I’m planning a trip to go to Dorset next weekend with my friend Sarah. Dorset his her hometown and I’m really excited to get out of London, see a new area, and learn about where she grew up. But, thinking about her hometown made me a nostalgic for my hometown. I grew up in Maryland, just outside of Baltimore. I haven’t lived in Maryland since 2008, but I still feel a strong pull to my home state.

Maryland might be a small state, but it’s got a lot going on. Maryland has lots of waterside vacation spots from the Chesapeake Bay, Deep Creek Lake, and Ocean City. Sure, Ocean City isn’t the fanciest or classiest beach, but it’s a beach and that’s awesome. Maryland is the home of the Star Spangled Banner, major sports teams, the Wire, and Hairspray. Yeah, the Wire makes Baltimore seem a  little scary, but that show was amazing.  If you haven’t seen it go out and watch it immediately. Maryland has busy cities like Baltimore and picturesque ones like Annapolis. And finally, Maryland has a sweet flag, an awesome accent, one-eyed Natty Boh, and most importantly for me delicious food. See, I told you Maryland has a lot going on.

But most famously, Maryland is known for crabs. Steamed crabs, crab cakes, crab bisque, and crab dip…yum. All of it delicious. And then I got the idea for crab grilled cheese – which might possibly my perfect dream food. This sandwich has lots of cheese, Old Bay, crabs, and buttery bread. I’ve never put anything in grilled cheese besides cheese before – and now I’m not sure I can go back to plain grilled cheese.

This item is the kind of thing that I’d find on a menu of a fancy-ish, trendy-ish, dinner. It would cost like $12, and I’d think, “that’s a lot for a sandwich at a dinner,” but then I’d do it because I had to know. Then I’d order it, and maybe it wouldn’t be as cheesy, gooey, or as full of crab as I wanted. I’d scarf it down anyway, still enjoying it, and then wish I had more and feel sad.

Don’t worry, I’ve solved that hypothetical problem. Now I can make this perfect sandwich at home. When Ryan and I scarf down the first round too quickly, I can just make a second round and stack the ingredients higher. Ryan and I ate two sandwiches and afterwards he asked if there was more crab in the fridge. Yes, yes there was. So there will be more sandwiches this week. Are you jealous yet? If you’re still not sold, Ryan said this was the best thing I’ve ever made. Yes, he’s my husband and has to say nice things, but c’mon. That’s high praise.

A few notes on method. I used sour dough bread which I loved. The bread absorbs the butter and get perfectly golden and really crispy – which is delicious and good for the structural integrity of the sandwich. (Or more specifically, it won’t flop about as you hold it or bite it) However, if you have regular old sandwich bread in the house, use that – it’s what I’d use for an ordinary grilled cheese.

Second, how do you butter your grilled cheese? My friend might not remember this, and I don’t know why I do, but years ago when we lived together, I was talking with my friend Shadur about grilled cheese and she said she buttered the bread, and I said I buttered the pan. We both looked at each other shocked, both of us thinking “why on earth do you do that?” I don’t think it ever occurred to us that there was another way to butter the bread for grilled cheese. I think buttering the bread is most efficient and makes the pan less dirty. However, I still butter the pan because then I can go crazy with the butter, reapply butter easily if I need to, and because sometimes buttering bread rips it up. Do what feels right to you, it’s no biggie.

Messy level: Because of all the stuff you’re adding, this is messier than a regular grilled cheese. You’ll need a bowl to prep your sandwich insides and a skillet. There’s lot of opportunity for the sandwich to ooze out – which leads to a bigger mess – but in this case I also think it makes the food more delicious.

