Crab and Avocado Crostini

I made this recipe for a Happy Hour gathering we hosted at our house a few weeks ago. It is based on a Food Network recipe (by Brian Boitano...?!) but I tweaked it some. I thought it turned out pretty well and it got good reviews from guests.

Ingredients
1 loaf ficelle or thin French baguette
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/4 cup
and/or
Those thick deep fried amazing tortilla chips from Whole Foods...

1 Meyer lemon, juiced (or a couple Tbsp of lemon juice work too)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 yellow pepper, seeds removed and diced
1 avocado, halved, pitted and flesh diced
1 shallot, finely diced
1/4 - 1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
8 ounces lump crabmeat

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice the bread into 1/2-inch thick slices. Lightly brush the bread slices with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet fitted with a rack and bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before topping with the crab mixture.
[Or just use pre-made crostini or those delicious tortilla chips mentioned above...]

In a large bowl whisk together the lemon juice, 1/4 cup of olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
Add the yellow pepper, the avocado, shallot, onion and the crabmeat to the lemon vinaigrette and toss gently, so as to not break up the crabmeat. Top the bread slices with about a tablespoon of the crab mixture and arrange on a serving platter

HG Seafood Gumbo

This recipe was adapted from a Hungry Girl recipe, and jazzed up with some sausage and rice.

Ingredients:

1 package Jennie-O turkey kielbasa, cut into 1/2 inch wide medallions

One 14.5-oz. can crushed or chopped tomatoes (not drained)

8 oz. peeled and deveined raw medium shrimp with tails removed (I used 12oz)

8 oz. white crab meat (about two 6-oz. cans drained)

1 cup Spicy Hot V8 vegetable juice

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. Cajun seasoning, or more to taste

1 tsp. Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, or more to taste

black pepper, to taste

2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions: Bring a large pot sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat. Add bell peppers and onion. Add in kielbasa, and stirring occasionally, cook for about 3 minutes, until veggies are tender. Add tomatoes, V8 juice, and cornstarch. Stir well, making sure cornstarch dissolves completely. Cook until mixture begins to bubble. Add Cajun seasoning, and Frank's RedHot. Stir and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add shrimp, and continue to simmer until shrimp are cooked through, about 3 - 4 minutes. Add crab meat and 3/4 cup water. Raise heat to medium, and return to a boil. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let thicken for 5 minutes. Season to taste with black pepper. If you like, add a little more Cajun seasoning and Frank's RedHot.

Either top a bed of rice with gumbo, or add rice to gumbo itself.

Enjoy! Makes 5 servings

Crab and Corn Chowder

We are supposed to hit single-digits in Raleigh this week so I decided a nice hot soup/chowder was in the offing. This is a delicious and relatively easy recipe and I've made several times now. It goes great with a warm crusty bread and a dry white wine.

1 potato, peeled and cubed
1 small can yellow corn
5 slices bacon, diced
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp minced garlic
8oz crab meat (I always use a bit more...)
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes

2 tablespoons butter
2-3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Cook diced potato either in microwave or on stovetop until softened, then set aside.
2. In a large saute pan, cook bacon over medium heat until heated through, blot dry, and break into pieces. In same pan, saute minced garlic and chopped onions. Cook and stir until onions are clear. Add potatos, small can of corn, and bacon and stir for 2 minutes or so. Remove from heat and stir in crab meat and parsley flakes. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large stock pot over low heat. Whisk in flour until mixture becomes creamy and takes on a eggshell color. Continue to cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in wine. Dissolve chicken bouillon in milk; slowly whisk in the milk. Increase heat to medium and mix well in order to eliminate all lumps.
4. When the mixture is creamy and hot, stir in bacon/potato/corn/crab mixture and creamed corn. Season with garlic salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste, and simmer for 10 minutes (may want to decrease heat after bringing to initial simmer so that you don't burn the bottom of the soup).

For a creamy curry variation add 2 tablespoons curry powder after adding the wine to the flour mixture, and substitute cooked, cubed chicken for the bacon.

This recipe was an adaptation of this recipe from allrecipes.com

Not Quite a Crabcake

This is being posted out-of-season, but I'm trying upload recipes a little each day...
This is a cake I made for several summer birthday gatherings. The baking part is easy, but I won't lie: cutting and icing the claws and the sides of the crab is kind of time-consuming! But usually the reaction is worth it, and the thing actually tastes really good too!

Not Quite a Crabcake

Cake
1 package (18.25 ounces) butter recipe yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1.5 Tbsp vanilla (or vanilla paste)

Filling
Vanilla pudding, prepared, colored with yellow food dye

Icing
Anything, dyed orange

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9x13in pan.
2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. After scraping sides of the bowl, increase mixer speed to medium and blend 1 1/2 to 2 min­utes more-- the batter will look thick but well combined.
3. Bake about 30 min, or until toothpick comes out almost clean.
4. Cut crab shape out of center of pan. With remaining pieces, shape front and rear claws (careful, if you mess up you'll need to make another small cake to get enough for claws!)
5. Hollow out small part of the center of cake (like carving a jack-o-latern), fill with pudding -- this is the crab's "mustard"! (Hint: not telling people it's there can be mildly amusing)
6. Re-assemble top onto cake, put claws together and frost, using frosting-coated pretzel rods for other legs.
7. Refrigerate until ready to eat -- enjoy!