Noting Beats Cheesecake Cupcakes!

Here is a fun recipe that I like to make around the holidays when there are lots of children around. (children are a good excuse anyway!)



INGREDIENTS
16 vanilla wafer cookies
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin
pans with cupcake papers.
Place one wafer cookie in the bottom of each cupcake
paper. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and
sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour over
wafers in cupcake papers.
Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes, until golden and set.
Remove from oven and let set until cool, refrigerate for 1 hour before serving

These are fantastic and go over really well. Get creative by trying different toppings like shaved chocolate, maraschino cherries or a slice of banana!

ENJOY!
Chef Brian Ankner

Keep a towel in your pocket!

Visit Chefbrianscookingtips.com for cooking tips & info


Keep a towel in your pocket!

Many times around the house while I am making the family meal I find it handy to keep a towel tucked into my back pocket so I can always have access to it easily.

Tuck the corner in the pocket with the majority of the towel hanging out to give you a quick hand wipe, especially when prepping veggies. The dryer your hands, the less likely you will be to slippage.

The #1 reason Chefs go to the hospital is not burns, it's cuts.

Why do we get cut more than getting burned? One would think that in a numbers game, the numbers being we handle hot many times more than we handle knives, we would get burned more than getting cut.

Simple really, we always use a dry towel (hot pads) to handle hot. Sure, sometimes we get the occasional oven burn on the arm or grease splatter from the friers but it's the cuts that bring us to a screeching halt.

There are 2 basic reasons for getting cut, lack of concentration and slipping. There is no solution to lack of concentration other than PAY ATTENTION!

There is however a solution to slippage. Keep your hands and direct contact surfaces DRY. A wet handle on a knife or cutting board is a recipe for disaster. Wet hands are the start for a slippery situation.

Keeping a towel on the counter or just nearby is not good enough, you need to keep the towel on you so you can access it at all times, not just when convenient. If you don't have pockets, tuck it in the front of your pants top so it resembles a short apron. Tuck the short edge in the top of your pants and let it hang down. Easy to get to and long enough so you can lift it up high enough to dry the knife or veggies without being a bother. Second advantage to this method is it will keep your pants free from splash stains!

However you want to display your towel is up to you, just as long as you use one faithfully. A dry surface and dry hands will prevent the majority of all cuts.

10 years in the commercial kitchens and zero stitches because I always practice dry handling procedures. I didn't say no cuts, the occasional nick happens. Like the saying goes, those that play with fire will get burned, so to will the knife handler get a few little cuts or nicks, it's inevitable.

I said no stitches, which in my field is an accomplishment! I have personally seen some major cuts that took many stitches and many months to heal. The worst cuts were those from lack of concentration. The majority were from "the slip".

So keep a towel in your pocket or tucked into the top of your pants and it can prevent an accident, not only that but during the backyard BBQ it will make you look like you know what you are doing! Hey, everything helps, right?

Keep those fingers tucked!
Chef Brian

Go check out Chef Brian's Ultimate Recipe Collection over 10,000 recipes compiled into a single resource!

Maryland Style Crab Cakes -by Chef Brian

Visit Chefbrianscookingtips.com to review his Ultimate Recipe Collection

There are very few private recipes that I will let go public
but it's time that everyone needs to have this one. I have
traveled the country trying crab cakes that were supposed
to
be fantastic by the critics, but none have ever come close
to this one.

This is a very simple recipe, as some of the best are, and
can be made in a short amount of time. The dressing gains
flavor over time, 3-5 days, and will keep well if
refrigerated.

Blue crab lump meat is quite pricy and you can get away
with
just claw meat for this recipe if your budget demands.

I have reduced the recipe to a manageable size, originally
it was for 100, 4 oz. cakes! The restaurant would go
through
a couple hundred cakes a day. They were the most popular
item on the menu. You will find out why when you try them.

Crab cake dressing
2 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 cups finely ground onion, drained very well

Use food processor to grind onion, let drain in colander for
at least 20 minutes, do not press.
Mix above items together with large wire whip until smooth.

Crab cakes
1 pound blue crab claw meat
1 pound blue crab lump meat
4 ounces cracker crumbs made from saltines
1 1/4 cups dressing, you can add the balance of the dressing
prepared above if a moister cake is desired.

Gently mix crab meat, cracker crumbs and dressing together
by hand just enough to fully moisten.

Weigh out 4 ounce portions and hand form into round cakes
about 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Wrap in wax paper, 6" squares
will do, and refrigerate for 2 hours before cooking.

Sauté using clarified butter till golden brown on both
sides. (to clarify butter, heat till almost boiling, let
set
till it separates. Use the clear portion on top)

Can be served by themselves or as a compliment to a light
flavored fish such as grouper, scamp or tilapia.

Yield: approx. 12-13 cakes.

The last time I checked, blue crab claw meat was $12-$14 a
pound and blue crab body lump meat was $18-$20 a pound.
And you always wondered why the crab cakes at the
restaurant seemed so small and over priced!

By making these at home the costs will be about $3 each and
like I said earlier, these are going to be better than 99%
of the restaurants that serve them unless you live on the
Chesapeake Bay! Enjoy! ~ Chef Brian ~

Check out Chef Brian's Ultimate Recipe Collection Over 10,000 recipes in all!