Salmorejo, Curried Chicken and Crabcake Sliders

Sometimes an unplanned dinner can turn into something spectacular.  This was exactly one of those instances.  On Saturday, Chef Sue was picking up some veggies and in a moment of weakness bought a chicken.  Once home, she put it on the rotisserie thinking it might come in handy sometime later in the weekend.  Meanwhile, I was reading an article on salmorejo - a traditional Andalusian dish from Spain.

With my recent enjoyment of cold soup during the oppressive heat we are experiencing the DC area, I plunged ahead with my research of salmorejo.  Salmorejo is the creamy yet creamless cousin of gazpacho made with breadcrumbs, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and vinegar.  It is peasant food which puts good use to leftover bread.  Bless those peasants - it is simply delightful and creamy beyond belief.

As I researched salmorejo, I found the recipes did not vary much, but in each case the recipes emphasized the need for ripe tomatoes.  With the poor quality of store purchased tomatoes, I recommend buying them from your local farmers market or a road side stand to avoid the greenhouse ripened tomatoes that are hard as baseballs.  If you cannot get seasonal vine ripened tomatoes, canned tomatoes would be a better choice than the grocer version.

The meal came together when we decided to make curried chicken salad from the rotisserie chicken, add crabcake sliders from fresh Maryland crabs, and add freshly grilled corn on the cob.  In summary, a perfect meal for a hot summers day.

A couple of notes about the curried chicken salad.  Start with your favorite chicken salad recipe and add some curry, diced apple, halved grapes, and nuts of your choice (I prefer chopped walnuts).  Easy and tasty.

This meal was not planned as a wine pairing, so we pulled a bottle of daily drinker Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc.  It worked just fine and was a refreshing addition to the meal.

Recipe

Salmorejo

Ingredients

• ·      1 pound panko breadcrumbs
• ·      1 ½ pounds ripe red tomatoes (approximately nine medium tomatoes), peeled and seeded.
• ·      1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ·      1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• ·      1 garlic clove
• ·      salt to taste
• ·      Serrano ham
• ·      2 hard boiled eggs

Preparation

1. 1.     Put the panko and the tomatoes in the food processor and blend until well combined.  If you don’t have a large food processor, you may have to do this in batches.  If you don’t have a food processor, a blender will work and will definitely require several batches.  Be sure to put the tomatoes in first then work in the bread crumbs.
2. 2.     Add the raw garlic and olive oil. Blend until the mixture turns creamy and smooth.
3. 3.     Add salt to taste and vinegar, and mix again.
4. 4.     Refrigerate at least three hours.
5. 5.     Garnish with Serrano ham and slices of boiled eggs.
6. 6.     Variations on this recipe include the addition of red peppers, onions, and lemon.  Experiment and have fun.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Chile Rellenos with Peach Pepper Jam, Edwin W. Beitzell's Baked Crab

I am going off script today.  Normally I don’t post on weekends because I know you are out having fun doing whatever you do on your weekends – if my guess is right, you take a peak at my posts while sitting at work and the boss is not looking.  No worries, your secret is safe with me.  I am also going off script because I am not discussing a wine pairing (don’t be alarmed, I have some recommendations), and the two photos of the chile rellnos with peach pepper jam is all you get.  My apologies.

As I write this, I am with Chef Sue at our secret lair on the shores of the Potomac River in Southern Maryland.  This is an important point because while sequestered at our secret lair, I am generally banished from the kitchen – this is Chef Sue’s cooking therapy retreat.  Although my attempts at securing some kitchen time are normally thwarted, I happily get to enjoy the fruits of Chef Sue’s cooking therapy.  This weekend was a real treat.

Last night we joined several neighbors for a dinner where contributions to the feast were provided by all.  One of Chef Sue’s contributions was chile rellenos with peach pepper jam.  In a word, they were stunning!  I was so excited about this delectable treat, I was motivated to write about it immediately.  I found the chile rellenos so exciting because she prepared them in a traditional manner, but used her culinary creativity to add a delicious twist by stuffing the peppers with a shrimp and cream cheese mixture and preparing a perfectly balanced and seasonal peach pepper jam.

