Make Ahead Breakfast Egg Dish

Company coming and you want an easy, make ahead breakfast? This is the one.

Page 196 of Tastes & Treasures A Storytelling Cookbook of Historic Arizona has a delicious recipe to feed 6 with 4 eggs. We modified it a little adding sliced fresh mushrooms and ham. Get creative and find out how interesting flavors combine to make this a wonderful breakfast.

Feast of the Seven Fishes

Traditional Christmas Eve for Italians is often centered around the Feast of the Seven Fishes. No dairy or meat should be involved. The feast this year featured grilled seasoned shrimp, fried smelt, crab cakes, baccala (dried salt cod ), followed with lobster, mussels and scallop pasta in marinara sauce. With friends and neighbors stopping by for dinner and good will, the Feast was welcomed by all.

The Crab Cakes recipe from The Cottage Place Restaurant in Flagstaff can be found on page 28 in Tastes & Treasures cookbook.
Crab Cakes with Corn Sauce

Corn Sauce
1/2 cup marsala
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup water
1 cup roasted corn kernels or frozen roasted corn kernels, thawed
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Crab Cakes
1 pound crab meat, shells removed and crab meat flaked
1 rib celery, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup fresh corn kernels or frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 eggs
1/2 cup Clarified Butter (page 29)

For the corn sauce, bring the wine, shallots, salt and white pepper to a boil in a large saucepan. Cook until the mixture is reduced by one-half. Add the cream and water and return to a boil. Stir in the corn. Mix the flour and butter together and whisk into the boiling sauce. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Pour into a blender and process until pureed. Adjust the seasonings to taste and strain into a bowl. Keep warm.

For the crab cakes, combine the crab meat, celery, bell pepper, corn, horseradish, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, lemon zest, chives, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 1/2 cup of the panko, 1/2 cup of the corn sauce and the eggs in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Adjust the seasonings to taste. Divide the crab meat mixture into sixteen 2-ounce balls. Gently shape each ball into a round cake about 1/2 thick. Dredge the crab cakes in the remaining 1 1/2 cups panko, gently pressing to adhere. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Cover the bottom of the skillet with the clarified butter. Add the crab cakes and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

To serve, ladle 1/4 cup of the remaining corn sauce on each serving plate and plate the crab cakes in the pool of sauce.

Makes 16 appetizer-size crab cakes

Fixated on Fritatta

What to do with those left over vegetables? Make a fritatta. This one was filled with goodies to make a hearty breakfast.

Using a ovenproof pan or cast iron skillet, saute chopped yellow pepper in olive oil. Add precooked bacon, spinach, broccoli, potatoes, chicken, what ever you have. Pour egg whites over the mixture to barely cover and sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper.

Bake 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Also check out some great Egg Dishes in Tastes & Treasures A Storytelling Cookbook of Historic Arizona. Page 195 has a wonderful, easy Breakfast Casserole. And Southwestern Bacon and Cheese Strata on page 118 from Rancho de La Osa has a spicy kick. Enjoy.

Crab Cakes

Recipes are meant to share, especially one low in calories and fat that tastes delicious. These Crab Patties are from www.hungrygirl.com. Tastes & Treasures cookbook has two crab cake recipes. One from The Cottage Place in Flagstaff is on page 28. Dungeness Crab Cakes are on page 82 from El Chorro Lodge. Try all three recipes for a taste test and enjoy.

Ingredients:
Two 6-oz. cans lump crabmeat, drained (about 1 cup drained crabmeat)
2 1/2 slices light white bread (40 - 45 calories each with around 2g fiber per slice), lightly toasted
One wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese, room temperature
3 tbsp. fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
2 tbsp. finely diced onion
2 tbsp. finely diced celery
1 tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp. Dijonnaise
1/2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh curly parsley
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. whipped light butter or light buttery spread (like Brummel & Brown), melted
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
dash hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)
dash salt, or more to taste
dash black pepper, or more to taste
Butter-flavored nonstick spray
Optional: additional Dijonnaise (for dipping), lemon wedges
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Tear lightly toasted bread into pieces and place in a food processor or blender. Pulse until reduced to breadcrumbs, and then transfer to a medium bowl.
Add crabmeat, parsley, garlic, salt, and black pepper to the bowl, and gently mix until combined. Add onion and celery, lightly mix again, and set aside.
Break cheese wedge into pieces and place in a small bowl. Add egg substitute, mayo, Dijonnaise, lemon juice, melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, and hot pepper sauce. Whisk until smooth, and pour over the crabmeat mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the liquid mixture into the crabmeat mixture. If you like, add additional salt and black pepper to taste.
Prepare a medium-large baking dish by spraying with butter-flavored nonstick spray. Take one-third of the crab cake mixture (about 3/4 cup) from the bowl. Gently form it into a ball, place it in the baking dish, and flatten it into a cake about 1-inch thick -- repeat twice with remaining crab mixture so that you have 3 cakes in the baking dish.
Bake in the oven for 14 - 15 minutes, until the cakes are slightly firm and cooked through.

