Andrea has brought these to several functions and they’re always a big hit.  Easy and delicious.  

1 stalk celery diced small
1 small onion diced small
1/2 small green pepper diced small
2 t olive oil
1/2 C dried bread crumbs
1 egg 1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 t prepared mustard (I used Grey Poupon and would add more the next time)
1 t seasoned salt
2 C or 1 lb. crab meat  

1. Use foil shells or clean and prepare 10 crab shells or use small baking dish.  Spray with Pam.  
2. Saute celery, onion, and green pepper in pan with olive oil.  Cool.  
3. Mix remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and then mix in sauted vegetables when they are cool.  Place in shells or baking container.  Brush with butter (I topped with fresh bread crumbs and butter). 
4. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Wanda served these one evening and it makes for a wonderful hors d’eouvre. Best of all you can make it ahead and keep on hand for several days.

1 1/3 C olive oil
2/3 C white wine vinegar
1/3 C balsamic vinegar
2 T dried (or 1/4 C fresh) thyme leaves
2 T chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 T chopped fresh basil
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
3-4 large garlic cloves, slivered

Whisk ingredients together and pour over a combination of cheese and olives, such as that sug­gested below. Marinate overnight before serving.

1 1/2 lb. firm cheeses, cubed (cheddar, Monterey jack, havarti, gouda-smoked gouda is good with this).
2 cans dark pitted olives
2 6-oz. jars green pimento stuffed olives
1 7-oz. jar sweet roasted peppers (with dark spots removed)

TIPS:

• Be creative. Use any combination of olives you like
• Save yourself some grief and put mixture in a container that can be turned upside down to marinate olives and cheese without stirring.
• Mixture can be stored in refrigerator for a week or so, turning occasionally. If the olives and cheese are stored in the marinade too long, it loses some of its appeal. Because of that, it’s a good idea to make the marinade, than use it as needed.
• If olive oil in the mixture congeals in the refrigerator, just let the mixture set at room tem­perature until it liquefies.

October is traditionally the month Rod and I are assigned our Dinner Club rotation.  It’s typically cool enough to eat outside on the porch, so we try to plan casual menus.  For an Oktoberfest theme one year, we featured this recipe.

4 C sliced, boiled potatoes
4 slices bacon, cut into small slices
1 onion, diced
1 T flour
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1 t paprika
½ C cider vinegar
½ C water

• Brown bacon and drain. Crumble bacon and sprinkle over the potatoes. Add onion to the hot bacon fat and cook only a few minutes to avoid burn­ing. Add the flour to the bacon fat and onions; blend. Add sugar, salt, paprika, vinegar, and water. Cook until clear, stirring constantly.
• Pour the mixture over the potatoes and bacon. Mix well. Serve hot or cold.

Doc said to cut back on the red meat so I’ve been looking for more poultry and seafood options.  Tried this recently and it was simple to fix and really tasty. 

3 T flour (Wondra works great)
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
4 turkey cutlets, about 4 to 6 oz. each
2 T olive oil
1/2 C thinly sliced scallions
2 cloves minced garlic
1/3 C chicken broth
1/3 C Marsala wine or dry white wine
salt to taste
2 t fresh rosemary, minced
2 T Italian flat leaf parsley, minced

• On a piece of wax paper, combine flour and pepper.  Lightly drege each cutlet in the seasoned flour. Dredge right before cooking or they’ll get gummy.
• In a 12″ skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add cutlets and saute until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to platter.
• Add scallions to skillet, turn heat to low, and cook, scraping any brown bits left in the pan, and cook until the scallions are just barely wilted, about 2 minutes.  Do not let them brown.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add the chicken broth and wine.  Increase heat to medium and cook until sauce is reduced to half, about 4 minutes.  Season with the salt and rosemary.  Return cutlets along with any accumulated juices to the skillet.  Spoon sauce over the cutlets, reduce heat to low, and simmer until heated, about 2 minutes.
• Transfer turkey to a platter, spoon sauce over cutlets, garnish with parsley and serve.  

This was the soup course Wanda assigned to Rod and I the night she hosted dinner club with a 1905 theme.  Everyone agreed this was the one recipe they would want to make again.

