October 2017 – Hillbilly Supper Club

This week in honor of the Season 3 finale of I Love Kellie Pickler in Alaska and the debut of the new Huck and Lilly video, “The Fiddler Crab (He Don’t Play The Fiddle)” as well as the start of blue crab season on the Gulf Coast, we decided to do a repost of last year’s recipe for Blue Crab Fritters. Thank you for all of the kind emails and comments on Hillbilly Supper Club this year. I hope you enjoy the blog!

crabcake3 Hint From Ken:

When I make this for Hillbilly Supper Club I like to use the freshest crab meat possible. In Rosemary Beach filming CMT’s I Love Kellie Pickler last year we caught our own crabs to do just that!

crab trap

They can be hard to come by inland though so if you need to use canned crab you can still do so with good results. You can also substitute 1 lb of fresh grouper, snapper or scamp or even mahi and it works great. Just bake or steam fish plain till flakey and pull apart till it has appearance of crab meat and let cool then add to mix instead of crab. Kellie doesn’t eat meat besides fish and shellfish and Kyleis allergic to shellfish so when I am doing the cooking I will usually make both. I like to serve this dish with with red skin smashed potatoes, remoulade sauce and a light salad with lemon and olive oil. Save leftovers and add a little mayo, bacon, lettuce and tomato with crusty french bread and make crab cake sandwiches.

1 lb of jumbo lump crab meat

2 jalapeño peppers (seeded and finely diced)

1/4 quarter red bell pepper diced

1/2 cup chopped scallion/green onion

1 fresh ear of corn cut from the cob

1/2 cup of Ritz brand cracker crumbs

1 egg (beaten)

1/4 cup of mayonaise

1 & 1/2 tspn of salt

dash of garlic powder

dash of onion powder

dash of paprika

dash of red or cayenne pepper

2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of corn meal

Peanut oil

Fresh parsley chopped

crabcake prep

1. Mix all of the ingredients except for corn meal, flour and peanut oil in a bowl.

2. Mix flour and corn meal in a bowl.

3. Heat enough peanut oil to cover bottom of skillet on medium heat.

3. Form patties one at a time and lightly coat with flour and corn meal mixture.

4. Place in hot oil and cook a few minutes on each side flipping only once…

crabcake cooking

5. Place on paper towel for 3 minutes, sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

Crabbing is a lot of fun when you are on the coast. We like to use a flashlight with a net and a bucket and walk the beach just after dark or leave a trap out in the bayou over night. It takes about 10 blue crabs to produce 1 lb of meat so if we don’t have at least 10 we let them go.

Sometimes you find out you are getting let go because you are the only crab in the trap and not worth fooling with, so you put your pinchers in the air and praise Jesus because you are going back to the bayou.

Crab Praise God 2

We loved laughing with our friends Kellie & Kyle this season! Thanks for watching on CMT!

Screen Shot 2017-09-15 at 12.36.05 AM — Ken Johnson & Kellie Pickler

Screen Shot 2017-09-15 at 12.58.13 AM — Kyle Jacobs & Andi Zack-Johnson

©Ken Johnson Hillbilly Supper Club 2016

(serves 6-8)

Every Fall when the season starts to change and we start to feel that welcomed chill in the air, as soon as the first leaves start falling, it’s time to make some kind of hot soup in the kitchen. Here is one of our favorites. This is my take on an old stand by. I make this for our friends in the Hillbilly Supper Club in a vegetarian version. Kellie Pickler and my wife Andi Zack-Johnson have proclaimed it as a favorite. I hope you enjoy this recipe too.

What you’ll need:

1/2 Stick Butter

3 lbs white onions (sliced thin)

1 lb sweet onion (sliced thin)

2 shallots (sliced thin)

2 cups sliced leeks

5 cloves fresh garlic (chopped)

1 tsp sugar

Fresh cracked black pepper

Sea salt

1 tspn Herbs de Provence

Fresh thyme (small bundle tied with kitchen twine)

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup of all purpose flour

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

2/3 cup cream sherry

1/2 cup red wine

32oz beef stock and 32oz chicken stock (or 64 oz vegetable stock for vegetarian)

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Gruyere cheese (swiss or provolone is ok if other is unavailable)

Fresh sourdough bread

First…

Melt butter in a large pot over medium to medium high heat…

Add garlic, shallots and leeks and stir for 1 minute…

Then add sugar, salt and pepper and Herbs de Provence and stir…

Stir frequently and continue to cook for about ten minutes or until onions are between sautéed and caramelized then add flour and stir.

Next …

Add bay leaf and bundle of thyme as well as worcestershire, sherry, red wine and stir…

IMG_7509 (1)

Then…

Add stock and stir until well blended.

Bring to a quick boil then reduce to low and cover. Simmer for about two hours, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper a little at a time until you have the taste where you like it.

Next:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice sourdough, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until toasted.

Last:

With a ladle, transfer soup into oven proof single serving bowls then place a slice of toasted bread on top of each bowl. Sprinkle with gruyere cheese and return bowls to oven on a cookie sheet.

Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for five minutes then serve.

Pairs well with any white or red wine as we’ll as a hearty beer like an amber ale or an IPA.

Month: October 2017

Blue Crab Fritters with Corn and Jalapeño

French Onion and Leek Soup w Gruyere and Sourdough