best appetizer ever: crabmeat over boursin
I speak in absolutes. On a regular basis, I say things like “I am dying of heat exhaustion” (when I start feeling sweat on my brow) and “I am literally pulling into the parking lot” (when I am leaving my driveway).
So I am sure I sound like the girl that cried wolf when I say this is “the best” appetizer ever.
But it is.
And really, how could it not be when its main components are butter, cream cheese and crabmeat?
You have to use fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, which can be kinda pricey, so this isn’t an everyday dish. But for special occasions, there’s really nothing better in my mind.
Start by making the Boursin cheese mixture.
Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a food processor. With the machine running, add the Greek seasoning, dried parsley, dried oregano, dried basil, dried dill, dried thyme, and black pepper, and process until smoothly blended. Check and season to taste.
I normally always use fresh herbs but this is one instance in which dried herbs are better. They have a stronger flavor and won’t get mushy, soggy, or gross in the cream cheese mixture.
Spread the Boursin on a platter about 1/4″-1/2″ thick.
Put all of the crabmeat in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold water. Carefully pick through the crabmeat for shells.
In a medium bowl, combine the cleaned crabmeat, lemon pepper seasoning, and diced green onions. Fold carefully so that you don’t break up the lump crabmeat.
Spread the seasoned crabmeat in an even layer over the Boursin. Sprinkle a few more green onions over the top of the crabmeat.
You can cover the dish and refrigerate for up to 8 hours before serving. Pull it out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving so the Boursin softens.
Serve with water crackers and be prepared for many ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from your guests.
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces whipped butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. garlic salt or Greek seasoning
½ tsp. dried parsley
½ tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. dried basil
¼ tsp. dried dill
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. dried thyme
Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a food processor. With the machine running, add the seasonings, and process until smoothly blended. Check and season to taste.
3-4 green onions, sliced
To arrange:
Spread Boursin on platter about 3/4″ thick. Gently pour and arrange the seasoned crabmeat over the Boursin. Garnish with curled green onions and lemon halves. Serve with melba rounds.
grilled zucchini salad
I love zucchini. It is my favorite, favorite, vegetable. Even more than green beans.
I don’t love it more than tomatoes. But since they are technically fruits, I feel okay saying I like zucchini best of all the vegetable family.
But it kind of throws me to say that tomatoes are not vegetables.
Anyway, when I was a kid, I always wanted zucchini with dinner. But Jenny hates it. She likes broccoli, the one green thing that I hate. Though I should mention that at the time, I hated all green things except for zucchini. Thats a whole other story.
All that to say, this salad combines my favorite things. It is good. Hearty. It could easily be a filling lunch. I don’t think it could stand on its own as dinner. But that is because I am not a vegetarian.
So to make this awesome salad, heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the zucchini slices in salt, pepper, and olive oil. Grill the zucchini on each side for 3-4 minutes, until slightly softened and browned. Remove the zucchini to a cutting board and cut the slices into 1/2″ wide pieces.
Coat the red onion slices in salt, pepper, and olive oil and grill each side for 1-2 minutes in the cast iron skillet. Remove from the pan and roughly chop.
Combine the zucchini, red onion, tomatoes, basil and feta in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper well then pour over the vegetable mixture. Toss to coat and serve immediately.
The last few bites of this salad are the best since the veggies have been soaking in the vinaigrette. Fight your husband for these bites.
Grilled Zucchini Salad
2 zucchini, sliced vertically into 1/4″ slices
1/2 red onion, sliced into thin rounds
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2-3 tbsp. feta cheese
2-3 leaves of basil, torn into pieces
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the zucchini slices in salt, pepper, and olive oil. Grill the zucchini on each side for 3-4 minutes, until slightly softened and browned. Remove the zucchini to a cutting board and cut the slices into 1/2″ wide pieces.
Coat the red onion slices in salt, pepper, and olive oil and grill each side for 1-2 minutes in the cast iron skillet. Remove from the pan and roughly chop.
Combine the zucchini, red onion, tomatoes, basil and feta in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper well then pour over the vegetable mixture. Toss to coat and serve immediately.
Serves: 2-3
Time: 20-25 minutes
GEAUX Tigers!
stanton’s, houston
Sometimes I am driving along minding my own business and I notice a bunch of cop cars gathered together and I am overtaken by an urge to pull over and ask what’s going on. I’m nosy like that.
So the other day, I was driving up Houston Avenue from downtown and saw a ramshackle old building surrounded by police cars and I wished I knew what was going on. In fact, I was still thinking about what could have happened later that afternoon.
