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.

More Crabmeat. Why, It's Crabmeat Crostini!

Go ahead and feast your eyes on the money shot. Is your mouth watering yet?

After a delicious crabmeat salad on endive leaves for lunch, I wanted more crabmeat for dinner. And I'm thinking crabmeat crostini.

And in case you're wondering, crostini is Italian for "little toasts." (Not only do I watch Giada, but I listen too.)

My ingredients: About 3-4 ounces of butter About 3-4 ounces of cream cheese About 3-4 ounces brie Little slivers of red, orange, yellow, and green peppers 1 green onion 1/2 orange 1/2 lemon the rest of my crabmeat, maybe 10 ounces Sherry

First, I melted the butter with the cream cheese and brie.

Heat and stir until the mixture smooth.

Add in the crabmeat.

Add in juice of 1/2 orange.

And the juice of 1/2 lemon.

Minced peppers go in.

And a few tablespoons of sherry. (To taste.)

And add in the sliced green onions and heat through. This, as it is, would make a wonderful dip, but I'm going with crostini topped with the crabmeat.

I sliced my French baguette into diagonals, drizzled with olive oil, and toasted under the broiler.

Top the toasted crostini with the crabmeat mixture and sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over top.

Pop back under the broiler and toast until the Parmesan is melted.

Bon appetit!

I still have a lot of the crabmeat mixture left so I'm coming up with another recipe to use that. You'll just have to wait. But I promise, it's going to be very, very good.

I love crabmeat and this was perfect. Nice crunchy, toasty crostini with a rich and creamy crabmeat topping that was crabby, buttery, with a hint of sherry and not disguised or overpowered by the additions. A delightful appetizer.