We had a craving for soft shell crabs. It is that time of the year when crabs have recently molted their old skeleton and are still soft, sweet, delicious; a true delicacy for all of us that like crabs. Soft shells are my favorite. After cleaning them, you eat them whole. In a sandwich, sauteed, lightly fried…Yummy.
I have had them before at Heirloom and they have been getting them this past week.
Love going out to the restaurants in our beaches on a Wednesday. It is not as crowded and I like to relax while enjoying the amazing cuisine our restaurants are offering. Sitting at the bar is our favorite seat in the house.
Heirloom is located at 212 Savannah Rd. It is in Historic Lewes in a beautifully renovated Victorian house that kept its charm.
The bread at the table very simple. Just a little something with delicious butter including one with herbs.
What to order as an appetizer was a challenge. You could almost make a dinner out of a few of them. I was between octopus, the Burrata or the pate.
The pate won. It was called a Shiitake Mushroom & Pistachio Pate. Sherry and soy gelee, porcini and horseradish aioli, spring herb and pickled carrot salad with sherry vinegar. It is a vegetarian pate. The combination of flavors was amazing and it was a light beginning to be followed by the crabs.
The crabs did make a presentation. They were sitting a top of a shrimp head bisque and blue corn grits. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. My first soft shells of the season and they certainly were delicious. I did not want my entree to end so I proceeded to take little pieces apart and enjoy them slowly. The salad was light and I loved the watermelon radishes.
If you like to end your meal with a sinful dessert, they do have them. But, we were very satisfied.
Hope you have a great week. Tulips are out, the trees are flowering and our beaches are considered HOT!!
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What a gorgeous Easter Weekend here in Rehoboth Beach, DE. The main roads were heavy with traffic, and I was just thinking what will it look like this summer. I will have to plan to go to the grocery store either at midnight or at the crack of dawn. Not kidding.
On Monday temperatures were warm and my sister in law, Susie, and I took off to check Downtown Rehoboth. A lot of people had left and the boardwalk was just delightful for a power walk.
What to have for lunch? Indian, Pizza, Salad, or seafood? Our choice was Henlopen City Oyster House located on 50 Wilmington Ave. This restaurant I have posted before here or shared photos on my FB page. Fresh seafood, amazing salty oysters, and great Bloody Marys.
I call it the Oyster House and it is great that they are opened year round for lunch and dinner and carry out, as well. Their website? http://www.hcoysterhouse.com
An order of smelts to share. It has been some time since I have had those. Lightly fried with a lemony sauce.
New on the menu is a King Crab Salad. Very well received by my sister in law. Having seafood and salads on this day after all our Easter delicacies.
It does not fail. I usually order one of their salads with scallops. Today they were grilled scallops. There is plenty on the menu and it is all good but this is a favorite.
While in Rehoboth, check them out. You will not be disappointed.
Want to leave a comment? Please visit my Facebook Page AboutMyBeaches and put your 2 cents in.
Have a great day!!
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I remember when I was young Sunday was a day to gather at my grandmother’s house. After church it was the satisfaction of gathering with cousins and with good comfort food. My grandmother was a very good cook; always cooking with the best ingredients she could fine.
Not sure why I think of Cornish Game Hens as a Sunday Supper dish. I have stuffed them, cooked them with prosciutto and figs as well. They have great flavor. And what are they, really? I found out that they are the product from a cross between the Cornish and White Plymouth Rock chicken breeds, that it is served young and immature, weighing no more than two pounds ready to cook.
We have a good butcher here in Rehoboth Beach. Hickmans!! I picked these Cornish Game Hens around the holidays. They were pretty big. Last week I made this recipe. By no means the recipe is my own, but I did give it my own spin.
They are easy to prepare. I usually do not serve a guest a whole hen even though you could depending on the size.
