Lifestyle: Gig Harbor Family Dinner

Posted by Aleah & Nick on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 · 1 Comment

Today’s post is rather special. It reminds us of how our family loves to spend time together – cooking, laughing, sipping, and laughing some more. It captures what family time and summer are all about. Sent to us by Catherine at Calima Portraits, there’s just so much that we love: the candid family time, the gorgeous images, the delicious food, and the coastal Washington setting we hail from. {If you look closely on this map you can see Aleah’s parents’ tiny island!}.

So here’s to family, summer, excellent food and splendid company. You’ll find some scrumptious recipes at the end of the post, too! Enjoy!

We just adore this family – don’t they seem like they’d be a joy to spend time with? Not to mention, their outfits are perfect for summer fun!

Darling! Just darling. What a sweet way to welcome guests to the dinner table.

Follow the link for the recipe to this scrumptious Meyer Lemon Cake

Images Shared by Calima Portraits

Talk about perfectly lovely, right? Even better, matriarch Joan was kind enough to share some of her recipes with us!

Cucumbers with Pickled Ginger and Crab
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Pickled ginger imparts a crisp zing to this light and refreshing appetizer. The cucumber slice is a beautiful base for the crab topping, but you can also put the cucumber on a cracker or baguette slice and then top with the crab.

Ingredients:

6 cucumbers
2 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced shallot
2 teaspoon Thai chili paste
1 teaspoon minced fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh-cooked lump crabmeat, picked over for
cartilage and shell fragments, chilled
1 cup drained sliced pickled ginger
Small fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Carefully cut the cucumbers into slices 1/4 inch thick. You should have about 48 slices.

2. In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, shallot, chili paste, chives and salt and mix well. Add the crabmeat and turn gently with a fork to mix well, being careful not to break up the crab meat too much. Put a generous teaspoonful of the crab mixture on each cucumber round, top with a little of the pickled ginger and garnish with a parsley sprig.

3. Arrange on a platter, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 hours before serving. Serves 10 to 12.

4. Serving Tip: To make an easy-to-handle party appetizer, thread a bamboo skewer or cocktail pick through the cucumber and crabmeat.

the cioppino, we have been making it for years. We all love it, it’s based on the cioppino from the Rose Pistola Restaurant in San Francisco, where cioppino was born.

Cioppino Teed Style

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Ingredients:

2 or 3 (depending on how big of a pot you have) Dungeness Crab, cooked and cleaned

1/4 cup olive oil

2 or 3 leeks, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 large fennel bulb, chopped

handful of fresh oregano, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 heaping tablespoon herbs de provence

8 cloves of garlic, chopped

3/4 cup of fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

6 anchovy filets, mashed

1 cup dry white white

4 cups clam juice (comes in bottles or cans)

2 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce

10 ounces of Halibut Cheeks or cod (any firm white fish)

16 or more live mussels, scrubbed and debearded

24 or more live small clams

10 ounces fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined

8 ounces fresh bay scallops

2 tablespoons thyme leaves

1. Put the clams and mussels in salted water with a few tablespoons of cornmeal for a few hours. Rinse throughly.

2. Shell and devein the shrimp

3. Pull off the legs and claws of the crab, cut the bodies into quarters, pull off the tips of the legs

4. In a large heavy pot, over medium low heat add the olive oil and saute the leeks, onion, fennel, oregano, and bay leaves, and herbs de provence,until the onion is translucent.

5. Stir in the garlic, parsley, red pepper, and mashed anchovies. Saute about 5 minutes.

6. Raise the heat to medium and add the wine and cook until reduced slightly.

7. Add the tip of the crab legs.

8. Add the clam juice and tomato sauce

9. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Add salt and pepper. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.

10. Taste and adjust seasoning (at this point, this can be made ahead of time and is actually better to allow the flavor to “marry”

11. Add the the fish and the thyme cook for a few minutes, and then add all of the shell fish, cover and cook until the clams and mussels have opened. About 6 minutes.

12. Remove from heat, remove any shells that have not opened, add more chopped parsley.

Serve Immediately into large shallow bowls

**any combination of the shellfish listed could be used. Add chicken broth to the base if it needs more liquid.

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Thank you so much for sharing, Joan! Delicious!