Rosie Makes A Crab Meat Boule Appetizer.

 Good neighbor Zippy showed up the other night

with a bucket full of blue crabs for the Hawthornes.

Don't you just love neighbors like that?

Youngest Hawthorne requested my special crab meat boule.

Coming right up!

Youngest Hawthorne has had a lot of requests lately.

I made my basic boule,

but won't bother to give you the recipe here,

since I was making it at the same time as 

I was doing the doughnuts

and I got over-rise on my boule.

Rosie is easily distracted.

Especially by shiny things.

 

 Slice off the top of your homemade boule.

Or save yourself the trouble

and buy one at the supermarket.

Scoop out the boule in chunks.

This is not my usual boule.

What I was trying to do was incorporate things I'd learned
from my Saveur magazine article about artisan breads.

I did the autolysis rest and the double fermentation thing.

However, I let it rise past the point of perfection.
I was distracted by the doughnuts I was making.
And the boule started sinking.
Just slightly.

It was still good bread.
Slightly tart from the double fermentation
and it had a nice rough texture.
Good for toasting.

 

For my boule filling, I started out with equal amounts
of unsalted butter, cream cheese, and Brie.

 Add to saucepan and melt over low heat.

I added in the juice of a lemon.

I added in the crab meat 

Mr. Hawthorne and Youngest Hawthorne picked.

At least a pound of meat.

Heat crab meat mixture through.

Pour crab meat mixture into boule.

Add a tablespoon or so of sherry.

Give it a few stirs.

Not too much.

Remember:  You want pockets of flavors.

Bake at 350 degrees until bread pieces are toasted

and crab meat is heated through, 20-30 minutes.

Normally, I take the boule out of the baking dish to serve it
and take attractive photographs of it.
 Not tonight.
We just dug in.

Scoop out crab meat with toast pieces.

My photographs don't do this appetizer justice

since I'm shooting under indoor lighting around 9 PM.

Just know that each yummy scoop 

of homemade toasty bread

is chock full of crab meat and deliciosity.

Let it be known:
This is one of my favorite things to eat.