Cooking with Books: Deviled Crab

One of the great things about cookbooks is they allow experts to share their years...even decades...of knowledge with us other lucky saps. That's the case with Tom Fitzmorris's New Orleans Food. Known to radio listeners in The Big Easy for his daily food radio show and readers of his weekly restaurant review column, Fitzmorris has compiled more than 225 recipes gleaned from restaurants and Creole/Cajun tradition, but updated with modern ingredients and home-kitchen-friendly techniques. Lots of recipes for me to try. (Love me some Cajun food.)

This one is a keeper. Fitzmorris says it's a great side dish to pasta or an entree salad. I say give me a big gratin dish of this stuff and I'm happy without another darn thing. Notice that it begins with New Orleans' holy trinity of cooking: yellow onions, bell peppers, and celery.

Deviled Crab
Serves 6-8.

1 1/2 sticks butter
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 pound fresh jumbo lump crabmeat
3 tablespoons chopped green onion
2 teaspoon salt-free Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
2 lemons, cut into wedges
White remoulade sauce or tartar sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Melt 1 stick of the butter in a skillet until it bubbles. Add the onion, celery, and bell pepper, and sauté until soft.

Add the wine, lemon juice, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce and curry powder and bring to a boil, stirring to blend. When the liquid is reduced by half, add the crab, green onion, Creole seasoning and salt. Stir gently, trying not to break up the lumps of crabmeat too much. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the breadcrumbs and gently stir until just mixed.

At this point, you can either put the mixture into clean crab shells or gratin dishes, or make it into cakes or balls. Place whatever you come up with on a buttered baking sheet. Top each piece with about a teaspoon of the remaining butter. Bake until the tops bubble and brown, 10-12 minutes.

Serve with lemon wedges and white remoulade sauce or tartar sauce.