Remove carefully from the dish and serve with additional Dijonnaise for dipping and/or lemon wedges for squirting.

MAKES 3 SERVINGS
Serving Size: 1 crab cake
Calories: 117 Fat: 2g Sodium: 799mg Carbs: 11.5g Fiber: 2.25g Sugars: 2.5g
Protein: 14g POINTS® value 2*

Prickly Pear Jelly

How to harvest Prickly Pears and not get injured? The education department at the Arizona Historical Society tells us not only that but gives us a recipe for the jelly - A little learning plus delicious food at www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org

Prickly Pear is a cactus that grows in Arizona. It has flat, rounded pads, orange and yellow flowers, and sweet, purplish fruit. Since the prickly pear cactus needs plenty of sun, sandy soil, and very little water to grow, Arizona is the perfect home for this cactus.

The prickly pear cactus is a source of food for many animals and people in the desert. One treat many people of the Southwest enjoy comes from the fruit of this cactus is Prickly Pear Jelly.

Prepare Fruit:
- Wearing gloves and using tongs, gather about 2 quarts of pears, including a few that are not fully ripe.
- Hold pears under running water and scrub with a brush to knock off small stickers.

Or purchase prepared fruit at Arizona Cactus Ranch, (800) 582-9903, www.arizonacactusranch.com


You Need:

2 quarts prickly pears
1 ¾ ounces powdered pectin (a gelling agent for jams and jellies, can be purchased at your local grocery store with canning supplies )
3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
3 ½ cups sugar

Step 1: Without peeling, slice pears in large pieces and put in large kettle with enough water to
barely cover.

Step 2: Boil until tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Step 3: Press with potato masher and strain through jelly bag or 2 thicknesses of cheesecloth.
Spines will come off fruit during this process.

Step 4: To a pan add 2 1/2 cups juice, and 1 3/4-ounce powdered pectin.

Step 5: Bring to fast boil, stirring constantly.

Step 6: Add 3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice and 3 1/2 cups sugar.

Step 7: Bring to hard boil.

Step 8: Cook for 3 minutes at a rolling boil.

Step 9: Remove from heat, skim and pour into sterilized jelly glasses. Seal at once with 1/8-
inch melted paraffin, a wax that prevents the jelly from going bad (can be purchased at your local grocery store with canning supplies).

*Recipe from Fruits of the Desert by Sandal English.

Easy Sticky Buns

Love the sticky buns from historic El Chorro restaurant? Here is a simpler version. The education department at the Arizona Historical Society also gives us a mini lesson about the Arizona Walnut tree at www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org

EASY STICKY BUNS

The Arizona Walnut is a type of tree that grows in Arizona. The Arizona Walnut grows very slowly and can live well over 20 years. When this tree is fully grown it can be 50 feet tall. In the spring and summer, the Arizona Walnut has yellow-green leaves and small brown flowers. During the fall and winter, the tree looses its leaves and the brown flowers become brown seeds, called walnuts.1 With these walnuts you can make delicious goodies like sticky buns.

You need:

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 package frozen yeast rolls (about 18)
1 ½ cups butter (2 ½ sticks)
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 (4 oz) package butterscotch pudding and pie filling mix
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Step 1: Spread the walnuts over the bottom of a bundt pan sprayed with nonstick
cooking spray and top with the yeast rolls.

Step 2: Cook remaining ingredients, butter, brown sugar, butterscotch mix, and cinnamon, in a saucepan until blended, stirring frequently.

Step 3: Pour over the prepared layers.

Step 4: Let rise, covered with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, for 8 to 10 hours.

Step 5: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Step 6: Let stand for 15 minutes and then turn upside down onto a serving platter.
Serve immediately. Serves 12.

*Recipe from Tastes & Treasures: A Storytelling Cookbook of Historic
Arizona by the Historical League, Inc. Available for purchase at the Arizona
Historical Society Museum at Papago Park, (480) 929-0292.

Kabobs on the Grill

Chicken, steak, cherry tomato, mushroom, onion, zucchini, red pepper . . . let your imagination run wild with yummy vegies to add to the kabobs. And don't let the winter cold stop you from the BBQ. Bundle up and enjoy the grill year round.

Of course, the Herb-Roasted Vegetables from the Cottage Place in Flagstaff uses an oven to make a great side dish. Check out page 24 of Tastes & Treasures if you want to stay indoors and stay warm.