RECIPES: How To Cut The Crab

When Dungeness crab season starts on the West Coast (usually between November and December, depending on location), there’s a mad dash by consumers to cook and eat as many fresh live crabs as possible before it ends. Steaming whole crabs and cleaning them might sound intimidating, but the process is relatively easy: Just boil the crabs, remove a few select pieces of the shell, clean out a few squidgy bits, and rinse. The real fun is cracking and picking them. Make sure to have seafood crackers or small hammers on hand to get at all of the sweet, flaky meat. If you find yourself with leftover crabmeat, use it in Crab Cakes or Crab and Fontina Stuffed Mushrooms.

Special equipment: Once your crab is cooked and cleaned, extract the meat by cracking the claws, legs, and body open with small hammers or seafood crackers like these.

Game plan: Fresh live crab should be purchased and cooked the same day—the crabs can only be stored in the refrigerator for a few hours once taken out of their holding tanks.

If your crab is not exactly 2 pounds, calculate about 7 to 8 minutes of steaming time per pound (after the water returns to a boil). If you’re cooking more than one crab at a time, calculate the average weight by taking the total weight of the crabs and dividing by the number of crabs you have. Use this average weight to determine your total steaming time, about 7 to 8 minutes per pound. And be sure to use an extra-large pot with a tightfitting lid.

For the crab:

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 (2-pound) whole live Dungeness crab
For serving:
Aioli
Warm melted butter
Cucumber Mignonette

Fill a large pot with 1 inch of water and stir in the salt. (Be sure your pot has a tightfitting lid.) Place a steamer rack inside of the pot. (If you don’t have a steamer rack, lightly bunch a long piece of foil so that it looks like a rope. Then make a figure eight out of the foil rope and set it in the pot.)

Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Using tongs, pick up the crab, grasping it from behind and placing one arm of the tongs on the belly and the other on the back with the legs on either side. Place the crab back side up in the steamer rack.  Cover and return the water to a full boil, about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium high and steam until the crab is cooked through, about 15 minutes more.

Using tongs, remove the crab to a colander and rinse under cold water until cool enough to handle.

Place the crab belly side up on a cutting board with the face closest to you. Using your hands or the tip of a knife, lift the triangular piece of shell at the tail of the crab (the apron), break it off, and discard.

Pick up the crab with your hands, place a thumb in the hole where the apron was, and pull in one motion to remove the top shell (the carapace) from the rest of the body. Discard the carapace.

Place the crab belly side up on the cutting board with the tail closest to you. Remove and discard the soft, pointy gills from the body. Break off and discard the mouthpiece (the mandibles).

Pull away any loose fragments from the body and discard. Rinse away any viscera under cold water.

Place the crab on the cutting board back side up and cut in half from face to tail through the middle of the body.  If desired, cut the crab into smaller pieces by slicing between the legs, making sure to cut through the body.  To extract the meat, use seafood crackers or small hammers to crack open the claws, legs, and body. Serve with aioli, melted butter, or cucumber mignonette for dipping.

This post is originally taken from Christine Gallary

PARENTING: Akibat Melakukan Hubungan Seks Ketika Haid.

When i open my facebook this morning, i found this interesting articles.  So i share it here for our guideline in  family life as muslim.  The article is in Malay so if you dont understand please use google and translate it ok.  

Akibat Melakukan Hubungan Seks Ketika Haid Pengharaman Seks Semasa Haid Islam mengharamkan melakukan hubungan seks antara suami dan isteri ketika waktu haid. Hukum ini telah dijelaskan oleh Allah Ta’ala didalam firman Nya yang bermaksud: “Dan mereka bertanya kepadamu (wahai Muhammad), mengenai (hukum) haid. Katakanlah: “Darah haid itu adalah kotoran dan mendatangkan mudarat”.

