Recipes

Independence Corned Beef Hash

• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 3-4 medium sized Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes, cut into cubes
• 1 t dried parsley
• 1 t Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 1 can corned beef
• 1 T Bick's Red Pepper Relish
• 2-3 eggs, beaten

Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil over medium high heat and fry onions until soft about 3-4 minutes, next add potatoes, dried parsley, and Montreal Steak Seasoning, mix well and cover and cook until potatoes are barely done about 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Next add canned corned beef and Bick's Red Pepper relish and mix well and cook for about 5 minutes until corned beef just starts to crisp. Finally make a well in the bottom of the pan and add the beaten eggs.  Cook eggs until just starting to set and then mix eggs into hash.  Serve with grated parmesan cheese and hot sauce if desired.

Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese

• 4 oz. of smoked salmon
• 1 package of cream cheese, softened
• 1 T of minced onion
• 1 t Bick's Red Pepper Relish
• 1/2 t dill weed (or to taste)
• 1 t capers
• pinch freshly grated black pepper

Crumble salmon into cream cheese and mix, add onions, relish, dill, capers and black pepper to taste and mix again.  Do not over mix, there should be some small bits of smoked salmon to bite into.  Chill for 30 minutes or more and then serve on water crackers or crusty rounds of french bread.

Grilled curry chicken marinade

• 2-3 T of olive oil, amount varies on how much chicken
• 1 T of curry powder
• 1 T of onion powder
• 1/2 t ground tumeric
• 1/2 t ground ginger
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 2 T Bicks Red Pepper Relish (substitute 2 T of chopped pickled jalapeno's if you don't have Bick's relish)
• 2 drops of fish sauce (substitute 1/2 t salt)
• 1 T dried basil
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1 t lemon juice
• 4-5 chicken thighs or 2 chicken breasts

Mix all the ingredients well except the chicken in a zip lock bag.  Add the chicken and squish the bag about to working the spices and ingredients into the chicken.  Squish and mix the ingredients about every 15 or so minutes.  Let the chicken marinade for at least an hour or more.  Remove the chicken from the zip lock bag and grill over medium heat, turning occasionally, until cooked thoroughly about 15 minutes .  Discard the marinade.

 Independence German Potato Salad

• 4-5 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 strips bacon
• 1 T coarse mustard
• 1 T Bick's Red Pepper Relish (or chopped spicy pickles)
• 1 T fresh basil, chopped
• 1 t dried parsely
• 2 T vinegar
• 1 t Montreal steak seasoning

Cook potatoes in a pot of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes.  Potatoes should be hot and still be firm.  Drain and rinse.   Fry bacon until crisp and remove bacon from pan and set aside.  Keep pan hot with bacon grease and fry onions for 2 minutes, then add potatoes and fry until potatoes are done - about 7-8 minutes - and have crisp edges.  Remove potatoes from pan and transfer to a large bowl.  Chop bacon, add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Serve immediately while potato salad is still warm.  Guten appetit!

Independence Sunomono Salad Recipe

• 1 cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced
• 1/2 C rice vinegar (or white vinegar)
• 2 t sugar
• 1 t sake (optional)
• pinch red chili pepper flakes
• a drop (or two) of fish sauce

Place cucumber slices in a bowl, add remaining ingredients, mix well and let sit chilled for 30 minutes or more before serving.  Sprinkle a few sesame seeds on top.  As a serving variation, place a portion of sunomono in a small dish and top with a tablespoon of fresh picked crab meat or fresh shrimp or prawns.

Independence Crab Cakes
When you got plenty of crab try these crab cakes. If you don’t have crab you can substitute a good quality white meat bottom fish. Believe it or not, fish cakes are pretty good too. If you're using fish, lightly poach fish in fresh seawater first.

• 1 lb. fresh picked crab meat
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ½ small yellow onion, diced fine
• ½ T garlic powder
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 t Old Bay seasoning
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• ¾ cup Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs
• 1 egg
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• ¼ t of Tabasco sauce
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T butter

In a bowl mix crab, mayonnaise, onion, garlic powder, lemon juice, Old Bay seasoning, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and ¼ cup of bread crumbs. Add egg, salt & pepper, dash or two of Tabasco sauce, and mix well. Form patties about 3-4 inches across and about ½ inch or so thick. Dredge patties through remaining ½ cup of bread crumbs. Lay patties out on a plate or metal pan. Cover and chill or set aside for 30 minutes or so to let the flavors develop.

