Crab Cakes

There are many different methods for these. I am not going to go into all of them. Here is a fairly simple one I enjoy. You will need,

Crab meat

Bell pepper

Onion

Old Bay seasoning

Dijon mustard

Tabasco

Lemon juice

Mayonaise

Bread crumbs

To begin put your crab in a bowl. Dice and saute all of your onions and peppers. Let these cool then add to the crab. Add your mayo and bread crumbs as a binder. Add your lemon juice, tabsaco, and dijon mustard. Add old bay, and salt and pepper to taste. You may need to add more bread crumbs. Test one cake to see if it will hold together. Do this by attempting to sear it in a hot pan. You will know pretty fast if it is going to hold or not. Serve on a bed of greens or however you prefer.

Strawberry Bread Pudding

This desert is a great way to use up stale bread. I enjoy this recipe very much, itas colourful and oh so tasty. Here is what you need,

Old bread

Strawberrys (or other berries)

Whip cream

Berry Liqure

To begin blend up a buch of berries. You want enough berry sauce to saturate all of your bread, so use your judgement on this one. Cut your bread into large cubes. Line the inside of a mold with plastic rap. Fill the mold with bread and add your berry sauce. When it is full up cover and place a weight on it and refrigerate for 12 hours. Slice and serve with berry sauce and whipped cream. Some more berries is nice to.

Duck Rice with Polish Sausage

Word to my sous chef on this one, you know who you are. We had some duck stock to utilize, and polish sausage, as well as some rice. Out of need to use product, this dish was born. A very flavourful and yet at home style rice dish, something great for a cold day. Here's what you need,

Rice

Duck or other poultry stock

Vegetables

Cream

Butter

Polish or other sausage

To begin cook your rice. If you are unfamiliar how to do that i'll tell you an easy method now. Bring the same volume of water to a boil as the amount of rice you want to use. So for one cup rice, one cup water. When the water is boiling add your rice, turn the pot off and cover. Let it sit until the rice is done. This is a pretty awesome method for some nice fluffy and yet not over-done rice. So, now you have your rice. Next grill or saute up your sausage. After that saute up your vegetables. Next combine your rice with some pultry stock, butter, and cream, and heat it up. Season with salt and pepper. Some parmesan cheese is nice too but not needed. Now combine your rice mix with your vegetables and sausage and you are good to go. Simple easy and good.

Pasta Carbonara

This is a classic. I don't really know if I do this the completely traditional way, probably not. I have been told my Carbonara is the closest to authenic a lot of people at my job have seen in awhile, but who knows. Anyway, I learned this recipe from an american guy who spent a lot of time travelling in europe, and I trust his opinion. We actually made this as hangover chow at 7:30 am one day after a night of partying, and I must say it did the trick. Heres what you need,

Penne pasta

Heavy cream

Parmesan cheese

Garlic

Bacon

White wine

Tomatoes

Onions

Eggs

Ok here we go. I hope you know how to cook pasta al-dente, otherwise there isn't much point for you reading this recipe. Assuming you do cook off your desired amount and cool it off and set aside for use later. To make your sauce cut up bacon into 1/8 inch strips and begin browning in a saute pan. When it is about halfway there add your onions. When it is about 3/4 of the way there add your garlic as it is the smallest. Now hit it with a little white wine to get all that brown flavor off of the bottom of the pan. Add your heavy cream now. Leave the heat on so the cream will start to thicken. Add your tomatoes now as well as your parmesan so it begins to melt. Now turn off your heat and wisk in ann egg. This must be done at the end so that you only thicken your sauce and don't end up with scrambled carbonara. If this happens to you, you will know what I mean. HA HA. Anyway, now add your pasta and toss in the sauce. In a minute or so the pasta should have taken on the heat from the sauce and you are ready to go. Season with some salt and pepper and garnish with more bacon bits, parsley, and parmesan cheese. Done. This is incredibly bad for you, but oh so good. I even like to save rendered bacon fat from when I cook bacon and add even more to this recipe. Its awesome.