart of Bossier shopping center called Louisiana Bar and Grill. It was one of the few places the family would drive "all the way" to Bossier for a meal. Mom, sister and I would always order the Crab and Avocado Sandwich. Funny, that is really one of the only things I remember about the place. It was a little loud, combination bar and restaurant with this great sandwich. Now it is a billiards slash bar kind of place. It closed when I was in college. Since then we have been making the sandwich at home. It couldn't be easier and it is so delicious. I love the creamy filling of avocado, crab and thousand island. They really complement each other. The pepper jack cheese adds a little spice and the sourdough a tangy crunch. Try it next time you want a grown up grill cheese.

Crab and Avocado Sandwich

Serves: 2

Ingredients

4 slices Sourdough Bread

Light Butter

4 slices Pepper Jack Cheese

1/2 cup Lump Crabmeat

1/8 cup Thousand Island Dressing (recipe follows)

1 medium/large avocado, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Spread butter on one side of each piece of bread. Place two slices of bread butter side down in a skillet. Layer with pepper jack, crab meat, dressing and avocado, season with salt and pepper. Top with another piece of pepper jack and remaining slices of bread butter side up. Turn skillet on to medium high heat. Grill sandwich until golden brown. Carefully flip sandwich and continue to grill until second side is golden brown. Remove from pan and cut in half on the diagonal.

I use to buy bottled Thousand Island Dressing for this sandwich. You are welcome to do so, but I found I was always throwing away the rest of the bottle. It would just go unused and sit in the refrigerator until it expired. So this time I decided to make my own. It turned out great. This is more than a salad dressing. It just might become my special sauce recipe for burgers too. It is creamy, tangy and a little crunchy from the pickle and onion. Best of all, it makes less than a cup. 

Thousand Island Dressing

Makes: approx. 3/4 cup

Ingredients

1/2 cup light Mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. ketchup

1 Tbsp. white vinegar

2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. sweet pickle relish

2 tsp. onion, finely minced

1/8 tsp salt

1 dash black pepper

1 smidgen cayenne pepper

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir until well combined.

Place dressing in a container with tight fitting lid. Refrigerate for several hours. Stir occasionally, so that the sugar dissolves and the flavors blend.



Linking to:
Life on Lakeshore Drive: A Bouquet of Talent Linky Party
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Mondays
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesdays
Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin Wednesday
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
Six Sister's Stuff: Strut Your Stuff Saturday Link Party
The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen: Show Me Your Plaid Mondays
Carole's Chatter: Food on Fridays - Sandwiches

Catching Up

I'm back! I guess I have been a lazy blogger. I have not stop cooking, just traveling and working. Here is a short recap to catch you up on what I have been cooking.

I went to central Texas for a long Memorial day weekend. We had a wonderful relaxing weekend. We did do some cooking, but I did not take a single photo. Lucky for you all the recipes we cooked were from America's Test Kitchen or from another food blog on Pinterest. Below is a link to the recipes and our review.

Home Fries
I had seen an episode of America's Test Kitchen where they made Home Fries. I love Home Fries, I love potatoes any old way. So we decided to try making them on our long weekend. When looking for this recipe, I discovered My Year with Chris. This is a wonderful blog chronicling cooking recipes from America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country. I will be going back to this blog often. We actually followed their post to cook our Home Fries. The technique is perfect. You really do get that crisp, brown coating on the potatoes with a soft fluffy interior. It would be easy to prepare home fries for a large family this way. Our only disappointment was the seasoning. We are use to spicy home fries from the diners around here. So we added some Cajun seasoning at the end. But the seasoning does not stick at that point. The time to season is before they go in the oven. We both agreed, we will try again with our own seasonings.


Fresh Pasta without a Machine
We also tried our hand at making fresh pasta. It is another recipe from America's Test Kitchen. We actually followed along with a recording of the episode. It was really easy. We took turns rolling out each sheet. We soon learned you need a lot of counter space to prepare this recipe. Our chopping board was a little too small to roll to the length recommended. Next time we will clear the counter and roll it out there. It really did roll out very easy. We also learned it is important to have counter space to let the sheets dry a little before you cut them. We had a few over lapping each other and they were harder to separate into noodles. I will definitely make this again. The flavor and texture was great, well worth the effort. I can't wait to make wide style pasta like pappardelle or tagliatelle. I have a hard time finding it here. I also want to try making noodles for soup. I may need a countertop addition.


Restaurant Style Filet
This is one of those Pinterest recipes you should try. It comes from Whit's Amuse Bouche blog. It is a great tutorial for a restaurant-style filet. Dear sister and I made it once at my house. We decided it did not need all the salt that is recommended. But it was definitely worth trying again. So we tried again Memorial Day weekend. This time I seasoned it with salt and pepper as I would any steak, but I followed the recipe for everything else. This time the seasoning was perfect. The only thing I want to experiment with is the compound butter. Whit's was good, but we are not use to lemon on our steaks. We will keep experimenting with this technique. It really makes for a moist, tender and flavorful steak.

