The Best Maryland Crabcakes + Tortilla Crusted Tilapia

This is a favorite. I don't remember where I came up with it. I think I had it at a restaurant and came home and reproduced it. I figure you can't go wrong with these ingredients. I used tilapia, dipped in beaten eggs, then in crushed tortilla chips, and fried (sauteed sounds better) in canola or olive oil. It takes no time at all. I smushed up some fresh avacoda with the most incredible fresh salsa from Sam's and threw a bowl of Tostitos Scoops on the table. We love all these ingredients, so can't go wrong with this. Warning: the house smells kind of fishy the next day. A small price to pay.

What makes this do-able for me is that I buy the Tilapia from Sam's and it is individually vacuum packed per piece and I throw it in a big bowl of warm/hot water about 20 minutes before I am ready to cook and it's completely thawed by then. It's good in foil on the grill with lemon, butter and some seasoning.

I made the miraculous Maryland Crabcakes the other night

More Cast Iron

All of a sudden, I'm a magnet for cast iron (get it?). On my trip to visit my mother's side of the family, my cousin gave me two dutch ovens, a corn stick pan and 3 skillets! I gave my sister one of the dutch ovens, two skillets and the corn stick pan I already had (smaller and newer than the one my cousin gave me). Only problem was all the rust. He'd had them stored in his barn, so they were all pretty rusty. Today's project was to tackle the rust. My cousin said I'd need to have them sandblasted, but since I don't even know where to begin to have that done, I Googled "cleaning rusty cast iron" and came up with the idea of using vinegar. I soaked and scrubbed and soaked and scrubbed and am down to the bare iron, with the exception of a few patches of rust that'll need more work. I think the vinegar took a layer off my hands, too. For now, the bare iron looks pretty dry and forlorn, so I'll probably give it a light coating of Crisco until I get around to working on it again. I didn't even start on the lid.

In the meantime, I'll be on the lookout for good dutch oven recipes so I'll have something great to start off with.

Inspiration - Covington Chili

I just returned from Covington, KY, just across the river from Cincinnati. They are famous for their chili. It comes in two basic forms with several variations on each form. There's the Coney, which means a hot dog in a bun covered with chili and cheese. Or you can get Chili Three Way, Four Way or Five way. Three way means spaghetti noodles topped with chili and cheese, four way means add beans or onions, and five way means all of the above. My personal preference was a four way with onions. The coneys come in the same variations, with or without mustard (I chose without).

There are several factions of chili brands in and around Cincinnati. The most famous is probably Skyline. My uncle (who was my gracious host) prefers Gold Star. My mother loves Covington Chili. Skyline and Gold Star are chains, and Covington Chili is a one of a kind place and it's been around, in the same place, for around 70 years. It's really a cool place, complete with juke boxes at each booth - not sure how that works exactly (we sat at the counter) but I think it's a special thing. I've included two pictures of Covington Chili, inside and out.

My uncle had taken me to Gold Star, where I'd eaten a Chili Four Way and a Coney, and an hour later, when we were touring downtown Covington, I decided I needed to do a taste comparison. I meant to order 2 coneys, one for each of us, but the waitress thought I meant TWO each, so I tried my best, but only managed to eat one. I called my mother right before I dug in, and she was understandably jealous. Then the pressure was on. Which one did I like the best? I tried to be diplomatic, and truthfully must say they were both wonderful, but a little different. Covington's was spicier and darker (more chili powder I suppose). It's like trying to choose your favorite child. If pressed, I'd have to choose Covington Chili, if not on the flavor alone, because of the wonderful atmosphere and originality. Besides, aren't chain restaurants inherently evil?

I really wanted to try Skyline, but wanted to be a polite guest, and my uncle was not a fan of Skyline. Not to fear, though. We made a stop at the grocery store and I stocked up on cans of both Gold Star and Skyline, as well as Queen City sausage weiners (the skinny little hot dogs they use for the Coneys). Big bonus was that when we stopped by my cousin's house on the way home, he gave me his recipe for Skyline Chili. With all these supplies and good information, I've decided to spend an afternoon at my parents' this week, while my uncle's here for a vist, and do a blind taste test. I'll make my cousin's homemade Skyline recipe as well as cans of Skyline and Gold Star, and we'll see if there's a winner. I'll be happy if the recipe comes close! In case you're interested, there's cinnamon in it, which sounds strange, but it's really good and makes it way different from Texas chili.

Oh, I also brought back two rolls of Goetta (there happened to be Goettafest going on while I was there, but we couldn't squeeze it in). But that's another post!