Posts tagged seafood
I got my purse stolen – Purses filled with crayfish, leeks and cherry tomatoes, curry cream sauce
Feb 8th
Aumonières aux écrevisses, poireaux et tomates cerises, sauce curry
I am back in the US and I did not post anything while in France, simply because I had no time to cook – I think I prepared lunch for my parents twice, the rest of my stay my mom cooked and we had guests so no time to shot anything…and to be honest, I had no motivation to cook. What a shame!!!! I always think, I will have time to shot the old town, la vieille ville or our gorgeous Place Stanislas (the most beautiful square in Europe) painted in gold, or our beautiful architecture. But no, I get there and I get caught in family stuff, my life changes completely, and this time I even left my camera in the suitcase! Oh well, c’est comme ca, et tant pis!
These purses are made with feuilles de brick (also called brick dough or brick pastry in the US) that I bought while I was in France (they’re more popular over there than filo dough) , they’re mainly used in middle eastern cuisine and really hard to find in the US, so far I have not found yet a store that carry them, except Amazon, but they’re too expensive. I paid only 0.90 Euros for a pack of 10. You can substitute filo dough sheets, but I prefer the texture of feuilles de brick, they’re more resistant and not as fragile.
Aumonières were an old type of purse that people use to carry on their belt so that no one would steal the money. In the food world they refer to any dough (crêpe, filo dough, feuilles de brick) filled with anything, it can be fish, vegetables, meat, etc.. basically it’s a eatable purse filled with food instead of money.
Sometimes I like to substitute crème fraîche with fromage blanc. If you are using fromage blanc instead of the heavy cream for the sauce, you won’t be able to boil it, not cook it, so you’ll have a cold sauce instead of hot. In this case, a hot sauce goes much better with the whole dish since the purses are hot.
You can use shrimps or scallops instead of crayfish, and use your creativity for the filling, it’s all about what you like!
Ingredients for 4 people
- 8 feuilles de brick
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1/2 lb crayfish tales (already cooked)
- about 16 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
- salt and pepper
For the sauce
- Crème fraîche or fromage blanc
- Curry to taste
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a pan. Add leeks and cook until tender. Adjust with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cut two circles of about 2.5 inches 4 brick sheets. Then take a whole sheet, brush the surface with olive oil, and place two of the small circles in the middle. Divide the leeks in the center of these circles, add six tomato halves on top of the leeks and top it off with the crayfish, Sprinkle with sesame seeds, salt and pepper. Proceed the same way for the other purses.
Close the purses by bringing the sides to the front forming a purse. Tie it up with cooking thread. Bake in a pre heated oven at 370 F for about 15 minutes, make sure the purses don’t burn or become too dark.
For the sauce, bring the cream, lemon juice and curry to a light boil, then add salt and pepper.
Serve the purses hot with the sauce on the side.
It’s not Paul, the octopus- Grilled octopus salad with fennel, peppers and olives
May 12th
Ce n’est pas Paul le poulpe – Salade de poulpe grillé au fenouil, poivrons et olives
Has anyone heard the story of Paul le poulpe, or Paul the octopus? Well my cousin came to visit a few months ago and he told me about this octopus story. Paul was a French octopus whose life lasted from 2008 to 2010, quite a short life…maybe that’s a lifespan for an octopus.
Paul was very famous, simply because he could predict the winner of the soccer games. He predicted 12 out of 14 games during the world cup. For French people, soccer is the national sport, getting to know in advance which team would win, and most of all getting scores from a mollusk whose destiny is to be in a pan along with tomatoes and onions, rather on TV with sports commentator, is something linked to the divine. I have no idea how an octopus could predict such scores, but it did, doesn’t this sound odd?
I have not met Paul, and I am sure he was quite a smart animal…now I have to admit that I love octopus in any form, shape and recipe. I do feel a little guilty to eat it, but when I eat it, I simply don’t think about this and I enjoy every bite of it.
