Crab Cakes
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over for shells
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Creole mustard
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
1 Tablespoon pickle brine
3/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup unseasoned fresh dry breadcrumbs
*Maque Choux (recipe below)
*Grapefruit Jam, for serving (recipe below)
Place crabmeat in a medium bowl and add lemon zest, mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish, pickle brine, celery salt, paprika and 1/4-cup of the breadcrumbs. Toss gently to combine, trying not to break up the crabmeat too much. Form the mixture into eight even portions, about 1/3-cup each, and lightly dredge in remaining breadcrumbs. Refrigerate while you make Maque Choux (*recipe below).
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to come 1/4-inch up the sides of the pan. When the oil just begins to shimmer, add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of butter to the pan and then add crab cakes. Cook until the crab cakes are golden on both sides and heated through, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Serve crab cakes over Maque Choux, with a dollop of Grapefruit Jam spooned over the top. Garnish with a sprinkling of green onions.
Serves 4
Maque Choux
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cups small diced butternut squash
1/4 cup shrimp stock
11/2 cups roasted cauliflower florets
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon Essence or other Creole seasoning
Grapeseed oil, as needed for frying
Sliced green onions, for garnish
Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat and add 2 Tablespoons of butter. When hot, add onion and red and green bell peppers and sauté until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Add butternut squash and shrimp stock and cook until stock has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Add heavy cream, brown sugar, salt and Essence, and cook, stirring occasionally, until heavy cream has reduced enough to coat the back of a spoon and the butternut squash is tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Fold in cauliflower, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Cover and keep the Maque Choux warm while you cook crab cakes.
Grapefruit Jam
2 large ruby red grapefruits
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of
roasted garlic
Peel the grapefruits with a peeler.
Place peels in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil, drain and repeat this process two more times.
While the grapefruit peel is blanching, juice grapefruits and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Set the juice aside. (You should have about 1 ½ cups juice.)
In a blender, purée the blanched grapefruit peel, grapefruit juice, sugar and garlic. Return this mixture to a nonreactive saucepan and cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 12 to 14 minutes. Should be the consistency of a thin jam.
Makes about 1 cupÂ
NOLA
534 St. Louis St., 522-6652,
EmerilsRestaurants.com/Nola
