peaches Archives - 3jamigos

“Drop” Everything & Make This Biscuit Berry Cobbler

By threejamigos | August 19, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Are you like me? Our farmer’s market in the summer is like a candy store and I’m the kid in it, running around and grabbing baskets of berries, peaches and whatever looks delish. The past few weeks I’ve come home with way too much fruit for the hubs and me. Thankfully, Dorie Greenspan came to my rescue with a recipe for a Drop-Biscuit Peach Blueberry Cobbler. It is so good and so easy, I have made this more times than I can count this summer.

Cobbler, Crisp, Crumble…explained

I LOVE pies…but even I have to admit, when I want an easy dessert, pies do not come to mind. Enter the 3 Cs, cobbler, crisp and crumble, easy, homey and delicious.

First, a cobbler is your choice of fruit baked with a biscuit topping. Second, a Crisp is fruit covered with a streusel topping that contains butter, flour, sugar, and oats. You can find me making Apple Crisps in the fall to chase away the summer is over blues. A crumble is the English version of a crisp and does not usually have oats in the streusel. But it can, as in this Strawberry Rhubarb Hazelnut Crumble that I adore! Finally, from Vivian Howard of A Chef’s Life, her Blueberry Cobbler with a Cornmeal-Sugar Cookie Crust is so amazing and worth the calories.

So, get thee to a Farmer’s Market now.

Dorie’s original recipe calls for peaches and blueberries. I’ve used all berries, berries plus peaches, nectarines, and mangoes-it’s all scrumptious. Berries and fruits with a lot of moisture will need cornstarch to thicken the juices. Adjust the sugar depending on the sweetness of the fruit (and to your taste of course). Add lemon juice and a bit of lemon zest, for a refreshing citrus zing.

Biscuits Until I Drop

The biscuit dough is essentially a cream biscuit and comes together in a snap, no butter to mess with!). Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir in the buttermilk and heavy cream. The fat in the heavy whipping cream stands in for butter. Mix just until combined without any dry spots, try not to overmix. The dough will be wet and loose. Use a large ice cream or cookie scoop (about 2-3 T) to drop the dough onto the fruit. Leave a bit of space between dough scoops (aesthetics).

Bake until the crust is a nice golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. The biscuits will be tender, light, and cakey, the perfect foil for the delicious fruit compote underneath.

Spoon out warm, just baked wedges into bowls and top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. It doesn’t get much better than this although my family would beg to differ. They actually like it straight out of the fridge the next morning. The biscuit has had time to absorb some of the lovely juices, the fruit has a toothier bite. It’s all good in my book. Let me know if you like this cobbler straight out of the oven or fridge!

Print Pin

Drop Biscuit Berry Cobbler from Dorie

A quick, easy and DELICIOUS Cobbler perfect for the summer fruit season! Berries, mangoes, peaches, or nectarines all work beautifully in this summer dessert. Thanks Dorie!

Course Berries, Biscuits and scones, Cobbler, Dessert, Stone fruit

Cuisine American

Keyword blueberries, cobbler, Cream Scones with peaches, drop biscuits, strawberries, summer fruits

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Servings 8

Ingredients

Da Fruit- Use whatever fruit you like! You will need 6 cups of cut fruit.

3 pounds ripe peaches or nectarines, peeled or not, your choice. about 1 1/2 kg
1/4 cup sugar, or to taste 50 grams
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, and zest of 1/2 -1 lemon Zest is optional but I love the flavor zest imparts
1 cup blueberries 150 grams
2 teaspoons cornstarch and up to 1-2 tablespoons for juicy fruit

Biscuit Top

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 204 grams
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt reg table salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cold heavy cream 240 ml
1/2 cup cold buttermilk (shake well before measuring) 120 ml
Ice cream or whipped cream for serving (optional, although in my universe this is not optional)