Animals are amazing and teach us humility and kindness. My life changed since I had my dog and my parrot…all they want is to be with me, cuddle and eat. Maybe one day, I will buy an octopus to cuddle with, and will stop eating it, but in the meantime, I think I will still enjoy it. Doesn’t this sound cruel? I wish one day, I will stop eating any animal form…
Ingredients for 4
- 600 g octopus
- 1 fennel bulb, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1/2 red onion, sliced
- 1 cup small creamer potatoes
- 3 tbs celery leaves, chopped
- 2 tbs kalamata olives
for the vinaigrette
- 3 tbs olive oil
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 pinches paprika
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Cook octopus in water for about 2 hours or until tender. Slice in small thin pieces. Set aside in a mixing bowl. Grill fennel, peppers, onions on a skillet. Add to the octopus. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
Cook potatoes in salted water, and cook until tender, cut in half and add to the octopus.
For the vinaigrette, mix all ingredients together. Add to the octopus mixture and toss. Serve lukewarm with toasted bread.
Ocean tagine – Tagine with squid, fava beans and leeks and simple pepper quinoa couscous
Mar 22nd
Tagine de la mer – Tagine aux seiches, fèves et poireaux
This was a dish I made while I was in France…since my dad was in the hospital, my mom and I just cooked simple meals because by 1pm we needed to be at the hospital. Tagines are wonderful if you don’t have to much time to eat but still want to enjoy a healthy and flavorful meal. Clay pot cooking is one of my favorites, and as soon as you try it, you will have a difficult time going back to a regular-pan cooking. It preserves all the aromas of each ingredient and infuses all the flavors together.
Like in papillotes, you can cook anything you like in tagines, just be creative, with a little audacity, and you’ll get a fabulous dish. A couple of years ago, it was not as easy to find a tagine claypot, but nowadays, most stores carry them (at least in California); tagines are becoming more trendy, simply because it has traveled outside borders and everyone has discovered their health benefits, and still keeping amazing aromas.
I have seen many types of couscous in France (in France we call the actual grain semoule, couscous being the Algerian dish, made with vegetables, meat and semoule) different kinds of whole grains, such as kamut, quinoa, spelt, etc…since my mom had diabetes, I tried to make dishes that were good for her, or at least that did not aggravate her diabetes. This quinoa couscous is a perfect grain to go with any tagine. Of course people who don’t like squid can use other ingredients such as shrimps, or white fish. I kept the couscous simple with no major strong flavors, to really enjoy the tagine broth, couscous being a minor addition in this meal, necessary but secondary.
Ingredients for 3
- 1 lb squid
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 1 1/2 leeks, cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 lb fava bean, peeled
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp ras-el-hanout
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- salt and pepper
For the quinoa couscous
- 140 g quinoa semolina
- 1 tbs olive oil
- vegetable broth
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- salt
- cracked pepper
Preparation
For the tagine
Heat olive oil in tagine and brown the onions. Add leeks and cook for about 5 minutes. Add squid, and all other ingredients except for the fava beans. Mix all ingredients well. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook fava beans for three minutes. Remove from heat, drain and peel fava beans. 10 minutes before end of cooking time, add fava beans to the tagine, cover and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with fennel leaves or mint and serve with couscous.
For the quinoa couscous
Proceed like for a regular wheat couscous. Bring vegetable broth to a boil. Coat couscous with olive oil using your fingers. Add broth to the couscous, cover and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Using a fork, separate the grains, add lemon juice and cracked pepper. Adjust with salt if necessary. For broth quantity, I cover the couscous with 5mm of extra broth above couscous.
Did you say “comfort”? – Saffron rice with vegetables and squid on wilted spinach
Dec 22nd
Riz saffrané aux légumes et calamars sur épinards sautés
If you don’t like squid, you can use anything you like, such as shrimps, mussels, chicken, etc…I have a little weakness for strange things coming from the sea with tentacles, so you’ll find many recipes on this blog with squid, octopus, etc…
The rice was cooked like paella along with the vegetables and the broth, but it’s definitely not paella. It’s a simple dish that would fit in the category “comfort food” even though I don’t like to think of food as being comforting. It makes me feel that at some point, it replaces a friend and that is a strange perception. I don’t think there is a translation in French for “comfort food”, I would think the closest word would be “appaisant” or “calmant“, appeasing? calming?