Crab Grilled Cheese

 

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Author: Cooking is Messy

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• ½ cup crab meat
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1½ teaspoons Old Bay
• pepper, pepper to taste
• 1 heaping teaspoon mince green onions
• ¼ cup shredded Gruyere, plus more for sprinkling
• ¼ cup shredded Cheddar, plus more for sprinkling
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 4 slices sourdough bread

Instructions

1. In a small bowl (the one you use for cereal is fine), mix together the crab meat, mayonnaise, mustard, Old Bay, a bit of pepper, and the green onions. Mix it well, then taste, and adjust as you see fit. (Most prepared crab meat is cooked so you can taste it)
2. Mix the Gruyere and Cheddar to the crab mixture. Mix until everything is coated.
3. Now take your bread. On two slices, sprinkle a little extra Gruyere. (The cheese is your glue to hold it all together)
4. Top each of those two slices with half of the crab mixture.
5. Top the crab mixture with a little extra Cheddar.
6. Place the second piece of bread on top. Press gently to squish it all together.
7. In a large skillet on medium to medium-high heat, melt 1-1½ tablespoons of butter.
8. Once the skillet is nice and hot, add the sandwich. Cook until the bread is golden brown. This will take a few minutes, and it's ok to lift it up and check it.
9. Lift the sandwich out of the skillet and melt the rest of the butter. Flip the sandwich and put it back into the skillet with the untoasted side down (golden brown, cooked side up).
10. Cook until the cheese is melted and the second side is golden brown. Adjust the heat as you go if you feel the bread is getting dark too quickly.
11. Remove from heat, cut in half, and serve.

3.2.2925

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Something I really enjoy about cooking is that fact that it opens me up to all kinds of new things. Whether it’s trying a new ingredient or learning a new method of cooking, I find that there is always something new to discover. And something I continually learn is that some foods you can make at home and they don’t only come from the store.That might sound like an idiotic thing to say, but hear me out. There are some foods like Oreos, Twix, or Cheez-Its that only seem to exist in the grocery store and I never consider that I could actually make them at home until I go on Pinterest and see how awesome and creative some people can be.

And that’s what brings me to ranch dressing. Last week when I made the Siracha roasted cauliflower, I thought about ranch dressing because it’s my favorite dressing to have with wings and other hot foods. And then I thought, “could I make that?” Because in my mind ranch dressing only comes in a Hidden Valley bottle from the store. When I told my friend Abi that I was making ranch dressing she said, “what’s even in ranch dressing?” My thoughts exactly. As far as I knew, ranch dressing is a delicious mystery.

So, I hit the internet and there are tons of recipes out there! It’s not so hard to make, but there is a lot going on in such a simple dressing. There are so many herbs and spices! To be quite honest, making ranch dressing is really personal because there are so many ways you can fiddle with it to make it exactly to your taste. You can make it sweeter, tangier, and if you wanted even a little bit spicy.

As I was making it, I kept trying to make mine like the bottle. This was especially tricky given that I was working from memory and not comparing it to actual bottle dressing. I came to a point where I liked it well enough, but it didn’t seem perfectly like the bottle. I asked Ryan to taste it and he said:

“It tastes like it at the beginning in the end, but in the middle it has more… pop.”

Then I asked him to compare it to the bottle. And he said…better! Well, that was good enough for me. Job done! My version tastes like ranch dressing but is less sweet, has a bit more complexity, and suits the tastes of my household – but most importantly isn’t the point of home cooking to be better than mass market stuff? I think so. So impress your guests the next time you put out a vegetable spread and show them it is possible to make delicious – and better – ranch dressing.

Recipe adapted from Ree Drummond. I’ve adapted it from her, please adapt it from me. Serioiusly. Start with the basics of mayo and sour cream. If you don’t like garlic, use just one clove. If you love chives, add a bunch. Start with a little and then work your way up to reach your desired consistency. If you find you’ve made it too tangy (maybe too much butter milk or sour cream) then add more sweetness with the Worcestershire sauce. If you find you’ve made it too sweet, add more salt, or spice like the paprika or mustard. You can make your perfect ranch dressing. Just trust yourself and you can do it.

Messy level: One spoon. The method for this is mixing all the ingredients, tasting, then adjusting. The only dishes you’ll make will come from when you have to chop the herbs – and a knife and a cutting board are hardly messy burdens.

