Crabmeat Au Gratin

we had a thread on this the other day.... frick the haters... Comfort food.... And you can have a cheese and a delicate seafood done quite nicely...... Menu challen6e.

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but I have to agree, crab/seafood done well with a good cheese is as good as it gets.

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To this day I would still say that the Crabmeat St. Francis from the beloved New Orleans restaurant LeRuth's (RIP) is probably the best single dish I ever had in a restaurant. Lump crabmeat and cheese is the essence of the dish.

Btw, I have the recipe if anyone is interested.

Wasn't that Besh out at the SOUTHERN FRIED FESTIVAL at the Ike in the Western part of the Food Mecca? I think he was learning the art of frying from some of the local chefs..

Sorry it took me so long. I got sidetracked and forgot about this thread.

At any rate, here is the recipe, along with a note of explanation from Tom Fitzmorris.
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Crabmeat St. Francis

"This was one of the best dishes created by the late Chef Warren LeRuth at his spectacular [New Orleans] restaurant. He told me once that the thing he missed most about not having LeRuth's open anymore was that he couldn't grab one of
these at moment's notice.

Crabmeat St. Francis is also special in that it's one of the few regular menu items from LeRuth's for which the chef ever published the recipe. At that, it only came out a few years ago, in the little cookbook they do every year at the Chef's Charity for Children. (Another reason to go!)

I find this recipe fascinating in that it uses ingredients and techniques generally left behind by latter-day gourmet chefs. Despite that, this is a dish that knows few peers."
-- Tom Fitzmorris

Serves 4-6

Sauce ingredients:
1/4 stick margarine
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 inner ribs celery, bottom 2 inches only, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves (dried)
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. white pepper
Pinch cayenne
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. Accent [so, if you are anti-Accent, just omit it!]
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3 Tbs. flour

1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 Tbs. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. spicy paprika

1 lb. lump crabmeat
1/2 stick margarine, melted

1. Heat the margarine in a saucepan until it bubbles. Add all the sauce ingredients except the milk and flour, and sauté until the vegetables are well browned and sticking a little bit to the pan. Remove from heat and set aside
for 15 minutes.
2. After 15 minutes, add the evaporated milk and 3/4 cup of water to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring lightly.
3. While the boil is coming up, whisk the flour into 3 oz. of water. After the pan comes to a boil, stir the flour-water mixture slowly into the other ingredients. Simmer for three minutes, until the sauce is thick.
4. Spoon the sauce into a pan and refrigerate overnight.
5. To complete the dish, preheat the oven to 425 degrees [F.]. Mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and paprika together.
6. Put about 3 oz. crabmeat into a scallop shell or small au gratin dish. Top with 5 oz. of the chilled sauce, then sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture. Bake at 425 degrees [F.] until the crumbs brown and the sides of the dish
begin to bubble-- 20-25 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and top with 1 tsp. melted margarine. Serve very hot.

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. I guess I can see the argument that the cheese masks the flavor of the crabmeat, but I still taste it just fine.

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It's not like crabmeat has a really bold flavor anyway...it's like chicken

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It's not like crabmeat has a really bold flavor anyway

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But certain things like capers and taragon really accent crab meat well. A light citrus viniagrette works very nicely.

I think that the interesting thing about Crabmeat Augratin lovers is that we actually have intelligent pallete's.

I can taste everything in that dish from the crabmeat, to the cheddar, to the cream to the seasoning inside.

I think that the haters out there can only concentrate on one thing at a time, which is not a problem. Beef is beef, chicken is chicken, etc... However, "it is what it is"

LOL

P.S. Just funnin with the "haters"

Bon Ton Cafe's recipe is definitely outstanding. The two most significant highlights are sherry and a whole pound of crabmeat for a single serving. Where else will a restaurant give you a whole pound of lump crabmeat?

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did the show give the Bon Ton's recipe for crabmeat au gratin?

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They showed them making it. Light roux, a little milk to make a bechamel and seasonings. Crab meat folded in a topped with cheese that they didn't show. Then under the broiler. Besh ate and was interviewed after and said " there are like five different cheeses." A production assistant gave him the recipe and..... BOOM!!

Only one type of cheese, American. I loled hard when I saw that.

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They showed them making it. Light roux, a little milk to make a bechamel and seasonings. Crab meat folded in a topped with cheese that they didn't show. Then under the broiler. Besh ate and was interviewed after and said " there are like five different cheese." A production assistant gave him the recipe and..... BOOM!!

Only one type of cheese, American

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That's it. And Besh was grinning.