Living in Vancouver, I feel quite lucky to have both the mountains and the ocean located within minutes. This allows for access to nature anywhere you travel within the city. One of the perks of having the ocean at your doorstep is fresh seasonal seafood. Growing up as the daughter of a commercial fisherman, I developed a palette at an early age for very fresh, ocean to table dinners. Whether it was halibut, salmon or shellfish, we ate it and it was tasty.
As an adult I'm very lucky to have a dear friend who supports an ocean charter boat. For me, that means the occasional call - "hey, we just caught some fresh [insert: fish or crab], would you like some" and my automatic reply is "YES"! Thank you friend :)
While I have a rotating arsenal of dishes I like to make with the fresh crab, my favourite is the Crab Tower. It's light, refreshing and highlights the natural flavours of the ocean crab without being too rich or overbearing. Keep it simple is my motto when it comes to cooking fish. It's how we cooked it growing up, and I feel strongly that you want to taste the fish and the flavours of the ocean, not just seasonings.
So, f you are lucky enough to come across or purchase some fresh crab, or even if you just want to drain 2 cans of quality crab claw meat, I hope you give this tower a try. I use a 3"X2" ring form to keep the layers intact. A tall rimmed biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, would also work.
Here's to the beginning of seafood season and summer!
Take care and enjoy,
Krista xo
Crab Towers With A Champagne Vinaigrette
makes 2, 3" in diameter towers
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups crab, (about 3 small crabs, cut in half) rinsed, steamed and meat removed from shells
3 small avocados, pitted and cut into 1/2" cubes (if you are preparing these first, you might want to drizzle with a bit of lemon juice to slow oxidization)
1/5 - 2 large mangoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
parsley leaves, roughly chopped to garnish
thyme leaves, fresh to garnish
salt and pepper (optional)
For The Champagne Vinaigrette (you will have leftovers, use to taste)
1 small shallot, either grated on a microplane or minced small
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon honey (a local clover honey would be lovely here, very light and floral)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1/8 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (plus more to taste)
Method
To Cook The Crab
In a large stock pot fitted with a steamer basket, add 1-2 inches of water, ensuring that the water level is underneath the steamer basket. Add a pinch of salt and bring water to a boil. Add crabs and reduce water to a rolling simmer. Steam crab for 16-17 minutes. Remove crabs from pot and rinse with cool water (or dip into a cold water bath) to stop cooking. Allow crabs to cool slightly, then using a crab cracker, remove all meat from shells. Try to keep claw meat intact to display on top of towers. Set meat aside until ready to assemble towers or refrigerate in a sealed container if using at another time.
To make the champagne vinaigrette, add all of the ingredients in the order listed above into a mason jar. Seal lid and shake until the vinaigrette emulsifies.
To assemble the tower, place ring form (or biscuit cutter) in the centre of a serving plate. Starting with the avocado, spoon in ingredients. You want each layer to be about 1" tall. Using the back of the spoon, gently press avocado to pack into a solid layer with no spaces in-between. Repeat with mango layer. Combine 2 teaspoons of the vinaigrette with the crab meat and fluff with a fork to mix. This will make the crab stick together when the ring form is removed. Divide crab between the two plates and ring forms. Gently lift ring off of the plate, ensuring the tower remains intact.
Drizzle towers with vinaigrette. Top with thyme leaves, fresh parsley and freshly cracked salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
*The towers are best served at room temperature.
*Prepare avocados last to prevent browning (oxidization)
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