This dish is another perfect addition to your football food repertoire I started with my post Chile Verde Paired with 2009 Stoneleigh Marlborough Pinot Noir and 2010 Matua Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.  As the football season progresses, I am confident the chile rellenos will be prominently displayed between me and the television.

Chef Sue did not prepare this dish as one of our normal wine pairings, but I will offer a couple of suggestions.  With the piquance of the peppers, sweetness of the peaches, and warm creaminess of the cream cheese and shrimp filling, a light to medium bodied wine with some sweetness and healthy acidity would be a good choice.  Depending on the characteristics of the specific wine choice, I would recommend a Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, or Chardonnay (unoaked, or light on the oak).

Although all of the food we shared last night was simply splendid, there was one other clear standout brought by good friend and neighbor Mary Leigh - Edwin W. Beitzell's Baked Crab.  I am a sucker for crab – any way you prepare it.  However, this recipe is a real winner.  It is light, delicate, and the crab is clearly center stage.  This is a recipe that lets the wonderful sweet goodness of crab meat do what it does best – make you happy!  Again, this was not a wine pairing, but I will offer a couple of thoughts.  As this is a wonderfully subtle dish, a delicate light bodied wine with flavors that do not overwhelm the crab is in order.  As always, a winemakers approach to the wine is all important, but I am confident you can find a Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Muscat Blanc, Champagne, or even a light bodied Chardonnay that would add to the experience of this wonderful dish.

Recipes

Chile Rellenos

Ingredients

• 12 poblano peppers
• 1 package of cream cheese
• 1 small diced onion
• 1/2 pound shrimp (small shrimp such as salad shrimp, or larger shrimp cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 egg whites
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup al purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Safflower oil for frying

Preparation

1. Grill poblanos until the skin is lightly charred.
2. Remove from grill, let cool, then peel skin.
3. Slice down one side and remove seeds then rinse under water to fully clean.
4. Sauté onions and shrimp in a skillet over medium heat.
5. Add onions and shrimp to cream cheese with cayenne pepper and chill. This is most easily accomplished by leaving the cream cheese at room temperature for about an hour to let it soften.
6. Stuff peppers and put in freezer for a minimum of 1/2 hour. Don't stack the peppers - they will stick together.
7. Whip egg whites with salt until you have firm peaks, then add egg yolk and flower and continue to mix until fully incorporated.
8. Dip peppers in the batter and fry in 350 degree oil until golden brown.

Peach Pepper Jam

Ingredients

• 10 peaches
• Juice of one freshly squeezed lime
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper

Preparation

1. Peel peaches and cut into bite size pieces then toss in the lemon juice.
2. Clean and remove seeds from jalapeno and scotch bonnet pepper (gloves are a good idea), then dice.
3. Combine all ingredients in a pot over medium heat.
4. Add water as the mixture reduces while cooking for about 1 hour. Every 10 minutes or so, stir with a potato masher further incorporating the ingredients. In the end, reduce mixture until you have the consistency of a peach jam.
5. Place in a serving bowl to allow your guests the opportunity to spoon on the level of sweet heat they prefer.

Edwin W. Beitzell's Baked Crab

This recipe provided Mary Leigh comes from the St. Mary's Academy's Treasured Recipes of Old St. Mary's, published in 1959, 1969, 1976.  I have not edited the recipe – it has some great character in the way it was originally published.  Mary Leigh was nice enough to add several comments (italics) for elaboration on her preparation.  Thanks Mary Leigh and Mr. Beitzell!

Take 1 Lb (2 cups) of jumbo lump back fin crab meat.

Make cream sauce:

1 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. flour

3/4 cup fat free milk

3/4 cup half-and-half

Cook sauce until done and remove from fire. (that's the official recipe instructions, but it is important to get the sauce pretty thick because the onion and lemon juices thin the sauce a bit) Add juice of small onion (I grated less than 1/4 of a sweet onion and that seemed enough), juice of 1/2 a lemon, salt, dash of cayenne, 1 tsp. chopped parsley.

