New Dungeness Crab Omelet Recipe

Last night my wife and I prepared my favorite dish, normally served only on special occasion. It is the Dungeness Crab Omelet with shredded cabbage and sweet Vidalia Onions from Hawaii. Today is not my birthday or some other special occasion. However, I saw a sale of the Dungeness crabs( for only $5.99/lb) at Food Mart yesterday.

The last time I tasted this dish was last year, but the crab was from the Maryland crabs known also as the blue crabs. Preparing the dish is simple. The hardest part is to remove the crab meat from the claws and legs. The cabbage is shredded (1 bowl) and sauteed with the onions in olive oil until partially cooked. An equivalent amount of crab meat is added to the shredded cabbage and onions and cooked in olive oil until the cabbage is fully cooked . The crab and cabbage patty mix is added to beaten eggs with a small amount of corn starch. The patty is then fried in olive oil until the egg is cooked. The omelet is served with Picante Sauce (Hot or Mild) with steam rice.

My wife's other recipe is the use of cube potatoes, bean sprouts or green beans( julienne) instead of the shredded cabbage. Try it and let me know if it is good.

Do you know the difference between the Dungeness and Maryland Crabs. The Maryland crabs, also known as blue crabs are much smaller in size and very similar to the Philippine crabs in appearance and taste. The Dungeness crabs are big and are caught here in the San Francisco Bay area and northward up to Alaska. The Maryland crabs are from the Chesapeake Bay of Northern Maryland and Virginia.

The Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister (formerly Cancer magister), is a species of crab that inhabits eelgrass beds and water bottoms on the west coast of North America. It typically grows to 20 cm (7.9 in) across the carapace and is a popular seafood. Its common name comes from the port of Dungeness, Washington. The crabs is a special attraction to tourists in the San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf during the Crab Season. The season for the San Francisco Bay starts in the second Tuesday of November.

Our First Taste of Dungeness Crab This Year

Purchase 4 Dungeness Crabs in Safeway Today

My mouth is salivating now just thinking of the Dungeness Crabs I purchase from Safeway today. It cost me $6.99 per pound. Each of the four are at least 1.5 lbs. The season opened last week. When I opened my FaceBook today, I saw from a friend status of the availability of the crabs in Safeway. I immediately called our local Safety store if they have it. It was a resounding yes. In two minutes I was driving to the store. Last year the season was a bust due to the demonic levels of domoic acid in the waters of the Bay-a toxic substance.

Crab has been showing up on some Bay Area menus and in grocery stores since the season started in Oregon and Washington, and now supplies have been supplemented with freshly caught crab from Northern California, where the season started last November 15.

In case you are not familiar with the Dungeness Crab Season here in Northern California, here's an article that I wrote in 2014 describing the Crabbing season in Northern California. http://theintellectualmigrant.blogspot.com/2014/11/dungeness-crab-season-opens-today.html

Barquillos and Ice Cream for Merienda ( Snack)

Today, Macrine and I had Barquillos( rolled milk wafers) and ice cream for merienda ( afternoon snack). This reminded me of my teenager days in Iloilo. This nostalgic memories reminded me of my Father, Dr David Jamili Javellana K(C)atague from Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippnes. In the late 1940's just after the American-Japanese War in the Philippines, the third class town of Barotac Viejo did not have an ice cream store and bakery. So every week, my Father and I would take a 2 to 3 hour ride by bus to Iloilo City to purchase our monthly supplies of groceries and bakery goods. The roads at that time from Barotac Viejo to Barotac Nuevo were not paved and the bus trip was very bumpy. During the rainy season some parts of the national road is flooded.

