Eat Together, Make Life Delicious...

This recipe is perfect for tailgating and can be as fancy or as low key as you want it to be. To prepare these for a tailgating event, simply prepare and assemble the stuff mushrooms in advance and transport them in a plastic container. To finish them off, place a piece of foil on the grilling grates (at medium high flame) and the mushrooms on top and grill them until piping hot and the cheese is melting, or about 15 to 20 minutes (this will depend out how hot the grill is so just keep an eye on it.)

When preparing this recipe, it’s not necessary to use jumbo or backfin lump crab, the most expensive crabmeat. Just use the freshest you can find. This recipe is easily prepared ahead of time and baked or grilled before serving. My grandmother Edna and her sisters, Cookie and Mimi, loved this recipe; you could eat it with one hand and still hold your drink in the other. My brother John likes to soak the bread in white wine instead of water. That works too as it adds a little more flavor.

To really branch out and try something fun, try this recipe with other seafood such as canned salmon, canned Sicilian tuna, King crabmeat, Snow crabmeat, minced fresh scallops, minced fresh shrimp, to name a few.

Tailgating Crab-Stuffed Mushroom Caps
makes 4 to 6 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 large white onion, finely chopped
2 pounds large white mushrooms, stems removed and pulsed in a
food processor until finely minced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup torn day-old bread, soaked in 2 tablespoons water
½ pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated (to make this "fancy", try Brie cheese)
1 pound fresh crabmeat (or all the fun suggestions I mentioned in the intro)



Place a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 375 degrees. In a medium
skillet over medium heat, slick the skillet with the olive oil. Add the butter, onion, minced mushroom stems, thyme, and salt. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the stems have released their juices, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the soaked bread, cheese, and crabmeat. Mix gently until well combined.

Meanwhile, wipe off the mushroom caps with a damp paper towel and place them in a large bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and steam the mushrooms in the microwave on high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring once. (Timing will vary according to the wattage of your oven. Steam them until they’re just slightly tender—they’ll finish cooking in the oven.) Transfer the mushrooms to several layers of paper towels and let drain.

Arrange the steamed mushroom caps, hollow side up, on a sheet pan. Stuff them with a nice mound of crabmeat stuffing. Don’t pack the filling too tightly. Bake (or grill) the stuffed mushrooms for about 15 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown. Serve immediately.

Labels: grilled seafood, stuffed mushroom caps, tailgating

Dessert is a great time to have everyone sit around the table and talk. In our house, if the kids eat before "dad" comes home, they always come back to the table for this ritual without much fuss but only when the dessert really rocks. So in my house, dessert has to be great and one of my favorites is bake appleberry pies. I prefer to use a whole grain pastry flour and almond flour instead of white flour. Why? It's healthier. Most Whole Foods will have this available in their bakery section. Almond Flour can be expensive and can be substituted with more whole grain pastry flour, or you could mill your own! It's actually not that hard, but does take time (stay tuned for a post about that soon). I also like to prepare individual pies versus one large pie. I find the presentation is a lot nicer and there is something very personal about it.

Baked Appleberry Pie with Crumb Topping
Makes 4 individual mini pies (about 4 ounce per serving)

For the pie shell:
1 cup whole grain pastry flour
½ cup almond flour or whole wheat pastry flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar in the raw
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoon milk or vegan butter

For the filing:
3 apples, peeled, cored and cut into bite size pieces
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
10 strawberries, hulled and diced

For the topping:
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk or vegan butter
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
1 teaspoon sugar in the raw

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, combine the pastry flour, almond flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and butter and pulse until everything is thoroughly blended.

Pour in ¼ cup ice-cold water and pulse again until the dough comes together. Not all the water may need to be used. When the dough is formed, remove it from the processor and form it into four equal balls. Place them on a well floured piece of wax paper and carefully roll out (with a well floured rolling pin) to form a 5-inch circles and no thicker than ½-inch thick. Transfer the pie crust into the individual pie shells and tuck in the extra dough to reinforce the edge. Decoratively pinch the crust between your fingers and one knuckle, going all around the crust to make a fancy pattern. Dock the bottom of the crust with a fork.

Line the pie with aluminum foil and fill the foil with dried beans. Place the pie into the oven to blind bake for 10 minutes and then remove the foil and let the pie shell continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until it starts to turn golden. Remove it form the oven.

While the pie is baking, prepare the filing. Over medium-low heat, cook the chopped apples with and one tablespoon of water in a medium saucepan for 10 minutes, or until the apples have released some of their juices. Reduce the heat to low and add in the cinnamon, agave, and strawberries. Stir the fruit for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and pour it into the pie shell.

Now prepare the topping. In a small bowl combine the oats, zest, cinnamon, butter, agave, and sugar and toss. Mash the butter into the oat mixture with a fork until it is well blended and the oats are moist. Spoon topping over the pie and then place the pie back into the oven to bake for 20 minutes. If the pie crust starts to darken, to avoid burning cover the pie loosely with foil. Remove the pie from the oven and set aside to cool. Serve immediately.

Labels: appleberry pie, Comfort Food, Easy Desserts