Very gently mix the cream sauce with crab meat. Add 2 well beaten eggs to crab mixture. (I did NOT add the eggs because the sauce was pretty thick and looked like it would be fine without the added thickener of eggs. Turned out I was right.)

Butter baking dishes. IMPORTANT: Use only crockery baking dishes. A Pyrex dish is not good.

Put crab mixture in the buttered baking dishes. Top with soft breadcrumbs made in the processor. Top bread with small bits of butter. Bake for about 15 minutes at 350 or until lightly browned on top and crab is hot.

(I doubled the recipe and that made enough to fill 12 crab shells or small ramekins)

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Maine Lobster Roll from Luke’s Lobster Paired with 2008 Ledson Sonoma Coast Tres Frais Chardonnay

For the last few month’s, my wine pairing work list (my favorite work list) has included pairing a lobster roll from one of the Washington DC food trucks.  However, I recently learned of Luke’s Lobster (624 E Street NW) that opened in May 2011.  So rather than have a lunchtime lobster roll from a food truck and glass of wine (still a good idea), Chef Sue and I decided to give Luke’s Lobster a chance at satisfying our lobster dependency.

We were not disappointed.  On the contrary, we were delighted well beyond our expectations.  We decided to treat ourselves at Luke’s Lobster and order “Noah’s Ark” billed as a taste of Maine for two which included two half lobster, crab and shrimp rolls, two pairs of Empress crab claws, chips, and Maine sodas.  Luke’s Lobster claims the rolls are made Maine style with the seafood served chilled on a buttered and toasted New England-style split-top bun with a light touch of mayo, a sprinkle of lemon butter, and a dash of “secret” spices.  If you are not craving a lobster roll at this very moment, you are either not a fan of crustaceans, or may be from an alien race inhabiting the meat bag you call a body.

These seafood rolls were spectacular.  Everything that surrounded the seafood was applied with a very light touch leaving the wonderfully prepared seafood to speak for itself.  The seafood is the star of the show, and Luke’s Lobster does a brilliant job of ensuring the other components of the sandwich do not detract from the beautiful tenderness of the seafood.

Having only lived in New England for a few years, I cannot claim to be a lobster roll aficionado.  However, Chef Sue is an authentic New Englander so I had to ask; “how does this lobster roll rate on authenticity?”  The moans of approval and a thumbs up from the hand not occupied with the lobster roll told me that Luke’s Lobster had satisfied the discriminating palate of a New England native.

With these straight forward, delicate and fresh flavors, pairing with this meal was easy stuff.  I chose the 2008 Ledson Sonoma coast Tres Frais Chardonnay.  Here are the tasting notes from Ledson Winery and Vineyards:

“A blend of our Stainless Steel Chardonnays, this Sonoma Coast Chardonnay delights with lemon, apple, lychee fruit and pineapple flavors that swirl with aromas of butterscotch and notes of vanilla on your palate. Smooth and crisp, this Chardonnay follows with a clean finish perfect with dishes like lobster, mashed potatoes, garlic linguini, or grilled scallops in lemon-butter sauce.”

According to the fine folks at Ledson, this wine was made for lobster.  I completely agree.  The fresh fruit and vanilla notes were a perfect complement to the seafood.  The body of this Chardonnay matched perfectly, and the smoothness combined with the crisp finish allowed the flavors to blend nicely leaving the wine and seafood flavors to linger equally after each bite.  The 2008 Ledson Sonoma coast Tres Frais Chardonnay is normally $28, a good value, but is now specially priced at $17 on the Ledson website.  At $17, this is an exceptional value that I highly recommend for your next lobster indulgence.  Better yet, order a bottle (or maybe a case), head over to Luke’s Lobster, and enjoy a beautiful bi-coastal marriage of flavor – a spectacular indulgence worth every penny.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Deconstructed Maryland Crab Corn Chowder Paired with 2006 Buena Vista Carneros Ramal Vineyard Clone 17 RY Chardonnay

Today’s pairing features one of my favorite food adventures – taking a classic recipe, ripping it apart, and rebuilding it into something new and delicious while maintaining the basic backbone of the original dish.  The victim for today is a Maryland Crab Corn Chowder and is a creation of Chef Sue.  My role was simple; select the wine, make some photography, and enjoy.  Easy stuff.