The presentation is not that delicate, nor elegant, but it is indeed colorful. This is one of those dishes you really enjoy when you have a craving of rice, seafood and greens but also when you don’t have time to “take care” of your dish. It just cooks by itself with no surveillance.
In a week from today I will be on a flight to go home, let’s hope by then the bad weather will no longer be bad…so that means eating a lot of seafood. In France during the Christmas holidays, seafood is all over, crab, lobster, oysters, etc…and its the time of the year when seafood it’s the freshest.
Ingredients for 4
- 9.87 oz (or 280 g) basmati rice
- 1 lb squid, cleaned
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 carrot, peeled and julienne
- 2 zucchini, julienne
- 1 fennel, chopped
- 1 dose saffron
- 16 fl oz vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp paprika
For the spinach
- 2 bunches spinach
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add shallots and garlic, stir. Add vegetable julienne, and cook for about 5 minutes. Add saffron and stir. Add rice. Coat the rice with oil. Add broth where saffron had been infused. Then add squid. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and cook at low temperature for about 15-20 minutes.
For the spinach, heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic. Stir a little without burning the garlic, add washed and drained spinach. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cook until the spinach are soft.
Divide spinach in each dish and spoon over calamari-rice on top.
I heard it’s from Nice – Polenta and shrimp soup
Dec 14th
On dit que ca vient de Nice – Soupe de crevettes et polenta
I wish I could take the credit for this amazing soup, but unfortunately I cannot. I did change proportions of some ingredients but that’s the extent of my contribution to the recipe. One day going through my thick Mediterranean cookbook, my attention got caught by this interesting and colorful soup. The creator being Daniel Ettlinger, a famous French chef, originally from Alsace (as his name sounds very Alsatian), but settled down in Nice most probably for its smoother climate. He also worked in Milan so, Italy has contributed to his culinary influences. Winters are rough in Alsace-Lorraine and most people are attracted to move to the Southern part of France just to enjoy the Mediterranean climate.
Of course, polenta is definitely an Italian ingredient, most regions of Northern Italy consume it on a regular basis, but many dishes from Nice do use it too. Nice being not too far from the Italian border, many similarities are found in the local cuisines of the towns close to the border.
I never really used polenta in a soup, and I was a little curious about the texture of the soup. I thought the polenta would absorb the liquid and turn it into a thick texture. It did, but you just have to add broth or water, and adjust the consistency.
I loved this soup and will make it again. In the original recipe, Daniel Ettlinger added fried onion rings. He cut onions very thinly, toss them in flour and deep fried them, they were added at the end on top of the soup, but I decided to leave them out.
You can use paprika, piment d’espelette or hot chili. Since I just ran out of piment d’espelette, I used paprika. Paprika is definitely an essential ingredient and should not be left out.
Ingredients for 4
- 3 scallions, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped roughly
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 1/4 cup (or 50 g) medium grind polenta
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 20 shrimps, peeled and deveined
- 1 pinch paprika
- piment d’espelette
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a pot, add onion and saute until golden brown. Add polenta and stir for about 5 minutes until the polenta has browned. Add vegetable stock and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. If by the end of cooking time, the soup gets too thick, add more broth.
Heat the remaining olive oil in a skillt, and saute shrimps until cooked on both sides. Add garlic and scallions. Add paprika and/or piment d’espelette.
Arrange shrimps in a bowl, and pour polenta-broth mixture on top. Add a drop of olive oil.
Light Sunday treat – Spicy shrimps on a bed cauliflower mash
Nov 7th
Légères gourmandises du dimanche – Crevettes épicées sur lit de chou fleur
San Francisco has been under the rain today, and it might be a sign that fall is very much around, warning you that more rainy days are on their way.
