4 ripe avocados
15 oz crab meat or
1 lb fresh crab meat
8 tb mayonnaise
4 to 6 drops worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely minced, peeled celery stalks
1 salt, depending on the saltiness of, the crab meat
1 pinch white pepper
1 pinch cayenne or
1 drop to 2 drops tabasco
1 head iceberg lettuce
2 lemons
Directions
1. Split the avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pits. With a
melon-ball cutter, gently enlarge the cavity toward the stem end.
2. With a fork, mash the avocado pulp which was removed.
3. Mix the pulp with 4 tbs. of the mayonnaise, salt if needed,
pepper and cayenne or Tabasco. Gently fold in the crab meat and the
celery.
4. Divide the crab mixture among the eight avocado halves.
5. Mix the Worcestershire sauce with the remaining 4 tbs.
mayonnaise. With a pastry bag or a cone made from wax paper, pipe
approximately 1/2 tbs. of the mayonnaise mixture on each filled
avocado half.
6. Remove the outside leaves of the iceberg lettuce. Arrange the
leaves on a serving platter. Cut the inside part of the lettuce into
very thin strips and make 8 small nests on the leaves lining the
serving platter. Place an avocado half on each nest.
7. Cut each lemon in quarters and garnish the serving platter with
the slices of lemon. Serve. If desired, offer additional mayonnaise
separately.
CHEF'S SECRET: When you buy avocados, they should not be soft but, if
pressed gently, should give about the same resist-ance as an orange.
Once at home, pack each avocado in a brown paper bag and leave them
at room temperature overnight. Of course, chill before serving.
If you use canned crab meat, it is advisable to pick it over.
Sometimes you may find a small piece of the shell. Definitely taste
it for saltiness. Certain brands improve with a quick rinsing with
water.
If you have to rinse it, don't do it under the faucet. Place the meat
in a sieve and dip the sieve in a small amount of water. Loosen the
meat with one finger, then remove the sieve from the water and shake
the meat dry. The flavor will not be destroyed, but the saltiness of
the canning liquid will be gone.
Enlarging the cavity of the avocados with a melon-ball cutter has two
purposes; you have the subtle taste of the pulp in the crab mixture,
and it is easier to arrange the filling without making it messy.
Definitely peel the celery stalks for this dish with a potato peeler
so that no strings get into the salad. The celery is needed for its
crunchy texture to counterbalance the softness of the avocado and
mayonnaise and the fleshy chewiness of the crab meat. If you do not
care for the taste of celery, you can substitute peeled, seeded,
finely chopped cucumber.
Makes 8 servings.
From "The Chef's Secret Cookbook", Louis Szathmary, Quadrangle Books,
Chicago. 1972.
Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; March 14 1993.
Servings: 8 servings
Avocado With Crab Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Crab; Fish; Fruit; Seafood
The History of Recipes
Food historians have proved the existance of recipes far back into antiquity, at least as far as the Egyptians, and possibly even further than that. Having said that, sadly, these old cookbooks were just simple hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing meals.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe discovered, according to food historians are a few tablets in Sumerian describing the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel exhilarated and blissful. During the time of the Roman Empire a roman called Apicius wrote some scripts describing recipes enjoyed by the Romans. In his publication, Apicius tells us how the meals were separated into hors d`oeuvre, main course and desserts, something we still use today. Aspicius recounts how the early Romans made use of a wide range of spices, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs such as thyme, mint and asafoetida. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years we find two interesting books from the 14th Century - a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Amusingly, these are not about the indian curry that is familiar to us all today, but rather recipes for the types of food on the menus of the rich people of the period. In the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought back many foods, spices and herbs from the holy land, such as coriander, parsley, and rosemary. These new spices and herbs prompted an increase in books on cooking, many of which still exist in private libraries. Over the following few hundred years, the powerful and wealthy houses competed with each other to serve the best banquets, and consequentially cooks and their recipes could command a high salary. Even so, it wasn`t until the nineteenth century that fine cooking and recipe collections really came of age. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to assembling, testing, and publishing popular recipes of the day. By the arrival of the 20th century, cook books are in high demand, due to better eduction, people having more free time and having more money to spend. |
We hope you enjoy this Avocado With Crab recipe.