Chef Sue’s idea was both simple and brilliant.  Chef Sue turned the chowder into a corn custard lovingly placed in ramekins, then topped it with butter sautéed fresh picked crab and scallions.  And of course, when you say Maryland and Crab in the same utterance, you are obligated to finish the sentence with Old Bay seasoning to add some authentic Maryland flavor.

The flavor profile for this dish is consistently sweet and buttery throughout.  With the exception of the Old Bay seasoning to add a little kick, the corn, the custard, the crab, and the scallions all feature sweetness.  The scallions add a nice depth and complexity to the flavors, and the buttery flavor shines through with the corn, crab, and custard.  With all this rich creamy goodness, the recipe limits the serving size to a single 6 ounce ramekin.  Confession:  I had two servings and have no regrets.

The 2006 Buena Vista Carneros Ramal Vineyard Clone 17 RY Chardonnay is rated at 90, 91 and 92 points by various sources and features some wonderful flavors.  From the winemaker:

True to its Carneros terroir, this Chardonnay exhibits floral aromas and a pretty nose of green apple, Asian pear, citrus rind, mineral, and hazelnut. The wine continues with flavors of peach and spiced apple and tropical flavors with a nice broad mid-palate, which leads to a long finish with a great acid/fruit balance. The 2006 Ramal Vineyard Chardonnay has complexity with its multiple clonal selections, showing bright acidity and great fruit intensity along with richness and lush texture.

My only addition to these tasting notes is the pleasant and subtle butter notes evident in the finish and wonderfully balanced with the fruit and the acidity.  This Chardonnay is a real joy, and worth every penny of the $30 price tag.

The pairing of our deconstructed Maryland crab corn chowder and the 2006 Buena Vista Carneros Ramal Vineyard Clone 17 RY Chardonnay was truly exceptional.  The nicely balanced bright fruit and acidity of the wine with the buttery finish was a perfect compliment to the buttery sweet flavors of the crab chowder.  I was particularly enamored with the butter flavors echoing among the two.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh corn kernels (roughly 3 ears)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon truffle salt
• 1 pound of freshly picked crab steamed with Old Bay
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 bunch finely sliced scallions
• Old Bay seasoning to taste

Preparation

1. Cook corn in boiling water until very tender. Allow to cool and cut kernels from the cob.
2. Combine corn and milk in a sauce pan and warm over medium heat.
3. Whisk eggs in a bowl and temper with heated milk-corn combination.
4. Added tempered eggs to sauce pan, add truffle salt, and continue to cook for two minutes over medium heat.
5. Pour the custard mixture evenly into four (6 oz.) ramekins.
6. Place ramekins in a casserole dish and pour water around the ramekins to just over half the height of the ramekins. Place in 375 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch.
7. Remove ramekins and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
8. While custard is cooling, heat butter in a skillet over medium heat until the nanosecond the butter begins to turn brown. Immediately remove from heat.  Don’t burn the butter.
9. Add crab and green onions and return to heat stirring constantly for about two minutes.
10. Serve custards topped with crab and season to taste with Old Bay seasoning.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Softshell Crab BLT, Crispy Pork Belly, Brioche, Calabrian Chili Aioli Paired with 2007 Etude Carneros Estate Grown Pinot Noir

Welcome back to another pairing from Decanting Napa Valley The Cookbook. This pairing of softshell crab BLT, crispy pork belly, brioche calabrian chili Aioli with a 2007 Etude Carneros Estate Grown Pinot Noir is particularly special because I prepared it in honor of Chef Sue’s birthday.  It is also a bit special because we have been anxiously waiting several months for the arrival of softshell crabs.  Meanwhile, the bottle of Etude Pinot Noir has posed in the wine rack taunting me with that familiar Pinot snicker.