Even though, it’s not Thanksgiving yet, I am already thinking about the Thanksgiving dinner menu…I think this year, there will be many appetizers like this one. I am simply in love with simple and flavorful bites that “mettent en appétit” (open your appetite) and can be enjoyed with a fresh glass of Champagne. I noticed many of my friends don’t like cauliflower, I am not sure if its the texture or the taste, so sometimes I just play with cauliflower and try to serve it in various forms and textures.
Of course, you can substitute cauliflower with other ingredients, such as avocado, carrots, etc…I served this a few times with an avocado purée and it was simply delightful.
If you don’t want to serve this in a spoon, you can serve it in a small plate, add one extra tbs of cauliflower mash, and add four shrimps. That would be sufficient as an appetizer and you really don’t have to spend hours cooking. This is a fairly simple dish to prepare and no one needs to know that it takes only a few minutes for the whole dish to be ready.
The only little trick about using small spoons, is that you need to pay attention to small details, and make sure your presentation is clean and tidy. All the ingredients being cut in tiny pieces, they need to be well put together in a regular order.
Ingredients for 10 spoons
- 1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 tbs olive oil
- hot spicy habanero sauce or tabasco sauce
- salt and pepper
- 10 shrimps, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 tbs paprika
- 1/2 tsp mild curry powder
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp olive oil
- dill for decoration
Preparation
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add cauliflower and cook until soft. Drain, place in a mixing container and mash with a potato masher, leaving small pieces. Add habanero sauce, olive oil , salt and pepper. Mix well all ingredients and keep warm.
In a container, combine shrimps, curry and paprika powder, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a pan and saute shrimps.
Place 1 tbs of cauliflower in each spoon. Top it with one shrimp and a little sprig of dill.
Addicted to octopus – Chards with octopus and ginger orange dressing
Oct 26th
Accro au poulpe – Blettes et poulpe à la vinaigrette de gingembre et citron
Well after about one month of no blogging, and taking a break from it, I had to come back to my old life simply because I am starting to miss it. I apologize for disappearing this way, without really no explanation. I want to send a big thanks to everyone who sent me wonderful little message asking how I was doing. That really brightened my dark days. There are truly wonderful bloggers out there whose kindness really touched me. One more time, Merci infiniment to all of you who got in touch with me and to all of you who kept reading my old posts.
I hope no one thought I was some kind of lunatic (in French lunatique, means moody) who just disappears without leaving any trace. I felt somehow overwhelmed and unmotivated and busy with some other projects and just wanted to take a little break from the blog world.
I hope everyone out there is doing marvelously, happy and in good spirit!
I have always loved octopus, but it seems like little by little, I am really getting addicted to it. Isn’t this a weird addiction? Oh well, I think we all have a weird attachment to something in particular, don’t you think?
I got somehow inspired by the Japanese cooked spinach dish, I believe it’s called ohitashi, but here I used chards instead. Chards have a stronger flavor than spinach but I really like them with octopus. The dense octopus meat goes perfectly well with the leafy texture and flavor of the chards. The whole dish being enhanced with a citrussy and ginger dressing. This is a simple dish, with true flavors that would be perfect as a seafood tapas.
The Chinese market I go to sometimes, have cut and pre-cooked octopus, so you don’t have to buy a whole one, that is perfect for small portions.
Ingredients for 4
- 400 g octopus
- 4 bunches chards
For the vinaigrette
- 1 tsp ginger, grated
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp shoyu
- 1 tbs orange juice
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Remove stems from chards. Add chards to boiling water. Cook for about 7 minutes, then drain and let it cool. When completely cooled, squeeze extra water with your hands and form a small oval shape ball.
Cook octopus until soft (about one and a half hours) or if you use pre-cooked octopus, just place it in boiling water and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Slice each tentacle in about 2mm thick slice and place it on top of each chard ball.
Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients together, mix well and spoon some of it on top of the octopus and around the spinach.
