Crabmeat St. Francis is crab in a cream sauce with wine & thyme and a crispy crunchy topping. Perfect for an appetizer or a hot plate at a cocktail party or game day. Lots of ingredients (that’s why it’s good) but easy to prep so let’s get started:
Crabmeat St. Francis is born
Crabmeat St. Francis originated with Warren Leruth’s West Bank restaurant. LeRuth’s was famous for its imaginative take on French-Creole cooking, like oyster artichoke soup and sautéed soft-shelled crabs with lump crab meat. Leruth was also a food consultant. I love it that he worked with Popeye’s to develop their red bean recipe. Probably why it’s so good. His restaurant closed in 1991 and Leruth died in 2001 but his food lives on.
What makes this version different:
I like the option of making it with jumbo lump crabmeat or claw meat. If you plan to make individual servings for a sit-down dinner lump is a good choice. However, if you’re having a stand-up cocktail party with appetizers you can make it in one dish that guests can dip into and put on toast points or crackers. For that, claw meat is, shall we say, more portable. And tastier.
I also tried to simplify the original recipe and steer it away from 3/8ths a cup of this and 2/10ths of that. I hate to think of somebody having to stop in the middle of prep and look up measurement equivalents. I don’t like to do that and I do recipe testing all the time.
So think simpler but just as good. So let’s get started:
What you need:
- 1 lb crabmeat (Claw or Jumbo)
- Celery heart (that’s the sweeter interior stalks of the celery)
- Shallots
- Celery Seed
- Heavy Cream
- Campbell’s Cream of Celery Soup
- White Wine (or wine vinegar)
- Parsley
- Egg Yolks
- Seafood Stock
- Panko
First things first:
What you’re making here is a highly seasoned and unctuous sauce that you’ll pour over lump crabmeat claw meat. Regardless of the method of presentation, you need to prep the crab first. That means checking for shells carefully and setting them aside. Next, you will get your serving dish buttered and ready.
Then on to the sauce. Chef Leruth’s original recipe calls for seafood stock and that’s a good call. If you have homemade in the freezer, great. If not, buy some canned or at a local store that makes it like Dorignac’s or Langenstein’s. I’ve linked the grocery list above to my recipe for shrimp stock. Check it out because it makes a difference.
Race for the finish!
Once you’ve done the sauce you will toast the crumb topping, grease up the cups, place the crab inside, cover with that tasty sauce and run in the oven for 12 until bubbly and browned. And you’re done!
Try it with another appetizer or two
- For the roux:
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated
- ½ cup shallots, finely diced
- ¼ cup celery heart, finely chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Pinch of Celery Seed
- ½ teaspoon thyme (ground or fresh)
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon White Pepper
- For the sauce:
- 1 can Cream of Celery Soup
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Seafood Stock*
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine or wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh Parsley chopped
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 pound Jumbo Lump Crabmeat (or claw meat), picked over for shell pieces
- For the topping:
- ½ cup Panko
- 4 tablespoons melted Butter
- 6 individual-sized casserole dishes (or a single one of equal size)
- For the roux:
- In a deep sauté pan, heat the butter and whisk in the flour. Cook for two or three minutes.
- Add the garlic, shallots, celery hearts, and seasonings.
- Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
- For the sauce:
- Mix the condensed soup, cream, seafood stock, and wine.
- Add to the roux and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat. When thickened add the parsley.
- Take a cup of the sauce out and let it cool, then whisk in the yolk. This will prevent curdling. Mix back into the sauce till combined. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Divide the crabmeat into the casserole dishes. Cover with approximately ½ cup of sauce, the topping & bake until bubbly and browned about 12 minutes.
- For the topping:
- Warm the butter and put in the Panko. Stir until lightly brown.
- Put on top of the crab and serve.
- Optional paprika for topping.