[Crabe aux petits légumes; mb©-05]The
CARNIVAL OF RECIPIES #57 is up!
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Trub. The sediment of life!
~~Crabe aux petits légumes~~"Fresh Crab and baby Vegetables, in light butter-sauce... A candlelight dinner."
~M.B.
Instead of detailing how to prepare fresh crab, I’ll just say a few words about Gourmet cooking... (^_^)
With gourmet cooking, fast layering places quick attention towards technique, and also produces the finest in flavor. Plan the order that you will cook, and set up your measurements ahead of time, so that you will cook fast and loose. If you organize first, you will have great success.
KEY: | choose the finest fresh foods | Combine garden picked herbs | prepare with quality cooking pans.
To produce this dish, you will want to use fresh (not frozen) crab, fresh parsley, fresh butter, white vermouth, and an assortment of fine baby vegetables. (Serves 2)
Approx. ¾ lb of your freshly shelled crab
2 clams
2 mussels
4 tiny scallops
2 baby turnips, peeled
4 baby carrots, peeled
2 baby leeks, whites only, cut into julienne strips
½ bunch chervil
½ bunch parsley
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
1 cups and 2 tablespoons (25 cl) fish stock made with the bones (removed earlier)
¾ cup (10 cl) white vermouth
¾ cup (100 g) butter, softened
Juice ¼ lemon
Salt and white pepper
Green peas and asparagus tips (a few of each)
How-to:With fish cut, place in bowl, and refrigerate. Boil the bones to make a fish stock. Finely chop all but a few leaves of the chervil and parsley. Sprinkle the chopped herbs into a large frying pan, add the shallot, vermouth, and fish stock. Bring the liquid to a boil, then remove from heat, and allow cooling.
Cook the remaining vegetables one by one in pot of lightly salted water. The cooking time for each vegetable will be different; test them frequently and as soon as they are tender, drain and cool under cold water. Keep warm.
Poach the fish with wine-stock mixture, do not allow boiling. Same applies here, as fish cooking time will be different. First clams, mussels, and then scallops.
As each type of fish is cooked, remove them with skimmer and drain on a clean towel.
Arrange fish on the dinner plates and garnish with the vegetables.
Strain liquid through cloth, boil over high heat to reduce by half, then over low heat, whisk in the butter little by little to make a smooth sauce. Add salt, white pepper, and lemon juice (as needed.)
Place the dinner plates in hot oven to reheat fish and garnish, then spoon sauce onto plates. Sprinkle parsley and chervil over each plate, and serve immediately.
Tip: 1. Fresh shellfish is notorious for possibility of sand, so do not spoon sauce from the bottom of pan... (and watch for it!) (*,,,,,,*)
Tip: 2. Fast and loose (Don’t forget!)
UPDATE: Thank you to Visitor J.B. to make correction, and to recommend Vin Blanc!
