The food thread

And of you like your salmon sans cooking, you can have Gravlax. Since Jacco got me doing this last year, I have found a special spot for it. Sorry about the lousy pics, I am using my wife's camera.

Looks promising. Perhaps a heavier weight when pressing it?? Here is one I had smoked!:)
 

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Promising? I'll say. Having an entire bed of dill like that makes your job easy. ;)
Actually the container I use has a tight fitting lid that you press down on to make the seal so simliar to weighting it.
When I do smoked salmon I like to cold smoke it so you can still have the lox effect. Jacco got me started on the dill thing and I have really enjoyed the results. I have added a bit of liquid smoke in the past but not this time. I was partly pickled myself when I made this one so I kinda forgot that part, not to mention the black pepper.
 
Promising? I'll say. Having an entire bed of dill like that makes your job easy. ;)
Actually the container I use has a tight fitting lid that you press down on to make the seal so simliar to weighting it.
When I do smoked salmon I like to cold smoke it so you can still have the lox effect. Jacco got me started on the dill thing and I have really enjoyed the results. I have added a bit of liquid smoke i the past but not this time. I was partly pickled myself when I made this one so I kinda forgot that part.

I simply pay a pro who sends it back laser sliced. Although I used to have my own home made smoke hole dug in a steep bank in my garden when i lived in Ireland. We tend to only oak smoke over here. That fish was a bit too big for any really good use but it was a bleeder and had to be killed. Best size is about 10-12 lbs.
 
I couldn't resist to pick a piece of the omelette before dinner so.... I had to find an excuse. I said the PacMan was done just and only just for aesthetically reasons :D

And no dinner is solid enough if some kind of dessert is not pressent. That was the GF's dutty :p Isn't it easy to see?
 

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regiregi, I really like the creative side of cooking. It's something that is often missing in mine.

What kind of crabs are they and do you always boil them whole like that?
Hi Cal!
Those crabs are called "Buey de mar" (traslated as "sea ox"):
Cancer pagurus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And Centolla:
Maja squinado - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How do you boil them? I put the crab still alive in cold water with quite big amount of salt and a bay leaf, then it is heated until it starts to boil. The moment it starts to boil, the moment it is to retire from heat, and to leave it in resting in this water for 1 or 2 hours (until it's cold again). It is said that this is the critical part, where by means of osmosis salt and flavours are absorved and assented.

What is your recipe? I have heard that you add some chilis to it. In Spain that would be looked as an abbomination, the same as if you said to add ketchup to the crab (but who knows! you americans use ketchup a lot :) )

Best regards!
 
I like to split them, clean them and add to a salted chili boil. Cleaning them reduces the leaching of the bodily fluids back into the meat which is seen as distasteful around here. Boil 5 mins, no more and let rest for 3 minutes before serving nice and hot.

Then there's the fry method which is very popular with our asian brothers. That starts by removing the whole shell (with guts intact) and cutting the body into one or two leg pieces, adding a seasoned salt to the exposed meat, let stand for 15 mins before coating in starch and then frying in a wok for 3 or 4 minutes. It is then topped with either a green onion, fried garlic and fresh sliced chillies or a starch type sauce of oriental ilk.

There are other ways but those are the two that happen in this house.

I am interested in your crabs. It is nice to see the different types around the world and I hope to get the opportunity to try them some day. We usually use Dungeness as it is rather plentiful around these parts.

And I'm Canadian rather than American. Ketchup doesn't play the same roll here. It's really just a fast food type condiment for french fries, hot dogs and hamburgers. Same with that bright yellow mustard. Real foodies know better. :)