Sasha's Kitchen: Crab Cakes With Green Apple & Beets With a Spicy-Sweet Green Apple Chutney

For our dinner last night, I experimented with a new crab cake recipe that turned out to be quite delicious.  For the crab cakes, I used a number of fruits in the actual crab cake that I feel go well with crabs.  The idea was to have the crab be one of many flavors, and not necessarily a dominating flavor.  The fruits that I selected to incorporate into the crab cakes were mango, green apple and beet.  However,

I was not looking to create an overpoweringly sweet dish, so I incorporated a fusion of Indian spices and a little bit of smokiness into the crab cakes to temper the heat from the mango and green apple.  It worked - the crab cakes were flavorful, but not particularly sweet, though they did have little pockets of sweetness here and there (mostly when you bit into an apple), but as a whole, they were not sweet.   The chipotle puree adds a smokiness that tempers the sweetness, but does not add any heat.  The crab cakes also had a beautiful magenta color, thanks to the beets.

Every time I cook with beets (which isn't all that often, to be honest), I forget the reason I do not normally cook with beets.  They turn everything in their path magenta.  This is something to keep in mind when you make this recipe, for sure.  Even one beet has its way with turning everything in your kitchen magenta if you are not careful.  

I decided to serve these crab cakes with a sweet, but also spicy chutney.  In the past, I have made Tabla's green apple chutney, using the recipe from the New York Indian-American fusion restaurant in the cookbook, One Spice, Two Spice.  For tonight's recipe, I used Tabla's chutney as a reference, but modified the recipe (also using a variety of indian spices) to create my own green apple chutney.

I actually don't eat a lot of Indian food.  I generally find the dishes too heavy.  However, I love cooking with Indian spices in my own cuisine, for a fusion of Indian and American traditions.  My approach to American cooking often incorporates this fusion approach with other ethnic cusines.  I actually consider this to be true American cooking since America really is a melting pot of its cultural influences; so is American cooking.

Sasha's Green Apple & Beet Crabcakes

2/3 pound of Lump Crabmeat

1/2 cup diced green apple

1/2 cup diced mango

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced beet (cooked first, by boiling)

1/2 tsp curry

3 tsps chipotle puree 

2 eggs

2  tsp pistachio oil

2 tsp canola oil, plus more for frying

1/2 tsp cumin

1 T diced chives

About 2 cups panko bread crubs

To prepare the crabcakes, saute the apples, mango, onions beets (which need to be cooked by boiling in a pot of water for about 25 minutes first), pistachio oil and spices in a tablespoon or two of canola oil, until all of the fruits and onions are soft.  Take off the heat and beat in two eggs.  Mix in the crab meat.   Then dredge and coat the crab cakes in the panko bread crumbs.  The next step is to cook the crab cakes by frying them with canola oil.  Cook them for long enough on both sides so that they are cooked through.

Sasha's Green Apple Chutney (Adapted From Tabla's Original Recipe)

3 green apples, peeled and diced

1 1/2 cup apple cider

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

cinnamon stick,  1 T dried pomegranate seeds, and 1 star anise (put in a tea bag or cheesecloth sachet)

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp black salt

1/4 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp lemon juice

I love making chutneys, ever since I discovered tropical chutneys as a kid (my first was jerk chicken with a mango chutney).  They always have a jam-like consistency and every chutney that you will make includes the basic ingredients of a fruit, a sugar and vinegar.  To prepare this chutney, simply combine the apples, apple cider and vinegar.  Add a sachet bag with the additional spices and bring to a boil.  Then add the other ingredients and simmer for abut 30 minutes until the chutney has a jam-like thickened consistency.  Add the lemon juice at the end when you take it off the heat, as this helps balance the flavors.  

Black salt is an Indian salt (you can find it at an Indian Market) called Kala Namak that was a carry-over from the Tabla recipe in this dish.  It is actually pale pink in color.  It is often used in chutneys and other Indian condiments to balance out the flavors, even though it has a pungent oder prior to incorporating it into the dish.  Dried pomegranate seeds are also available at most Indian markets.

Serve the crab cakes with the chutney on the side, with diced chives.  This dish paired nicely with a beer called Domaine DuPage from the Two Brothers Brewing Company, a Chicago-based brewery, that we picked up at Bierkraft.   This beer is a French-style country amber ale with hints of caramel and a light floral finish.

Crab is one of the ingredients of the month on A Kitchen In Brooklyn.  For another crab cake recipe, click here.  For my crab couscous, click here.

Sasha's Kitchen: Crab Cakes With Green Apple & Beets With a Spicy-Sweet Green Apple Chutney

Sasha's Kitchen: Crab Couscous with Green Apple, Mango, Saffron and Lemon

Crab is one of the featured ingredients of the month for February here on A Kitchen In Brooklyn.  For the first crab recipe, I decided to use some fresh lump crabmeat from my local fish market (unfortunately, I was not able to obtain king crab) and decided to prepare a couscous dish.  The crab was not intended to be the star of this dish, but to be featured as one of several complementary flavors.  There are several foods that I think make spectacular food combinations with crab.  These include green apple, tamarind, lemon, avocado, beets, sugar snap peas, snow peas, mango and eggs (not all in the same dish, of course).  I look forward to experimenting with different ways of presenting crab this month.

