Crab Cakes

Serves 4 The best crab cakes taste like sweet, briny crab and not much else. From Florida to New Jersey, most crab lovers are eating blue crabs and seasoning anything crabby with Old Bay Seasoning. Utz, the chip company, even makes a crab flavor that tastes like the classic spice mix. In New England, blue crabs don't swim our waters, but big Jonah crabs do, usually way offshore. Rock or peekytoe crabs are caught closer to the coast by Maine lobster fishermen. The crabs are boiled and then picked for meat by hand (which makes pretty lumps)

Serves 8 Andy Husbands and Chris Hart write that people eat with their eyes first, so when they're in competitions, their team uses really big shrimp. In industry talk, standard cocktail-size shrimp are called 16/20, which means 16 to 20 per pound, each weighing an ounce or less. This recipe calls for U4s, meaning there are under 4 per pound. You can also use jumbo shrimp.

If you are searching for superior crab cakes, make them for yourself. There are so few ingredients because in a good crab cake, the least amount of ?ller will allow the crabmeat to reign. Most versions hide the true ?avors by adding too many breadcrumbs and eggs. These are delicate, dredged in ?our, egg, and breadcrumbs. Serve them with a hot-lime aioli. Serves 8. 1 cup mayonnaise Grated rind of 1 lime 2 tablespoons lime juice 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped Salt and pepper, to taste 1 teaspoon honey 1/3 cup celery, chopped 1...

BALTIMORE - Four days before the Preakness, I'll Have Another trainer Doug O'Neill was feeling very skittish about his pending appearance on the grand stage. His nervousness had nothing to do with saddling up the Kentucky Derby winner Saturday with the Triple Crown hanging in the balance. O'Neill didn't care that it was too wet to send I'll Have Another out on the track, and he certainly wasn't uneasy about the Preakness coming down to another duel between his horse and Derby pace-setter Bodemeister.

WASHINGTON - New Englanders tend to get snooty when it comes to being served seafood outside the region. “What do they know about serving lobster, clams, or shrimp?’’ we say, confident that we come from the heart of seafood country. Well, Jeff Tunks, chef-owner of DC Coast Restaurant, and Brendan Cox, executive chef, definitely know how to put an elegant, contemporary twist on their mid-Atlantic seafood specialties, such as fried Chesapeake oysters with delicate, crispy fried lemons and jumbo lump Maryland crab cakes with hot piquillo peppers and saffron vinaigrette.

If this keeps up, the betting between mayors will soon begin in the preseason. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino will make another friendly wager today on the fortunes of the New England Patriots. This time, Menino will bet with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, whose Ravens play the Patriots in the AFC Championship on Sunday. Bets between mayors and governors of opposing cities were once reserved for Super Bowl and the World Series, but this year the genial gambling started early.

BALTIMORE - Four days before the Preakness, I'll Have Another trainer Doug O'Neill was feeling very skittish about his pending appearance on the grand stage. His nervousness had nothing to do with saddling up the Kentucky Derby winner Saturday with the Triple Crown hanging in the balance. O'Neill didn't care that it was too wet to send I'll Have Another out on the track, and he certainly wasn't uneasy about the Preakness coming down to another duel between his horse and Derby pace-setter Bodemeister.

Turner's Seafood Market in Gloucester is attached to Turner's Seafood processing plant, where the freshest catch comes through every day. Much of the market is full of glistening, local fish, and there are also a few prepared dishes, such as fish cakes, lobster bisque, and stuffed clams. With meaty chunks of clams and just the right amount of pepper, the decadently creamy clam chowder is one of the most flavorful items available ($5.99 a pint). The crab cakes stand out as well: mostly fresh meat and little breadcrumb filler, well seasoned and tender ($2.25 each)

The following was submitted by the Medford Public Library: On Friday, May 4, the Library's Community Read Committee and the Medford Historical Society will be holding a joint fundraiser, featuring a menu inspired by 18th and 19th-century recipes. Tastings will occur from 7-9 PM at 10 Governors Avenue.  As part of the fun, we are looking for some cooks to help with the night's food offerings.  In exchange for a dish, we will offer a ticket discount of $5 off the $15 ticket price.

