Killer Cold Crab Salad for a martini glass

toss the crab in a limoncello and lavender dressing and garnish top with sprinkling of pomegranate seeds and the zest of lemons and limes

Moving this to food and cooking where you will do doubt get plenty of responses.

I was thinking maybe some sort of coconut curry type dressing, but it would have to be a pretty mild curry to fit the 'no peppers' mandate.

mjb.

Make some colorfull layers in your glass. I would use not too strong tastes, let the crab be the star in your dish.

1st layer; roast in your oven; a red paprika (bell pepper), garlic cloves skin on, some shallots. Peel and deseed paprika, mix into a puree with garlic clove, some shallot, s&p, a pinch of cayenne pepper, some lemonjuice.

Note; the paprika has to be peeled!!! Many people don't digest it...

2nd layer; white meat of the crab, natural, no addition at all

3th layer; mix a nicely ripened avocado, a tbsp of fat yoghurt, s&p, lemon zeste, the tiniest piece of ginger (so you can hardly taste it), juice of 1/2 lime. Mix well untill smooth. Add some brown crab meat and fold in.

4th layer; just a sprinkle of lemon zeste in the center.

Thanks kaun, i didn't realize I was in the wrong place.

I like going in the ponzu direction with avocado for some clean fatty mouthfeel and maybe something for crunch.

Keep it clean and fresh.  Assemble at the last moment and don't let stuff marinade.  That would be my suggestion.

What about a prosciutto wrapped "roulade" of crab and cream cheese, a mango, melon, avocado, and napa cabbage salad, and a yogurt based curry dressing?

Seriously....paprika/red pepper? BIG difference!

To me a little to much going on in dish. Plus if he is going to dip rim of glass in old bay ,then with your prossuito added a touch to salty for some palates. As Kuan mentions above the Ponzu or citrus direction is place to go as crab itself is mild and sweet.

Thank you to everyone for their comments

caleair said:

Seriously....paprika/red pepper? BIG difference!

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Remember Chris is writing from Europe where the terms are used differently.

Citrus and texture as many others mentioned. I like the use of lime over lemon with it and also since the crab has a soft texture I would sprinkle some crunch over the top of it before serving so it holds its texture. Something different for a little wow factor, can't think of anything off the top of my head. I think letting the crab shine is the best method though. With crab and lobster I don't enjoy it as much when theres so much else going on and it almost gets lost. I don't even enjoy dipping my lobster in butter. Just a touch of citrus.

foodie,

keeping it simple never goes out of fashion...good crabmeat of course is the key...couple of thoughts for a more playful southwest touch...1) a parfait with different salsas( black bean, avacado, and corn) each with cilantro, lime and chilies, s&p of course....2) just a simple shallot-dijon vinaigrette...yellow and red pear tomatoes 3)  tropical with mango black bean salsa 4) take on a maryland crabcake... lump crabmeat mixed with a mustard sauce( mayo, A-1, worstershire, colemans, 1/2 and 1/2) and old bay seasoning with just a speck of italian parsley...5) somekind of citrus aioli(tangerine, blood orange)

joey

I´d make crab consommé with the shells, then turn it into jelly with crab leg meat pieces and some other stuff (citrus peels, herbs, etc) suspended in it. And maybe top the jelly with a crab cake (a ball shaped one probably looks better than a hockey puck shape, on top of the inverted cone of the jelly) made with the lump meat.

I actually worked in Va. Beach.Seafood martinis on the back of the boat.I used molasses and mango puree citrus mix.Think cerviche  Cheers

kongfeet said:

I´d make crab consommé with the shells, then turn it into jelly with crab leg meat pieces and some other stuff (citrus peels, herbs, etc) suspended in it. And maybe top the jelly with a crab cake (a ball shaped one probably looks better than a hockey puck shape, on top of the inverted cone of the jelly) made with the lump meat.

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Now that sounds great, thanks for sharing.

Petals.

durangojo said:

foodie,

keeping it simple never goes out of fashion...good crabmeat of course is the key...couple of thoughts for a more playful southwest touch...1) a parfait with different salsas( black bean, avacado, and corn) each with cilantro, lime and chilies, s&p of course....2) just a simple shallot-dijon vinaigrette...yellow and red pear tomatoes 3) tropical with mango black bean salsa 4) take on a maryland crabcake... lump crabmeat mixed with a mustard sauce( mayo, A-1, worstershire, colemans, 1/2 and 1/2) and old bay seasoning with just a speck of italian parsley...5) somekind of citrus aioli(tangerine, blood orange)

joey

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See personally theres way too much going on there. With black beans, corn, dijon, tomatoes, mango, and blood orange the quality crab can easily get lost. Thats just me personally

Lovely recipe Chef Layne -- thanx for posting. I like the Crab or anyother shellfish to be the star --- and light, chilled and aromatic. Perfect. My viewpoint.

Margcata.

shaunmac said:

See personally theres way too much going on there. With black beans, corn, dijon, tomatoes, mango, and blood orange the quality crab can easily get lost. Thats just me personally

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just to clarify.....i was suggesting 3 DIFFERENT ways, not all 3 ways in the same recipe.....and as we all know, it's about ratios....just because a recipe has an ingredient, sometimes it's only a whisper of it.....personally i do agree that the simplier the better, but as i undertood, the op was not asking what i liked, only for something different....

joey