Ranch Dressing

 

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Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh chives
• 1½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon white vinegar
• pinch paprika
• ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
• ¼ - ⅓ cup buttermilk (add until desired consistency is reached)

Instructions

1. Either, mince the garlic very finely or use a grater to grate the garlic.
2. Put the garlic in a medium bowl and mix in the salt. Mix the garlic and salt together until you have a garlic paste.
3. Add the mayonnaise and sour cream to the garlic paste. Mix thoroughly so the garlic is spread throughout.
4. Now stir in the parsley, dill, chives, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, vinegar, paprika, and mustard.
5. Pour in a little bit of buttermilk. Keep adding until you have your desired consistency. I did just ¼ cup because I wanted it to be thick, and just barely pourable.
6. Taste! Adjust as you see fit. See my notes above about taste. For more info on that you can also go here
7. Now serve either with raw veggies, hot wings, or over your favorite salad.

3.2.2925

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This is one of those recipes. Coronation chicken was created in 1953 for banquet of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Ryan and I have had it a few times for lunch and it’s really tasty. It’s a cold, sweet, and savory chicken salad. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve only had this recipe at one place. That means I don’t have enough experience to say what is most authentic, best, or worst. All I can say, is that what I’ve had in the shop is good and what I made was good. What I made tasted similar to the restaurant version, but not the same. And that seems to make sense because there are tons of recipe variations out there. I found simple three ingredient recipes, complex and difficult recipes, and ones somewhere in between. I chose this one from the Guardian, and I liked it because it was a mix of ingredients I already had in the pantry and a few special ones I had to buy. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 chicken, about 1.5kg/3.3 lb

1 cinnamon stick

5 black peppercorns (or a few twists from a pepper mill)

1 tsp salt

pinch of saffron

thumb size piece of ginger, peeled

bay leaf

5 tbsp mango chutney

50g/ 1/3 cup dried apricots, finely chopped

2 tbsp curry powder

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

200 ml or a little more than 3/4 cup mayonnaise

200 ml  or a little more than 3/4 cup Greek yogurt

50g/ 1/3 cup sliced almonds

Small bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Put the chicken, breast side up in a large pot. Add the cinnamon, pepper, saffron, salt, bay leaf, and half the ginger. Fill with cold water until only the top of the breast is exposed.

2. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook for 1.5 hours. Take out of the pan and set aside to cool.

3. Remove the meat and cut or rip into bite sized pieces. Set aside until lukewarm.

4. Finely chop up the rest of the ginger.

5. Put the chutney and apricots in a large bowl.

6. In a pan, toast the curry powder until fragrant. This takes only 45 seconds or so. This is done to help bring out the flavors more strongly.

7. Add the curry and ginger into the bowl with the chutney and apricots.

8. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, then mayonnaise, then yogurt. Taste. Season to your liking. I added more curry.

9. Once the chicken is cold, mix in the dressing. Refrigerate for a couple hours. Try your best to do this, it really improves the flavors!

10. Add the cilantro and almonds.

11. Eat on a salad or on a roll.

Messy level: This recipe is pretty messy simply because there are so many steps. I found it messiest working with the chicken. I had a hard time getting it neatly out of the pot and onto a plate and then I used my hands to remove the chicken. This was a bit drippy and sticky. I also felt I needed a lot of bowls and utensils for cutting, for the sauce, and for the chicken. Still, a long lazy day at home gives me time for a big clean up.

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My lovely friend Charlotte, who is so supportive and helpful with my blog, suggested I post my first-ever salad recipe. When I read her email, I thought, “ugh, salad.” I seriously dislike making salads and I prefer what I can buy at a restaurant. I don’t have all the diverse and exotic ingredients they have. And I’m just incapable of coating my salads in dressing like restaurants do. I always have a dressing puddle at the bottom of my plate. But if the purpose of my blog is to push myself to expand my cooking horizons, then I should get over my aversion to salad-making and just make a darn salad!

