Another version of stuffed crab since no photo was provided of the dish: A crab stuffed with attitude and reported to be delicious! - Thai Chili Crab Photo by Aerokev @ flickr in Australia
From Denny: People are always asking the food editors of their local Louisiana newspapers for this recipe. This one was given to the New Orleans Times-Picayune back in 1998. New Orleans native, Meryl Andry, said she based this recipe on her great-grandmother's technique. How's that for a time-honored tradition?
Andry tells us what we want to hear about convenience too: this dish freezes well. Instead of the bother of placing the stuffing into the crab shells she serves it mounded on lengthwise cut rectangles of French bread. Hint: To hold the stuffing well, tear out some of the inside of the bread slices to make a hollow.
G.G.'s Stuffed Crab
From: Meryl Andry
Makes: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients:
1 24- by 3- by 2-inch loaf of day-old French bread
1 1/2 to 2 cups milk
2 sticks butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
4 green onions, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 pound lump crab meat, picked over
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning, to taste
Crystal hot sauce (or one to your personal taste)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 to 2 cups Italian-style, very fine, dry bread crumbs
1 large lemon, sliced into 18 very thin rounds, seeded
Ground sweet paprika, for garnish
Directions:
Slice the bread in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop out the inside bread, leaving a shell of crust about a quarter of an inch thick. Place scooped-out bread in a large mixing bowl and add enough milk to moisten all bread bits; set aside. Cut the shell of crust into 2 1/2-inch lengths to form 18 rectangles, each about 3 inches wide; place rectangles, crust down, on an ungreased baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large heavy skillet, melt 1 stick butter with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add yellow and green onions, garlic and parsley, then wine. Saute until yellow onions are translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and mix in crab meat, basil and oregano, stirring gently to keep lumps of crab intact. Season to taste with salt, pepper, seasoning mix and hot sauce. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir lemon juice into mixture. Drain bread-milk mixture in a strainer or colander and squeeze bread dry. Add this bread and Parmesan to the skillet, mixing well. Gradually add enough Italian-style bread crumbs to mixture to make it the consistency of somewhat sticky dough; this probably will require 1 to 2 cups of bread crumbs. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Mound crab mixture evenly over the bread rectangles, using all of the crab mixture.
Slice the remaining stick of butter into 18 pats. Top each rectangle with a butter pat, then a lemon round, then a light sprinkle of paprika. Bake until rectangles start to brown, about 20 minutes.
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