An Asian twist – Coconut crêpes stuffed with shrimps, wood ear mushrooms and spinach
Sep 18th
Un petit air asiatique – Crêpes à la noix de coco farcies aux crevettes, champignons noirs et épinards
What I love most about those crêpes is the color, and no it’s not a corn pancake, the deep yellow color comes from turmeric. I ate something similar at a friend’s house from Cambodia a long time ago, except that pork and crab were replacing the shrimps. I also wanted to use the rice flour and wood ear mushrooms I had bought and that I never use. So I decided to give it a try…crêpes with an Asian twist. I think those crêpe have more than an Asian twist.
The crêpe batter tends to be on the soft side, so you need to cook each side really well, until almost crunchy. I used a combination of brown rice and Khorasan wheat flours which even though does contain gluten, is easier to digest than regular flour and has a higher protein content.
You can find fresh wood ear mushrooms at the Asian market, I used the dry kind. I would have used shitakee if I had some, but the wood ear mushrooms were perfectly fine, beside, since I cook with shiitake a lot, I figured those mushrooms would be a little more original. They’re firm with a thick skin and interesting texture resembling jelly. Their texture has a crunchy bite which I find very pleasant.
For the stuffing, you can certainly use what you like, the crepes have a subtle coconut flavor, so ground meat would also work.
Ingredients for about 5-6 small crêpes
For the batter
- 2.82 oz (or 80 g) brown rice flour
- 1.41 oz (or 40 g) khorasan wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup water
- salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
For the filling
- 1.5 cup wood ear mushrooms, soaked and finely cut
- 24 medium sized shrimps, peeled and deveined
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbs fish sauce
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 cup cooked spinach
- 2 scallions, chopped
Preparation
For the batter
Mix flours together, then add egg, water, coconut milk, turmeric and salt. Mix well to obtain a smooth batter. If too thick add a little water. Let it rest for about 30 min.
For the filling
Soak mushrooms in hot water until they become soft, about 30-45 minutes. Cut in small strips. Set aside.
Marinate mushrooms strips with shrimps, fish sauce, sugar, garlic for about one hour.
Saute spinach in 1 garlic clove chopped and olive oil.
Heat olive oil in a wok, add mushrooms and shrimp mixture and saute until shrimps are cooked and liquid has evaporated.
Start making crêpes. Using a small pan of about 12 cm diameter, add some batter and proceed as you would make regular crêpes, spreading the batter all over the pan. Let it cook until one side of the crêpe, has become golden brown and crunchy. Add some of the filling on one half of the crêpe, add spinach and scallions. Fold the other half on top and let it cook for a few more minutes.
Remove from the pan and serve with mint and lettuce leaves.
Nice to meet you Mexico! – Stuffed avocado with shrimp and octopus cocktail
Aug 24th
Encatada de conocerte México! – Coctel de camarónes y pulpo
Not that I am starting to deviate into Mexican cuisine, but since I just got back from Cabos San Lucas last night, I wanted to pursue my Mexican and seafood adventures with this refreshing and delicious cocktail. The abundance of avocado, seafood, lime and hot peppers is what I loved most about Mexican cuisine. I knew the traditional Mexican dishes you get in California, such as quesadilla, tacos, burritos and fajitas, but never really explored further their more delicate and fragrant cuisine.
So this small and easy dish was inspired by what I discovered in a small restaurant in La Paz right in front of the ocean, a beautiful and fresh octopus cocktail served in a glass. In France, we do use avocado shell to serve avocado based appetizers, the only problem is that you need a large haas avocado or you won’t be able to fit a lot of the stuffing. You can of course use a large cocktail glass to serve this, or two avocado halves per person.
I had never been to Mexico before this trip just because usually during the summer vacation I go back home. For many reasons, I could not go home this year. So I had to find a place close by where I felt I was completely “dépaysée” (away from my natural environment) and recharge my batteries.
Los Cabos, in Baja might not be the typical Mexican city but I loved it. You can find Starbucks and Costco which I thought were somehow out of place, selling American fruits to the locals at outrageous prices. We get Mexican mangos and they get American peaches.