Go check out all these recipes.

Ponzu Soba Noodles with Broiled Flank Steak

After Mother's day, I made this Ponzu Soba Noodles with Broiled Flank Steak from Cuisine at Home. It was delicious! I really like ponzu. It is a light citrus flavored soy condiment. It is great on anything you want to give an Asian flare. It went surprisingly well with the basil too. But let me warn you this salad is best fresh. I noticed the basil sort of took over all the other flavors the next day. So if you plan to make ahead add the basil just before serving. The steak was nice and tender. I know some of you are looking at this photo and thinking is that steak cooked. It was a perfect medium rare. I find that flank steak gets tough if you over cook it. So if you like your steak well done choose another cut of beef. This was my first experience with soba noodles. They are so silky in texture. At least that is what dear sister said. I will definitely make this salad and soba noodles again.

Ponzu Soba Noodles with Broiled Flank Steak
Source: Cuisine at Home
Makes 4 servings 

Ingredients

1/3 cup ponzu sauce
1-1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 lb flank steak, trimmed, seasoned with salt and black pepper
8 oz dry soba noodles
5 cups coleslaw mix
1 cup shelled edamame, blanched
3/4 cup shredded fresh basil 

Directions

Preheat broiler to high with rack 6 inches from element.

Whisk together ponzu, chili garlic sauce, and oil for the dressing in a large bowl.

Broil steak 5 minutes per side. Tent steak with foil and lest rest 5 minutes, then slice thinly against the grain.

Cook soba noodles according to package directions, then drain and rinse with cold water.

Toss noodles, coleslaw, edamame, and basil with dressing; season with salt. Top noodles with sliced flank steak.

Per serving: 432 cal; 10 g fat(3 g sat); 32 mg chol; 614 mg sodium; 54 carb; 7 g fiber; 31 g protein

Pork and Shrimp Dumplings

This has to be my favorite dish from our Mother's Day Menu. It was the most fun to make, the tastiest and most aromatic. I saw the recipe on the Chew. The original recipe called for ground chicken. I substituted lean ground pork because it is available at my store. Ground chicken is not. Mom and I had so much fun! We snacked on Asian Party Mix, sipped wine and folded dumplings. We got quite good at it if I do say so myself. From the very beginning I thought this was going to be amazing. The raw filling smelled so good. The aroma only got better as they steamed. The filling was moist, soft and full of flavor. The blend of pork, shrimp, garlic, ginger, soy and sesame oil was perfect. I would not change a thing. I will make again very soon!

Some helpful hints about folding the dumplings: I dusted a plate with cornstarch to prevent them from sticking. I also covered the finished raw dumplings with a damp paper towel. I steamed some dumplings right away for us as appetizers and saved some for when sister arrived. I steamed about 8 at a time and transferred the finish cooked dumplings to a plate. I covered them with foil to keep them warm and to prevent them from drying out. You will need tongs or chopsticks the help remove them from the steamer. I also discovered you can warm the steamed dumplings in the steamer for 3 minutes and they are fresh as when they were first steamed.

Pork and Shrimp Dumplings

Adapted from: the Chew - Clinton Kelly’s Chicken and ShrimpDumplings

Makes 24 to 28 pieces

Ingredients

28 wonton wrappers

1/2 pound lean ground pork

1/2 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined)

2 garlic cloves (chopped)

2 teaspoons fresh ginger (grated)

3 scallions (chopped)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 cups chicken stock

nonstick spray

Directions

For the Dumplings: Bring 1 quart of water and 2 cups of chicken stock to a boil in a medium stock pot. Reduce to a simmer.

Place the pork, shrimp, garlic, ginger, scallions, soy sauce, sesame oil and cornstarch in a food processor and pulse until fully combined.

Brush a wonton wrapper with water. Place 2 teaspoons of the mixture into the center of the wrapper and bring the four corners up to the center and pinch to seal while pressing out any excess air. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Place the dumplings into a steamer basket that has been lightly sprayed with nonstick spray, in one layer making sure the edges do not touch, working in batches.

Place the steamer basket into the stock pot and cover with a lid. Cook for 12-15 minutes.

Gently remove the dumplings to a serving platter along with the dipping sauces.

Notes:

Do not pulse the shrimp too finely.  Large pieces of shrimp are delicious in the filling.

Make sure there is space between the steamer and the water. Also, do not overcrowd the steamer.

Watch the water level in the steamer, add more if the level drops.

