Dayrecipe Food Community

On Maryland’s Eastern shore, watermen make a living pulling the “beautiful swimmers” (blue crabs) out of Chesapeake Bay. This recipe was given to me many years ago by a waterman’s wife — pre-food-processor.

Note: This one’s for the mini food processor because amounts are small.

Makes 6 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound lump crabmeat, bits of shell and cartilage removed
• 2 slices firm-textured white bread
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons curly parsley leaves, rinsed and wrung dry in paper toweling
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• pinch ground hot red pepper (cayenne)
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise (use light, if you like)
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly coat 6 large scallop shells
with nonstick cooking spray or, if you prefer, lightly coat a 6-cup au gratin
pan or shallow casserole; set aside. Place the crab in a medium-size mixing
bowl and set aside also.

2. Tear the bread into small chunks, letting them drop into a mini food
processor fitted with the metal chopping blade. Using 3 to 4 brisk pulses,
reduce to moderately coarse crumbs. Drizzle the melted butter over all and
pulse 2 to 3 times to incorporate. The crumbs should now be moderately fine.
Tip onto a piece of wax paper and reserve.

3. Add the parsley, salt, black pepper, and cayenne to the processor (no need
to wash the bowl or blade), and pulse briskly 3 to 5 times until the parsley
is coarsely chopped.

4. Add the mayonnaise and mustard and churn until smooth, about 5 seconds.
Scoop on top of the crab and toss lightly to mix.

5. Mound the crab mixture in the scallop shells or spread evenly in the au
gratin dish, and scatter the buttered crumbs on top.

6. Bake uncovered on the middle oven rack until bubbling and touched with
brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

7. Serve at once, accompanying with a tartly dressed salad of greens. Roasted
asparagus spears also make a delicious accompaniment.

A simplified version of the classic Italian dessert, this looks lovely served in parfait glasses for a change. The recipe features pound cake and cream cheese instead of the traditional (but harder-to-find) ladyfingers and mascarpone cheese.

Makes 6

INGREDIENTS

It’s important to make this tender fresh pasta into pansoti as soon as you have cut the dough into squares: The squares dry out quickly and become difficult to seal.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 2 hr

Makes about 24 (3 1/2-inch) squares.

INGREDIENTS

• 1cup cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1/4cup all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
• 1/2teaspoon salt
• 2large egg yolks
• 1 1/2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4tablespoons waterspecial equipment:a pasta maker

DIRECTIONS Make dough:
Blend all ingredients in a food processor until mixture just begins to form a ball. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, incorporating only as much additional flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, 6 to 8 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let stand 1 hour.

Roll out dough:
Set smooth rollers of pasta machine at widest setting. Cut dough into 4 pieces and keep 3 pieces covered. Flatten unwrapped piece of dough into a rectangle and feed through rollers. Fold rectangle in half and feed through rollers 8 more times, folding in half each time and dusting with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.

Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through without folding. Continue to feed dough through without folding, making space between rollers narrower each time, until narrowest setting is used. Cut rolled-out dough into 31/2-inch squares. Gather trimmings into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Transfer squares to a wax-paper-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Roll out and cut remaining dough in same manner, then repeat with trimmings.

Cooks’ note:
• Pasta dough, though best used immediately, can be made (but not rolled out) 1 day ahead and chilled, wrapped in plastic wrap. Bring dough to room temperature before rolling out.

‘80S THE COSBY SHOW

In the well-appointed Huxtable kitchen (“The Drum Major” first aired on February 4, 1988), Cliff explains to his family why it’s essential to wait three days before eating his famous chili: “If you tasted this on the first day, you’d say, ‘What can did this come out of?’
If you tasted this on the second day, you’d say, ‘Oh my goodness, somebody’s grandmother got up off her chair and just took this to the mountain!’ But on the third day you don’t even have to taste it. You just walk by the pot and something says, ‘Hey, come here!’” Although this chili can be eaten the same day it’s made, it really does taste better if you wait another day or two.

Active time: 1 3/4 hr Start to finish: 6 1/2 hr (plus 1 to 2 days for flavors to develop)

Makes 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 2oz dried ancho chiles (4 large), stemmed and seeded
• 6large garlic cloves, 3 of them finely chopped
• 1tablespoon salt, or to taste
• 1 1/2tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2tablespoons chili powder (not pure chile)
• 4lb well-marbled beef brisket or boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch pieces
• 3to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1(28- to 32-oz) can whole tomatoes in juice
• 1/4cup canned chipotle chiles in adobo
• 1/2cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2lb white onions, chopped (4 cups)
• 1tablespoon dried oregano (preferably mexican), crumbled
• 1to 4 fresh serrano or other small green chiles, finely chopped, including seeds (1 is fine for most tastes; 4 is the eight-alarm version)
• 1(12-oz) bottle beer (not dark)
• 2cups water
• 2 1/2cups cooked pinto beans (optional; 30 oz), rinsed if cannedaccompaniments:cubed avocado; chopped white onion; shredded cheddar; chopped fresh cilantro; sour cream

DIRECTIONS Soak ancho chiles in hot water to cover until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain well.

While chiles soak, mince 1 whole garlic clove and mash to a paste with 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon cumin, and 1/2 tablespoon chili powder. Pat beef dry and toss with spice mixture in a large bowl until coated.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wide 6- to 7-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown beef in 3 or 4 batches, without crowding, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch (lower heat as needed; spice mixture burns easily). Transfer beef as browned to another bowl. (Do not clean pot.)

Purée anchos in a blender along with tomatoes (including juice), chipotles in adobo, cilantro, remaining 2 whole garlic cloves, and remaining 1/2 tablespoon salt until smooth.

Add enough oil to fat in pot to total 3 tablespoons, then cook onions and chopped garlic over moderate heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits from beef, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add oregano, remaining tablespoon cumin, and remaining tablespoon chili powder and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add chile purée and 1 chopped serrano and simmer, stirring, 5 minutes. Stir in beer, water, and beef along with any juices accumulated in bowl and gently simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally and checking often to make sure chili is not scorching, 2 hours.

Taste sauce, then add more serrano if desired and continue to simmer, partially covered, until beef is very tender and sauce is slightly thickened, 1 to 2 hours more. (If chili becomes very thick before meat is tender, thin with water as needed.)

Coarsely shred meat (still in pot) with 2 forks and cool chili completely, uncovered, then chill, covered, 1 to 2 days to allow flavors to develop.

Reheat over low heat, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 30 minutes. Add beans (if using) and simmer, stirring, 5 minutes.

At Aux Truffes, the poached pears are brushed with a sabayon-like mixture and then broiled. This version is much simpler to prepare and just as pretty and delicious.

6 servings

INGREDIENTS