Dungeness Crab And Heirloom Bean Brandade Food

DUNGENESS CRAB AND HEIRLOOM BEAN BRANDADE

Steps:

• Rinse beans with cold water; place in large saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover beans by 2 inches; let soak overnight. Drain. Return beans to same pan. Add enough cold water to cover beans by 3 to 4 inches.
• Add celery stalk, carrot, and onion. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered until beans are tender, about 1 hour. Remove from heat. Add 1 teaspoon coarse salt; let beans cool in cooking liquid. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill in cooking liquid. Before using, drain beans, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid.
• Lightly butter 1-quart baking dish. Combine crab, cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce in medium bowl; chill.
• Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots; sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add chopped celery, garlic, and cayenne; stir 2 minutes. Add beans and 1/4 cup cooking liquid; cook until heated through, mashing beans coarsely, about 2 minutes. Add Crescenza cheese; stir until melted. Fold in crab mixture and 2 tablespoons parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to prepared baking dish. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill crab brandade uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake brandade uncovered until heated through and mixture begins to bubble at edges, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons parsley. Serve warm with toasted baguette slices.
• Ingredient tip:
• Crescenza cheese is a soft-ripened cow's-milk cheese traditionally made in Italy. Look for it at your local cheese store, or order it online from bellwethercheese.com or mozzco.com.
• What to drink:
• Try a crisp California Chardonnay with the appetizers. We like the Cakebread Cellars 2007 Napa Valley Chardonnay ($39). It's bright and fruity, with notes of lemon zest and pear. The Napa Valley winery, which was founded in 1973, is currently run by four members of the Cakebread family.

DUNGENESS CRAB BISQUE

Steps:

• Remove the claws from the crabs and quarter the bodies. Heat a 6-quart stockpot. Add the oil and saute the crab pieces until they are red. Remove the pieces as they are cooked. Add the carrot, celery, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and tarragon and continue to saute for 10 minutes. Pour in the cognac and ignite. When the flame has subsided, deglaze with white wine, and add the tomato paste, crab, and enough fish stock to cover. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, thyme, and bay leaf and boil gently for 15 minutes.
• In a small saucepan, reduce the cream by half. Remove the crab bodies from the pot and set aside. Add the reduced cream to the soup. Puree the soup, in batches, in a food processor. Strain the pureed soup and keep warm.
• Remove the meat from the claws and cut into bite-size pieces and add to the soup. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve in heated soup bowls and garnish with minced chives or parsley.

DUNGENESS CRAB BOIL

Steps:

• In a large pot, combine first four ingredients with enough water to submerge crabs. Do not submerge crabs at this point. Bring liquid to a simmer and add crabs headfirst to water. Cook the 1 1/2- to 2 1/2-pound crabs about 15 minutes, and the 3-pound crabs about 20 minutes. Strain cooked crabs into a colander and rinse briefly under cool water. Serve with Drawn Butter, Tarragon Aioli and Aioli with Piment d'Espelette.
• In a small pan over low heat, melt butter and skim any solids that rise to the top. Pour butter into ramekins for use tableside, leaving behind any milk solids that have settled to the bottom of the pan.
• In the base of a blender or food processor, whirl garlic cloves, tarragon leaves and egg yolk to create a creamy blend. Add lemon zest and juice and blend again. With machine running, slowly drizzle in olive oil to create an emulsified, creamy consistency. Avoid adding oil too quickly or vinaigrette will separate. Add a teaspoon of water when emulsion becomes tight and then continue to add oil. Season to taste with salt and fresh pepper.
• Place garlic, lemon juice, and salt in the bowl of a food processor; process to combine. Add egg and, with the motor running, slowly add oils until mixture is thickened and emulsified. Stir in piment d'Espelette and refrigerate.

DUNGENESS CRAB IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Steps:

• In wok heat the oil until it smoke and add the crabs pieces, black bean, garlic, ginger and pepper. Stir fried the mixture over the high heat. After about 3 minutes if stir frying adds in the water, oyster sauce, wine and sugar bring to a rolling boil and stirring at all time. Simmer for 3 minutes and thicken with cornstarch roux and when this mixture become a sauce, remove from heat add in the green onion and jalapeno.

DUNGENESS CRAB AND BLACK BEAN SOUP

Steps:

• Place the beans in a large saucepan, and cover them with 4 quarts of cold water. Bring to boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and skim off any foam that rises to the top.
• Simmer, replenishing the water as necessary, until the beans are tender, anywhere from 2-3 hours depending on the age of the beans. Drain the beans, reserving 10 cups of cooking liquid.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and pepper. Saute until the vegetables are soft but not browned.
• Add the cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne pepper, tomatoes, beans and cooking liquid. Bring to boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. simmer for 1/2 hour. Add salt and pepper.
• Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Reserve 1/2 cup of the bean mixture and puree the rest in a food processor. Return to the pot, add the reserved beans and reheat to a simmer, thinning with a bit of water if the soup seems too thick. Stir in the crab meat and ladle into bowls. Garnish with sour creme or yogurt and cilantro.