Celebrate National Crabmeat Au Gratin Day!

While there are many "Au Gratin's", Crabmeat is one of the best!
What's your favorite restaurant for Crabmeat Au Gratin?
Do you have a great Crabmeat Au Gratin Recipe? Please post it!
Here's mine:
Crab Meat Gratin
 INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons minced carrot
2 tablespoons minced celery
2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound fresh lump crab meat, picked over (about 1 1/2 cups)
Fresh lemon juice to taste
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Accompaniment: lightly toasted thin French bread slices
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat broiler.
In a small heavy saucepan cook carrot, celery, and bell pepper in butter over moderate heat, stirring, 1 minute.
Add broth, vermouth or wine, and tarragon and boil mixture until liquid is reduced to about 1 tablespoon.
Add cream and boil sauce until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in crab meat, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste and divide mixture between two 1-cup shallow baking dishes.
Sprinkle Parmesan over crab mixture and set dishes in shallow baking pan.
Broil gratin about 4 inches from heat 2 minutes, or until bubbling and golden, and serve with toasts.           
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.
Yield: Serves 2
 
 

Great recipe, thanks.
 
I still owe myself a jelly donut from last week.

Seems as if there's an awful lot of stuff getting in the way of the wonderous flavor of fresh crab.

I agree.   As good as I am sure the crabmeat au gratin is, to my taste, the simpler the better -- like Crab Norfolk.   http://www.professionalrecipes.com/recipes/seafood/crab-norfolk.html

Frankie & Johnnie's (now Dino & Harry's) had it on the menu. It was a little spendy...but very good. D&H has it from time to time...

http://www.dinoandharrys.com/home.php

Here is a recipe from Pierre Franey...

http://www.nytimes.com/re...ab-Meat-au-Gratin.html

A total coincidence, Mrs. Metro made potatos au gratin from a Jacques Pepin recipe the other night; the dish was wonderful company for ribeye and grilled asparagus:
 
http://www.grouprecipes.com/49686/easy-potato-gratin.html
 
I "garnished" my portion with bacon bits.

I suspect any gratin from Jacques would be quite good.  He made a cauliflower gratin in an episode of Essential Pepin and it looked fantastic.

Friday the 15th is Lobster (Lobsta) Day.

Fair warning.

CCinNJ


Friday the 15th is Lobster (Lobsta) Day.

Fair warning.

Now that sounds like a day for me!

agnesrob

CCinNJ

Friday the 15th is Lobster (Lobsta) Day.
Fair warning.

Now that sounds like a day for me!

How 'bout a Blue Lobsta for Lobsta Day? There's a 1 in 2,000,000 chance to get one!

http://penobscotbaypress.com/multimedia/photos/2012/jun/7/a-small-case-of-the-blues/

agnesrob

CCinNJ

Friday the 15th is Lobster (Lobsta) Day.
Fair warning.

Now that sounds like a day for me!

How 'bout a Blue Lobsta for Lobsta Day? There's a 1 in 2,000,000 chance to get one!
http://penobscotbaypress.com/multimedia/photos/2012/jun/7/a-small-case-of-the-blues/

I just caught a Blue Lobsta!!!

http://www.petsolutions.c...ctric%20Blue%20Lobster

He's only semi-aggressive. He has to be trained.

Seems like a lot of recipes and restaurants make au gratin in a rich cream sauce and a lot of gloppy cheese.  I prefer it very simple with nothing detracting from the crabmeat - this recipe (from Tom Fitzmorris' New Orleans Food cookbook) is great:
 
Crabmeat au Gratin
 
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 large mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbs. green onion tops, chopped
1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp. salt-free Creole seasoning
1 tsp. lemon juice
5 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat
2 Tbs. plain bread crumbs
 
Preheat the broiler.  Heat the cream in a small saucepan and reduce by about a third.  Add all of the vegetables and return to a boil.  Stir in the Creole seasoning, lemon juice, and 3 TBS. of the Parmesan.  Add the crabmeat and gently toss in the pan to combine with the sauce, being careful not to break up the lumps.
 
Divide the mixture up into 4 ovenproof dishes for appetizers, or 2 dishes for entrees.  Combine the bread crumbs and remaining cheese together and sprinkle over the top of each dish.  Broil until the sauce begins to bubble, 3-5 minutes.  Serve immediately.
 
 
 
 
aFa g  

Leave it to my friend BelleReve to post an awesome recipe......

 I've been looking for a crab Norfolk recipe for a long time - thank's Rumaki.
As to crab au gratin - as a general rule cheese and seafood do not go well together, and this is especially true of a delicate flavor like crab. However, I'm a firm believer that everyone should eat what he likes and like what he eats - so, those of you who like seafood au gratins , enjoy!
 
Cheers, John 

thanks ann, posted twice even- if the Admin is reading this, can I get the duplicate post deleted? 

BelleReve

thanks ann, posted twice even- if the Admin is reading this, can I get the duplicate post deleted? 

You can do it yourself. Look at the toolbar on the Bottom of the message. There's a click-on there that says "Manage Message" open it and you can delete the duplicate. Only the author has access to that click-on.

thank you Foodbme