With softshell crabs finally arriving, and a event appropriate for this wonderful pairing I was very excited to prepare this creatively conceived dish.  This is one of those magical recipes where I find myself loving every single ingredient.  But before we press on with the full description, I have to mention a few substitutions.  I was unable to find pork belly, so I substituted oven roasted thick cut bacon.  Mache (a type of lettuce) was also prescribed but not available near home, so I substituted red leaf lettuce adding some nice texture and color.  Finally, I was unable to find the calabrian chilies and used dried pepper flakes as a substitute. All the substitutions worked fine, but I really would have liked to have the pork belly – yum!

For the full recipe you will need to purchase the cook book at Decanting Wine Country.  Sorry, but I will tell you a bit about the dish.  Fundamentally it is a reconstructed BLT sandwich with the wonderful addition of a lightly fried softshell crab.  At the base, we start with a brioche lathered with a generous portion of the pepper aioli.  We then stack on the pan seared and oven rendered pork belly (or bacon in my case).  Next comes the thinly sliced grape tomatoes and lettuce and rather than top our BLT with another piece of bread, we finish it off with a lightly breaded and fried softshell crab.

The flavors in this dish are subtle and complimentary.  Even the pepper aioli adds only a small splash of heat and does not overwhelm the will balanced warm flavors from the pork and the crab.  The three featured flavors derive from the pepper aioli, pork, and crab.  Before seeing this recipe, I had never thought of the crab and pork combination.  However, once presented with the possibility, it made good sense.  Neither have bold or dominant flavor profiles, and we all know that pork belly matches well with just about anything – even crabs!  In this case, it worked beautifully and the dish was extremely well balanced. 

Our tasting crew consisting of birthday girl Chef Sue, Gunslinger Teji, Golf Buddy Steve, and Formerly of Austin Dawn, all commented that in each bight, you not only were treated to a wonderfully balanced set of flavors, but that you could taste each individual component without any one flavor bullying another.  From a textural standpoint, this dish has everything you can imagine from the crisp crunch of the brioche and softshell crab, to the fresh lettuce and tomatoes, and finally to the multi textural bacon (the pork belly would have even been better from a textural perspective).

So far, so good.  However, the crowd was skeptical of pairing a red wine with the delicate flavors of the softshell crab.  Fortunately, the Etude Pinot Noir was a light to medium bodied Pinot Noir that made everyone around the table smile in approval.

Here are the tasting notes from Etude Winery:

“Our goal is to produce a distinctly styled Pinot Noir of the highest quality, a wine that can satisfy any 'Burgundian' urge and yet be proud of its California roots. The 2007 Estate bottling offers inviting cool climate aromatics of raspberry, pomegranate and sandalwood with a touch of turned earth. Classically structured, the palate bursts with flavors of sweet frambois strawberries, red cherries and mocha. The lush fruit combined with the baking spice notes from aging in French oak creates a defined Pinot Noir with elegance and length.”

Also from the Etude Winery website are some notes from 2009 when Robert Parker gave this wine 90 points and said “Etude’s outstanding trio of Pinot Noirs begins with the dark ruby/plum-hued 2007 Pinot Noir Estate, which offers plenty of sweet cherry, pomegranate, wood spice, and forest floor characteristics in its round, gracious, expansive personality. Enjoy it over the next 5-6 years.”

In my opinion, the bright red fruit of this wine was clearly the star with a good supporting structure and earth notes to form a nice balance and full mouth feel.  The fruit forward nature of this medium bodied Pinot Noir perfectly complimented the sweet, rich flavors of the pork and crab.  Had the wine featured darker fruits, I don’t believe it would have worked nearly as well.

At $40 per bottle, this is a wine worth trying.  It would be a pleasure to drink on it’s own, but this wine is a brilliant choice for a broad range of paring options.