However, in the early 2000 when my wife and I visited Barotac Viejo, the roads were paved, so the 60KM auto trip from Iloilo City to the town took us only about 55 minutes.

http://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2014/12/where-heck-is-barotac-viejo-iloilo.html

If you are not familiar with barquillos: Barquillos are thin rolled cookies of Spanish origin. In the Philippines, Iloilo is particularly known for its barquillos. They are made by pouring a thin batter is onto a wafer iron (barquillera). Once the wafer is cooked to a light brown it is immediately rolled while still hot. It becomes a crisp rolled cookie when it cools. Barquillos are now available in local flavors like ube and pandan. Sometimes they are filled with polvoron powder to make a sweet called barqueron. Here in Nothern California, Barquillos are sold in our local Pilipino grocery store. They are imported from the Philippines. Here's a short video in how to make barquillos or rolled milk wafers.

Mango Pancake for Breakfast Today

I woke up early this morning with the sound of welcome rain in my roof. It has been raining here in Northern California since yesterday. This is a much welcome rain. The last significant rain we had was last February this year. I was wondering what I will cook for breakfast this morning when I remembered I have chunks of fresh mangoes in my refrigerator. I was not sure if I had a Pancake Mix. But luck is with me today. I have a Betty Crocker Complete Pancake Mix in my cupboard. Here's my very simple recipe:

1 cup Pancake Mix ( Betty Crocker or Equivalent)
3/4 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1/4 cup smashed fresh mangoes

Mixed all the ingredients: Cooked in Portions of the mix (amount will determine the size of the pancake) in a Skillet with trace amount of cooking oil. I used olive oil today. Serve with butter and pancake syrup. Garnished with fresh mango chunks and blueberries as shown in the photo above.

With freshly brewed coffee from the Philippines ( Baracco brand)-this recipe can qualify for a Good breakfast for all Seasons.

Enjoy!

I Ordered Ready to Eat Gourmet Meals from Freshly Today

If you have been following my blogs, you probably know that I have been ordering gourmet ready to eat meals from Munchery.com Today, I ordered six meals for $36 (a promotional price) with this food delivery company( Freshly) that I saw in Facebook. The regular price for this 6 meal plan is $59 from the company website, https://www.freshly.com Here's the six meals I ordered:

https://www.freshly.com/subscriptions/779005/weekly-orders/1268891/deliveries/700226

My first shipment will be next week and every Friday. The promotional price included free delivery to my front door. The meals are packed in dry ice. Just heat the meals for 1.5 to 2 minutes in the microwave and you have your dinner, lunch or breakfast. I am lazy to cook, so ordering good quality meals with out driving to a restaurant is a must for our lifestyle. The following videos (6) summarizes what Freshly is all about.

Ordering Meals on Line Via Munchery.com

Last month, I started ordering meals on line through Munchery.com. So far I am very satisfied with the meals that I have ordered. I particularly like their salmon dishes. The meals are delivered cool and ready to heat and so far it has always been on time.

Yesterday, I ordered the Macaroni and Cheese with Lobster a new dish. It was delicious. I have ordered shrimp dishes as well as the Spaghetti with meat balls. My wife enjoyed very much the spaghetti and meat balls dish. I love their shrimp tacos and grilled salmon dishes.

If you are lazy to cook and can not drive to a restaurant, munchery.com is an excellent alternative to enjoy quality meals for a reasonable price. The meals are price from $8 to $12. Their is a delivery charge of $2.95 and an optional tip( $1 to 4) for the driver. If you sign up for membership of $85 per year, you will save from $2 to $4 every time you order.

The following article describes munchery.com that started servicing the Sacramento area last May.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/bob-shallit/article79901842.html

Lazy to Cook? Use the Telephone!

In my previous posting, I mentioned that after Macrine ( my spouse of 59 years) was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease in 2013, I was forced by circumstance to take over as the cook in the family. At first, I did not like it, but after one week, I started enjoying it. I even become creative in my recipes. I also based our menu what is on sale, so we save a few dollars in our Food budget. The savings in our Food budget we add to our once a week Dining and Slots machine Escapade in our local Indian Casino. However there are days when I do not feel like cooking. On these days, I have several options where to buy our dinner.

Option #1: If we feel like eating Chinese food- I used the telephone and in 30 minutes, we have food delivered in our door steps. Once in a while if the restaurant is busy, the wait is about 45 minutes but had never exceeded to one hour. For free delivery, there is a minimum of $20. Our favorite dishes are Pan Fried Whole Fish, Walnut Shrimps, Won Ton soup and their Combination Chow Mein.

