Thanksgiving Appetizers Make a Statement - Deviled Eggs with Crab and Charred Corn Kernels

Say "Thanksgiving" and of course "turkey and sides" pop into your mind. But for me, when I think of the Thanksgiving feast, my brain says "appetizers." Turkey is great. Corn bread stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce are all great, but Thanksgiving is the time for lots of great appetizers.

To begin the feast, appetizers set the stage, whet the appetite and get the party going.

I'll make prosciutto with Hami melon, home-cured salmon on sourdough crisps with cream cheese, home-made tapenade with lavash crisps, hearts of palm rounds topped with a dab of mayo & a splash of Tabasco, an assortment of soft and hard cheeses, Castelvetrano Green olives and the pièce de résistance, deviled eggs with charred corn and Dungeness crab.

Easy to make, visually fun and delicious, deviled eggs get everyone talking because I add crab (or lobster or shrimp) which isn't what most people think of when they say "deviled eggs."

My mom introduced me to deviled eggs when she would take my sister and me to the beach. I didn't like the ocean because the cold dark water in Santa Monica Bay wasn't and still isn't very nice. But I loved the picnic lunch she would pack. Fried chicken, fresh fruit salad and deviled eggs. Hers were classic with the egg yolks mixed with Best Foods mayo, salt, pepper and a bit of paprika. Easy-peasy.

My version borrows the simplicity of her approach but adds fun with the crunch of charred corn and the luxuriousness of shell fish. I love crab if I can find it fresh, otherwise, shrimp is very available and lobster the most extravagant but all are delicious in their own way.

The filling can be made a day ahead and kept in a refrigerated piping or pastry bag. The easiest kind of bag to use is made out of plastic or choose a reusable cloth pastry bag.

DEVILED EGGS PERFECT FOR PICNICS AND SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Serves 4

Time to cook 20 minutes

Time to cool 5 minutes in ice cold water

Time to prepare 15 minutes

Total time 40 minutes

Ingredients

4 large or extra large eggs

1/2 cup cooked crab, shrimp or lobster, washed, finely chopped

1/4 cup mayo, preferably Best Foods 

1/4 cup corn kernels, off the cob, charred, cooled

Sea salt to taste and to salt the water

1/4 teaspoon dried dill (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pinch of finely ground pepper flakes, Italian or Korean

Directions

Place 4 eggs in a quart saucepan with enough water to cover the eggs. Add 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt to the water and bring to a gentle boil over a medium flame. After 20 minutes, transfer the hardboiled eggs to fresh, cold water. Add ice cubes to cool the water. Allow to rest 15 minutes, Remove from the water and peel. Discard the shells, wash and pat dry the eggs being careful to remove all bits of the shell.

Using a sharp pairing knife, slice each egg the long way so you have 4 quarters. Carefully remove the yolks so the white part doesn't tear. Place the yolks int a bowl and the white "triangles" into a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Using a folk, break up the cooked egg yolks.

Place a frying pan on the stove top. Turn the heat up to medium high. When hot, add the corn kernels. Toss gently until the kernels are toasted/browned. Remove and cool.

In the bowl with the egg yolks, add the toasted corn kernels, season with sea salt, dry dill (optional), freshly ground black pepper and pepper flakes. Using the folk, toss well to combine.

For the shellfish, if available, use raw crab, shrimp or lobster in the shell. Boil a pot of water large enough to hold the shellfish. Cook the crab or lobster 5 minutes. If using shrimp in the shell, boil in water 2 minutes. Remove and cool in cold water. Set aside to cool. Remove the shell and reserve 1/2 cup of cooked meat.

If using already cooked shellfish, all you need do is remove the shells and rinse to get rid of any packaging flavors.

Being careful to remove all shells, roughly chop a 1/2 cup of shellfish meat. Reserve the remainder to make soups, salads or cocktail appetizers.

Add 1/2 cup of shellfish meat to the seasoned egg yolks and stir well to mix.

Add mayo and combine well. Taste and if needed adjust the seasonings or add more mayo. The mixture should be creamy.

Spoon the filling into the pastry bag and reserve until just before serving.

To serve.

Cut 1" off the end of the plastic pastry bag. Line up the egg white quarters on a plate and squeeze out enough filling to make an attractive mound in the middle of each egg white quarter. Serve cold with ice cold beer or a crisp white wine.

Make Lox Your Way In Your Kitchen

 I love lox. Who doesn't like lox and bagels for breakfast? Served with a salad and you have a delicious, healthy lunch or light dinner.

Sold in vacuum packed packages, lox is readily available in the refrigerated section of most markets or sold hand-sliced paper thin at specialty deli counters, like New York City's Zabar's or Russ and Daughters.

 

Lox is an easy to enjoy dish. Thin sliced, on a bagel or a slice of toast, with cream cheese, capers, tomato and red onions, lox is a delicious treat in the morning or any time  of the day.

Lox is also surprisingly easy to prepare at home at a fraction of the cost.