Instructions

Center rack in oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and put it on the baking sheet.
If you want peeled peaches, cut a shallow X in the base of each peach. Blanching makes peaches very easy to peel. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop in the peaches a few at a time, leave for about 15 seconds, lift out and transfer to a bowl filled with very cold water and ice cubes. Leave for a couple of minutes, then drain and peel.
Cut the peaches into bite-sized chunks or slices and toss them into the pie plate. Taste and decide how much sugar you want and then, if you’d like, add some lemon juice. Add the blueberries and then make a decision about the cornstarch: It’s only a tiny bit, but it will thicken the juices a little. If your peaches are very ripe, I’d add it. Give everything a good stir and set aside.
To make the biscuit topping: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together the cream and buttermilk. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry and, using a table fork, stir until the flour is evenly dampened and you’ve got a moist batter.
Using a medium (1 1/2-tablespoon capacity) scoop or a tablespoon, dollop the topping over the fruit — leave a little space between each pouf of batter.
Bake the cobbler for 45 to 55 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit juices are boiling under, and maybe up, through and over, the biscuits.
Transfer to a rack and let cool for at least 20 minutes, or until the cobbler reaches room temperature, before serving, with or without ice cream or whipped cream.

Notes

You can vary the cobbler according to what fruits are in season and within reach: Keep in mind you need about 6 cups of cut-up fruit, sugar to taste and juice of 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon. For an all-berry cobbler — mix whatever berries you can get and, if you want, cut in some ripe mango; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the berries — they’re very juicy. I've used 3 cups of halved strawberries, 2 cups blueberries and a cup of mango, delish. Let your imagination go...plums make a pretty cobbler and work well with peaches or nectarines. Early summer, try rhubarb and strawberries (and some cornstarch).
STORING: The cobbler is best the day it is made. You can keep it covered overnight at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Just Peachy Cream Scones

By threejamigos | July 12, 2020 | Comments 0 Comment

Ripe for the Picking

Peaches and nectarines are showing up at the farmer’s market in full force now. Summer is in full swing and the delicious scent of summer fruits-peaches, melons, and berries permeate the air. Even with my COVID mask on I catch whiffs of the heady aroma of vine-ripened fruit.

I came home with way too many peaches and nectarines of course. After eating more than a couple out of hand I decided it was time to change it up. I saw a recipe in the NYT for a peach loaf bread but that would mean having the oven on for a very long time, way too hot for that. How about scones? I can make Dorie’s Cream Scones and throw in peaches in place of currants and fortunately, they bake in a jiffy.

Dorie’s Cream Scones is my go-to recipe, I have made it with dried cranberries and orange zest, dried blueberries and lemon, or freeze-dried strawberries. It lends itself well to variations. But fresh fruit? A little trickier. I diced the skinned peach and placed it in the freezer while I made the dough. I used one cup of diced peaches which is conveniently about 1 peach.

Partially freezing the peaches (don’t use commercially frozen peaches, those have too much liquid), prevents the peaches from getting smooshed when you fold them into the dough. I tossed them in when I added the liquid to the dry ingredients but it would be better to add the liquid, blend it to a shaggy mess, then add the peaches as you bring the dough together.

Pearls of Sconedom

Fresh fruit is less focused in sweetness and flavor than dried fruit. I liked the peaches but they would benefit from a couple of “flavor amplifiers”. Next time I will add a teaspoon of vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the dough. I was lazy so I did not put a wash on the scones. My bad, do not skip this. Brush an egg-wash or heavy cream on the scones before baking and sprinkle them generously with turbinado or sparkling sugar. This adds both crunch and sweetness. Another variation to jazz these scones up, finely diced candied or crystallized ginger would be ah-mazing, use about 2 tablespoons.

Make these scones an hour or two before you serve them. I like them at room temperature, the flavor, and texture set up nicely. They are often served warm too, just not my preference. Scones are drier than biscuits which means they are perfect with a spoon of jam and dollop of clotted cream-scone heaven. If you don’t have clotted cream, you can use creme fraiche, mascarpone, or butter.

