salmon chowder

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where chowder is a diet staple. If you've managed to make it to 5 years old without trying some kind of chowder - clam, oyster, fish, etc. - then there's definitely something odd going on.

Because I had some unpredictable allergic reactions to seafood as a child I was a little more sheltered than most and usually stuck to clam chowder. It wasn't until I started spending more time on the East Coast that I finally tried salmon chowder. Since then it's become a family favorite. It's easy to whip up a pot on the weekends and take it to work for lunch throughout the week - especially because I think it tastes even better the next day after it's been chilled and all of the flavors have had a chance to really meld. I think it creates a much deeper, richer flavor.

The original recipe calls for fish stock, which can be difficult to find and I find obnoxious to make on my own. Kitchen Basics does make a boxed stock that I find delicious and you can usually find it at Whole Foods (their clam stock is fabulous for making clam chowder, also). If you can't find a seafood stock then use chicken stock, but remember to use stock - not broth.

This is a key part of soup making of which many people tend to miss out - stock and broth are two very different things. Stock is made using browned bones, meat and vegetables. It has a rich, hearty flavor with a great deal of depth. Broth is made using just meat and vegetables and tends to have a much more subtle flavor. Think of it as the difference between using a a carcass from a roasted chicken vs. pieces of chicken meat to flavor the liquid. Both have their purposes, but one must be aware that they are indeed different.

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grilled shrimp with sweet corn polenta

Grilled shrimp, salty pancetta, sweet corn, and creamy polenta.

Indubitably delicious.

I saw a recipe photo on the cover of Food & Wine last month that inspired this. I think it was actually a saffron risotto with grilled shrimp, but polenta sounded so much better. It was surprisingly easy and the flavor pay off was definitely high.

Not a single complaint. It even made fabulous leftovers for lunch the next day.

Make this, people will love you. You know, even more than they already do.

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seared black pepper crusted tuna with creamy soy dressing

My mother-in-law introduced me to a lovely little store called Balducci's last year. I believe it's Maryland-centric, but I don't know for sure. It's a magical place filled with 14 month aged Manchego cheese, Champignon brie, deboned quail, and hard-to-find ingredients like Buddha's Hand Citron.

It is a place where one can find basil that smells and looks like real basil - in January.

Sadly, until I move up there later this summer I've only able to peruse their beautiful aisles on the few occasions I've had to get up there. That lovely mother-in-law of mine, or as I like to call her "The Good Food Fairy," brought me some tasty treats to tide me over in the food wasteland that is central North Carolina.

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garlic scape crab rangoons

Although I typically walk the straight and narrow when it comes to Asian cuisine, I can't help but love the slap-in-the-face-of-traditional-Asian-cuisine guilty pleasure that is the crab rangoon.

It is shamelessly awful and wonderful at the same time. Wholly a creation of the "American Chinese" bent, crab rangoons are an unknown in Asia - and rightfully so, in my opinion. However, the fact that they are little more than a shameless attempt at pandering to the palate of your typical American schlub doesn't make me love them any less.

Creamy and crunchy with just a hint of umami from the scallions/garlic and then dunked in a cloyingly sweet, outrageously fake red sweet and sour sauce they're a guilty treat I can't resist when ordering Chinese takeout.

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maryland crab cakes

Where I grew up in Washington state crab cakes were usually a mish-mash of little crab meat pieces with a ton of filler - lots of breadcrumbs, scallions, garlic, etc.

They were usually OK, depending on where I had them, but I was never crazy about them. Little cakes of apathy that always looked better in print on the menu than they did on the plate after I ordered them.

When I married a lovely man of the East Coast persuasion his mother introduced me to Maryland-style lump crab cakes. My what a change these are. Huge, succulent lumps of crab meat with just enough additional ingredients to keep them from falling apart too much in the pan.

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