Maryland Crab Cakes

Ingredients:
1⅛ cups crushed crackers
2 eggs
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tsp prepared brown mustard
⅛ cup chopped onion
⅛ cup chopped red pepper
⅛ cup chopped parsley
1 stalk celery, chopped
1½ tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1 lb crabmeat

Method:

1. Preheat oven on broiler setting. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together crushed crackers, eggs, mayonnaise, brown mustard, onion, red pepper, parsley, celery, and Old Bay seasoning. 
3. Gently stir in the crabmeat. Shape into 6 patties. Place on prepared baking sheet.
4. Broil crab cakes 8 to 10 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Sauce
2 Tbsp mayo
2 Tbsp Di'jon mustard
¼ tsp Worstershire sauce

Mix and placed a dollop on top of crab cake.

Dark Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

Ingredients:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup sugar
⅓ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
60g butter, melted
⅓ cup buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten with
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp strong coffee

Method:

1. Heat oven to 175°C and line a 12-cup cupcake/muffin tin with liners.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar and salt.  Mix well.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and coffee.  Blend until there are only a few small lumps left.
4. Scoop into lined cupcake tins and bake for 20 minutes or until the centers spring back when lightly pressed.
5. Cool for three minutes in the pan before removing the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Filling: Enough to fill and decorate 24 cupcakes
2 tsp very hot water
¼ tsp salt
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream
½ cup shortening
⅓ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Dissolve the salt in the hot water and allow to cool.
2. Whip the marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it begins to get fluffy.  Add the water and whip well.
3. To fill the cupcakes, use a wide star tip (size 21) attached to a coupler on a piping bag.  Just lightly push the tip into the top of the cupcakes and press approximately a tablespoon of filling inside.  If you do not have a piping bag, you can just cut out a little bit of the cake from the top, make a hole, fill the hole with filling then top with cake you cut out.
4. Prepare the frosting

Dutch Chocolate Frosting:  Yield - Frosting for 20 cupcakes
90g butter, softened
½ cup dutch processed cocoa powder
2¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4-6 Tbsp milk or half & half

Method:

1. Cream the butter and cocoa powder until smooth.
2. Add the vanilla, powdered sugar and milk.  Mix until smooth.  If the frosting is too loose add more powdered sugar by the ¼ cup until it reaches the desired consistency.
3. Frost as desired.

Moules Fromage Bleu

Ingredients:
1¼ pound rope-grown P.E.I. mussels
4 tablespoons blended oil (40% extra-virgin olive oil, 60% canola oil)
⅓ cup diced applewood-smoked bacon
⅓ cup thinly sliced shallots
¼ cup blue cheese, or a similar mild, creamy blue
⅓ cup white wine, preferably a dry Chardonnay
Juice of 1 lemon
⅓ cup baby spinach, cleaned and destemmed
Sea salt, as needed
Black pepper, as needed

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan over high heat. Cook the bacon until the fat is rendered and it is slightly browned. 
2. Add the shallots and mussels and toss together. 
3. Add the white wine and lemon juice and toss together.
4. When the mussels start to open, add half of blue cheese, melting it into the broth. As soon as all mussels are open, toss in the spinach. 
5. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
6. Plate the mussels and top them with the remainder of the blue cheese. Serve with a French baguette and frites.

Serves one as a meal; two to four as an appetizer

Recipe from Teddy Folkman, Granville Moore's

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:
3¾ cups AP Flour
3 Tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¼ cups granulated sugar
¾ cups vegetable oil
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
1½ tsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp red food coloring
1½ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
Frosting, recipe follows

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans and line each pan with a round of parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl
3. Cream the butter, sugar and oil in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla, vinegar and food coloring.
4. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches alternating with the buttermilk, mixing well after each addition. 
5. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
6. Cool on a baking rack for 15 minutes before removing the cake from the pans. Let cool completely before frosting. 
7. Slice each cake into 2 layers and frost.

Frosting:
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
½ vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
7 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups superfine sugar

1. Combine the cream, milk, vanilla bean and seeds in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove the vanilla bean and discard. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened to a paste, about 2 minutes. Scrape into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 2 hours.
2. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and the sugar is totally dissolved, about 6 minutes. Add the cold paste, a few tablespoons at a time to the butter mixture and whip until light and fluffy.

Recipe from Bobby Flay, Throwdown with Bobby Flay

Scones

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
⅓ cup sugar
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp shortening
¾ cup cream
1 egg

Method: 

1. Heat oven to 190°C.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. 
3. Cut in butter and shortening. 
4. In a separate bowl, combine cream with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients.  
5. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out and cut into biscuit size rounds. 
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Cream Filling

Ingredients:
2½ cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
3 large eggs
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Coffee Cream Filling, recipe follows
Coffee Buttercream, recipe follows
Chocolate covered coffee beans, for garnish, optional

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line muffin pans with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add oil, coffee, and eggs. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla.
3. Spoon the batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each ⅔ full. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, for 16 to 18 mins. Let them cool in pans on wire racks for 5 mins. Remove from the pans and cool completely on wire racks.
4. Spoon Coffee Cream Filling into a squeeze bottle with a long narrow tip. Insert the tip into the top of cupcake and squeeze about 1 Tbsp of filling into center of each cupcake.
5. Spread the Coffee Butter cream frosting evenly over the cupcakes and garnish with chocolate covered coffee beans, if desired.

Coffee Cream Filling:
1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup coffee-flavored liqueur
1 (8 oz) container frozen chocolate flavored whipped topping, thawed

In a small bowl, whip the cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly add the liqueur and fold in the whipped topping. Cover and chill.

Yield: 1¼ cups

Coffee Buttercream Frosting:
½ cup butter, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar
¼ cup strong brewed coffee

In a medium bowl, beat the butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth, then beat in the coffee.

Yield: 2½ cups

Brownies

Ingredients:
220g unsweetened cooking chocolate
100g unsalted butter
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
4 eggs
350g sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
100g pecans/walnuts - roughly chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Melt chocolate & stir in butter.
3. Sift flour with baking powder & salt.
4. Beats eggs with sugar & vanilla & stir in chocolate & butter mixture.
5. Fold in flour & nuts.
6. Pour into greased tin (8") & bake for 20 - 25 mins.