Oleh sebab itu hendaklah kamu menjauhkan diri dari perempuan (jangan bersetubuh dengan isteri kamu) dalam masa datang darah haid itu, dan janganlah kamu hampiri mereka (untuk bersetubuh) sebelum mereka suci. Kemudian apabila mereka sudah bersuci maka datangilah mereka menurut jalan yang diperintahkan oleh Allah kepada kamu. SesungguhNya Allah mengasihi orang-orang yang banyak bertaubat, dan mengasihi orang-orang yang sentiasa mensucikan diri.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:222) Didalam Hadis Nabi Muhammad s.a.w banyak memperkatakan hal ini, diantaranya sabda Rasulullah s.a.w yang bermaksud: “Sesiapa yang menyetubuhi wanita yang sedang haid ataupun menyetubuhi wanita di saluran duburnya ataupun mendatangi tukang tenung nasib dan mempercayainya, sesungguhnya dia telah kufur dengan apa yang diturunkan ke atas Muhammad.”

(Riwayat Ahmad dan Tarmuzi) Imam Al Ghazali merumuskan hukum ini di dalam Ihya Ulumuddin dengan berkata, “Janganlah suami menyetubuhi isteri yang sedang haid dan juga jangan sesudah haid sebelum si isteri menyempurnakan mandi wajib terlebih dahulu, kerana yang demikian itu diharamkan dengan dalil Al-Quran.“ Kajian Mengenai Bahaya Seks Ketika Haid Melakukan hubungan seks ketika haid mempunyai banyak risiko, menurut kajian yang dijalankan oleh Dr. Diana Antoniskis (MD) dari Kumpulan Penyelidikan dan Pendidikan (The Research And Education Group) yang beribu pejabat di Oregon, dalam artikel yang bertajuk Women With HIV Infection, risiko jangkitan kuman HIV meningkat di kalangan wanita yang mengadakan hubungan seks ketika haid ataupun dengan lelaki yang tidak berkhatan. Pusat Pengawalan dan Pencegahan Penyakit (Centers for Disease Control And Prevention) di Amerika, pada Perhimpunan kesebelas Pertubuhan Antarabangsa Berhubung Penyakit-Penyakit Jangkitan Seksual di New Orleans yang diadakan pada 27 hingga 30 Ogos pada tahun 1995 melaporkan, menjauhi hubungan seks ketika haid ataupun ketika mengalami pendarahan di bahagian faraj adalah penting untuk mengurangkan risiko dijangkiti kuman HIV bagi lelaki dan wanita. Laporan itu juga menjelaskan, wanita yang mengadakan hubungan seks ketika haid meningkatkan risiko dijangkiti AIDS sebanyak enam kali ganda. Persetubuhan pada waktu haid juga boleh mengakibatkan pendarahan yang teruk ke atas wanita.

Kajian yang dilakukan oleh Dr. Winnifield Cutler dan rakan-rakannya dari Institut Athena Bagi Kesihatan Wanita di Chester Springs menunjukkan, wanita yang hampir putus haid atau perimenopausal, yang kerap mengadakan hubungan seks ketika haid sering kali mengalami masalah pendarahan yang teruk daripada biasa. Kebiasaannya kes-kes seperti ini akhirnya terpaksa menjalani pembedahan berisiko tinggi untuk membuang rahim atau hysterectomy dan ovari atau ovariectomy. Penemuan ini dilaporkan di dalam Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology pada tahun 1996. Bagi golongan wanita, tiub fallopian dan ovari mereka boleh diserang kuman bakteria sehingga menyebabkan keputihan, sakit dan demam yang kuat. Risiko untuk menghidap penyakit ini adalah tinggi di kalangan mereka yang melakukan hubungan seks ketika haid.

