Crab Imperial
A great crab recipe that I've been making since a was a small boy (one of thefirst things I ever learned to make, and still a staple) is called "Crab
Imperial" (as I say, I've evolved this for years and seen quite diverse things
under that title elsewhere; it's essentially a baked crab salad). I am
necessarily vague on quantities here.
Mix crabmeat with minced onion or shallot, and stir in mayonnaise to moisten
(clearly homemade is preferable, but Hellmann's with a little good olive oil
mixed in will do). Add plenty of lemon juice, some herbs (parsley and
tarragon, fresh if at all possible), minced capers, and fresh white bread
crumbs (run fresh white bread through a blender or whatnot) to fill out to a
not-too-moist texture (you can actually use bread crumbs to extend the crab by
quite a bit if it's dear or you're feeding several people). Put the mixture in
a small casserole dish (or individual scallop shells) and cover the top with
more fresh bread crumbs, and either drizzle with olive oil, or dot with butter,
or coat lightly with mayonnaise. Bake in a medium (350F) oven until heated
through and the top is lightly browned.
Note: for good, fresh crab, you'd want to minimize the adulteration, don't go
too heavy on the herbs, etc., and it's worth making the mayonnaise. This also
makes a good (relatively) quick meal using canned crab. I've found nothing
can help the kinds of frozen crab I've tried.
Source: rec.food.cooking
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