There are some food combinations that you should try, and fall in love with, and endlessly enjoy. A superior combo is crab and avocado. And, best of all, crab and avocado is really, really simple. You can make this dish in one minute. One.

For the crab meat here, visit your seafood counter and get the very cheapest crab you can. Crab is always pricey, and those big whole legs look very pretty, but here you want little pieces of crab meat to scatter around. So that cheap container of shredded crab, the one orphaned at the far end of the counter, that’s the one you want for this dish.

As for the cocktail sauce, yes, you could make your own. But this recipe is in the Really Simple category and frankly store-bought cocktail sauce is a terrific bargain and time saver.

Easy and economical. You cannot ask for more.

Crab and Avocado with Cocktail Sauce

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 unblemished avocado
• ½ cup crab meat
• Cocktail sauce, about ½ cup
• 1 lemon sliced in half

Preparation:

Slice the avocadoes in half lengthwise, working around the pit. Twist to separate the halves. Remove the pit and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.

Place the two avocado halves on a plate. Adorn with the crab meat, on top and around the sides. Add the cocktail sauce on the side. Squeeze lemon juice from one half over the avocado and crab. Reserve the second lemon half if you want additional zing.

Salt and pepper are probably unnecessary.

Source: Brian O’Rourke

Suzen and I have eaten in many cities in many types of restaurants. From hole in the wall to Parisian white glove, we’ve had the fortune to sample the skills of single chef kitchens and of culinary teams organized like a small army.

We have, of course, our top 10 lists and we revise and rethink our history of consumption all the time. Our “very best” list is short. It’s the places where we had the opportunity to experience true perfection. You might think that deciding between really, really good and perfection might be difficult. It isn’t. When you have perfection, you know immediately. You are stunned. It’s a food high that is immediate, intense, and so obvious you just sit and laugh and enjoy.

On television, Gordon Ramsay can seem a tad rough. Okay, rough is an understatement. He often strikes people as someone they would not want to meet, as someone whose restaurants could not be great. How could a swearing, screaming tyrant produce unbelievable food?

Well, Ramsay’s very demanding personality does translate into perfect culinary experiences. Suzen and I ate at Maze in London two years ago. Not only was the food ideal, but so too the service, the space, literally everything. Go to gordonramsay.com/maze and look at the website. The beauty you see on the screen, in terms of the picture and text and layout, is precisely what you experience when you dine there.

I am convinced that any piece of dust at a Ramsay restaurant is there only after passing inspection.

Fortunately, there is now a cookbook based on Maze. You’ll want to start cooking right away. One specialty of the restaurant is a new trend: verrines. A verrine is foody version of the mai tai cocktail. Layers of food create a visual stack of color, flavors, and textures in a verrine. The recipe below is typical and it is a wonderful dish to sample. Don’t be afraid of the multiple steps. Like many Ramsay recipes, each component itself is fairly simple — there’s an Italian influence there. Ramsay’s genius is to combine superior individual pieces into a dish that is overwhelming wonderful.

Put aside your television impressions. Embrace the Ramsay. He offers you food on a level you have only dreamed of.

Cornish Crab Mayo with Avocado and Corn Sorbet

Servings: 6 as an appetizer

Crab Ingredients:

1 cup crabmeat [ideally fresh from a 2 ¾ pound crab]
⅓cup mayonnaise
Juice of ¼ lemon or to taste
Sea salt and black pepper

Crab Preparation:

In a medium-sized bowl, add the crab meat and mayonnaise.  Mix with a fork, adding the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.

Avocado Puree Ingredients:

2 avocados
Juice of 1 lime or to taste
1 tablespoon crème fraiche

Avocado Puree Preparation:

Halve, pit and peel the avocados, then whiz to a puree in a food processor blender.  Add the lime juice and crème fraiche.  Whiz to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Corn Sorbet Ingredients:

12 ounce can cornel kernels in brine
Pinch of superfine sugar (optional)
Sea salt to taste

 Corn Sorbet Preparation:

Tip the corn into a food processor blender, adding the liquid form the can. Whiz until smooth, then pass through a fine strainer into a bowl. Taste and add a pinch of sugar and/or salt if needed.

Churn in an ice-cream machine to a sorbet consistency, according to the manufacturer’s instruction. Transfer to a rigid container and put into the freezer (unless serving straightaway). Let the sorbet soften at room temperature for 5 to 19 minute before serving.

