Here come the Brood XIV Cicadas!

Soon, (or already) the 2008 cicada excitement will be upon us. (And by us, I mean mostly people in living in the affected areas of Kentucky, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.) Last year when brood XIII was enhancing our lives in Illinois, I had some fun with cicada recipes, a cicada song and even a cicada cooking show on youtube.

Now you can enjoy them all again in 2008!

My Favorite recipe: from cicadayear.com.

Soft-Shelled Cicadas

1 cup Worcestershire sauce
30 freshly emerged 17-year cicadas
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups flour
Salt and pepper to season the flour
1/2 cup corn oil or slightly salted butter

Marinate cicadas in Worcestershire sauce for several hours. Dip them in the beaten egg, roll them in the seasoned flour and then gently saute until they are golden brown.

The Cicada Chef video -- with the song in the soundtrack {You can download the song "I Like Cicadas" on Napster , Rhapsody, iTunes, Amazon mp3, Groupie Tunes (ringtones), EMusic and probably a few others.}



Happy Cicada time 2008!

Bugs

Here's what I've seen right by the house in the last two days:


A Wolf Spider the size of a brick (it was right next to the remote garage-door opener.)


A lazy tibucen cicada on the ground

What bugs have you seen?

Cicada update

Actually, there's not much to tell on this front. I didn't find any cicadas this morning on a stroll through the woods. I'm heading out this afternoon for a second try, however. Hopefully I'll find some and be able to experience some cicada cuisine later tonight!

I did write a cicada song (It's called "I Like Cicadas") but it's not recorded yet. I played it for a few people at a hayride and bonfire over the weekend (I had trouble remembering all the words!) and if all goes well, I'll have a recording of it by the end of the weekend.


UPDATES:
I found some cicadas in Glen Ellyn this afternoon. They're marinating in worchestershire sauce tonight and then I'm going to make batter-dipped and sauted cicadas tomorrow morning.

I also recorded the cicada song (gargage version). The whole song was really recorded in the garage. I played guitar and did vocals and my son Matthew played drums. It'll be available for a short while linked here, and then it'll be gone just like the cicadas. I make it resurface on iTunes and Napster etc. some time in the future.
I Like Cicadas (garage version)

Update! You can now buy "I Like Cicadas" on Napster, Sony Connect and Emusic!

Cicada recipe 1

Sometime around May 22, the 17-year cicadas (Brood XIII) will emerge in the Northern Illinois area. I remember the 1990 and the 1973 events around here. It was noisy and fascinating at the same time. Last year, I shot some video of a non-Brood XIII cicada as it was devoured by a praying mantis. Why should the praying mantis have all the fun? This year, in addition to the noise and the fascination, I'm up to finding my inner mantis. I've found a number of recipes for preparing these edible insects into a scrumptious (?) meal. I can't say that I've ever tried any of them, but I'm game.

Here's the first: A recipe for the emerging larvae. I found it at cicadayear.com.

Soft-Shelled Cicadas

• 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 30 freshly emerged 17-year cicadas
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• Salt and pepper to season the flour
• 1/2 cup corn oil or slightly salted butter

Marinate cicadas in Worcestershire sauce for several hours.
Dip them in the beaten egg, roll them in the seasoned flour and then gently saute until they are golden brown.

Anyone else ready?

I'll post another recipe for the cicada's "out of the shell" soon.

Random thought. Cicada lovers like cheesy stuff, right? How about "The Cheese Song"?