Louie, Louie, crab Louis

If you order crab Louis and the waitress asks what kind of dressing you want on your salad, just walk out the door. Crab Louis has its dressing built into the dish. It is crabmeat. It is lettuce. But it's the dressing that makes it crab Louis.

Crab Louis
adapted from "Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz" by Howard Mitcham (Addison-Wesley, 1978, 180 pages)
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 large head (or 2 small) romaine lettuce
1 cup homemade mayonnaise
1/4 cup tomato sauce, or 2 tablespoons tomato paste
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon capers
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 pound fresh crabmeat, picked clean and squeezed dry

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions
Wash the lettuce, remove the coarse ribs and shred. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, tomato sauce or paste, lemon juice, capers and cayenne together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Blend in the lettuce and the crab, gently as not to break it up, until both are well coated. Serve in individual salad bowls.

Homemade mayonnaise

Ingredients
2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
White pepper to taste
16 ounces olive or canola oil

Instructions
Beat together the yolks and the seasoning ingredients. Add the oil, a drop at a time at first, then in a slow, steady stream. Keep beating until all the oil is absorbed. If it curdles, you have added the oil too quickly. Start over with a new bowl and an egg yolk. Beat the yolk, and add the curdled mixture to it slowly. The final mixture should be velvety, creamy and smooth, and it should have a full-bodied zest.

It's OK to be crabby at Christmas

My husband, who was born in Berkeley to native Californians, says Christmas dinner was a bit different from Norman Rockwell's at his house. His grandfather would go to the docks and get a bag of fresh Dungeness crabs, cook them immediately, and serve them with a loaf of buttered sourdough bread. (I'm sure there were side dishes, too, but they have not made it down in the retelling of the lore.)

As much as I loved the Atlantic blue crabs this summer, something about the one-per-person size of the Dungeness, with its delicate flavor and drier texture, makes it a special treat. I hope we can enjoy fresh ones when we go West for New Year's.

Fresher is better - especially crab

If you can't buy live crabs, fresh picked (as in out of the crab) in a market that sells live crabs is the next best thing. I know, a lot of you who hate to pick out the crab meat would say it's the best thing, but for me, knowing exactly when my seafood meets its demise is important. I made some crab cakes out of the "Tavern on the Green" cookbook and the recipe made more of them than advertised. So I froze the rest, and cooked them up for lunch when we got back from the river cabin. Really, really good... but they still didn't compare to the first night. For the most part, the flavorings came through splendidly, but the crab just wasn't as special.

The sauce, however, took the dish almost all the way home. Avocado tartar sauce! What a superb idea.

Flounder, no floundering

A lovely, fresh flounder fillet called for a special treatment, but I had no time to consult my books - dinner had to be on the table in a half hour. So I picked up a half-pound of crab meat, some red, yellow and green pepper strips from the salad bar and some green onions, and headed for home. I had a half of a peeled yam left in the fridge.

I turned on the oven to 450, and put the 8-ounce fillet on a sheet of nonstick foil, about 4 inches longer than the fish. As the oven was heating, I diced the fresh pepper strips into tiny cubes and sliced two of the green onions. In a small bowl, I whipped one farm-fresh egg thoroughly with a fork, then mixed together the crab, peppers and onions with a generous grinding of pepper. I piled the crab mixture on the fillet, almost to the edges. Gathering up the long sides, I folded the edged a couple of times to seal, then folded up the ends so it was tightly wrapped. I placed the packet on top of the broiler pan, along with the yam, which I sprayed with olive oil and seasoned with a little salt and pepper. I baked the fish for 20 minutes; the yam wasn't quite done, so I put it in the microwave for another two minutes after I took out the pan from the oven. I made a simple salad of lettuce, arugula, cucumbers and feta while the fish cooked.

I opened the packet, which was still steaming, cut the fish in half horizontally, and put it on two plates, surrounded by a piece of vibrant orange yam, and the green salad. The confetti of the diced peppers gave the otherwise white dish a festive flair, and the plate looked great. I wish I had taken a shot of it - but we ate it immediately! A satisfying, low-fat, low-carb, low-salt meal. 

Crab cake update

After making the crab cakes  last night, I must say this recipe needs a bit more punch without the Dungeness crab. The crab here is more delicate and sweeter. Next time, the red pepper AND shallots, and perhaps a little cayenne, too.

Feeling a little crabby about Valentines Day?

Valentines Day is Saturday, and if you're thinking of eating in, one can't-miss dinner course is crab. I've loved the crab cakes I've had in California and New Orleans, but the crab I've had in Virginia puts the Pacific and Gulf Coast varieties to shame.  "I Love Crab Cakes" was a bright and sassy one-seafood wonder book I came across a few years ago, and this recipe doesn't use much in the way of filler ingredients, perfect for the one you love.

