Black Bean Blue Crabs With Lotus Crab And Avocado Parfait Recipes

WHOLE BLUE CRABS NEW ORLEANS-STYLE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add bouquet garni, crab boil, lemons, halved garlic, corn, and sausage. Add blue crabs and cover. Cook for 10 minutes or until crab is cooked through.
• In a small saute pan over medium heat, melt butter with the 3 peeled garlic cloves. Simmer the butter for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard the garlic cloves.
• Remove the crabs, corn, and sausage from the crab boil and serve on newspaper, with butter sauce over top.

CRAB PARFAIT

Steps:

• To make the dressing, whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, cayenne, dry mustard, shallot, lemon juice, and parsley. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Fold in the crabmeat and capers, turn to coat. Using a clear parfait glass or champagne glass, scoop a heaping tablespoon of the diced mangoes on the bottom of the glass. Press down slightly with a spoon. Add a layer of crabmeat on top, pressing down again, followed by a layer of chopped mixed greens. Repeat the layers. After the last layer of greens, spoon a final mound of crab salad on top. Repeat with remaining 3 glasses. Serve with toasted baguette slices.

CALIFORNIA-STYLE BLUE CRAB SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, paprika, and cayenne in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the crab, avocado, olives, tomatoes, and chives and fold gently to combine.
• Put the greens in a large bowl, toss with the Meyer lemon dressing, and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the greens on 4 large dinner plates and top each with a mound of the crab salad.

SOFT-SHELL CRABS WITH BLACK-BEAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine the milk and Tabasco in a bowl. Set aside. Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow pan. Dip the crabs in the milk and dredge in flour mixture. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottom skillet over medium-high heat. Place the crabs in the pan and cook for 3 minutes. Turn and cook until tender, about 2 more minutes. Drain on paper towels.
• Drain the fat from the pan. Return the skillet to the stove. Pour in the white wine, black-bean sauce, hoisin sauce, chili paste and ginger. Turn the heat up to medium-high and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour sauce over crabs. Sprinkle scallions on top. Serve immediately.

CHEF STUART'S MARYLAND CRAB SOUP

Steps:

• In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, saute the onions, garlic, and celery in the olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the crab boil seasoning, lemon pepper seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until all the vegetables are coated with seasoning and spices. Add all the other ingredients except for the crab. Simmer over low heat until potatoes are soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• While the soup is cooking, pick through the crab meat just to ensure that all shells are removed. Stir in crab the last 10 minutes of cooking.

STIR-FRIED CRABS WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Pat the crabs dry with paper towels and set aside.
• Chop the black beans and combine with the rice wine, garlic, ginger and scallions. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, combine the hot pepper flakes, soy sauce, sugar and chicken stock. Set aside.
• Heat the peanut or vegetable oil in a large wok or skillet and add the crabs. Stir fry for about three minutes over medium heat. Add the black-bean mixture and continue stir-frying for about one minute.
• Add the soy-sauce mixture, stir and bring to boil. Cover the pan and cook for two minutes. Then add the cornstarch mixture and stir until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy. Correct seasoning (you may wish to add more soy sauce or pepper) and add the sesame oil. Remove from heat and place on heated plates. Sprinkle with coriander and serve.