2 Cornish Game Hens
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, cut in half
rosemary sprigs (2 per hen)
olive oil
15 cloves of garlic and more if you do like garlic like I do
2/3 cup of white wine (it is a great additions to the sauce)
2/3 cup of chicken broth (I used chicken stock)
More fresh rosemary sprigs for garnish
honey
The first thing to do is to preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Then take gizzards and neck from the hens and put them aside. You will use them in the broth.
Rub the hens with salt and pepper. Place one of the lemon wedges in the cavity along with a sprig of rosemary. Also put one garlic clove in each of them. If you look closely you can see that I drizzled honey over the top. Very yummy!!
Arrange them in a heavy roasting pan. Take some of the rosemary leaves and spread them around the pan. Put the whole garlic cloves around the hens in the pan. In order to avoid the garlic to burn since you at first will be cooking on a high temperature, take some extra chicken stock and pour into the pan in order to cover the cloves a bit.
This is how they will look before going into the oven.
You are going to roast them in that temperature for 25 minutes.
The gizzards and neck that you took from the oven place in a pot and cook for 10 or 15 minutes. Once that is done, cut the gizzards, heart and set aside. This is totally optional. I just think it adds to the broth.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together wine, chicken broth, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the cut gizzards, etc.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Pour the broth above the hens and continue roasting about 25 minutes longer or until hens are golden brown. Baste with the pan juices every 10 minutes.
Transfer the hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices into the roasting pan. You can put the pan on top of your burners and heat up the juices, smashing those garlic cloves which will be amazing combining them in the broth. I used a little bit of corn starch because I wanted the broth to be a tad thicker.
You can cut them in half or serve them whole. Cranberry looked pretty and appropriate with them. And, those veggies? I will give you the recipe because they went perfectly with the hens. Easy too. Next post.
Here is a photo of the hen in half. It depends how hungry your guests are. And please make sure to put a lot of broth in the plate.
Enjoy!! Talk to you later.
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“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.” david mamet
When I am out and about trying restaurants or frequenting my usual haunts I usually do not order dessert unless someone at the table does and then share a bite here or there.
I appreciate them from afar, looking at them longingly. But, you know that desserts are loaded with calories and sugar so I abstain.
When guests sit at my dining room table they will be served from soup to nuts. Dessert will be a must and at time more than one offering.
I love the Key Lime Pie. I like it tart. I find it refreshing and the perfect way to end a meal year-round.
This Key Lime Pie recipe is so easy. Pretty much I think people enjoy it. I use bottled Key Lime juice. Those little key limes take forever to squeeze.
The recipe appeared in the school cookbook called A Collection of Recipes II that we all worked on when our kids went to Worcester Country School in Berlin, Maryland. It is now called Worcester Preparatory School.
Parents, grandparents, friends, restauranteurs, they were all so generous with their recipes. This particular one was given by Mrs. Anne Braniff. Not only is she an amazing baker but she is also a good cook.
Crust:
1/2 box Keebler Vanilla Wafers
2 ounces Macadamia nuts
1/2 stick butter or margarine
Filling:
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
3-4 ounces Key Lime juice (I put 4 ounces)
In a food processor (or blender) mix wafers and nuts until fine crumbs result. Melt butter; add to crumbs and process until moist.
Press crumbs into a 9″ pie pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Take it out of the oven.
To prepare filling, combine milk and egg yolks at low speed. Slowly add juice, mixing until well blended. Pour into pie shell and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. You may also bake the pie at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. I did not.
Garnish with whipped cream or meringue is optional.
I grated some lime to add a little green color on the top.
You may also substitute low-fat wafers and low fat or no fat condensed milk. I kept it traditional and full of calories.
Enjoy!! It is delicious.
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Back in 1997 I was the Chairperson for a cookbook called A Collection of Recipes II. It was a project of the Worcester Country School Parent’s Association. The school is now called Worcester Preparatory School and it is located in Berlin, Maryland.
We asked parents, grandparents, and local restaurants to give us their best recipes. And they did!! It took us many months to get everything compiled and many of us worked hours to bring this book to the community.