La Paz was a lot more Mexican than Cabos and a lot cheaper too. The warmth and hospitality of the locals, the cuisine, the burning sun, the ocean and everything else that makes Baja very special. That long and narrow peninsula has so many wonderful assets ;its where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, where the desert meets green plains, where you can relax and pamper yourself in the amazing spas, or get more adventurous and drive along the coasts and discover tiny and colorful Mexican villages.
The beach… I am not really a beach maniac, and did not lay down to get a tan, but even with a 100 sun block and in the shade, you get burnt…I was lucky enough to not have a bikini incident, so everything was perfect.
I have never met people so adorable and hospitable, people would go out of their way to help you with a genuine desire to do so and sincere smile. I will be back!
Now that I am back to real life, I will have to catch up with everyone and see what’s cooking and what everyone has been up to during this last month. I apologize for being such a terrible “supporter”, but I will get back in touch with everyone very soon.
Ingredients for 4
- 4 ripe avocados, cut in half
- 1 lemon
- 12 medium size shrimps, deshelled
- 150 g cooked octopus, cut in small pieces
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs lime juice
- zest of 1 lime
- 1 tbs mixed herbs (cilantro, chives, tarragon, etc…)
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1 tsp red onion, chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Cook octopus for a few hours in salted boiling water. Let it cool and cut in small pieces. Saute shrimps in olive oil and add to the octopus.
Cut avocado in halves, using a teaspoon, scoop some of its flesh, leaving about 5 mm of avocado on the shell. Cut the scooped avocado in small pieces. Coat the avocado halves with lemon juice to prevent them from darkening.
In a mixing container, add all other ingredients and mix well.
Mix diced avocado with seafood, and pour vinaigrette on mixture. Spoon into the avocado halves. Decorate with lime slice and serve.
The crab lost his house – Soft shell crab with almond crust on grilled fennel and radicchio salad, cream of chick peas and capers
Jul 5th
Le crabe a perdu sa maison – Crabes bleus en croûte d’amandes, sur lit de fenouil et trévise grillés, crème de pois chiches et câpres
Pardon my ignorance, I thought the soft crabs were a particular kind of specie…They’re apparently not. When I found out that they’re basically regular crabs that molted their hard shell, I felt a little bad to eat them. Poor little crab without his house…but I already bought them, so I had no other option that cook them…so the little homeless crab had to end up in my plate. I found a very useful site explaining how to clean them on ChefsLine.
Radicchio has two of my favorite features, colorful and bitter, which combined with fennel makes a very harmonious combination. The sweetness of the grilled fennel stands out beautifully, and complement the slight acidity of the cream of chick peas due to lemon juice and capers. So what about the crab?? I have been talking about everything except about our naked crab..and this recipe is not about fennel, nor radicchio BUT only about the crab!
This crab is such a treat, every bite is meaty and delicate, it is baked so not as crunchy as you would get it it was fried, but definitely healthier. So delicious! the topping makes it flavorful with a little sesame note and blends to perfection with the chick pea cream.
Ingredients for 4
- 8 soft shell crabs
- 6 tbs breadcrumbs
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 3 tbs almond meal
- 1 tbs sesame seeds
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tbs parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper
For the cream of chick peas and capers
- 1/2 lb cooked chick peas
- 4 tbs plain yogurt
- 1 tbs garlic, crushed
- juice of one lemon
- 1 tbs capers, chopped
- cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper
For the fennel-radicchio salad
- 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
- 1 radicchio head, sliced in 1 inches slices
- 1 tbs olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the salad
Grill radicchio and fennel on a grill pan, then place on a large bowl, add other ingredients and set aside.
For the crab
In a mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together except for the crab (of course). Top each crab with the breadcrumb/almond mixture, drizzle each crab with a little olive oil, and back in the oven at 400F until the top is golden brown and the crab is cooked.
For the cream of chick peas
Mix all ingredients except capers and yogurt in a blender. Remove from blender and add capers and yogurt. Mix well and set aside.
Serve with some warm salad in the middle of the plate, two soft shell crabs on top and spoon cream of chick pea on the side.
