Issue Date: October, 2009
Serves: Serves 4
Pairings:
Courtesy of:

Chef Scott Boswell, Stella! Restaurant, New Orleans, LA

Ingredients:

Crab

• 4 Louisiana soft-shell crabs, dressed
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• peanut oil, for frying
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, in all
• 2 cups corn flour
• salt, to taste
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• Lemon Tabasco Honey Butter, recipe follows

New Potato Salad

• 2 cups new potatoes, small dice
  
• 1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
  
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
  
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
  
• 1/4 cup green onions, minced
  
• 1/4 cup celery, finely diced
  
• 2 tablespoons horseradish
  
• 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
  
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  
• 1/8 cup Dijon mustard
  
• 1/4 cup chopped crisp bacon
  
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
  
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  
• salt and pepper, to taste
  
• cayenne pepper, to taste

Lemon Tabasco Honey Butter

• 2 cups white wine
  
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
  
• 6 black peppercorns
  
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
  
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
• 2 teaspoons honey
  
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco Pepper Sauce
  
• salt, to taste

Instructions:

Crab:

Preheat oven to 150°F. Heat peanut oil to 325°F. Whisk together egg and milk. Mix corn flour with 2/3 cup all-purpose flour and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Season crab and dust with 1/3 cup flour, then egg-wash, then corn flour mixture. Fry crab until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Keep warm in a 150°F oven.

Potato Salad

Steam new potatoes until tender and put in the oven at 150°F to dry for about 4 minutes. Remove from oven and place in large bowl. Sauté all vegetables, add bacon and fresh thyme, then add all that to potatoes. Add all wet ingredients and mix well. Adjust seasonings. Serve alongside the soft-shell crab.

Lemon Tabasco Honey Butter

Reduce white wine, shallots, and peppercorns to 1/8 cup. Add heavy cream and reduce again. Whisk in butter a little at a time to emulsify the sauce. Add lemon juice, honey, and Tabasco and adjust seasonings. Drizzle over the cooked crabs.