Saturday, December 10, 2011



I prepared this dish on a typical work-night.  It was chosen as dinner for four reasons: 1. I really love serving food over pasta (I'm Sicilian, so go figure!)  2. as a weeknight, I needed something fairly quick, and 3. I wanted something "on the edge" of gourmet (where I like to be most of the time) and 4. The crab looked particularly good!   Almost all of my choices start with ingredients that "just plain looked good" at the market.
It was a late summer night, and this maryland-style crab cake was served over tri-color moroccan cous-cous, seasoned with a touch of lemon-infused olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and black pepper.  The crab cake was quickly seared in a hot, lightly oiled cast-iron skillet and left sit in the hot pan (absent  flame) for about 5 more minutes (while the cous-cous finished) to cook fully through.  This is a method I use as often as I can, because to me, over-cooking food is the first thing you can do to ruin an otherwise good meal.  The cake, cous-cous, and rim of the shallow bowl are all dressed with tobasco and freshly ground black pepper.  Accompanying this simple plate is a Sean Minor Cabernet.  Although not the usual choice to serve with seafood, I sometimes just crave red and the tobasco and seasonings in and on the Crab Cake provided a backdrop that I found suitable to stand up to the smooth, velvety flavors of the Sean Minor.  I hope you will recreate with similar results.  
And please remember:  To know good food, IS to be close to God.
MARYLAND CRAB CAKE over MOROCCAN COUS-COUS

I have chosen to showcase this first dish truthfully more for the quality of the photo than a particular notability of recipe.  I needed something easy to start me down the blogging learning curve; similar to my choice of this meal, on a random weeknight - as something simple, with a hint of elegance & good taste.