50 large clams (I buy them already shucked from Seafood 2 Go in Apalach)
4 T butter
4 T flour
3 C of milk
2 small slices of onion
Dash of nutmeg (freshly ground if you have it)
Salt and pepper
1 C of cream

• Strain liquor from clams; set aside. Pulse clams in food processor until pureed.
• Put the milk in the top of a double-broiler with the onion slices.
• Put the butter in a frying pan and when it bubbles, stir in the flour and let it cook a few minutes, but not brown; add enough of the milk slowly to make a roux liquid.
• Remove the onion slices from the double broiler. Add the roux to the milk in the double broiler.
• Add a dash each of nutmeg and pepper, then stir in the cream.
• When ready to serve, stir in the clam pulp and one pint of the liquor; taste to see if salt is needed. After the clams are added to the milk, leave it on the heat only long enough to get well heated; if boiled the milk will curdle.

These are beyond good.  One of the best places locally to savor fried green tomatoes is the Red Top Cafe in Apalachicola.

1 T self-rising flour
1 1/2 C self-rising flour
1 1/2 C buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 t salt, divided
1 t pepper, divided
3 green tomatoes, each cut into 4 slices
2 C vegetable oil

• Whisk together 1 T flour, buttermilk, eggs, 1/2 t salt, and 1/2 t pepper in a small bowl.
• Stir together remaining flour, 1/2 t salt, and 1/2 t pep­per in a shallow bowl.
• Dip tomato in buttermilk mixture; dredge in flour mixture.
• Heat oil in a heavy 10-inch skil­let to 350°. Fry tomato slices 2 1/2 minutes on each side or until gold­en. Drain on a cooling rack over paper towels. Serve im­mediately.

Serves 6 (unless I’m around, then it’s every diner for themselves!)

This recipe makes about 60, but if that’s how many you need to serve, better make a double batch as they have a tendency to disappear as soon as you take them out of the oven.  These are addictive! 

1 C water
1/2 C butter or margarine
1 C all-purpose flour
¼  t salt
4 eggs
½  C fresh oysters — rinsed and drained
cocktail sauce

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat water and margarine to rolling boil in saucepan; stir in flour and salt. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute; remove from heat.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time; continue beating until smooth. Stir in oysters.
• Drop dough by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 25 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve hot with cocktail sauce, preferably Ed’s Red, if you’re lucky enough to have some!

Makes 60 appetizers

This is a super fast, easy and delicious all purpose marinade. We use it constantly as it’s just as wonderful on flank steak as it is on chicken. 

½ C soy sauce
¼ C sugar or 1/8 C Splenda
¼ C mirin or dry sherry
¼ C salad oil
1 T grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Combine all ingredients. Marinate meat or chicken for several hours or overnight and then grill.

Enough for 2 - 3 pounds of meat or chicken.

Julia and I served this for Super Bowl Sunday with fresh oysters we had gathered from Apalachicola Bay only an hour before.  We about had a riot on our hands trying to keep them coming to the table fast enough for the guys to scarf down.

1 pint shucked oysters
1 C Wondra flour
1 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C yellow cornmeal
2 t Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t fresh ground pepper
2 eggs
1/4 C evaporated milk
3-5 dashes Tabasco sauce
vegetable oil (for frying)
1 C Hellmann’s mayonnaise
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 t prepared wasabi (Japanese green horseradish) or to taste

• Mix together the flour, cornmeal, spices, salt and pepper in a bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and Tabasco.
• Dredge the oysters first in the Wondra, shake off the excess, then dredge in the liquid, shake off the excess, then dredge in flour mixture and shake off the excess.
• Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Fry oysters, 10 at a time (to keep the oil from cooling too rapidly) until puffy and golden brown, about 2 minutes.
• Remove with a slotted spoon, drain well on a cooling rack over paper towels, and salt to taste.
• Meanwhile, while oysters are cooking, make the wasabi aioli
• Mix together the Hellman’s mayonnaise, 2 cloves crushed garlic and wasabi to taste.
  Arrange cooked oysters on a serving plate with a bowl of the aioli and stand by for raves.

When you live on Cape San Blas you can never have enough great scallop recipes, especially during the summer when scallop season is open and we can pull bucketloads of the fresh and tasty blue-eyed bivalves from St. Joe Bay.

1 lb scallops
1/2 C dry white wine
1 lg onion
1/2 C shredded Swiss Cheese
2 T butter
1 T snipped parsley
1/4 C flour
3 ½ C half & half
4 oz. can mushrooms, drained
1 t salt
dash pepper

1. Cut onion into thin wedges and cook in butter, covered, over low heat 15 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in flour, add half & half and cook and stir over med heat until bubbly. Add mushrooms, scallops, salt & pepper.
3. Cover & simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in wine. Sprinkle cheese and parsley on top.

Serves 6