Assembly and Serving:

Spoon the avocado puree into cocktail glasses to half-fill them.  Divide the crab mixture between the glasses, forming an even layer, then top with a quenelle of corn sorbet and a chervil spring.  Finish with a small spoonful of caviar, if you like.

Source: Maze by Gordon Ramsay

For an elegant meal — or for superior appetizers at say a Super Bowl party — nothing beats the festiveness of freshly made crab cakes.  The aroma of crab and spices is sure to brighten your meal or event.

I’m attaching two crab cake recipes here.  The first is from Faidley’s a famous fish store in historic Lexington Market in downtown Baltimore.  This recipe uses lump crab meat and is, based on my having eaten about a hundred of them, the finest crab cake in the world.  This preparation, from Chesapeake Bay Cooking by John Lewis, is very authentic.  As you can see, it’s really just crab with some crackers and mayo.  The taste here depends on using good lump crab meat.

If authenticity is a necessity for you, then you can order directly from Faidley’s at http://www.faidleyscrabcakes.com.

Now, lump crab meat can be a tad expensive.  So, if you want to use regular crab meat, I’m attaching a delicious second recipe from I Love Crab Cakes by Tom Douglas, the prominent owner of several Seattle restaurants.  This recipe is very easy to make, has just a few ingredients, and interestingly does not use an egg, egg yolk, or milk to help bind the cake together.  Just some mayo.  That means the cakes are a bit fragile, so you may need some additional mayo when forming them.  And, as the recipe suggests, be gentle when you flip them over during the cooking process.

You can follow these recipes to create the crab mixture, then divide it into more cakes, and have mini-cakes for appetizers.  In entree size, one of the cakes with a baked potato and cold beer will make you think you were back in Baltimore.

Okay, for those of you on the West Coast who believe all crabs are Dungeness, I grew up there and I understand.  I Love Crab Cakes has recipes specifically for you Dungeness advocates out there.  I am now totally schizophrenic about crab: both Blue and Dungeness are exceptional.  You just cannot go wrong with homemade crab cakes.

Faidley’s Crab Cakes

Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients:
 

1                 Pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over
1                 Cup crushed saltines
1/2              Cup mayonnaise
1                 Egg
1                 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1                 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1                 Dash Tabasco Sauce

Preparation:
Spread the crabmeat out in a flat pan and sprinkle the crushed saltines over the top.

Mix together the mayonnaise, egg, mustard, Worcestershire and Tabasco in a small bowl.  Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the crabmeat and gently toss or fold the ingredients together, taking care not to break up the lumps of crabmeat.  Let the mixture sit for 2 to 3 minutes before forming the cakes.

Form the cakes by hand or with an ice cream scoop into 8 mounds about 3 inches in diameter and ¾ inch thick.  Do not pack the mixture too firmly.  The cakes should be as loose as possible, yet still hold their shape.  Place the cakes on a tray or platter lined with wax paper, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cooking.

Pour oil into a heavy skillet to a depth of about 1 ½ inches.  Heat the oil and fry the crab cakes, a few at a time, until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side.  Remove with a slotted utensil to paper towels to drain. 

Or, broil the cakes: Slip them under a preheated broiler until nicely browned, turning to cook evenly, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. 

Or, sauté the cakes: Heat a small amount clarified butter or olive oil, or a combination, in a skillet and sauté the cakes, turning several times, until golden brown, about 8 minutes total cooking time.

Source: Chesapeake Bay Cooking, John Lewis.

Jacques Pepin’s Crab Cakes

Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients:

½ pound either pasteurized or fresh crabmeat drained and picked clean of shell
1 ¼ cups fresh bread crumbs
2 tablespoons minced scallions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon Tabasco
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
⅓ cup sliced almonds
2 to 3 tablespoons peanut or canola oil [I actually used butter for flavor]

Preparation:

To make the crab cakes, put the crabmeat in a bowl and add ⅔cup of the bread crumbs, the scallions, cilantro, garlic, mayonnaise, Tabasco, and salt.  Mix lightly, just until the ingredients are well combined.

Put the remaining bread crumbs in the bowl of a food processor with the almonds, and process until the nuts are well chopped and combined with the bread.