Whaddya waiting for, go make some scones!

Print Pin

Dorie Greenspan's Cream Scones

Dorie's classic cream scones with fresh peaches

Course Biscuits and scones, Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American, British

Keyword Cream Scones, Dorie Greenspan, Scones

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 22

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter chilled & cut into small pieces

Wet Ingredients:

1 large egg
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract optional

Adds:

3/4-1 cup fresh fruit-peaches, nectarines, strawberries, berries larger fruit-diced and left to drain on a paper towel while making dough.

Egg wash:

2 tbsp heavy cream or egg wash
turbinado or sparkling sugar

Accompaniments

jam or preserves serving
clotted cream substitute creme fraiche or mascarpone

Instructions

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment
In a small bowl, stir the egg, cream and vanilla (if using) together.
Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly.
Pour the egg, cream and currants over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, come together. Don't overdo it. Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times.
You can also use a food processor. Place dry ingredients in bowl, pulse 1-2 twice to mix. Add butter and pulse 5-6 times until mixture looks like crumbs. Add egg/cream and pulse to dough just begins to clump. Do not overmix! Take mixture out of processor bowl, fold in peaches and shape dough into circles, proceed as below.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that's about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and place it on the baking sheet.
Brush scones with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar
Bake the scones for 20 to 22 minutes (start checking at 15 min) or until their tops are golden and firm. Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for them to cool to room temperature.
The scones can be frozen on the baking sheet as the cut wedges, then wrapped airtight. Don't defrost before baking- just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.
Serve with jam and clotted cream or butter

Notes

Great combinations include:

Sub dried blueberries and lemon, add 1 tsp lemon zest

Sub dried cranberries and orange add 1-2 tsp orange zest

Sub fresh fruit for currants:

blueberries, strawberries

cut fruit-partially freeze diced fruit before adding to dough

Lemon Icing

1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

Summer Shortcakes

By threejamigos | August 15, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

Whaaat! Summer is over? Are you kidding? Noooooooo. My only consolation, apple season is just around the corner. Invariably I will walk out one day soon and notice the color changes and the slight chill in the air. There is an orange hue to the sunshine of a fall day different from the unrelenting bright hot sun of summer. The days get a little shorter and as the sun sets there is a cool crispness to the air that reminds me to break out my sweaters, my favorite apple recipes and my crockpot. But as an ode to the waning days of summer I thought I would share a favorite summer dessert. We picked up some beautiful peaches, nectarines and of course berries at the market. What better way to showcase the jewels of the season than shortcake. A buttery, tender pillow for our summer fruit bounty topped with a cloud of vanilla laced whipped cream. Yum.

Shortcakes are of course a riff on one of my favorite foods..biscuits. Yep think of them as biscuits on a sugar rush.

I have a tried and true shortcake recipe I found in Anthony Dias Blue’s America’s Kitchen. A beautiful and OLD (once again dating myself) cookbook that literally is a delicious tour of regional cooking in the good ole’ US of A. You could go to your supermarket and buy those spongey-like things in the cellophane wrappers that masquerade as shortcakes (really they remind me of Hostess Twinkies, eeww) or you could take a couple of minutes and whip up these easy and exponentially better tasting sweet biscuits-your call. If you do go the spongey cake route, don’t forget to pick up a can of “real” whipped cream to go along because it would be pointless to whip cream by hand.

Oh my I think I am hangry, let’s get to those shortcakes pronto.

These shortcakes are super quick and easy, especially if you have a food processor. If you don’t they can be made in a bowl with a pastry blender which would add just a couple of minutes.

Remember as with biscuits or pie crust, start with COLD ingredients. The butter should be well chilled as should be the heavy whipping cream. The whipping cream is what makes these biscuits really tender, they practically melt in your mouth.

Scatter the butter on the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Don’t worry if there are bits of butter (petite pea size) better to under process than over process. With the machine running add cream all at once.

