Crab Meat

It has been such a long time since we've enjoyed the excitement of a pennant race that the search for Baltimore's top crab cake has replaced baseball as my favorite pastime. My quest focused on three well-known contenders: Faidley Seafood in the Lexington Market, G&M restaurant in Linthicum and Koco's Pub and Grill on Harford Road in Northeast Baltimore. On a recent afternoon I visited them all, brought their cooked crab cakes home, weighed them on my kitchen scale, then devoured them.

My version of seafood cooked in a tomato-vodka sauce is quick, easy and festive. Any type of seafood can be used, but crab is particularly good in the sauce. Jumbo lump crab - large pieces of unbroken meat - is best, but backfin crab meat, which includes broken pieces, can be used. Both are usually sold in cans in the refrigerated section of the seafood department. Along with this colorful pasta dish, serve a crisp radicchio-and-romaine salad and your favorite bottled dressing. A crisp chianti would go well with the high-acid tomato sauce.

I thought I had tried every variation on the quintessential American crab cake, but a few days ago while dining in Northampton, Mass., I sampled yet another version. This particular crab cake was like no other I had tried. The outside was crisp and golden, while the texture inside was as light as a feather. But the taste was the most alluring feature. There was a perfect spiciness to complement the sweetness of the shellfish, and a delectable sauce, piquant yet not overpowering, made a fine accompaniment.

The success of steakhouses like Morton's and Ruth's Chris is staggering, but customers pay dearly for the pleasure of gorging themselves on thick New York strips sizzling in butter. So why not open a less expensive steakhouse, but one that gives diners a bit more grown-up atmosphere than, say, an Outback.This is the concept behind Alexander's, the new steakhouse in Columbia.It's a great concept, one that should be a sure-fire winner. Whether it is or not -- well, read on.The restaurant has a hacienda feel to it because in a former life it was a Mexican eatery, Plata Grande.

Maybe this crab cake tastes so good because I am eating it on Smith Island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Or maybe this crab cake tastes so good because of the effort involved in getting here.I drive two hours from Baltimore to Point Lookout State Park on the southern tip of St. Mary's County early in the morning. By 10 a.m., I hop aboard a ferry, the Chelsea Lane Tyler, and make the 1 1/2-hour passage from the Western Shore to the island.The boat deposits me and other passengers on the docks of Ewell, where the Bayside Inn, a family-style restaurant, serves up crab cakes and other fare.

Buddy's Crabs and Ribs in Annapolis has a scenic location overlooking City Dock and an up-tempo atmosphere, but neither justifies the overpriced plates of bland seafood my husband and I had one recent early evening.The dinner buffet -- $8.95 for stuffed shells, salads, fruit, fried oysters, mussels, shrimp and a raw oyster and clam bar -- was tempting. But we wanted to see what else Buddy's had to offer. If we had known, we might have chosen the buffet.First, I learned not to take the name of the place to heart.

Some of the prettiest restaurants in Baltimore can be found in the hotels that hug the Inner Harbor. Windows, at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, is a lovely place to dine, especially if you reserve a table overlooking Pratt Street.Floor-to-ceiling windows let in the bright lights and bustle of the harbor. Mirrors, blond wood and crystal chandeliers create an atmosphere of modern, streamlined elegance. The restaurant was just as inviting recently as it had been on a visit last year.Executive chef Timothy P. Mullen and new restaurant chef Mitch Cooper have kept the emphasis at Windows on fresh seafood and Chesapeake region specialties.

"Do they know your idea of gourmet cooking generally involves buying a squirt bottle of spicy brown mustard?" my sister asked as I shared the news that my culinary talents had been tapped to write a restaurant review.The offer: dinner for two, under $50. Free meal. Someone else does the dishes. I was sold.Still stinging from my husband's critique of a recent meatloaf effort, I chose not to invite him, electing instead to take my sister, Pat Dvorak. Raised on a working mother's menu of Hamburger Helper, we would rise to the challenge together.

Soup. It's a comfort food. Crabs, if you're from Maryland, are a necessity. And cream of crab soup on a chilly autumn afternoon, well, that's paradise. But only if it has the right consistency, aroma, flavor, texture and a great deal of crab meat.Recently, some members of the Anne Arundel Bureau staff took an unscientific, partially blind taste test (one restaurant's soup came in bowls with its logo on the side) of cream of crab soups from four North County restaurants that were recommended by staffers or boast of having the best cream of crab soup.

The Milton Inn, which reopened quietly a couple of months ago under new ownership, has long been Baltimore's favorite destination restaurant. The place has had its ups and downs, but people have always been willing to take a drive to eat in the lovely candlelighted rooms of this 18th-century fieldstone building.The new owners, the Country Fare Group of Restaurants (which also operates the Brass Elephant and Kings Contrivance), should have no trouble attracting customers on weekends, on special occasions, and even for business lunches.

