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Deviled Crab

Source of Recipe

From "Williams Sonoma: Cooking at Home" by Chuck Williams


Recipe Introduction

"In years past, this spicy crab dish was served in individual crab shells reserved from cooking the crabs. Here, it is prepared in a more modern form in a baking dish. These days, you can get freshly cooked crab meat from a fishmonger, making this quick and easy to prepare."

List of Ingredients

◦ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
◦ 1 yellow onion, finely diced
◦ 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
◦ 1 celery rib, finely diced
◦ 1 � cups dried bread crumbs
◦ 1 to 1 � cups milk
◦ 1 pound freshly cooked crab meat, picked over to remove any shell fragments
◦ 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
◦ 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
◦ � teaspoon salt
◦ Pinch of cayenne pepper
◦ Ground black pepper


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 375� F. Butter a 1-quart baking dish.

In a frying pan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and saut� for 1 minute. Add the bell pepper and celery and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the bread crumbs in a bowl. Stirring constantly, dribble the milk over them, adding only enough to moisten the crumbs evenly. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add the crab meat, the saut�ed vegetables, dill, lemon juice, salt, cayenne, and a few grinds of black pepper. Mix well and spoon into the prepared baking dish. Bake until lightly browned and warmed through, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve the deviled crab right away, directly from the baking dish.

Makes 4 to 6 servings






❧ How Many Crabs?
If you are cooking fresh crabs to use for this dish, you'll need two to three crabs.