Heat a heavy skillet with equal portions of butter and olive oil and pan fry patties until lightly browned on each side. Serve with a curry-mayonnaise dip (mix curry powder with mayonnaise to your liking).

Indian Rice Recipe
Cook 1 C of quick rice and set aside.  Add 1 t of curry powder and 1/2 t of tumeric to rice and mix well.  Saute 1/2 an onion with some olive oil until edges of onions are dark and almost burnt. Saute 1 chopped carrot with some olive oil until just soft.  Take 1/2 can of garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained well) and mash using the back of a spoon with 1 T of olive oil and 1 t of lemon juice to form a paste.  To the rice add the burnt onions, sauteed carrots, garbanzo bean paste, remaining 1/2 can of whole garbanzo beans, 1/4 C of chopped, fresh cilantro, salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.  You might want to add some yogurt if you have some and a few crushed peanuts on top.  Can be served warm or cold.

Singapore Noodles and Shrimp
Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 of a small yellow onion, chopped fine
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp of garlic powder)
• 1/2 red sweet bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 small carrot (6"), cut into thin match stick sized pieces
• 2 tbsp of curry powder (we use Madras curry powder)
• 2 tbsp of sweet vermouth or mirin
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of sambal oelek (red chili sauce) - more or less to taste
• 12-20 large shrimp tails, peeled
• 2 cups cooked al dente spaghetti or vermicelli
• 2-3 green onions, chopped

Instructions:
Cook pasta and when done, drain and set aside.

Singapore noodles with fresh shrimp

In a large pan over medium high heat, melt butter and stir fry shrimp until just barely done about 2-3 minutes.  Shrimp will just start to turn pink.  Do not overcook.  Remove shrimp and set aside.  In the same pan that you just cooked the shrimp in add the olive oil and let it get hot.  Once the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion just turns clear and soft.  Next, add the carrots, peppers to the onions and garlic and cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the red chili sauce, the vermouth or mirin, and the curry powder and mix all ingredients well and cook for one minute.  Now, return the shrimp to the pan and finish cooking them, mixing the shrimp with all the ingredients.  Finally add the pasta to the pan and mix it well with all the ingredients.  Pour the soy sauce over the prawn and noodle mixture and mix well again.  We top it off with green onions and serve the dish family style, letting everyone serve themselves.  Keep the sambal oelek (red chili sauce) and soy sauce on the side for those who want more.  Make sure you have a nice bottle of chilled Chardonnay or Riesling to go with dinner.

Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo
Cajun seasoning:

• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Gumbo ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 lb. Andouille sausage or whatever you have on board (could even be canned chicken)
• 2-3 chicken bullion cubes
• 4 cups water
• 1 can diced or crushed tomatoes
• 1 can okra, drained
• 2 3/4 tsp of cajun seasoning 
• 1 Tblsp of dried parsley
• 12-16 medium sized shrimp tails, peeled
• 3 cups cooked rice

Method:

1. Chop all vegetables in advance, pre-open cans, and have all ingredients ready.
2. Make a roux.  Pour vegetable oil into a heavy pot and over high heat, heat oil until shimmering.  Add flour and continue to stir until oil-flour mixture looks the color of melted chocolate - a deep, dark, rich brown.  Important thing here is to continuously stir the oil flour mix.  If needed add more oil to make smooth.  This will take about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add chopped onion, celery, and green pepper to the roux and mix well.  As soon as the vegetables start to get soft (about 2-3 minutes) add sausage.  Again stir frequently until meat just begins to brown (about 3-5 minutes).
4. Reduce heat to low, and add canned tomatoes, okra, bullion cubes, water and Cajun seasoning.  Stir well and let simmer, covered for about 30 minutes or so.
5. Turn off the heat, add shrimp, dried parsley, mix well and cover and let stand for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile put a scoop of rice in a bowl and when ready ladle hot gumbo over rice and serve with plenty of Louisiana hot sauce.  Enjoy.