I love neighborhood cookbooks. To me these recipes are the center of someone’s kitchen. Recipes used over and over again for holidays, and family gatherings.
At Worcester a lot of the recipes showed up at the Teacher Appreciation Lunches. They are all good and I used this book frequently.
Better Cheddar is a recipe given by one of our grandparents. Mrs. Carol Cairo knew that this recipe, as simple as it was, would be a hit. It had a secret ingredient…..Liquid Smoke.
Serve the Better Cheddar with crackers or dipping pretzels.
Ingredients:
1 pound New York Extra Sharp cheese, crumbled
1 cup walnuts, chopped
6 scallions, chopped
1 cup of mayonnaise (I like Dukes)
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (you can put a bit more after tasting)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
To crumble the cheese, first cut it in chunks and then put in a food processor until it crumbles. I have a very small food processor and I made it in a couple of batches. Easy.
The walnuts, you can also put in the food processor of a few seconds or pulse it so they are chopped.
I have yet to have a guest say they don’t like it. You really get hooked.
Hope you love it as much as I do. Great for appetizers!!
AboutMyBeaches is on Facebook. This blog was started in 2009. Come back often to find out about events, restaurants, reviews, where to shop and what to cook for dinner.
Have a great week.
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It has taken me almost a week to get this recipe. Chili for Super Bowl Sunday and Cuban Tomato Bread. I said, what? I have never heard of Cuban Tomato Bread. I had been served before in Puerto Rico a tomato bread with origins from Spain but, obviously, by the look of TC’s face I was probably making all this up and wanted to give credit to my Puertorican roots. I was not thinking such a thing.
The Cuban Tomato Bread was a hit. And, since so many asked for the recipe, TC decided on Friday to show me. In regards to what kind of bread to use, that could be your choice. The photo above was a French Bread but it looked a little different from the French Bread we had on Super Bowl Sunday. The bread is going to be toasted and it will taste so good no matter what. Following is the photo of the finished bread on Super Bowl Sunday. We had guests, so obviously we had the full baguette.
The ingredients you probably have on hand. Maybe a few things from the store you will need to get.
No measurements are necessary. Bare with me.
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
garlic salt
Red Pepper blend seasoning (Several to choose from store. Pick something you would like.)
Tomato (for 2 people one tomato will do)
1 yellow onion
Italian Parsley
Seasoned Salt like Larry’s
Mrs. Dash original
Mozzarella cheese (rounds or squares)
You will be using the broiler.
In a small saucepan melt butter, sprinkle garlic salt to taste, the red pepper blend seasoning and the chopped parsley.
Place on a cookie sheet the bread and with a pastry brush apply some of the buttery mixture above already melted. Then place in the broiler for a few minutes making sure you don’t let it burn.
The next step is to slice the tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle lightly with the seasoned salt like Larry’s and Mrs. Dash. Place in the broiler and let them cook for a few minutes, again watching that they do not burn.
Assemble the breads by placing the tomatoes and onions in a thin layer.
Put the slices of cheese on top of the tomatoes and brush with remaining melted butter/parsley sauce.
Back into the broiler until you see it coming out like the first two photos. It will not take long by any means.
Being that we were into the Cuban mode, the perfect pairing was homemade Black Bean Soup. It is cold in Southern Delaware so a soup, a chili, a stew will be great. On the other hand, by itself with a nice glass of wine would pair perfectly.
On my Begged, Borrowed, or Stolen recipes, at times you really have to beg.
Hope you like it, and make it your own, as well.
By the way the recipe was obtained many years ago in Key West, Florida.
AboutMyBeaches has a FB page. Leave me some comments there.
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Pies are comfort foods. When you hear the word pie immediately thoughts come to holiday pies. Apple Pie being the most popular pie.
