Tornadoes and Seafood

I just saw on GMA that there is a special on 20/20 tonight, for those of my readers who can get that programme, about Tornadoes. The special is about myth busting and one myth they busted today was hiding under an overpass. Although people have survived in them, the overpass acts like a wind tunnel and the tornado effects are worse than being right outside I gather. Showed one guy who had done just that because he was worried about his car. He, himself, was very lucky to survive, out of his car hanging on two rods and the car ended up as a total junk pile about a mile away. We are going to watch the report tonight, not, luckily that we get these twisters here much, but we could. I mentioned before about a big one north of us, so there is nothing to stop us getting one here. We had a small earthquake here once, I was one of the few who felt it. The map on the right shows the area of the States which is most likely to get tornadoes, and if you follow that due North, guess where we are? Tornado Alley is more in the centre though and we are located somewhat to the right of that. Being in a tall building, I have no idea what would happen if a tornado hit it and there are lots of buildings much taller in this area let alone anywhere else. They are not unknown in Europe, I once saw a waterspout travelling up the river Medway which is in the south east of England.

This morning I have to go peel a couple of pounds of shrimp which will be cooked and marinaded for the Japanese Gingered Shrimp recipe I posted the other day. Matt, having once had an allergic reaction to being stuck with the feeler of a shrimp when he was out shrimping in NC one time, won't have anything to do with peeling them, not even if they have been cooked before hand. My policy is, if you don't peel them, you don't eat them when it comes to peel and eat shrimp. We used to go to a friend's who had a shrimper and used to produce stacks of shrimp and back fin crabs. We would sit at tables covered in newspapers and pick crabs or peel shrimp to our heart's content. Matt would not do either. He likes the meat of the crabs, but is too lazy to pick them. He thought it wasn't worth it as there is so little meat on each crab. It was worth it to me and several others. I used to really enjoy those meals. This picture shows some crab, but we used to have lots more. I don't think I have any pictures of those times, too busy eating. I was just telling a friend about my father missing out on a piece of lobster claw which he thought still had shell on and was too lazy to crack and then I picked it up and popped it in my mouth.

I recently bought a can of crab and when I got round to eating it, it was pretty tasteless. Makes me long for the days of all those crabs which were so delicious. Along with the oysters I was raving about a couple of days or so ago of course.

A friend of mine and I used to go to the Maritime museum in Beaufort, NC (pronouced bofort, in SC its pronounced biewfort) where they had talks on local seafood of various kinds and showed us how to cook them. One time, of course, it was backfin crabs which they showed us how to shell properly and then what to do with them. From this I picked up one of the best crab cake recipes I have found. I could actually taste the crab in them, it is not overpowered by all the additions. JoAnne was one of the people giving the talk.

JoAnne's Crab Cakes
Serves: 6

2 C crab meat
1/2 t salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch cayenne
2 eggs beaten
fine bread crumbs
1 T mayonnaise
4 T margarine or butter

Melt butter in fry pan. Mix crab meat with seasonings, eggs and mayonnaise. Add bread crumbs to thicken to a soft moulding consistency. Spoon in to pan and sauté until lightly browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Serve.

Looking at that picture, I could eat those right now. Yum.

Have a great day.