Tangled Branches: Satiated

riveting tales of how we sustain ourselves

Thursday, March 23, 2006

A Can of Crabmeat and Two People

Costco and BJ's both offer 1 lb. cans of Phillips crab meat. It seems extravagent, but I can get several meals out of one can, and it needs to be used up quickly once opened. With only two people to feed, we eat a lot of crabmeat within a few days. The last can went like this:

Day 1 - Crab and Corn Chowder

This is something I've been making for a long time. There are lots of recipes of this type floating around, but I think this is my own invention.

Fry 3 slices of bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and saute 1 medium onion (chopped) and 1 medium russet potato (cubed) in the bacon drippings. (If it looks like there is going to be too much bacon grease, remove some before adding the onion and potato.) Season to taste with black pepper, white pepper (more heat, different flavor than black pepper), and celery seed. Add 1 cup frozen sweet corn and 2 cups milk. Cook until potato is done. Stir in reserved bacon (crumbled) and 1/3 to 1/2 lb. of crab meat. Add salt to taste, but probably won't need much. I've lately been adding a tsp. or so of fish sauce and a drop or two of Worcestershire sauce - it seems to make it a little more flavorful - but then you really don't need much (or any) salt.

Day 2 - Leftover Crab and Corn Chowder for lunch

Served with Pecan Muffins, adapted from a Nut Bread recipe in the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. This is a really nice quick bread, not too sweet (makes really good toast the next day) and this time I just made the recipe into 12 "normal" sized muffins. You know, the size they used to be in the 60s, the 12-to-a-pan size.

Day 3 - Crabmeat Nachos

We wanted a light dinner, and so I just strewed some crabmeat, cheddar cheese, and Danish fontina cheese over some Charras tostadas. Put the whole thing under the broiler for a very short time (hint: remove from the oven before the tortilla chips burn). Served with a semi-homemade salsa: One can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and chiles, some fresh lime juice, some chopped garlic chives (from the garden!), some chopped cilantro, tiny pinches of salt and sugar.

Day 4 - Crabmeat Breakfast Burritos

Scrambled a few eggs with the remaining crabmeat and a small amount of the leftover Ro-Tel salsa. Served on flour tortillas with more (store-bought) salsa. We almost always have roasted potatoes with our breakfast burritos. I cut russet potatoes into various size chunks (try to have some pointy edges and ends, not just cubed), then toss them with olive oil, salt, and chili powder, and put it into a heavy metal pan (roasting pan, gratin pan, frying pan, what have you, but I think it should be heavy and metal). If I have some bacon I want to use up (I did this time), I cut up a slice or two and scatter that on top of the potatoes. Put in the oven at 375 degrees or more, and roast until the potatoes are nice and brown. Stir a few times if you feel like it, but let them start to brown first.

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