Angels Aemke of Wilmington, N.C., was seeking the recipe for the famous crab cakes that were served at Angelina's restaurant in Baltimore. She had a friend who used to send her these wonderful treats, but now that the venerable restaurant has closed (and was recently sold), she was hoping to find the recipe so that she could make the crab cakes at home. Jo Ann Nuetzel from Parkville sent in a recipe that was printed some years ago in The Sun and was reported to have come from the owner of Angelina's, the late Robert Reilly.

My rule of thumb in ordering at the new Riptide by the Bay in Fells Point is this: If it goes with beer, go for it. That means, for instance, you will be perfectly happy with the steamed crabs. They are homegrown, cooked to order with a seasoning mix that involves a lot of Old Bay but also some other ingredients like extra red pepper. Ours were meaty and not waterlogged. Come to think of it, Riptide may be Fells Point's only crab house. Obrycki's and Mo's are nearby, but they aren't in Fells Point proper.

Martha Nielson of Trenton, N.J., was hoping someone would have the recipe for a Crab Imperial dish similar to the one she and her husband used to enjoy on their trips to Maryland. It was served at Busch's restaurant in Cape St. Claire. The restaurant closed several years ago and though she has tried many recipes for Crab Imperial, none has come close to the light and fluffy one with a cheesy topping that was served at Busch's. Unfortunately, we did not receive any responses from our readers for a Crab Imperial with a cheese topping.

It has been such a long time since we've enjoyed the excitement of a pennant race that the search for Baltimore's top crab cake has replaced baseball as my favorite pastime. My quest focused on three well-known contenders: Faidley Seafood in the Lexington Market, G&M restaurant in Linthicum and Koco's Pub and Grill on Harford Road in Northeast Baltimore. On a recent afternoon I visited them all, brought their cooked crab cakes home, weighed them on my kitchen scale, then devoured them.

Fran Dominguez of Glen Burnie was looking for a recipe that she misplaced for making crab fritters. Thomas Klein from nearby Pasadena sent in his recipe for these delicious crab fritters. I made them with fresh Chesapeake Bay lump crab meat and they were a hit with everyone. They were small and delicate and not the least bit heavy. The whole batch was gone before I knew it. These fritters would make a wonderful hot hors d'oeuvre or a perfect first course for a dinner party. Crab Fritters Makes 18 small fritters 1 egg 1/4 cup beer 1 cup Bisquick or another prepared baking mix juice of 1 lemon 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes 6 drops hot sauce 1/2 pound crab meat, picked over for shells 1 cup oil for frying In a bowl, beat egg and add beer.

My version of seafood cooked in a tomato-vodka sauce is quick, easy and festive. Any type of seafood can be used, but crab is particularly good in the sauce. Jumbo lump crab - large pieces of unbroken meat - is best, but backfin crab meat, which includes broken pieces, can be used. Both are usually sold in cans in the refrigerated section of the seafood department. Along with this colorful pasta dish, serve a crisp radicchio-and-romaine salad and your favorite bottled dressing. A crisp chianti would go well with the high-acid tomato sauce.

Crab soup is like mother's milk to Marylanders, who are likely to begin any seafood feast with a cup of steaming tomatoes and vegetables that are host to chunks of gleaming crab meat. Cream of crab soup, with its thick base of cream and its hint of sherry, certainly has its devotees. But there is something common, and comforting, about the spicy vegetable soup, especially at harvest time. Overripe tomatoes, the last of the Maryland sweet corn, fresh beans and limas and our old friend Old Bay make this soup a winner - literally - at seafood festivals and cooking contests.

TYLERTON -- The aroma hits as soon as the screen door to the Drum Point Market swings closed. It wafts up from behind the ice cream cooler, near the cracker packs and stacked boxes of Jell-O, filling up the garage-sized general store in this remote Smith Island town. The regulars - hardened watermen, tourists who keep coming back - know that smell. Those are Mary Ada Marshall's crab cakes in the deep fryer, and they might just be the best in the world. In a place where crab is king and every island lady has her own closely guarded recipe, that claim is no small boast.

Several months ago, while dining at a seafood restaurant in midtown Manhattan, I ordered a first-course crab and avocado salad and was stunned by the simple ingenuity of the dish. Typically, crab salad is mixed with mayonnaise and rarely includes a spicy accent, but this version was bound with creme fraiche and seasoned with cumin. For entertaining, I love traditional recipes that have been reinterpreted with bright new tastes, and this dish certainly falls into that category. Using creme fraiche (the thick French cream that is a cross between heavy cream and sour cream)

In the news Looking for crab soup that's a true winner The Volvo Ocean Race at the Baltimore Waterfront Festival is soliciting original recipes from amateur cooks for its "Ultimate Crab Soup" contest. The contest welcomes recipes including traditional Maryland crab soup, she-crab soup, vegetable crab soup, Oriental king crab soup and more. Participants can submit their recipes to rvega@promotionandarts. com or by mail to Ultimate Crab Soup Contest, Baltimore Waterfront Festival, Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, 7 E. Redwood St., Suite 500, Baltimore 21202.