As you can tell, I am not rushing my way through Decanting Napa Valley The Cookbook.  I believe this is about the 6th pairing from the cookbook.  I’m sure we’ll return to the cookbook soon.  But for now, I will sit back and enjoy another glass of wine.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Deconstructed Crab Cake Sandwich and Suggested Wine Pairing

The crabs are in!  Last weekend was spent on the water in Southern Maryland and I am happy to report we (by we, I mean Chef Sue) caught crabs!  Last year was a dismal year for crabs, but this year is already shaping up to be a banner year.  With fresh catch in hand, I decided it was time to do something interesting with my little crustacean friends.

My inspiration for this recipe comes from my true amazement of the chefs I watch on television who take a common dish, deconstruct it, and build something new, refreshing, and creative.  For this recipe I started with the idea of a crab cake sandwich.  A crab cake sandwich is comprised of a bun, a crab cake, a slice of tomato, some lettuce, and tartar sauce.  My approach was to use garlic bread instead of the bun.  The tomato and lettuce says salad to me, so the crab cakes lie on a bed of salad, and I took artistic license and converted the tartar sauce to dressing for the salad.  The crab cakes remain unmodified with the exception of size and form – I decided to go with slider size crab cakes as a better proportion for their bed of salad.

I did not make my traditional wine pairing with this recipe, but rather just grabbed a bottle off the shelf.  I would recommend either a Chardonnay, refreshing Pino Grigio, or Viognier with this recipe.  The dressing already has plenty of acid, so the acidity of the wine is not a concern – the dish is pretty well balanced.  Due to time constraints I did not have the opportunity to photograph this dish.  I’m sure I will be preparing it again and promise to do some shooting and share with you.  In the mean time, some pre-crab cake subjects will have to do.

Recipe

Salad Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh spinach (remove stems)
• 1 avocado diced
• 1 medium red onion diced
• 2 ears fresh sweet corn (buttered, seasoned, and grilled under the broiler or on the grill - until you get some color on the kernals). Once slightly charred, cut kernals from the cob.
• 1 pink grapefruit (skinned, yes even the inside membrane - cut into wedges then halve)
• Finely minced Parsley for garnish

Dressing Ingredients

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Easy as making salad.
2. Because I used fresh spinach, a thorough wash was necessary followed by patting dry. Too much water and your salad won't be any fun. You could also substitute the fresh spinach with a half bag of baby spinach leaves.
3. Toss the salad ingredients.
4. Whisk the dressing ingredients and drizzle over the salad when plating.

Crab Cake

Ingredients

• 1 lb jumbo lump crab meat
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 bunch of finely diced green onions
• 1/2 of a small onion - diced
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 to two cups bread crumbs
• 4 tablespoons of butter

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.
2. Add Old Bay seasoning, cayenne and add fresh ground pepper to taste and stir until mixture is well blended.
3. Add the green onions, diced onion, parsley and mayonnaise.
4. Role up your sleeves and use your hands to gently fold in the crab meat and breadcrumbs. This is a critical part of the operation with respect to the quantity of breadcrumbs. First, if you have some stale bread hanging around the kitchen, use it. The point is to avoid using pre-seasoned bread crumbs that might add unexpected flavors. The quantity is also important. You need to add enough bread crumbs to absorb much of the liquid leaving you with something that is easily formed into patties before heading to the skillet. On the other hand, you want to use as few bread crumbs as possible - the crab is the star, and breadcrumbs can dilute all that crabby goodness.
5. Divide the crab meat into golfball size balls - I used an ice cream scoop. The idea is to make something like crab sliders rather than full patties.
6. If you have enough time, it is best to cover with plastic and refrigerate for about an hour before cooking.
7. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and adjust heat to medium low. Sauté crab balls about 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. The heat is important. The idea is to keep it low enough to cook all the way through without overcooking the outside.  I listed 4 tablespoons of butter in the ingredients because due to the size of my skillet, I had to make two runs to sauté all the crab – in other words, 2 tablespoons for the first batch and then another 2 for the second batch.
8. While sautéing the crab balls, have your assistant prepare some garlic bread. I did this by cutting a baguette in half, lathering with butter and minced galic, then putting it under the broiler until toasted (thanks Chef Sue!).
9. Plate and dress the salad. Artistically place three crab balls on the salad and enjoy.