Then about a week later, I drove by the same building and there were another four or five police cars parked there. That’s when I noticed the sign on the side of the building advertising Houston’s Best Cheeseburger.
So mystery solved. The cops were all just getting a bite to eat. This place is just a few blocks from the Houston Police headquarters.
Good news = discovery of a new great burger place.
Bad news = no fascinating crime scene. But… maybe this is actually good news.
Anyway, I grabbed Whitney for lunch earlier this week and we went to Stanton’s to see if it really is the best cheeseburger in town.
Short answer: probably not the best. But very, very good.
We both ordered bacon cheeseburgers and split an order of fries. I have a major pet peeve about flimsy bacon on a burger. Stanton’s bacon was crunchy but not overcooked. The cheese was a regular slice of American, but there was nothing fancy about this burger, so smoked gouda would have been weird. It was just plain good. Also, the fries were extra-crispy, which I loved.
Don’t be put off by the appearance — its an old convenience store. But inside are some really great burgers and they’re worth the stop.
Stanton’s City Bites
1420 Edward Street, Houston, TX 77007
713.227.4893
www.stantonscitybites.com
simple sunday: balsamic roasted vegetables
This method of cooking vegetables is so delicious, but more importantly, it is really easy. You can do as many or as few as you’d like, so its a good way to make a bunch of vegetables for a crowd, or you can scale back on the number and type of veggies for a dinner for two.
So chop up whatever veggies you have — I like eggplant, peppers, zucchini, red onions, and mushrooms — and toss them in a really large bowl with just enough olive oil to coat them, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, torn basil, and thyme.
Place them in a large roasting pan and cook them in the oven at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes, or until desired tenderness.
Serve immediately.
chickemole (aka avocado chicken salad)
This is a really delicious twist on chicken salad and makes a great sandwich, but I really love it served as a dip with tortilla chips!
Let’s make it:
Put the chicken in a baking dish and cover with buttermilk. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until the chicken is cooked through. Cooking it in the buttermilk makes it tender and keeps it moist.
FYI, the buttermilk will separate and look like it is curdled. It isn’t. It is fine. Its just what happens when it gets hot.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove it to a cutting board and let it cool.
Meanwhile, we’re going to make guacamole. I like to mash about half of my avocados before adding all of the other ingredients so they have a semi-smooth consistency. Add the other half of the avocados (which have been chopped rather than mashed), along with the jalapeño, cilantro, tomatoes, lime juice, salt, pepper and mayonnaise.
Once it is well-combined, grab a chip and taste it. If it needs more of anything, add it now as it will be harder to mix in once the chicken has been added.
Back to the chicken. Grab two forks and shred, shred, shred.
Add the chicken to the guacamole and mix well.
Give it one more taste for seasoning before serving.
Tip: If you want to make it a day ahead, spritz the top of the mixture with lime juice, then press saran wrap onto the surface of it before refrigerating. That will help it keep its bright green color.
Disclaimer: I super-love avocados so I tend to make this more like guacamole with chicken in it, rather than chicken salad held together by avocados. If you want it to be thicker and more like chicken salad, add more chicken or less avocados.
Chickemole
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
buttermilk
2 avocados
1-2 tbsp. mayo
10-12 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp. cilantro
lime juice, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
Put the chicken in a baking dish and cover with buttermilk. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until the chicken is cooked through. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it to a cutting board and let it cool.
Mash about half of the avocados in a medium sized bowl. Add the other half of the avocados (which have been chopped rather than mashed), along with the seeded and chopped jalapeño, chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, lime juice, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Mix well.
Using two forks, shred the chicken breasts, then add them to the avocado mixture. Mix to combine. Serve immediately on sandwiches or with chips.
simple sunday: bacon for a crowd
This is really more of a technique than a recipe, but I just discovered my new favorite way to cook bacon and want to share it.
In the oven.
Its that simple. Why didn’t I think of this before?
I saw this method on Pinterest a few months ago, but never got around to trying it. Now that I have, I will definitely do this when I have a crowd.
Lay out as many pieces of bacon as you can on a rimmed-baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Into the oven they go for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.
The picture below is at about 12 minutes.
When they are crispy and browned, pull the bacon out of the oven and drain on paper towels.
You can cook multiple baking sheets of bacon at the same time in the oven, making this a great method for making bacon for a crowd!
ps. who else saves their bacon fat? We keep ours in the crock pictured below in the refrigerator.
If you aren’t saving it, you are missing out on delicious fried eggs, roasted potatoes, and gumbo – just to name a few things!