With the machine running, add cream. Pulse until the dough starts to clump and then STOP! You will still see dry bits but that’s ok. Pour the mixture out on a flat surface, gather and knead the dough gently to bring it together. Roll it into a 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick disc. Using a biscuit cutter approximately 3 inches in diameter cut out as many rounds and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

As your shortcakes are baking, prep your fruit and whip your cream. I slice my strawberries, sprinkle a touch of sugar on them and let them macerate a bit. Nothing better than strawberry juice soaking into those cakes.

Gotta be honest, I don’t follow a recipe to whip cream. I just add a touch of sugar and a dose of vanilla and whip until soft peaks form. Done…the best damn summer dessert..I’m out.

Print Pin

Summer Shortcakes

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter chilled, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup heavy whipping cream not ultra-pasteurized
2 pints strawberries or any kind of berries or sliced peaches or nectarines your choice
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

For shortcakes:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In food processor fitted with metal blade, add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Pulse to mix.
Add butter and pulse until dough has the consistency of cornmeal with some pea sized pieces of butter in it.
With motor running add 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, process until dough just starts to come together. Do not over-process!
Place dough on flat surface, gather up dry bits and gently knead until dough forms a ball.
Roll out dough to 3/4 inch thick slab.
With a floured cutter, cut out 3 inch rounds and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. Set aside to cool.
Add powdered sugar to strawberries and let sit to macerate. (I use a couple of teaspoons of granulated sugar instead)
Whip cream with sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form and chill until ready to serve.
To assemble: Split cooled shortcake in half. Place bottom on plate and cover with strawberries including some of the juice. Place a generous dollop of whipped cream on top of the berries and cover with top of shortcake. Dust with powdered sugar.
Eat, preferably outside enjoying the last rays of summer

Peche a Trois’ (Peach Hand Pies)

By threejamigos | August 7, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

I am going to miss Jamie’s and my weekly forays to the farmer’s market. Not that the season is ending, but Jamie heads back to Houston this coming week so there goes my kitchen buddy for a while. We found some luscious peaches at the market (it’s been a good summer for peaches) and coincidentally Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for peach pie. As Jamie perused the recipe she said “Is it hard to make pie crust?” Well, what kind of mom would I be if I didn’t lay a little pie crust wisdom on my kid before she heads back to college? Kind of like a lovely parting gift.

Though the Smitten Kitchen peach pie served as our inspiration, we decided to make peach hand pies instead. Fingers over forks is our mantra so hand pies are the perfect ending for our final summer happy hour gathering. Luckily, Smitten Kitchen also has a recipe for Bourbon Peach Hand Pies.

We turned to a favorite pie crust recipe from Julia and Jaques Cooking at Home. It’s a great recipe to teach pie crust 101 making. It has a high proportion of butter so it’s yummy and flaky and it is easy to work with.

COLD, COLD, COLD. Did I say to keep things cold? Butter and shortening. I cut my butter and shortening or lard into pieces and put them back in the fridge while I measure out my flour.

LESS IS MORE, DON’T OVER-PROCESS OR OVERWORK YOUR PIE CRUST

Place your flour, sugar, and salt in the food processor and pulse a couple of times to mix. Scatter your COLD butter and shortening or lard on top and PULSE mixture until the butter is approximately the size of peas. At this point, you can pour your flour mixture into a bowl or you can continue using your processor.

Add ICE-COLD Water

to your flour mixture and pulse until it just begins to clump then STOP. Do not overdo it, especially if using the food processor or you end up with tough pie crust, yuck.

If you are not using the processor. Sprinkle water on the flour mixture and stir with a fork until mixture begins to clump and come together.

Reserve one tablespoon of water, if the dough still seems dry or does not hold together add the remaining one tablespoon water.

At this point for either method, gather the dough into a disc on a sheet of plastic wrap. Using the palm of your hand gently push a portion of the dough away from you. This flattens out the butter lumps into sheaths and incorporates the butter and flour evenly. This creates a flaky, tender crust. This is called fraisage ‘(yep, more French lingo) Repeat until you have pushed all of the dough. Gather it into a ball, flatten into a disc and place it in the fridge to rest for approximately 30 minutes.

