Crayfish Salad With French Cocktail Sauce Recipes

DUNGENESS CRABCAKES WITH GREEN COCKTAIL SAUCE

Steps:

• Tear up the white bread and pulse the pieces in a food processor to make fine, soft crumbs. (You should have about 6 cups crumbs.) Remove the bread crumbs to a shallow pan and mix in 1/2 cup of the chopped parsley (reserving the remaining 1/4 cup for the crabcake mixture). Set aside.
• In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot pepper, mustard, paprika, thyme, celery seeds, and black pepper and pulse to combine. With the motor running, slowly add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise. Remove the mayonnaise from the food processor and refrigerate.
• Place the crabmeat in a cheesecloth-lined sieve set over a bowl. Pull the cheesecloth tightly around the crabmeat and squeeze out as much juice as possible. Place the chopped onions and bell peppers in a sieve set over a bowl and use your hands to squeeze out as much juice as possible. In a large bowl, combine the onions and bell peppers with remaining 1/4 cup parsley. Add the chilled mayonnaise and crabmeat and toss lightly to combine. Add 1 cup of the bread crumbs-parsley mixture and combine. Do not overwork the mixture or the crabcakes may get gummy. Gently form 8 patties and roll the patties lightly in the remaining bread crumb-parsley mixture. Leave the crabcakes in the pan of the bread crumbs until you saute them.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degree. Using a nonstick saute pan and butter as needed, panfry the crabcakes, in batches, until golden brown on both sides and place them on a baking sheet as they are browned, put them in the oven until they are heated all the way through, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Serve 1 crabcake as an appetizer or 2 as an entree. Serve with a ramekin of cocktail sauce and a lemon wedge.
• Cook's Note: The crabcakes hold together better if prepared a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator before cooking. Store them in the pan of bread crumbs, covered with plastic wrap.
• Put the tomatillos in a food processor and process until coarsely pureed. Remove the tomatillo puree to a sieve, drain off the liquid, and discard. Put the drained puree in a small bowl and stir in the vinegar, sugar, pepper sauce, garlic, mustard seeds, and horseradish until combined.
• Yield: 2/3 cup

CRAYFISH SALAD WITH FRENCH COCKTAIL SAUCE

Steps:

• 1. Peel the grapefruit, reserving the rind for cooking the crayfish. Using a small knife, slice away the bitter pith and with it the thinnest possible layer of fruit. Cutting against the membranes, release each section of grapefruit intact; remove any seeds. Set the sections aside for the moment and, working over a bowl, squeeze as much juice from the membranes as you can, to use in the cocktail sauce; discard the membranes.
• 2. Halve, pit and peel the avocados, then rub the exposed fruit with the cut lemon to keep it from darkening. Slice each avocado half into 3 wedges and give the wedges a squirt of lemon juice.
• 3. Arrange the lettuce in an even layer in the bottom of a large shallow bowl. Mound the tomatoes in the center of the bowl and surround them with alternating slices of grapefruit and avocado. Sprinkle the tarragon over the tomatoes. Cover the salad and keep it refrigerated until serving time. (The salad can be made a couple of hours ahead of time and kept tightly covered and chilled.)
• The Crayfish:
• 1. If the crayfish are cooked and peeled, move on to the cocktail sauce. If they're live, bring 1 gallon of water to a boil in a stockpot. Add all the ingredients, return to the boil, and simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and cool the crayfish in the water for 10 minutes. Drain and discard the cooking liquid.
• 2. To peel crayfish, twist off and discard the head. Peel off the upper three sections of shell, then, holding the meat in one hand and the tip of the tail in the other, squeeze the tail while pulling the meat out of the shell. The vein in the center of the crayfish should come off with the shell. If it doesn't, remove it by hand, then use your finger to rub off any yellow coral that clings to the meat. Set the crayfish aside.
• The Cocktail Sauce:
• 1. Boil the grapefruit juice until it is reduced to 2 teaspoons; cool.
• 2. Whisk the yolk, mustard, salt and pepper to taste, and cayenne together in a medium bowl. Whisking constantly, add the oil in a slow stream. When the mixture is emulsified, like mayonnaise, whisk in all the other ingredients, including the cooled grapefruit juice. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. (The sauce can be kept in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.)
• To serve: Arrange the crayfish on the tomatoes sprinkle with almonds, and serve the sauce on the side.
• To drink: A light, dry Alsatian Gewurtztraminer or, perhaps, a Muscat Sec.

SMOKED WHITEFISH AND CRAYFISH SALAD

Steps:

• To blanch the haricots verts, add beans to boiling, salted water for 20 seconds. Remove beans from boiling water and add to ice water to preserve coloring and prevent further cooking.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, horseradish, dill, red onion, sour cream, and yogurt. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and set aside.
• In separate bowl, fold together the celery, cucumbers, haricots verts, crayfish, and whitefish. Combine the dressing with the crayfish vegetable mixture. Fold in mixed greens, season, and serve.

SMOKED CRAYFISH SALAD

Steps:

• Note: The only tricky part of this dish is smoking the crayfish. I used a domestic smoker that you should be able to find at a good hardware or kitchenware store. Follow the instructions with your smoker and you shouldn't have any problems.
• Bring the smoker to heat, then place in the crayfish tails and smoke over a moderate heat for 10 to15 minutes. To check if the tails are ready, take 1 piece out of the smoker and using a sharp knife, insert it into the thickest part of the tail. The flesh should be opaque in color, neither raw nor totally white. Take the tails from the smoker and leave to cool. If the tails aren't quite ready, just put back in the smoker and smoke a little more. The smoker will generate heat, so the hotter the smoker, the quicker the tails will cook. Once the crayfish are cool enough to handle, pry the meat from the shells and cut into thick chunks.
• Place the salad leaves in a large bowl and scatter on the crayfish, the tomatoes and the cheese. Whisk the avocado oil and the lemon juice together, season well, then pour dressing over the salad, and gently toss together. Eat immediately.

CRAYFISH COCKTAIL WITH HORSERADISH CREAM

Steps:

• First, make the horseradish cream by mixing together the crème fraîche, horseradish sauce and half of the lime juice. Keep the sauce covered and chill until needed.
• Take two glass serving dishes and put 1 chicory leaf in each. Finely shred the rest of the chicory and divide it between the dishes. Stone, peel and thinly slice the avocado, toss in the remaining lime juice and put on the shredded chicory. Lay the crayfish tails over the top.
• Add the horseradish cream and a light sprinkling of cayenne pepper to serve.