Option #2: If we feel like eating seafood, The Red Lobster Restaurant is only one mile from our residence. Red Lobster do not deliver so you have to pick it up. To avoid waiting order ahead. The wait is usually from 30 to 45 minutes. Our favorite dishes are The Ultimate Feast, Shrimps Scampi and Crab Cakes. For dessert we order their cheese cake.

Option #3: If we feel like eating Italian dishes, Olive Garden is also one mile from our residence. Olive Garden do not deliver. But again order ahead to avoid waiting and long lines. Our favorite dishes are their shrimp dishes and pasta dishes. Sometimes the restaurant has a buy one get one free promotion on certain dishes.

Option #4: If we feel like eating steaks, Black Angus Steak House is only about half a mile from us. Again they do not deliver, and to avoid waiting order 30 minutes ahead.

Option #5: There are several fast food restaurants within one mile from our residence. We have eaten at Fish and Chips, Panera House, Burgers Houses, Kentucky fried Chicken and for Mexican Dishes, we order at El Tapacio. My favorite Mexican dish is Chile Relleno made from fresh chiles ( not canned). El Tapacio cooked their Chile Relleno using fresh Chile peppers. Other Mexican restaurants used canned peppers.

Option #6: The deli section of Raleigh, Safeway, Trader's Joe and Sprouts Super Markets offers several dishes that we like. The Honey Baked Ham store is also near us. We order Honey bake ham on holidays ( Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Last but not least, Option #7: If we have a longing for Pinoy dishes, the nearest Pinoy Restaurant and Take Out is about 20 minutes drive from our residence in the neighborhood of McCleland Air Force Base. Our favorite dishes are Dinuguan- Barbecue pork, pancit and a tripe dish.

So, above our my seven options if I do not feel like cooking. This feeling occurs at least one or two days day in a week.

Grilled Pompano Fish

Yesterday, my sister-in-law (JM) from the East Bay visited us since it was her day off. As usual, she always bring us Pinoy delicacy and goodies that she purchased on her way to our residence. Her favorite store is the Grill City Restaurant in Seafood City in Concord. Yesterday, she brought us barbecued pork and chicken, tinola and her favorite dish grilled whole pompano fish. The fish was stuffed with onions and tomatoes and cooked to perfection. Macrine and I enjoyed the fish with my favorite vinegar sauce. Again, JM thanks a million for the food and your visit. Because of the this visit, I searched for recipes on grilled pompano. The following is a video of grilled fillet pompano for your viewing pleasure.

Simple but Delicious Breakfast All Year Round

Today, I decided to cook polish sausage ( Kielbasa) with scrambled eggs with vidalia sweet onions and home grown and ripened tomatoes from my garden. It turn out delicious and moist, because I did not overcooked the onions and eggs, and the kielbasa. Along with the dish I have steamed rice, Batangas coffee and mango slices for dessert.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Polish sausage ( Kielbasa)
1/2 sliced sweet onion ( Vidalia)
1/2 sliced and diced Tomato( over riped)
oil and or butter
Garlic and Salt to taste

Cooked the kielbasa in one cup of water. Boil the sausage for five minutes then turn it and boil for another 5 minutes until all the water evaporates. In another pan sauteed the sweet onions with oil or butter ( do not overcooked). Add the tomato slices, cooked until tomatoes are half cooked. Add the scrambled eggs. Continue the cooking until the eggs are half cooked. Shut off the heat and wait for 5 minutes. Serve with steam rice and hot coffee. Enjoy!

Cooking My First Lobster Tails ( Baking)

I always wanted to cook lobster tails. However, I am scared I will ruin it and since lobster tails are expensive, I never had the courage to buy this delicious seafood. However today there is special sale at our local Food Mart. The price is only $12.49 per lb, regular price is $16.99. I purchase 3 medium size tails for only $9.99, indeed a good buy. I searched in the Internet for a Recipe and here is what attracted my attention:*

Directions:

Make sure lobster tails are thawed completely before cooking for best results.