How Easy is That?!

As the dough chills start on your peaches. We adapted Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for Bourbon Peach hand pies for the filling. We added a bit of brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Omit the cinnamon if you like. Although delicious the hand pies have less filling and would have benefitted from a flavor boost. I think I would add a bit of peach jam to the fresh peaches to try to intensify the flavor next time. We had quite a bit of filling left and Jamie BRILLIANTLY (shameless parent plug) grabbed some ramekins and made peach crisps with the extra. YUM!

Back to the pie crust dough…

On a lightly floured board or surface, pat your dough into a rectangle. Divide in half and roll each piece into a 7×11 rectangle, approximately 1/8 inch thick. You may need to trim the edges to make a pretty rectangle. Divide the dough into 4 pieces 7x 2.75”.

Hint– Roll it out on parchment paper on a flat cookie sheet, makes it easy to transfer to the fridge. Once you have cut it into four pieces chill for 30 minutes. While it is chilling, roll out 2nd disc of dough.

Hint-Use a ruler and a pizza cutter to cut out your rectangles.

Or if you like use a 4.5” round cookie cutter for half-moon-shaped pies.

Pearls of Pie-Making Wisdom

If at any time the dough gets too soft, throw it back in the fridge to chill.

Peche a Trois’ (Peach Hand Pies, Crisp, Unadulterated)

Really, does this need an intro? Handpies of buttery, flakey crust filled with summer sweet peaches

Course Dessert, Pie

Cuisine American

Keyword Peach handpies

Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 20

Ingredients

Peach Hand Pies

Pie or Galette Crust from Julia Childs

2 cups AP flour
7 ounces cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 pieces
1 tablespoon cold shortening or lard cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup ice cold water reserve 1 tablespoon to finish dough

Filling

2 pounds fresh peaches
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar + 1 T light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon omit if you like
One egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water for egg wash or cream
Coarse sanding sugar for decoration

Instructions

See above for directions for making pie dough!

Filling

Make the filling. Peel and dice peaches into 1/2 inch pieces. Add remaining ingredients, mix gently and set aside. If you wish, add 1-2 tablespoons peach preserves.
Remove chilled dough from fridge, let stand a couple of minutes until pliable. Spoon 1.5 tablespoons filling onto one half of each rectangle or circle of dough. Brush a little water on the edge and fold in half. Seal and crimp edge with a fork. Repeat with remaining dough. Transfer to fridge and chill for 30 minutes. We used cream on our pies and sprinkled some sugar on top, you could use an egg wash if you like.
You can make these hand pies bigger or smaller as you want. The key is to keep the dough’s thickness at approximately 1/8 inch.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove pies from fridge and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Cut a small slit in each pie and brush with wash. Sprinkle with sugar and place in oven to bake.
Bake approximately 20 minutes until edges are golden brown. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.

Peach Crisp

We had quite a bit of peach filling left so we made crisp using our apple crisp crumble topping recipe. So this is probably more crumble then you will need. Cut the recipe in half if you want. Fill lightly buttered ramekins with extra peach filling. Sprinkle crumble on top and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until crisp bubbles and top is golden brown.

Crumble topping

Mix topping ingredients, except for oats and nuts, with pastry blender or fingers until crumbly.

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt

Add oatmeal and nuts and stir to combine

1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal (not instant or quick cook)
Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Take excess filling and spoon into selected-size buttered ramekins. I like 3/4-1 cup ramekins. Top with crumble.

Finishing the Crisp

And to complete our trio....

Fresh ripe peaches, sliced, leave them whole, your choice. Take a bite, let the juice drip down your chin, hand or both. Yum!