Hal ini disebabkan, kebiasaannya tiub fallopian dan ovari dilindungi daripada serangan bakteria oleh bahan asid yang terdapat di kawasan faraj atau vagina. Ketika wanita itu didalam keadaan haid, kawasan faraj menjadi alkali justeru memudahkan kuman untuk membiak dan mendatangkan penyakit terutamanya apabila berlaku persetubuhan pada waktu itu. Oleh yang demikian, hukum pengharaman persetubuhan ketika haid oleh agama Islam adalah amat baik kerana ia mendatangkan banyak manfaat dari sudut kesihatan. Walaubagaimanapun Islam tidak melarang diantara suami isteri bergurau senda dan bergaul mesra semasa haid, asalkan perbuatan itu tidak membawa kepada persetubuhan. Menurut Hadith yang diriwayatkan oleh Bukhari, Aisyah pernah ditanya oleh Masruq bin Ajdak, “Apakah yang boleh dilakukan oleh suami semasa isterinya sedang dalam keadaan haid?” Lalu Aisyah menjawab, “Apa-apa sahaja kecuali bersetubuh.” (Hadith Sahih Bukhari) Wallahu’alam

HIJAB: All About Women, Why Do I Wear Hijab?

By Sultana Yusufali

I probably do not fit into the preconceived notion of a “rebel”. I have no visible tattoos and minimal piercing. I do not possess a leather jacket. In fact, when most people look at me, their first thought usually is something along the lines of “oppressed female.” The brave individuals who have mustered the courage to ask me about the way I dress usually have questions like: “Do your parents make you wear that?” or “Don’t you find that really unfair?”

A while back, a couple of girls in Montreal were kicked out of school for dressing like I do. It seems strange that a little piece of cloth would make for such controversy. Perhaps the fear is that I am harboring an Uzi underneath it! Of course, the issue at hand is more than a mere piece of cloth. I am a Muslim woman who, like millions of other Muslim women across the globe, chooses to wear the hijab. And the concept of the hijab, contrary to popular opinion, is actually one of the most fundamental aspects of female empowerment.

When I cover myself, I make it virtually impossible for people to judge me according to the way I look. I cannot be categorized because of my attractiveness or lack thereof.

Compare this to life in today’s society: We are constantly sizing one another up on the basis of our clothing, jewelry, hair and makeup. What kind of depth can there be in a world like this? Yes, I have a body, a physical manifestation upon this Earth. But it is the vessel of an intelligent mind and a strong spirit. It is not for the beholder to leer at or to use in advertisements to sell everything from beer to cars!

Because of the superficiality of the world in which we live, external appearances are so stressed that the value of the individual counts for almost nothing. It is a myth that women in today’s society are liberated! What kind of freedom can there be when a woman can not walk down the street without every aspect of her physical self being “checked out”?

When I wear the hijab I feel safe from all of this. I can rest assured that no one is looking at me and making assumptions about my character from the length of my skirt. There is a barrier between me and those who would exploit me. I am first and foremost a human being, equal to any man, and not vulnerable because of my sexuality.

One of the saddest truths of our time is the question of the beauty myth and female self-image. Reading popular teenage magazines, you can instantly find out what kind of body image is “in” or “out.” and if you have the “wrong” body type, well, then, you’re just going to have to change it, aren’t you? After all, there is no way that you can be overweight and still be beautiful.

Look at any advertisement. Is a woman being used to sell the product? How old is she? How attractive is she? What is she wearing? More often than not, that woman will be no older than her early 20s, taller, slimmer and more attractive than average, dressed in skimpy clothing. Why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated like this?

Whether the 90s woman wishes to believe it or not, she is being forced into a mold. She is being coerced into selling herself, into compromising herself. This is why we have 13-year-old girls sticking their fingers down their throats and overweight adolescents hanging themselves.

When people ask me if I feel oppressed, I can honestly say no. I made this decision out of my own free will. I like the fact that I am taking control of the way other people perceive me. I enjoy the fact that I don’t give anyone anything to look at and that I have released myself from the bondage of the swinging pendulum of the fashion industry and other institutions that exploit females.

My body is my own business. Nobody can tell me how I should look or whether or not I am beautiful. I know that there is more to me than that. I am also able to say “no” comfortably then people ask me if I feel as though my sexuality is being repressed. I have taken control of my sexuality. I am thankful I will never have to suffer the fate of trying to lose/gain weight or trying to find the exact lipstick shade that will go with my skin color. I have made choices about what my priorities are and these are not among them.

So next time you see me, don’t look at me sympathetically. I am not under duress or a male-worshipping female captive from those barbarous Arabic deserts! I’ve been liberated.