Thierry's crab cakes

Prep time: 35 minutes | Cook time: 2 minutes | Serves 2 as main course

Thierry Rautureau, a chef transplanted from the west coast of France, owns one of Seattle's most-admired restaurants, Rover's. His recipe here is adapted from "I Love Crab Cakes" (William Morrow, $19.95, 160 pages). His version uses Dungeness crab, the most commonly available on the West Coast.

Notes: You will need 4 ring molds, 2 to 2-1/2 inches in diameter and at least 1-1/2 inches deep. Small tin cans, open on both ends, will do. For more color, replace the shallots with minced red bell pepper. Rautureau recommends serving the cakes with a clam aioli.

Ingredients
3/4 pound (12 ounces) crabmeat, drained, picked clean of shell and lightly squeezed if wet
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon thinly sliced chives

Instructions
To make cakes, put crabmeat on a cutting board and chop into small pieces. No piece of crab should be larger than the size of a pea. (It's important to chop the crab so you get a tight pack in the mold without air spaces.) Transfer crabmeat to a bowl and add garlic, shallots, chives, basil and a little pepper to taste.

Set 4 ring molds on a work surface. Divide the crab mixture among the molds, packing the crab as tightly as you can into each mold with your fingers or the back of a spoon. Put the bread crumbs on a plate. Leaving the crabmeat in the mold, use a spoon to spread a generous, even layer of egg wash on top of the crabmeat.

Turn the mold upside down (egg-washed side down) onto the plate of bread crumbs. If the crabmeat is not even with the edge of the mold on both sides, push down on the crabmeat with your fingers so the egg-washed side makes contact with the bread crumbs. Generously spoon the egg wash over the unbreaded side of the mold and turn the mold upside down again to bread the other side, pushing down on the crabmeat if needed to make contact with the crumbs.

Both the top and bottom sides of the crabmeat in the mold should be evenly covered with a layer of egg wash and crumbs. Set the mold aside and repeat with the remaining molds.

Set a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil. When the skillet is hot, pick up a mold and place it in the pan, then use your fingers to carefully push the crab cake out of the mold, removing the mold from the pan. Repeat with the remaining molds. Cook the crab cakes until browned on the first side, about 1 minute, then carefully turn them over, using a spatula, and brown the second side, about a minute more. Set out 4 plates and set a crab cake on each plate.

Per serving: 460 cal.; 42 g pro.; 22 g carb.; 22 g fat (4 sat., 14 monounsat., 4 polyunsat.); 342 mg chol.; 862 mg sod.; 0 fiber; 0 sugar; 43 percent calories from fat.

Do you see what I sea?

Lori's easy crab enchiladas

Serves 2

1 small onion, diced

8 ounces lump crab meat

½ lemon

6 corn tortillas

Olive oil (spray)

½ cup Herdez red or green salsa (or your favorite fresh salsa)

2 ounces grated white cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring about an inch of water in a steamer pot to boil. Put the onion in the top part and steam about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Unless you just boiled and cracked the crab, put the crab in water with the juice of the half lemon. Drain thoroughly.

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat. Spray each tortilla just before putting it in the pan; heat until warm and flip. Remove from pan and fill tortilla with about a tablespoon of onion and a tablespoon of crab. Roll up and put in an 8x8 baking pan. Repeat with each (you'll have 5 across and one down the side).

Pour salsa across the top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and enchiladas are bubbly. Serve immediately.

A lighter crab gratin

Crab -- sweet, fresh crab -- pairs so nicely with a bubbly, creamy sauce, replete with vegetables and topped with a grating of cheese. But the traditional gratin, full of butter, cream and topped with a thick layer of cheddar, flies in the face of healthy eating. If you're trying to watch your fat intake, take heart. Here's a flavorful crab gratin that doesn't depend on cream for its creaminess.

Lori's lighter crab gratin

Serves 2

1         tablespoon olive oil
¼       cup small-diced onion
2         stalks celery, minced
½       tablespoon butter
2         tablespoons flour
1         cup milk
½       asparagus, blanched and sliced
8         ounces fresh lump crab
2         ounces grated fresh Parmesan

Instructions
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add onion and celery and sautée until translucent. Add butter and when it melts, add flour. Cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add milk slowly, using a whisk to get out the lumps. When thick and smooth, add asparagus and crab. Turn out into two gratin dishes and top with Parmesan. Put in center of the oven and cook about 10 minutes until bubbly. Serve with crusty bread and a simple salad.