Meat Pies and vegetable pies are very popular, as well. Some weeks ago I found a Crab Meat Pie and being that we live on the coast and crabs are all around us, I decided to make it. It, actually, makes 2 pies but if you want a pie with more height you can probably just put it in one pie plate and you will also have to adjust the cooking time accordingly.
I get my crab meat locally and at this time of the year to get fresh one you will pay the price. Thought about if it was worth to put it in a pie vs using it for crab cakes. What the heck, I wanted to do something different.
Ingredients:
1 lb of fresh crab meat (don’t like the pasteurized one)
4 eggs
2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup mayonnaise (love Duke’s)
8 ounces of extra sharp Cheddar cheese
8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced green pepper
2 tsp. pimentos
2 9 inch deep dish pie shells or any other pie shell crusts you may want
A little Old Bay Seasoning
Instructions:
Combine eggs, flour, mayonnaise and milk in a bowl and mix well.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients but do it gently. You want that crab meat lumps to stay intact as much as you can.
Bake the pie shells at 350 degree for 5 minutes. Cool pie shells.
Spoon crab mixture into pie shells. Sprinkle a little dusting of Old Bay Seasoning because what good are crabs if you don’t have Old Bay, right?
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remember to adjust cooking if you will be using just one pie shell.
This crab meat pie goes well for lunch or dinner. It is tasty and so easy to make. Just add a salad or a green veggie and you are good to go. Enjoy!!
TGIF….Hope your long week-end is filled with fun.
AboutMyBeaches is a blog started in 2009 to promote our beaches and other cool places to visit. To discover the great foods around us. Check the Facebook Page and leave me a note.
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Plan A was to take the Cape May Lewes Ferry from Lewes towards Cape May, on our way to the Borgata. A 24 hour get-a-way. A change of scenery.
Plan B came into the picture when gale force winds were not going to be conducive to traveling inside the ferry. So driving was the way to go. To tell you the truth it was not bad at all. We stopped for lunch in Wilmington at Buckley’s Tavern which post is already up.
If you are a frequent visitor to Atlantic City you will certainly notice that it is very quiet. Upon entering the Borgata the first thing, before you could even take another step, was the taking of your temperature. The hotel was immaculate and during our stay of 24 hours we felt very safe.
There were families with children and other people like us that wanted a change from the same thing.
Our view was amazing. We were on the 36th floor.
There are several restaurants at the Borgata, but if you want to eat steaks then the Old Homestead should be your choice. Reservations are required by calling 609-317-1000. Or you can also do it online http://www.m.theborgata.com The Old Homestead has been in existence for about 150 years in New York. It is considered an institution.
We had great service with our server knowing the menu well. A Coppola wine with oysters. The bread was amazing. And asking him which salad to pick he suggested the Oh Salad. You see that on the plate it looks like a regular old salad, but it was a memorable salad. Romaine, radicchio, tomatoes, gherkins, chopped egg, apple wood bacon, shaved reggiano and onion crunch. It had a Thousand Island Dressing. Not sure what they did to that dressing but it was very good.
I knew the specialty was steak but still asked our server what was the entree that customers just cannot stop talking about. Without hesitation he said the Chilean Bass. He said it is just that good. I love seafood, so that was my entree and it did not disappoint. Probably the best I have ever had. Placed on top of long beans, raisins, cashews, it had a fried potato bundle. Then a sauce made of soy sauce, cilantro, butter, lime, and honey.
Asparagus with Hollandaise for the table.
The Veal Chop was the other entree ordered and it was the special of the day. It got rave reviews, as well.
And guess what else we ordered? Onion Rings…made in house. Not greasy and the perfect size. Dipping them in Ketchup, oh what a treat!!
No dessert was necessary. I think we had eaten enough.
The Casino had players but, again, not like the usual. There were partitions between the dealer and players and between the players too. The moment someone would get up the whole area was cleaned.
If you want to get out of the house, I recommend it.
The next day off we went to Philly to the Reading Terminal….That will be the next post.
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