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Savannah Crab Salad

Source of Recipe

From "Essentials of Southern Cooking" by Damon Lee Fowler


Recipe Introduction

"Blue crabs are abundant in the marshes that surround Savannah, and fresh crab salad — a standard here on restaurant, home, and picnic menus throughout the summer months, though nowadays the crab often comes from somewhere else. Good crab salad depends on two things: excellence in the crabmeat in the bowl and restraint in the cook. This is a delicate and sweet shellfish, so the seasonings that go into it must be carefully balanced. Strong flavors such as garlic, pickles, and hot pepper can all too easily overwhelm and bury that flavor. The bonus is that the best meat for salad is the claw meat, which is also the least expensive. Although it requires more work (claw meat always has more bits of shell and cartilage that must be picked out), it's sweeter and more flavorful than premium lump backfin meat."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 pound crabmeat, preferably claw meat
â—¦ ½ cup minced green onions (about 4, including both white and green parts)
â—¦ 2 tablespoons minced white celery (about 1 stalk from the heart of the head)
â—¦ 2 to 3 tablespoons drained nonpareil capers, optional
â—¦ 1 lemon, halved
â—¦ 2 to 3 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise or commercial mayonnaise
â—¦ Cayenne pepper and salt
â—¦ 6 to 8 small basil leaves
â—¦ 4 to 8 Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves, or 2 ripe avocados, peeled, split, and pitted


Recipe

Pick through the crab for bits of shell and cartilage. Put it in a glass serving bowl, add the onions and celery, and capers (to taste) if using, and gently toss until they're evenly mixed.

Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice from one of the halves over the crab. Add 2 tablespoons of the mayonnaise and a pinch of cayenne. Toss gently until the mayonnaise is very lightly coating the crab. It should still be loose and crumbly, but if it's too dry, add just enough to make a very light coating — no more than a tablespoon. Taste for lemon juice, cayenne, and salt, adding more of each if needed. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve. The salad can be made to this pint as much as 6 hours ahead.

Just before serving, tear the basil into very small pieces and add them to the salad. Toss gently and taste one last time, adjusting the cayenne and salt if needed. Serve as soon as possible after the basil is added, over lettuce leaves or scooped into avocado halves. If you want to use avocados more decoratively, slice them and serve the salad on lettuce, with the sliced avocado decoratively arranged over or around each serving.



Serves 4 as a main course,
8 as a first course