To prepare the lobster tail for baking or broiling:

Grab a pair of kitchen shears and grab the lobster tail in your hand. Begin cutting down one side of the lobster tail as close to the side as you can. Repeat the cut down the other side of the lobster tail. Cut the shell across the middle at the base of the tail. Grab the top of the shell and peel back. Take a knife and cut around the lobster meat so when it's finished cooking, it's easy to remove.

Lay each lobster tail on individual sheets of foil. Prepare lobster marinade of 3 tablespoons each of lemon juice and clarified butter, with a pinch of paprika, white pepper, garlic powder and sea salt. Drizzle lobster marinade over lobster.

Fold up the ends of the foil so your lobster tail is completely sealed. Bake lobster tail according to the chart below in a 450° F. preheated oven.

2 oz. - 12 minutes....................4 oz. - 18 minutes

6 oz. - 22 minutes....................8 oz. - 26 minutes

12 oz. - 30 minutes................14 oz. or more - 35 minutes

Once the lobster is cooked, unwrap the tail, dunk in butter and enjoy!

*From: http://festivalfoods.net/cooking/5188/Baking_Lobster_Tails

My Simple Recipe for Kare De Pata( Pork Feet, Hocks and Shanks)

The other day, I purchased 2 lbs of pork feet, hocks and shank as it was on sale at our local food market. With it I purchased 3 bunch of baby boctoy( pechay),1.4 lbs green beans and 2 large size Chinese eggplant. For the peanut sauce* I purchased Peanut Powder by Jif. This is the first time I have used this product. It says it has 85% less fat than the traditional peanut butter. The above are the major ingredients for this recipe. The other ingredients are:

1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tumeric powder for coloring
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 cups water
Garlic salt and or ground black pepper to taste
Shrimp Paste ( bagoong)-optional

Cooking Instruction:

1. Pour 8 cups of water in a cooking pot along with the pork feet, hocks and shank. Add a dash garlic salt and black ground pepper. Boil at high heat for 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Remove the pork from the cooking pot and set aside.

2. In another cooking pot, saute the onions and garlic. Add the pork. In a cup of water add 5 tablespoon of peanut Powder( by Jif) and mix. Add the mixture to the pot, and green beans. Cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the eggplant, and the tumeric spice and let it simmer another 2 minutes. Lastly add the pechay and cook at low heat for another 2 minutes.

4. Serve with steam rice and with shrimp Paste on the side. My favorite brand of Bagooong is Barrio Fiesta.

* Normally, I use roasted and ground peanuts for the sauce. My discovery of the peanut powder by Jif saves time in praparing this dish. The tumeric is my own coloring ingredient, which is optional.

My Favorite Pancit Bihon Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb pancit bihon (Rice Noodles)
½ lb. pork, cut into small thin slices
2 cups diced cooked chicken breast meat
⅛ lb. pea pods or snow peas
1 cup carrot thinly sliced
½ small head cabbage, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
½ tbsp garlic, minced
5 tbsp soy sauce
3 to 4 cups water
Fish Sauce( Patis)
2 lemons -cut into wedges for garnish( Lime or calamansi may used instead of the lemons)

Instructions

1. In a large pot or wok, Saute the garlic and onion. Add the pork let cook for 4 minutes. Then the chicken breast.

2. Put in the carrots, pea pods, cabbage, and simmer for a 15 minutes or until the cabbage begins to soften.

3. Remove all the ingredients in the pot except for the liquid and set them aside. In the pot with the liquid in, add the soy sauce and mix well

4. Add the pancit bihon (makes sure to first soak it in water for about 20 minutes) and mix well. Cook until liquid evaporates completely

5. Put-in the vegetables and meat that were previously cooked and simmer for a minute or two. Add the lemon wedges for the garnishing. Serve with Fish sauce ( Patis) on the side if desired.