As for the sauces, I was not a big fan. They were okay, but needed to be altered a bit. On the Chew they suggested using take-out sauce packets to make the dipping sauces. I think that may have contributed to my lack luster approval of the sauces. They were a little bland or stale tasting on their own. I added lemon juice, honey and/or mustard to taste. My family enjoyed the sauces. I think I would try again with premium jar sauces not take-out packets.


Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup duck sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon Sriracha

Directions

Whisk together the ingredients until fully combined.

Note: I added honey and lemon juice to taste.

Spicy Mustard Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup spicy Chinese mustard

2 tablespoons hot water

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Directions

Whisk together the ingredients until fully combined.

Note: I added honey, lemon juice and Dijon mustard.



Linking to:
Love Bakes Good Cakes and With a Blast: All My Bloggy Friends
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Carole's Chatter: Food on Fridays - Finger Foods for Parties

Pineapple Teriyaki Salmon

This salmon was deliciously sweet and moist. It was a great choice for Mother's Day. The original recipe was for individual fillets. They pan seared each and finished the cooking in the oven. I cooked a whole side in the oven and applied the glaze in the last few minutes of the cooking time. So easy! It was also delicious with the Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad. Next time I will save a little glaze to serve at the table. I loved the pineapple, orange and soy combination.

Pineapple Teriyaki Salmon

Adapted from: Cooking Light MAY 2006

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp finely grated orange zest

1 (6 oz) can pineapple juice

1/2 tsp salt, divided

2 tsp canola oil

1 whole side of salmon

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Grated orange rind (optional)

Directions

Combine first 4 ingredients and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan over high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 15 minutes). Set aside.

Preheat oven to 475°.

Sprinkle flesh side of salmon with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Rub salmon with canola oil. Add fish skin side down to a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake at 475° for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; brush sauce over salmon. Return to oven, and cook 2 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Sprinkle with orange rind, if desired.

Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad

This is another recipe I found on the WW Recipe Review Board. I have not made it for years, but I thought it would be a great side for the Pineapple Teriyaki Salmon. The original recipe called for beef flavored Ramen. I thought is was too strong. I like oriental or chicken flavored Ramen. I am sure any flavor would work in this salad. Dad was a huge fan of this salad. He kept adding another little spoon to his plate. It is a sweet and crunchy salad. I use to bring it for my work lunches. I just may have to put it back into my meal rotation.

Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

1 pkg oriental or chicken flavored Ramen noodles
1 large package Coleslaw mix
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Dressing:
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup water
1  flavor packet from Ramen noodles
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

Directions

Break noodles into pieces and mix with coleslaw mix, sunflower seeds, onions, and almonds in a large bowl. Combine ingredients for the dressing in a jar and shake vigorously. Pour over salad, toss and chill for several hours. When ready to eat, toss again to coat.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo

Mother's Day and Asian Party Mix

We had a great Mother's Day. Dear sister had to worked, so I went over to Mom and Dad's with a few things already prepared and a few things to cook there. We snacked on an Asian Party Mix I brought over. Dad watched golf and Mom and I made Pork and Shrimp Dumplings. We had fun! Sipping wine and folding dumplings. We got quite good at it if I do say so myself. Dinner was planned for eight o' clock. So I steam some dumplings for us as appetizers and saved some for when sister arrived. I brought the Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad already prepared. All I had to do was put the salmon in the oven just before dinner. We had a nice evening. It turned out to be one of the latest evening we have had in a while. Good times!

Mother's Day Menu

Mid Day Snack: Asian Party Mix

Appetizer: Pork and Shrimp Dumplings

Meal: Pineapple Teriyaki Salmon and Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad

Dessert: Banana Split Sundaes

[Vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate sauce, sliced bananas,

strawberries, chunks of pineapple, whipped cream and nuts]

The Asian Party Mix was a big hit with Mom. It has a spicy kick from the curry powder, ground red pepper and wasabi peas. It is addictive. The original recipe called for both rice chex and corn chex. I like to substitute Crispix cereal because it has one side that is corn and one that is rice. That way I am not left with two boxes of open cereal. I love the rice crackers in this mix. They have a sweet glaze on them and are often wrapped in nori. Shop around for this ingredient. There are lots of varieties out there. The more variety in the crackers you buy, the more interesting your mix will be. My only disappointment was that the wasabi peas I bought were not their usual pretty green color. They were more of a golden yellow color. I think the green would have added some color to the mix. Next time I will make sure I find green wasabi peas.

Asian Party Mix

Makes approx. 8 cups

Ingredients

4 cups Crispix cereal  

2 cups rice crackers mix with nori

1 cup fat-free pretzel sticks

3/4 cup wasabi peas

1/2 cup lightly salted dry-roasted peanuts

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 200°.

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; set aside. Break rice crackers into bite size pieces if necessary. In a small bowl, combine canola oil and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour oil mixture over cereal mixture, tossing gently to coat. Spread the mixture onto a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 200° for 45 minutes. Cool completely before serving. 


Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo