The FrangloSaxon Cooks

Louisiana Cuisines

Crabmeat Maison

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhen you’re thinking of ordering Crabmeat Maison at Galatoire’s your first question should always be, “How’s the crab today?” This is code for determining the presence of shell fragments and sweetness. It should be free of the first and brimming with the second.

Once you’ve been given the thumbs up by your waiter you’ll want it as a starter. It’s usually served on a bed of lettuce in an avocado with a halved tomato on the side.

At Maison Clary I serve the dish as a high rise (with no permits needed from the city). It makes for a nice presentation and it’s great for lazy people because it’s already cut up and ready to go down the hatch.

You just need a metal ring like the one below (and trust me, it’s the sine qua non of food porn paraphernalia). Tall food’s where it’s at so I’m working on perfecting the art of the culinary capstone. Perhaps balancing some impossibly long chive spears in a future posting, maybe even a bride & groom topper at some indeterminate point in the future. We’ll see.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABut in the meantime, you, the reader, need to grease the inside and start building. Diced avocado with a squirt of citrus, topped with seeded diced tomato, topped with the crabmeat then garnished with sprouts as I did here or with frisée or even chopped lettuce.

The plates should be made pretty close to the time you serve. And pay attention to the amount of remoulade you mix into the crab. It should be just enough to bind. If you add too much the crab chunks will fall off the side like old plaster off of a building. To be safe you can put the dressed crab in the fridge or even freezer for five to firm it up before adding it to the pile.

I’ve seen other ingredients used in the stack, like quinoa and couscous in place of the avocado but I go with the traditional mix only altering the presentation so that it looks both professional and appetizing.  One possible variation would be to replace half the crab with small, barely steamed rock shrimp.

If you build the tower high enough it can – with the addition of lots of warm French bread – be a light meal so go get your ingredients and start stacking.

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Crabmeat Maison
Author: 
Cuisine: Creole
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • For the salad:
  • 1 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat
  • 2 medium sized tomatoes (any color)
  • 1 cup sprouts (or frisee or lettuce)
  • 2 medium avocados
  • For the remoulade sauce:
  • ⅓ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon capers (any size)
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon green onion
  • 2 tablespoons diced pickles
  • 2 tablespoon brown mustard
  • fat pinch of cayenne (or ½ tsp. Crystal)
Instructions
  1. For the salad:
  2. Check the crabmeat for shells & separate lumps carefully.
  3. Dice the avocado and squeeze some lemon or lime juice on it.
  4. Seed tomatoes and cut into dice.
  5. Once the remoulade is made add it slowly to the crab being careful not to break up the lumps too much. And only add enough to bind the crab.
  6. For the remoulade:
  7. Puree all the ingredients in a blender.
  8. Save some additional capers for garnish if you like them whole.
  9. For the assembly:
  10. Seriously, you're still reading this? You didn't see the picture?
  11. Just stack baby stack!
  12. Now eat.
Notes
For more ideas using avocados log on to the Well Being Secrets website at www.well-beingsecrets.com.

Corn Fritters

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Tired of those cornmeal hockey pucks they serve at the all you can eat catfish joints? Then look no further than this fritter. It’s a bite sized spoonful of corn souffle that’s been flash fried to outer crispness while retaining its pillow soft interior. It’s one of those have to have treats while the fresh corn is still on offer at the road side stands.

And one last tip. Barricade access to the fry pan or these may not make it to the dinner table since they have a tendency to be picked off at the point of origin.

So – just dice the ingredients:

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Mix them up, fold in the soft egg whites:

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And fry:

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Corn Fritters
Author: 
Cuisine: Southern
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup fresh corn
  • 1 tsp. finely diced onion
  • ⅓ cup finely diced red bell pepper
  • ⅓ cup sifted all purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • 2 large eggs, separated
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 tablespoons milk (or cream)
  • Cayenne pepper to taste
  • cooking oil
Instructions
  1. Fill a skillet about 3 inches deep with oil. Heat to about 375 or flick a little water into the oil and if it spatters it's hot enough.
  2. Cut the corn off the cob.
  3. Sift the flour with the baking powder. Stir in the salt, cayenne, corn, egg yolks and milk.
  4. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the corn mixture.
  5. Drop by spoonfuls into the oil. Turn them when they brown (about 2 minutes).
  6. Remove and drain on paper towels.
  7. Serve at once.
Notes
Since the frying time is short, make sure the dice is quite small so it will fully cook.

 

Vietnamese Cucumber Salad

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAA Vietnamese style cucumber salad that looks elegant and tastes really good. For some reason I’ve found that the dressing tastes better after it’s had a chance to set a spell, so if you have the time you should make it a day ahead or at least a couple of hours ahead but don’t add it to the cucs till you are ready to serve.

One of the ingredients called for is “fish sauce.” There are dozens of fish sauce makers and its pedigree goes back to the Romans who called it “liquamen” and put it on everything.

Generally speaking it’s fermented essence of anchovy or other small fish like sardines and you can use it in a pinch for non Asian recipes calling for anchovies. Everyone has their favorite – mine is Red Boat. When I started looking into different fish sauces I came across endorsements for other brands along the lines of, “smells like gym socks but once it’s in the finished sauce it tastes fine,” or “smells like Dad’s pits after he’s mowed the lawn but it’s ok in the final product.” Really? Gym socks and armpits? For your first course? Don’t think so… Look, we all know that these types of things may taste too intense if you’re sampling them out of the bottle but they should still taste good. I took a chance on Red Boat and when I got it home I poured some out into the palm of my hand and yessiree Bob, it tasted delicious straight up.

The company was started by an American, Cuong Pham, a former tech executive, and it has only two ingredients, black anchovies and salt. This is fermented for a year and then strained, bottled, and delivered for your dining pleasure. I even cheated and used it in my Ragu Bolognese when I ran out of anchovies, and it worked well. And how corporate of Mr. Pham to have given us a multi tasking version of fish sauce. You can feel that vibe (but in  a good way)!

Finally, if you’re addicted to take out spring rolls this doubles as a first rate dipping sauce. You can can make some up and keep a bottle in the fridge in case they forget to pack it when you pick up your food.

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Vietnamese Cucumber Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad Dressing
Cuisine: Vietnamese
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cucumbers
  • small red onion or shallot, sliced very thin
  • 1 tsp. chili garlic sauce
  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2½ teaspoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce
  • Optional cilantro or mint to taste
  • Optional grated ginger to taste.
Instructions
  1. Peel and slice the cucumbers lengthwise. Run a spoon down the center to remove seeds.
  2. Slice cucumbers about ⅓ of an inch thick.
  3. Slice onion very thin and add to cucumbers.
  4. Whisk remaining ingredients in a bowl and dress just before serving.

 

Marinated Shrimp

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis recipe for marinated shrimp is one of those that we tend to forget about since it’s so basic, but it’ll be the first thing to run out at a party (especially if you add in some lump crabmeat). It also has the great advantage of staying fresh in the fridge for a few days so you can premake it and keep a stash with the olives and artichokes so you’ll have something to snack on before dinner or bedtime.

Another advantage is its adaptability to any size shrimp, and if you’re slammed for time you can get a big bag of frozen, mix up the marinade and make it the day before your party.

Or you can have a party of one and eat it all yourself.

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Marinated Shrimp
Author: 
Recipe type: Seafood
Cuisine: Creole
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. cooked, shelled & deveined shrimp
  • 2 small red onions, sliced thin
  • 2 lemons (or limes), sliced thin
  • 3 branches of rosemary, crushed to release flavor
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed, but not chopped
  • olive oil
Instructions
  1. Make layers of shrimp, onion, and lemon in a large bowl laying a rosemary branch over each.
  2. Crush the garlic in the olive oil and pour over shrimp to cover.
  3. Put in the fridge for a day or two to marinate and remove garlic before serving.
Notes
If you have garlic flavored olive oil, so much the better and you can eliminate the garlic cloves. Can substitute lime for the lemon and tarragon for the rosemary if you’re so inclined.

If you're using frozen shrimp defrost before boiling. Boil for about 2 to 3 minutes, no more.

Works well with the substitution of lump crabmeat for part of the shrimp. However, if you do use crabmeat be very careful not to break up the lumps or you’ll end up with shreds and believe it or not, they won’t taste as good. I know. It doesn’t make a lot of sense but it’s the truth.