MANTEO, N.C. -- Paul Charron runs around the Full Moon Cafe as if he owns the place, which he does. He chats up almost everyone who walks in the door, not because he's playing host but because he knows them all. On a Saturday evening, we spotted him in the kitchen, at the cash register, and in the dining room. Earlier in the day he had played plumber after a leak forced him to shut off the water and close the kitchen for a few hours. If you somehow manage to miss him, you'll know he's there by the Irish music wafting from the speakers.

Four days before the Preakness, I'll Have Another trainer Doug O'Neill was feeling very skittish about his pending appearance on the grand stage. His nervousness had nothing to do with saddling up the Kentucky Derby winner Saturday with the Triple Crown hanging in the balance. O'Neill didn't care that it was too wet to send I'll Have Another out on the track, and he certainly wasn't uneasy about the Preakness coming down to another duel between his horse and Derby pace-setter Bodemeister.

The following was submitted by the Medford Public Library: On Friday, May 4, the Library's Community Read Committee and the Medford Historical Society will be holding a joint fundraiser, featuring a menu inspired by 18th and 19th-century recipes. Tastings will occur from 7-9 PM at 10 Governors Avenue.  As part of the fun, we are looking for some cooks to help with the night's food offerings.  In exchange for a dish, we will offer a ticket discount of $5 off the $15 ticket price.

GLASGOW, Scotland - Anchovies do not tend to arouse high expectations. The unremarkable brackish slivers are easily taken for granted. But sometimes, like when you find your way to a quiet, historically industrial neighborhood in a Scottish city, you can discover them playing a supporting role so lovely, they steal the show. And so it goes at Crabshakk. The three-year-old restaurant occupies an exquisite slice of real estate next to a laundromat and a stylish rum bar, not far from an industrial port cum convention destination.

If this keeps up, the betting between mayors will soon begin in the preseason. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino will make another friendly wager today on the fortunes of the New England Patriots. This time, Menino will bet with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, whose Ravens play the Patriots in the AFC Championship on Sunday. Bets between mayors and governors of opposing cities were once reserved for Super Bowl and the World Series, but this year the genial gambling started early.

There's a lot of energy in this waterfront city, which seems determined to make the leap from a slightly gritty working port to a picturesque, artsy destination for couples and families. A paved walkway along the harbor offers spectacular views. Restaurants provide everything from organic fare to fusion cuisine. Museums celebrate maritime history and the arts. And a vibrant Main Street organization works to support and expand the historical downtown's attractions. Its newest initiative is a 90-by-45-foot public skating rink at Parade Plaza, at the...

Restaurants in the Newburyport area come and go, but Ten Center Street endures. More than a few young chefs in the region learned the business while working here. Next year marks its 40th anniversary. Like Michael's Harborside, its sister restaurant just upriver, Ten Center Street is large and well run, with a vibe that's more slickly commercial than down-home. It's the kind of place where the menu offers not seafood but "seafood presentations. " The website's come-on - "A hip new menu.

Master McGrath's Dining & Spirits Route 107, Seabrook, N.H. 603-474-3540 mastermcgraths.com Hours: Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Wednesday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-10p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m..-9 p.m. Breakfast is served Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Major credit cards accepted Accessible to the handicapped This mock Irish pub is named after a pooch, Master McGrath, a 19th-century Irish...

BURKE"S SEAFOOD 61 Billings Road, Quincy, 617-328-9765, www.burkesseafood.com. Wheelchair accessible. All major credit cards. Prices Appetizers $2.49-$6.49. Sandwiches $6.99-$14.99. Entrees $8.99-$16.99. Hours Tue-Wed 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Thu-Sat 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Liquor Beer and wine May we suggest Crab cakes, stuffed quahogs, lobster roll, fried scallops, fish and chips, fisherman"s platter, broiled salmon. The fish you eat at Burke's Seafood is in the display case, cut by Richard Burke, who opened the place in 1979 and has been...