The Great Burger Cook-off

By threejamigos | July 11, 2016 | Comments 2 comments

It started last year when Jamie’s friend Sam came from Houston for a visit. The gauntlet was thrown down when Sam casually remarked one day, “I make a mean burger”. Oh really? Caught up in the competitive spirit as the Warriors were playing the Rockets at the time it was….GAME ON for the best burger.

This year Sam visited again during the July 4th holiday and once again the Burger Throw Down was on. Off to the market we went, each of us trying to hide our ingredients from each other…so much pressure, can’t imagine how they do this on Top Chef.

While Jamie and Sam went the tradition route and used beef for their burgers. Wes and I both veered away from tradition. Wes created a Portabello Burger while I opted for seafood to create a crab and shrimp burger. You would think creativity would score big points. Nope, not in this house.

The winner of our 2nd burger cook off- Jamie! The prize? Her burger featured on the banner of this post, a root beer float and of course best of all, bragging rights until next year.

It was a unanimous choice. For her burger she added minced shallots, a mix of bread crumbs, crushed corn flakes, panko flakes and an egg as binder. She seasoned it with salt & pepper and a touch of garlic powder. She formed her patty, pressed her thumb into the middle (tip from our neighborhood butcher) to help keep the patty flat and the juices in and threw it on the grill.

Her toppings set her burger apart from the rest. A thick slice of creamy, buttery brie topped with a grilled peach slice and cold crispy romaine sandwiched between a toasted, buttered brioche roll.

ARE YOU SALIVATING? You should be! It was delicious!

Not to say she didn’t have some competition. Sam created his version of sliders. Mini-burgers topped with swiss cheese, crispy pancetta and grilled pineapple on Hawaiian sweet rolls with a dab of mayonaise. Yum. My vote for 2nd best.

Wes’s Portabello mushroom burger was really good, but in a house full of carnivores it faced a daunting challenge. On any given day I would choose his burger but sitting next to two all beef patties with special toppings? Tough job. But it was tasty, his secret weapon, a delicious homemade pesto mayonnaise. He finished his masterpiece with avocado slices and grilled red onions, it was a vegetarian’s dream burger.

And finally my seafood burger. Ok, not to toot my own horn but it was pretty darn good…much like a crab cake, I added shrimp (because crab is pretty darn expensive and I like shrimp) for texture and flavor. I adapted an Asian crab cake recipe for my burger entry, hope you like it!

Print Pin

The Great Burger Cook-off (Crab & Shrimp Burger with Asian Slaw)

Ingredients

Seafood Burgers

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon minced green onions
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons bottled Thai fish sauce nam pla or soy sauce or ponzu soy sauce
1 T thai sweet chili sauce or 1 teaspoon Siracha + 2 teaspoons honey
6 ounces fresh crabmeat
3 ounces cooked and peeled shrimp chopped
1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
1 cup panko crumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil

Asian Slaw

2 cups julienned green cabbage
1 cup julienned red cabbage
1 carrot peeled and julienned
1-2 green onions tops and ends removed, sliced on the diagonal 1/4" thick
2 tablespoons cilantro optional
1/4 cup diced red onions

Dressing

2 T. sesame seeds toasted
3 T sugar
2/3 cup oil dash of sesame oil
1 clove garlic minced
2 T lemon juice
1-2 t soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Combine, chill and cover. Just before serving, add dressing to slaw, mix to combine. Serve slaw on side next to burger or pile on top. Your choice.

Instructions

Blend first 6 ingredients in medium bowl.
Mix in crabmeat, shrimp and 1/2 cup breadcrumbs.
Season with pepper.
Place 1 cup Panko crumbs on plate. Drop 1/4 or 1/2 of crab mixture into breadcrumbs; turn to coat. Shape into 2 1/2-3 inch-diameter cake. Repeat coating and shaping with remaining crab mixture and crumbs, forming total of 2 cakes.
Chill to set cakes, approximately 1 hour
Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add cakes and sauté until crisp, about 5 minutes per side.
Serve on toasted buttered brioche buns with Asian slaw and Siracha mayo. (blend of mayo with Siracha to taste)