For my couscous, I decided to complement the crab with some tang/tartness, so I selected green apple, lemon and mango, and also threw in the sugar snap peas.  I added the saffron because the couscous needed a bit of a pick me up, plus it made for a beautiful pale yellow color.  Saffron is very powerful, so you only need a little bit or else it will overpower the other flavors.  The balance of this dish is nice.  Don't forget the lemon at the end, as it adds an important complement and acidity necessary to balance the dish.  This might be one of my best recipes yet, and I'm sharing.

Sasha's Crab Couscous With Green Apple, Mango and Saffron (serves 4)

1 1/2 cups of couscous

1 cup of sugar snap peas (or snow peas, if you prefer)

olive oil (added as described below)

2 diced cloves of garlic

2 T mascarpone cheese

1 diced shallot

1 medium sized mango, diced

2 green apples, peeled and diced

1 lemon, cut into slices

1/8 tsp saffron

salt and pepper to taste

To prepare this dish, I boiled a quart of water and cooked the sugar snap peas until softened (I guess they no longer will "snap").  Then I removed the sugar snap peas and added the couscous to the water.  I cooked the couscous, as per typical instructions, until al dente, about seven minutes.  Then I drained the couscous from the remaining water and mixed with 2T of olive oil.

Next comes the fun part, deciding how to jazz up ordinary couscous to create a new recipe.  I sauteed the shallot and the garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil.  Then I cooked the diced mango and apple for a few minutes, until softened.  Next, I added the sugar snap peas and the couscous and cooked for a few minutes over medium heat, adding the saffron and seasoning with salt and pepper.

Then, I added the crab and the mascarpone to the hot couscous and mixed well, to melt the mascarpone.  (you could substitute butter if you prefer).  

Finally, for presentation, I used a small bowl to mold the couscous, and garnished with some of the purple cauliflower presented in last night's post.  (I don't suggest eating the cauliflower with this dish, its too bitter, but it looks to pretty).  When you are ready to eat, season with some of the lemon juice.  I used a Meyer lemon.

This dish is one I will make again and again.  An aside here, it really bothers me when people eat lousy food (that I have to be present to see or smell).  I don't mean foods I don't like, per se, just poor quality food - frozen meals, bad restaurant food, poor quality ingredients, lots of chemicals that serve no purpose, msg etc...  You're putting this stuff in your body so you should care too.  Food is an art and should be treated as such, without dumbing down our taste buds.  

For another dish with crab, check out my crabcakes prepared using Marcus Samuelsson's recipe from his new cookbook.

Sasha's Kitchen: Crab Couscous with Green Apple, Mango, Saffron and Lemon

Brad's Kitchen in Brooklyn: Green Apple Risotto

I basically have a few speciality dishes that I am able to make myself from start to finish without any assistance. One I wrote about recently, and that is chicken marsala. The other happens to be various incarnations of risotto. One of my favorites is a recipe I garnered from Mario Batali's Simple Italian Food cookbook, Green Apple Risotto.

Here is the recipe itself, with a couple of slight modifications, and listed in the order ingredients are added:

2 tablespoons unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons Canola Oil
1 large Onion, finely chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
2 cups Arborio Rice (risotto rice)
1 cup dry White cooking Wine
4 to 5 cups Chicken Stock, added one cup at a time
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
A sprinkle of finely chopped Parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste

For this recipe, however I actually do ask my wife Sasha's help on a couple of preparatory items. The first is chopping an onion, which she is quite skilled at and saves me the trouble of having my eyes become watery. The second is peeling and slicing the apples. Ever since I accidentally peeled some of my finger while peeling a small papaya, my wife has been in charge of peeling round fruits or vegetables in our house. The only thing I peel now is cucumbers.

At any rate, the first step is to heat the butter & oil in a caserole dish at medium heat. Then add the chopped onions and cook until they soften but not brown for several minutes. Next add the apples and rice simultaneously and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then add the wine and mix with all the ingredients.

The key once you start adding the liquid, wine in this case, and later the chicken stock, is to make sure there is always some liquid mixed with the rice and other ingredients - at least until the point where the dish is ready. Another tip is to stir with some frequency throughout the process. This way the rice will not stick to the bottom of the dish, which is something you want to avoid.

After a few minutes when you notice the wine has reduced, add the first cup of chicken stock and stir together with the ingredients. Continue to add the remaining chicken stock, one cup at a time at the point where the previous cup has reduced in half. The entire cup adding process & stirring should take about 20-25 minutes. After the last cup of stock has been added and just about fully reduced, you can add in the parmigiano-reggiano cheese, parsley, salt & pepper and mix together fully. Then you are ready to dispatch from the caserole dish into a serving dish for your meal.



If you would like to check out another risotto recipe on this website, check out Sasha's Triple Mushroom Risotto, or Eric's Mussels Risotto.

Brad's Kitchen in Brooklyn: Green Apple Risotto