This tasty ceviche will make a great appetizer and invasive species conversation starter!

Ingredients

• 4 oz imitation crab meat, flaked
• 25 Chinese mysterysnails, fully cooked*
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 2 serrano peppers, chopped
• 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper

*See our instructions on cooking mysterysnails for details

Directions

1. Toss crab meat and snails in a bowl with oil and vinegar until well coated
2. Stir in tomato, onion, cilantro, and peppers
3. Squeeze in lime juice, add generous portion of salt and pepper, and stir thoroughly
4. Refrigerate at least one hour
5. Serve chilled.  We preferred tortilla chips as our ceviche medium, but experiment to find what works best for you.

Mysterysnail Ceviche served with tortilla chips

I thought garlic mustard ice cream looked like dip, so I decided to give garlic mustard and artichoke dip a try (substituting garlic mustard for the spinach I usually use and eliminating garlic all together).  The setup took a little while as garlic mustard has vegetable properties different from spinach, but the outcome was quite tasty!

Ingredients:

Ingredients for dip. Photo credit: S. Sim

• a) 4 cups chopped garlic mustard
• b) 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• c) 1 yellow onion diced
• d) 2 Tablespoons butters
• e) 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• f) 1 1/2 cup broth (chicken or vegetable)
• g) 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• h) 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• i) 2 Tablespoons bouillon (chicken or vegetable)
• j) 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
• k) 1 can quartered artichoke hearts (diced)
• l) 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
• m) 1 teaspoon sugar
• n) A few splashes of Tabasco sauce
• o) 3/4 cup sour cream
• (not pictured) 1 cup flavored broth (I used chicken)

The thing about mustards is that they can be tough and fibrous.  My first thought was to sauté them in oil, but that didn’t work, so I ultimately braised them in chicken broth to soften them a bit.  Unfortunately, the garlic flavor and smell was lost in the process.  When I make this again, I’ll add some chopped garlic to the sautéed onions.

Instructions:

1. Braise chopped garlic mustard in chicken broth until soft
   

   Braising chopped garlic mustard.

2. Remove garlic mustard from braising liquid and set aside
3. Sauté onions in oil until translucent over medium-medium/low heat
   

   Sauteeing onions.

4. Add butter and heat until melted
5. Mix in flour to make a roux
   

   Roux of olive oil, butter, sauteed onions, and flour.

6. Allow the edges of the roux to brown a little
7. Slowly add broth and mix to incorporate (don’t add it too fast or the glutens won’t relax enough to thicken the broth!)
8. Once all the broth is added, slowly incorporate the heavy whipping cream
   

   Broth and whipping cream thickened by roux.

9. Lower heat to medium/low-low
10. Add remainder of the ingredients (including the braised garlic mustard) individually, making sure each one is well incorporated

Finished dip. Photo credit: S. Sim

Enjoy!

Crayfish Collection

Checking a crayfish trap in the field

There are many ways to catch a crayfish ranging from fishing with bait on a line to snorkeling with a hand-net, and everyone seems to swear by their own method.  We recommend baited traps.

We have had considerable success using minnow traps.  Minnow traps are relatively inexpensive to purchase, and instructions on how to build your own trap can also be found online.  Regardless of whether you buy or build your trap, one of the key determinants of your crayfish-catching success is the type of bait used to lure crayfish into the trap. Again, everyone seems to swear by their own preferred bait.  We have seen recommendations ranging from cat food to fish heads, but we have tended to have success with a few ounces of beef liver.

We recommend setting traps in water 1-2 meters deep.  Crayfish like habitats where there is a lot of shelter to be found, so setting traps in rocky areas can increase your crayfish catches.  Because Louisiana crayfish are particularly adept at burrowing in soft sediments, seeking out evidence of burrows in soft sediments can also be a good way to identify areas for successful trapping.  Crayfish are most active at night, so we usually set traps in the evening and harvest the next day.

Preparation

Crayfish are among the easiest invasive species to prepare for human consumption, but while they are alive, watch out for their chelae, or claws.  They sure can pinch!

To prepare crayfish, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.  Add live crayfish to the water and continue boiling for 15 minutes.  After boiling, allow crayfish to cool before handling.  The best meat of the crayfish is in the tail.  As with crayfish cousins, crab and lobster, there are many ways to crack the crayfish shell to reach the meat inside.  Several helpful guides with pictures can be found online (for example, here).  Briefly, start by grasping the crayfish by the head in one hand and tail in the other.  Next, use a twisting motion to rip the tail away from the body.  Finally, pinch the “fins” at the end of the tail to squeeze the meat out, similar to dispensing a tube of toothpaste.  A small fork can also be helpful to pry out more stubborn tail meat.  If all else fails, you can also use a fork or knife and brute force to crack the shell away bit by bit.

Once shelled, boiled crayfish meat can be eaten directly or used as ingredients in other recipes such as the crayfish-spinach-artichoke dip described below.

Ingredients

2 x (8oz) boxes cream cheese

1/2 x (10oz) package frozen spinach

1/2 x (14oz) can artichoke hearts

1/2 cup skim milk

3/4 oz Kraft grated parmesan cheese

1/2 lb crayfish tails, cooked, shelled, and coarsely chopped

Directions

We have suggested 1/2 lb of crayfish tails here, but other seafood dips vary considerably  in their fish-to-cheese ratios, so we encourage you to experiment with different amounts of crayfish to find your preferred taste.  Mix all ingredients together and heat on stovetop- do not boil.  We recommend serving the dip warm in the center of a scooped-out sourdough bread bowl, but this dip is also tasty enjoyed on your favorite cracker or with tortilla chips.