Rosie Makes King Crab Enchiladas.

After our cooking class last week at the North Carolina Aquarium, I wanted to do my own version of seafood enchiladas. I checked the freezer and came up with a package of King Crab Clusters we'd bought on sale at Harris Teeter.

Yeah. I know. $27.01. Steep. Well. Not really so. This made 8 tortillas and if I do the Sandy Money Saving Meals Math right, that turns out to be $3.37625 a serving.

4.51 pounds of King Crab clusters.

As usual, Mr. Hawthorne gets relegated to the "shit detail," as he calls it.

Pick dem crabs, Mr. Hawthorne.

Nice job, Mr. Hawthorne. Let's weigh it.

Four and a half pounds of clusters yielded 1 pound 1.8 ounces of meat. 03/08/10 ETA: Mr. Hawthorne just read this post and informed me that we'd already eaten 1/2 the crab legs, so 2 1/4 pounds of clusters yielded over 1 pound of meat. Sorry. Now I have to re-cipher my 'rithmatic. That would make each portion of crab meat $1.688125.

While Mr. Hawthorne was picking the crab meat, I cooked a cup of rice ...

... and started on the beans. I bring salted water to a boil, add in rinsed beans, cook for about 20 minutes, then drain, rinse the beans, and refresh the water, bring to a simmer and cook until tender. About another 20-25 minutes. Cover rice and beans when done to keep warm. Now I'm starting on the fixings for the enchiladas. 1/2 onion 1/2 green pepper 2 green onions 1 large shallot bunch of garlic cilantro lime lemon

First, I minced: 1/2 onion 2 green onions 1 large shallot 2 TB garlic And I'm using 1 TB cumin and some freshly grated salt and pepper.

Saute onion, green onion, garlic, and shallot in olive oil.

Sprinkle in cumin.

Add the onions and cumin mixture to 12 ounces of room temperature cream cheese. Set aside.

Next up, fixin's for my beans.

1 TB jalapeno (I used jarred since I didn't have fresh on hand.) 1/2 green pepper (chopped) 5-6 small cloves garlic, minced about 2 TB minced cilantro juice of 1 lime 3/4 cup chicken stock (not shown) 2 cups kidney beans (not shown)

Saute the peppers in a bit of olive oil for about a minute.

Add in the jalapenos.

Add in garlic.

Cilantro.

Juice of one lime.

About 3/4 cup chicken stock.

Add in the beans.

Mix well and cover.

Coming up, my enchilada sauce.

I melted some butter and added 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. cayenne, 1/2 tsp each onion powder, granulated garlic, paprika, Sazon Goya seasoning con azafran and Sazon Goya seasoning con cilantro y tomate

Whisk and cook seasonings for about a minute.

Next, add in a tablespoon of flour and cook, whisking, for about 1 minute.

Gradually add in a cup of chicken stock, whisking until thickened. Cover and set aside.

Now I'm starting on my cream and cheese sauce for the enchiladas.

Ingredients: 1/2 stick butter 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1 cup grated cheddar cheese 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese 1 large clove garlic, minced 2 TB parsley, chopped 1 cup ricotta (Ricotta not necessary but I had it left over in the fridge from my lasagna and needed to use it before it got that reddish mold on it.) I was thinking I'd use white wine in the sauce but decided against it since Youngest Hawthorne might not like the wine flavor. It's up to you.

Melt the butter and add in the garlic, stirring for about a minute.

Add in the heavy cream and slowly bring to a boil.

Add in ricotta.

Whisk to mix.

Slowly, whisk in cheeses, just a little bit at a time.

Whisk to melt.

Add freshly ground salt and pepper to taste and the chopped parsley.

For the crab meat, I melted some butter (1/2 stick) ...

... and added the crab meat to the pan, ...

... stirring to coat.

I decided to use the white wine here. Maybe 1/2 cup.

Add in the juice of one lemon and heat through.

By the end of the afternoon, I had 5 of my 6 burners going. Back left is the kidney bean, green pepper, cilantro thingie going on. Back right is my rice. Front left is a zingy enchilada sauce. Front middle is the cream and cheese sauce and front right is the butter, wine, and crab meat mixture.

Assembly:

Here's my cream cheese and onion/cumin mixture.

Drain the crab meat mixture ...

... and add to the cream cheese/onion mixture.

You know I have to have my action shots.

Mix the crab meat and cheese well.

Place a spoonful of crab meat filling in center of tortilla. You may need to nuke the tortillas for 20 seconds or so to make them more pliable.

Roll up.

Pour cream and cheese sauce over top.

Top with more grated cheeses.

400 degree oven until cheese is melted and bubbly - about 10-15 minutes.

Rice, bean mixture, King Crab enchilada with enchilada sauce and extra parsley and cilantro.

Sorry. I couldn't pick out a favorite picture.

Creamy, cheesy, crabby deliciosity.

Bon appetit!