Form the crab mixture into 4 patties, then dip each patty into the bread and almond mixture until it is coated on all sides.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium hat, and arrange the patties next to one another in the pan, handling them gently because the mixture is soft.  Cook until golden brown on both sides and hot through, turning once with a spatula, 3 to 4 minutes per side.  The internal temperature of a crab cakes should read 155° on an instant-read thermometer.

Source: I Love Crab Cakes by Tom Douglas

Every holiday season, I scour the bookstore shelves looking for the new, the intriguing.  I seek the next great book, one that has recipes that can become “tradition” in our house.  Sure, Suzen and I already have a few thousand recipes, but there’s always room for more.  Holidays are emotionally important and we look for exceptional food to share with our friends and family.

So just before Thanksgiving I found The New Thanksgiving Table by Diane Morgan.  It was published in 2008, but I never saw it on the shelves last year.  I’m most thankful I found it this year.  It’s a perfect holiday book, not just for Thanksgiving but for this winter’s special days and very special meals.

As usual, I bought it on inspired impulse.  I saw of couple recipes with a spicy twist [Southwestern Simmered Green Beans with Garlic and Onions].  We were off to have Thanksgiving with best friends who love food and heat, so this book seemed to have potential.

As we drove to Knoxville, I leafed through the book and kept putting stickies on the pages that intrigued me.  We had to leave the interstate and find a Staples, so I could buy more stickies.  It’s that kind of book.

Yesterday, I was tired of trying to remember what all the stickies mean so I just put all 25 recipes I’d marked into an Excel spreadsheet.  Suzen saw the spreadsheet and said, “Obsessive compulsive.”  I replied, “Organized.”  And — excuse me here but I have to pause and write a note to discuss this with my therapist, again — I actually find that putting lists into Excel is a terrific way to organize recipes and ideas.  You can sort on any column, so you can organize by name or book title or page number or … Well, if you are techy and want to know more, please contact me.  I have digressed here.

To be honest, we’ve never gotten to the Southwestern Simmered Green Beans recipe yet.  It’ll be on our Christmas table, I assure you.

We got sidetracked with other things in this book.  These recipes are distinctive.  They are different.  They work — they’ve been well tested.  They are well written, easy to follow, and perfectly delicious.

The best one?  Well, it’s Southern Style Biscuits. Yes, you hear about “The South” and biscuits and you kind of nod.  Biscuits?  You immediately think Bisquick, right?  Did you ever hear about White Lily flour?  Have you ever eaten paradise.  “Light and flakey” takes on a new meaning.  It’s a serious reason to buy the book

On Thanksgiving, we loved the Warm Maryland Crab Dip with Lemon Panko Topping.  Paired with a great margarita, and Thanksgiving got off to a very spirited start.  This recipe is listed below.  And on Thanksgiving we devoured the Linguica Sausage Stuffing with Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions.  It’s a perfect match for your turkey.

Since Thanksgiving, we keep trying other recipes.  The Silky Parsnip-Potato Soup with Crisp Diced Bacon is rich without being overfilling.  On a cold night, your bones will love this dish.

We’re going to use this wonderful book for the rest of the winter.  I will be marking off each recipe as we try it on my Excel spreadsheet.  Please do not tell Suzen.

Warm Maryland Crab Dip with Lemon Panko Topping

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

For the Crab:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large shallot, mince
• ½ cup (4 ounces) cream cheese at room temperature
• ¼ cup heavy (whipping) cream
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ⅓ cup thinly sliced green onions including green tops
• 1 ½ tablespoons minced fresh flat leaf parsley
• ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and well drained

For the Lemon Panko Topping:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup Panko or other unseasoned bread crumbs
• 1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest.
• Pinch of kosher or sea salt

Preparation:

In as medium skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the shallots and sauté for about 2 minutes until soft but not browned.  Remove from the heat.  Add the cream cheese, cream, mayonnaise, mustard, and lemon juice.  Using a rubber spatula stir to combine, then fold in the green onions, parsley, salt and cayenne pepper.  Fold in the crabmeat, breaking up any large chunks with a fork.  Transfer the crab dip to a shallow baking dish.  Set aside.

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425° F.

To make the topping, in a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the Panko and toast, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes until the crumbs are golden brown and crisp.  Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and salt.  Scatter the topping evenly over the crab dip.  Bake until heated through and bubbly at the edges and topping is golden, 12 to 15 minutes.  Serve warm with crostini or crackers.

Source:

The New Thanksgiving Table by Diane Morgan