The technique I have developed works for any kind of salmon, but my preference is to always use wild caught salmon, not farmed because the flesh has better texture and flavor. 

If you are lucky enough to return from a fishing trip with pounds of salmon that were frozen on board the ship, thaw a piece to make delicious cured salmon.

You can use any part of the salmon, the area close to the tail or the fat mid-section. To ensure even curing, cut the salmon so that the filet is the same thickness through out. If you use the fat mid-section, cut off the thin part of the filet. You can use the thicker part of the mid-section for a sautéed salmon dish and use the thin part to make cured salmon. Or, visa versa

The thicker the filet you use, the longer you will want to leave the salmon to cure. A thin part will cure in a week. The thick part will cure in two-three weeks.

When buying salmon, look for flesh that has a good color. The flesh should be smooth, without fissures. 

Your lox is only as good as the ingredients, so use salt that has not been treated with chemicals. I prefer Diamond Cyrstal Kosher Salt.

Home Cured Lox

You can use any part of the salmon, the area close to the tail or the fat mid-section. To ensure even curing, cut the salmon so that the filet is the same thickness through out. 

If you use the fat mid-section, cut off the thin part of the filet. You can use the thicker part of the mid-section for a sautéed salmon dish and use the thin part to make cured salmon. Or visa versa.

The thicker the filet you use, the longer you will want to cure the salmon. A thin filet will cure in a week. The thicker part will cure in two-three weeks.

Add flavor with dried aromatics. Dill works very well. If you enjoy a bit of heat, use dried pepper flakes or Korean pepper powder.

Ingredients

1/2 pound fresh salmon, washed and pat dried

1/2 cup Diamond Cyrstal Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon dried aromatic like dill weed

1/4 teaspoon dried pepper powder (optional)

Directions

Use tweezers to remove all the pin bones, those very thin bones that are located in the middle of the filet. Discard.

Many people do not like the darker flesh close to the skin. Using a sharp knife, cut the dark parts of the flesh and the skin. Remove and reserve to thinly slice and deep fry for a delicious treat to serve on steamed rice.

On the kitchen counter, lay a sheet of plastic wrap 5" larger than the filet. Sprinkle the kosher salt onto the plastic wrap. Place the deboned filet on top of the kosher salt. Add the dry aromatic flavoring and (optional) pepper powder on top of the filet. Sprinkle the remaining kosher salt on the filet.

Pull up the edges of the plastic wrap and seal the filet. If needed, use a second sheet of plastic wrap so that the filet is completely sealed in the plastic wrap.

Place the sealed and seasoned filet into an air tight container that is larger than the filet so it can lie flat.

Refrigerate.

Every 24 hours, turn the container over so the filet cures evenly.

You will notice that very quickly the dry seasonings become a slurry as the salt pulls moisture out of the salmon. 

Continue turning over the container every 24 hours. One week for thin filets. Two weeks for thicker filets. As you perfect your technique, you may choose to cure the salmon filets longer, depending on your taste.

The filets will not spoil for up to a month.

Serving

Remove the filet from the container and the plastic wrap. Rinse thoroughly in clean, running water. Pat dry. Use a sharp knife and cut the filet into paper thin slices. You don't need to eat all of the filet at one time. Use as much as you want. Rewrap in plastic wrap any unused portions, place into an air tight container and refrigerate for up to a month. 

To make a bento-box style treat, cut bread into 2" square pieces, toast and add cream cheese, capers and a slice of your homemade lox. If desired, sprinkle with sea salt and top with a thin slice of tomato.

Ready, Set, Go: For 4h of July, Go Sweet and Easy-to-Make Beet Salad

 The 4th is a time to celebrate our families and communities, to embrace what is good about our lives and to celebrate our hope for the future. We will join friends for a BBQ and a drone-light show. Definitely no fireworks in Pacific Palisades where we suffered so bitterly in the January 7th blaze that took so many of our homes.

That was then, July 4th is now. We are moving forward and rebuilding what was good in our lives. Our contribution will be chicken wings, potato salad and easy-to-make beets.

I prefer very large beets that are sweeter than the small ones preferred in restaurants. If you find beets with their greens on, definitely cut off the leaves and stems and sauté them in olive oil with onions and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper. Sautéed beet greens are delicious as a side dish to go with BBQ steaks and chicken and also tossed with pasta.

ROASTED BEETA

Serves 4

Time to prep: 1 minute

Time to cook: 60-90 minutes (depending on the size of the beets and your oven)

Time to prepare: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 large beet or 2 medium sized beets, washed, stems and leaves removed and sautéed as described above

Olive oil, to taste

Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 F.

Place beet or beets on a wire rack on a cookie sheet or piece of aluminum foil.

Place in oven and roast until a pairing knife passes easily into the beet

Cool and use a pairing knife to remove the blacked skin and ends.

Serve sliced, julienned or diced as a salad seasoned with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper.

Options

Add crumbled feta cheese and toss to mix well.

Add diced roasted beets to green salad with tomatoes, celery leaves, arugula and olives. Season with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add pomegranate seeds and season with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.