Today’s recipe I call, “Lisa’s Mom’s Strawberry Salad.” Now Lisa, is one of my oldest and best friends, and I’ve known her for literally over twenty years. Her mom’s name is Ellen, and Ellen calls this recipe “Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad,” and we’ll go with that since it sounds more elegant. This recipe is one of the three or four staples (along with veggie pizza and 7-layer dip) that I associate with parties at Lisa’s house, and it’s become one of the dishes I look forward to. And I’ll admit it, I’m nostalgic. I like this recipe because it reminds me of my friends and all the great parties we went to at Lisa’s house when I was growing up.

But, the real reason this is special to me because it is the first recipe I ever asked someone for. Today I’m always asking people how they make something, what ingredients they used, and how they cooked it. But, I asked for this recipe when I was in high school and never cooked anything. Seriously, never. I do recall I made this once or twice at home, but somewhere in the 10+ years since high school I lost the recipe.

When Ellen sent me the recipe this time, my eyes bugged out a little when I saw mayonnaise in the dressing ingredients. Sixteen-year-old Mariel was unbothered by this because she didn’t know what ingredients were in anything, and she could eat whatever she wanted. But twenty-eight-year-old Mariel has a slower metabolism, and is afraid of mayonnaise. And I don’t really know why I’m afraid of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise, when made from scratch is largely oil and if a salad dressing called for lots of oil I wouldn’t bat an eye! So I decide I would make the dressing as Ellen instructed, and I’d also try to make my own oil based vinaigrette. And the winner was the mayo-based dressing! I felt like the oil overpowered the tangy raspberry sweetness I wanted in the dressing. Also, the mayo dressing wasn’t heavy at all. I liked the light sweetness that it added to the salad.

I had the perfect opportunity to make this salad the other day when Ryan was going out with friends to watch a soccer game. Solo-girls-night at home is about the only time a reddish-pink, vegetarian salad is going to be dinner in my house. When Ryan came home a few hours later he found me on the couch watching The Big Bang Theory with our baby-polar-bear-soft blanket pulled up to my nose.

Ryan: How was your salad?

Me: Great!

Ryan: You didn’t watch the game?

Me: No

Because solo-girls night means no sports on TV and a vegetarian dinner. Might sound terrible to you, but it sounds awesome to me.

Anyway, back to the recipe. At the core this salad can be made using just romaine, red onions, and strawberries. I decided to jazz it up a bit and I added goat cheese and crushed almonds. The sharp tang of raw onions, with the creamy cheese, the crunch of the almonds, and bright juiciness of the strawberries makes for a vibrant combination of flavors. I also think it makes the salad more filling. And tastier.

It was so tasty and filling, in fact, that I had this salad for breakfast the next day. For real, I ate salad for breakfast. I guess I don’t hate making salad anymore.

Ingredients

These amounts are if you’re making the salad for 4+ people

Dressing:

1/2  cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp poppy seeds

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp raspberry vinegar

Salad:

1 large head of Romaine lettuce (I used a bag of mixed greens)

1 quart strawberries

1 small red onion

1/3 cup almonds (or to taste)

goat cheese (to taste)

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise and sugar thoroughly. Add the poppy seeds. Mix. Add the milk. Mix. Add the raspberry vinegar. Mix. Set aside.

2. Wash the lettuce and roughly chop. Put in a large bowl.

3. Wash the strawberries. Cut into thin slices. Put them on top of the lettuce.

4. Slice the onion in thin strips. Put them on top of the lettuce.

5. You can crush the almonds in a food processor. Or you can put them in a plastic bag and hit them with a rolling pin. The second way is fun, and you don’t dirty any dishes. Sprinkle crushed almonds on top of the lettuce.

6. Cut the goat cheese into small dime-sized blobs. Place them around on the salad.

7. Serve!

Messy level – 1 spoon! All you need for this is a knife, cutting board, two bowls, and a whisk to mix the dressing. So very easy.

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