My New Recipe of Sinigang na Sugpo in Tamarind Sauce

Last week Macrine and I bought 1 lb of prawns for $6.99/lb at Seafood City in Elk Grove. Today is the only time I had a chance to cook it using the easy and simple recipe I have in my file. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
2 medium tomatoes, quartered
2 Chinese eggplant, end trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 bunch of pechay or Chinese boktoy, stems cut and leaves separated
1/4 pound of green beans, end trimmed and cut into 2-inches in length
1 pound shell-on shrimp, tendrils trimmed, washed and drained well
1/4 pouch of Mama Sita Tamarind Seasoning Mix for Sinigang ( about 0.45 oz or 12.5 g)
Garlic Salt to taste. Patis or fish sauce may be used instead of the garlic salt.

Instruction

1. In a pot over medium heat, bring water( 4 cups) to a boil. Add onions and tomatoes and cooked until softened. Add the eggplant and green beans. Continue cooking until the vegetables are half-cooked.

2. Add shrimps and tamarind seasoning. Season with garlic salt. Continue cooking until the shrimps changes to pink( do not overcook the shrimps) and vegetables are tender but crisp. Add the pechay pushing down into the broth with back of the spoon. Turn off heat and allow the residual steam to cook the pechay leaves. Served hot with fish sauce on the side if desired.

( Note I am an Illongo so I hate Patis, but my wife loves Patis very, very much. Bon Apetite!

Pompano Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Today, I cooked my first fish dish in sweet and sour sauce. The fish was pompano. My wife and I purchased the fish from Seafood City yesterday. This recipe is very easy and simple to follow. Try it!

Ingredients:

4 medium sized pompano fillet (from 2 whole medium sized fish). The whole fish(including the head) may be used if desired.
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 cups oil for frying
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 can ( 8 oz) pineapple chunks, juice reserved
1 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
3 tablespoon ketchup
Garlic Salt to taste
1/2 cup water

Direction: Marinate the pompano fillet(or whole fish) in soy sauce for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in deep-fryer or heavy sauce pan to 375 degrees F. Deep fry the fish until golden brown. Drain the pompano on paper and set aside.

Prepare the sauce as follows: Saute the onion, the red and green peppers and pineapple in a skillet for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved pineapple juice, sugar, ketchup, water and the flour. Mixed and stir for about 2 minutes then add the garlic salt to taste. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add more flour if necessary.

Serve the fish with sauce on top with steam rice and papaya( pickled green papaya) achara. Bon Apetit!

My Favorite Bean Salad Recipe

Here's my simple and easy to prepare Bean Salad.

Ingredients:
1 (14.5 ounce) can green beans, drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can wax beans, drained

1 (15.5 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can black beans, drained

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup salad oil

1/2 cup vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 cup white sugar

Directions
Place the green beans, wax beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, green pepper, onion, and celery in a large bowl; toss to mix.

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a separate bowl until the sugar is dissolved; pour over the bean mixture. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight before serving.

Alternative: Instead of the oil and vinegar used 1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing( Kraft) and 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing ( Wish-Bone) or any other brand of your favorite Italian salad dressings.

Bon Apetit!
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An Easy Recipe for Honey-Baked Ham and Potato Souffle

In the next 4 days, we will be celebrating Macrine's 80th birthday. The main dish will be be honey baked ham. I am very sure there were be left overs of the ham. Here's my simple recipe with what to do with left-over ham.



Ingredients

8 big potatoes-peeled and slice to 1 cm thin

1 lb sliced honey- baked ham

1 lb pasteurized sour cream

2 big onions slice to 1 cm thick

½ bunch of fresh parsley

½ cup of milk

¼ cup of flour

Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste

Procedure

Grease a deep pyrex dish with oil and add a dash of flour. Place a bed of slice potatoes, followed by slice of ham, then parsley, onions and garlic salt and pepper. Repeat the layering process two times Then pour the milk. Topped the pyrex dish with potatoes slices. Cover the Pyrex Dish.

Place the pyrex dish in a preheated 375 F oven. Bake for I hour. Serve the dish warm. Enjoy! H