A personal chef ???

To some it may seem extravagant that I am taking advantage of my new friend's (health and fitness guru Jenni) personal chef but if you take into consideration that I am learning to prepare a meal I've never cooked, taking home the results for dinner, freezing one portion for another night, and socializing - hey, it's a lot cheaper than therapy and so far Rick has enjoyed the benefits! This week we prepared crab cakes and they were delich (as Rachael Ray would say). I learned several tricks. First we mixed the lump (and very pricey) crab meat with shallots, garlic, fresh tarragon, lite sour cream, lite mayo, lemon zest and lemon juice...always salt and pepper. Dan is also big on hot sauce. We formed the cakes, lightly coated them in whole wheat flour, dipped them in lightly whipped eggs, and then coated them in plain organic breadcrumbs. Dan likes to use the Japanese panko crumbs but couldn't find them. Handle the crab cakes with care tucking them into little patties. Now here is the secret, he fried them in hot grape seed oil. He usually uses olive oil for everything but grape seed oil has no taste and cooks at a very high temperature which makes it better for frying.....see that was worth the lesson, right?! He browned them in the oil and then baked them for about 10 minutes. We also made a mango salsa and a spicy sour cream dip to serve on the side. We always celebrate our success with a glass of wine and then I trudge back to our flat hoping that no one tries to mug me for my delicious smelling packages, "Here, take my purse instead!"