CRAB CAKES

CRAB CAKES, THAI STYLE

6 medium raw shrimp, shelled, washed and deveined
1 teaspoon nam pla (fish sauce)
1 pound fresh lump crab meat, picked over for cartilage
1 egg
¼ cup chopped scallion
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 fresh chili, preferably Thai, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
 Salt
 freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons bread crumbs, preferably fresh
 About 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for dredging
 Peanut or vegetable oil as needed
 Lime wedges for serving

Purée shrimp in a food processor (smaller is better) until you have a smooth paste, or chop and mash by hand. Add fish sauce. In a bowl, mix the shrimp purée, crab meat, egg, scallion, cilantro, chili, ginger and salt and pepper; add just enough bread crumbs to stiffen mixture a bit. Refrigerate mixture until you are ready to cook; it will be easier to shape into cakes if you refrigerate it for 30 minutes or more.

Season flour with salt and pepper. Film bottom of a large skillet with oil and place over medium-high heat. Shape crab meat mixture into cakes 1 inch thick and as wide as you want. Dredge each in flour, and cook, adjusting heat as necessary and turning once (very gently), until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes a side. Serve with lime wedges.

PALACE CAFE CRABMEAT CHEESECAKE

Palace Cafe Crabmeat Cheesecake

Pecan Crust:

2 cups pecans

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons fine salt

5 tablespoons butter, cold

3 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

1 cup diced onion

1 tablespoon butter

4 ounces crabmeat

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup Creole cream cheese or sour cream

2 eggs

1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (recommended: Crystal brand hot sauce)

Kosher salt and white pepper

Meuniere Sauce:

1 lemon, peeled and quartered

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 cup hot pepper sauce

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 pound butter, cold, cut into small cubes, and divided

Kosher salt and white pepper

Garnish:

2 cups sliced mixed wild mushrooms

3 tablespoons butter, softened

24 crab claw fingers

Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Directions

Preparing the Pecan Crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Finely grind pecans in a food processor. Add flour and salt. Mix well. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and cut in butter, working butter into flour with 2 knives until dough is in crumbs the size of small peas. Add ice water and evenly incorporate into the mixture, which should remain fairly crumbly. Roll out dough to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Press dough into a lightly greased 9-inch tart pan, starting with the sides and then the bottom. Bake crust for 20 minutes, or until golden.

Note: Dough can be made ahead of time. If doing so, wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Allow dough to come to room temperature before rolling out.

Preparing the Filling:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a skillet, saute onion in butter until translucent. Add crabmeat and cook just until heated through, then remove from heat. Blend cream cheese until smooth in a mixer fitted with a paddle, or by hand using a wooden spoon. Add Creole cream cheese and mix well. Mix in eggs 1 at a time. Gently fold in the crabmeat mixture. Stir in hot sauce and season, to taste, with salt and white pepper. Spoon filling into prepared crust. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until firm to the touch.

Preparing the Meuniere Sauce and Garnish:

Combine lemon, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce in a heavy saucepot. Reduce over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until mixture becomes thick and syrupy. Whisk in heavy whipping cream. Reduce heat to low and slowly blend in butter, 1 cube at a time, adding additional butter only after each cube has been completely incorporated into the sauce. This process is called "mounting the butter." Remove from heat and continue to stir. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Strain through a fine strainer and keep warm.

Saute mushrooms in 2 tablespoons butter until tender and all moisture has cooked off. Excess water from the mushrooms may break your sauce if it isn't cooked off. Stir mushrooms into Meuniere sauce. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saute pan and warm crab fingers over low heat. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To serve:

Slice cheesecake and top each piece with warm Meuniere sauce and 3 crab claws.

SHRIMP and CRABMEAT ETOUFFEE

SHRIMP and CRABMEAT ETOUFFEE

2 onions, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon Granulated Garlic

2 1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, or to taste

2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce

1 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/2 lb lump crabmeat

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley or 1 1/2 tablespoon Dried Parsley

3 cups cooked Basmati or brown rice

In a large stockpot, sauté onions and celery in olive oil until softened, about 10 minutes, stir in garlic granules.

Combine chicken broth and flour and stir until smooth. Add to celery mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Add lemon juice, cayenne and Tabasco sauce. Add shrimp and cook about 5 minutes.

Add crabmeat, green onions and parsley and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Makes 8 servings

*Scoop your rice into a flat-bottom cup, press down to mold, then put it on the plate. Makes a nice fancy presentation!

CRABMEAT DRESSING

Crabmeat Dressing

Another dressing that can be used to stuff your favorite vegetables, fish, chicken and meat.

2 sticks butter
4 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp. Thyme
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tsp hot sauce
salt and pepper
2 lbs. Crabmeat, picked over
1 ½ loaves French bread
3 eggs
1 tsp. Garlic, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in skillet with parsley, celery, green pepper, thyme, onion, salt and pepper; saute 10 to 15 minutes. Add crabmeat and saute an additional 10 to 15 minutes. 

While crabmeat sautès, moisten bread (it should be wet, but not soggy) in a bowl and then mash it with your hands. (If you use canned crab meat add the juice from the can to the bread to moisten it, then add water if needed). Season with salt and pepper and hot sauce. Place in baking pan and bake for 1 hour at 350. Stir after the first ½ hour of cooking. Remove from oven and place I n refrigerator to cool.

Place this dressing in a pie crust before baking, and you have a quick crabmeat pie. Use miniature pie shells for appetizers. You can do the same with the Oyster dressing.
　

CRABMEAT CASSEROLE

CRABMEAT CASSEROLE

3 cups lump crabmeat

1/4 pound butter

1/3 cup minced onion tops

1 Tbsp.  minced garlic

1 large whole bay leaf

1 Tbsp. parsley

2 Tbsp. flour

4 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

2 cups water

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

in large pot melt butter.  Add flour, mix till smooth, add onion tops and garlic and cook till tender.  Add water, bay leaf, parsley, salt and pepper.  Boil slowly until sauce is thickened.  Fold crabmeat in carefully, cook slowly turning crabmeat in sauce, trying not to break up large lumps, about  10 minutes.  Put in casserole, sprinkle the top with bread crumbs anda dash of Parmesan cheese.  Bake in oven until bread crumbs are brown or sides are bubbly.

Serves 6