Crab Stuffed Eggplant Royale Food

CRAB STUFFED EGGPLANT ROYALE

Steps:

• Place whole eggplants in a large pot with enough water to cover the whole eggplants, and simmer until they are soft.
• When soft, remove from heat and cool in cool water.
• When cool, cut the eggplants in half and scrape the eggplant out.
• Be careful not to tear the skin.
• Sauté the onions, celery and bell peppers in butter until soft.
• Add the eggplant meat that you scraped out and cook until all the liquid has evaporated.
• Add shrimp and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and fold in crab meat, parsley and enough breadcrumbs to give the mixture consistency.
• Fill the empty shells with the mixture and lightly spread breadcrumbs on top.
• Sprinkle the olive oil on top of each eggplant half and sprinkle with paprika.
• Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes.

EGGPLANT, CRABMEAT AND SHRIMP CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Peel and dice eggplant into 1-inch cubes. Boil in enough water to cover with 1 tablespoon salt until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well and set aside. Saute onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic in olive oil until very tender. Fold vegetable mixture into eggplant. Add lemon juice, Worcestershire, Lea and Perrins, Creole seasoning, hot red pepper sauce, 1 cup cracker crumbs, Parmesan, salt and cayenne, then eggs. Gently fold in seafood. Place in greased casserole. Top with bread crumbs and melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

SEAFOOD-STUFFED EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat broiler. Arrange eggplants on large baking sheet. Pierce with fork. Broil 4 minutes per side. Scoop out eggplant pulp, leaving 1/2-inch-thick shell intact. Place eggplant pulp in heavy medium saucepan. Pour 2 cups water over. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer until eggplant is very tender and liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush eggplant shells with 1 tablespoon oil. Bake until shells are tender but still hold shape, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add boiled eggplant, shrimp and cayenne; sauté until shrimp are cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup breadcrumbs and crabmeat. Season with salt and pepper. Fill eggplant shells with seafood mixture. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead; refrigerate.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Sprinkle stuffing with remaining 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs. Bake stuffed eggplants until heated through, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve hot.

CRABMEAT STUFFED POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Wash the potatoes well, then pat dry and place in center of oven rack, being sure to leave some space between potatoes for hot air to circulate.
• Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until soft to the touch (when you squeeze the sides in).
• Meanwhile, very coarsely grate the cheese.
• Then, pick over the crabmeat: Spread the crabmeat out on a large, flat cookie sheet then pick up each lump and visually look for thin, transparent pieces of shell.
• Remove the shell fragments, trying not to break up lumps of crabmeat.
• Return crabmeat to refrigerator.
• About 20 minutes before the potatoes are done, set the butter and cream out to get to room temperature.
• When the potatoes are done, remove from oven and let sit 15 minutes until cool enough to handle.
• Turn the potatoes once to let both sides of the skin dry out.
• (Turn the oven to 350 degrees.) With a very sharp bread knife, cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, cutting across the widest part so the potato shells will sit flat.
• Scoop out the potato meat with a soup spoon to within 1/4 inch of the shell, placing the potato meat in the large bowl of an electric mixer.
• Add the butter to the bowl with the potato meat, separating the pieces.
• Beat at low speed (with a paddle attachment, if possible-but beaters will work, also) until the butter is just incorporated.
• With the mixer still on low, add the cream and then the Vegetable Magic and red pepper, beating just until the cream and seasonings are mixed in well, but the potatoes are still quite lumpy.
• You do not want to get to a smooth, whipped potato consistency; there should be lots of lumps throughout the mixture.
• Turn off the mixer and taste for seasoning level-- the mixture will be spicy at this point, but the cheese and crabmeat are both bland, and finished dish will not be spicy.
• Spoon the potato mixture into a very large, shallow mixing bowl (if you use a shallow bowl, you'll be able to fold in the crabmeat more evenly throughout the mixture).
• Using a fork, fold in 5 ounces of the grated cheddar, not trying to make a smooth, even distribution-- you want to have pockets of cheese (they will melt and be fantastic!) scattered throughout the finished stuffed potato.
• Then gently fold in the reserved lump crabmeat, being careful not to break up the lumps, but making sure all of the mixture in the bowl has crabmeat scattered through it.
• Stuff the potato shells until they are just rounded slightly at the top.
• (You will have extra stuffing, which you can bake in ramekins or a small casserole dish.) Place the stuffed potatoes in a baking pan, fitting them close together, then sprinkle the tops with the remaining 6 ounces grated cheddar.
• You can prepare the recipe to this point several hours ahead and refrigerate until ready to bake.
• Place the pan in a 350 degrees oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the potato mixture is nice and hot.
• Serve immediately (sprinkling the tops of the potatoes with green onions, if desired), allowing 2 potato halves for an entrée and 1 potato half for an appetizer or side dish.
• The potatoes make a wonderful entree with just a nice crisp garden salad and hot French bread.