crabs for easter
It’s always a treat to visit my parents for a weekend in their swank new hilltop domicile with ocean views. They have everything a DIY foodie could possibly want — a wall of picture windows (read: loads of natural light for food photography), a spacious kitchen, sharp knives, disposable income and willingness to buy me the groceries I want, and gracious, adoring palates. It hadn’t even occurred to me when I booked flights for P and I that we’d be visiting the folks on easter weekend. It wasn’t until my dad emailed me a menu, oh that horrendous menu, of the easter Sunday brunch at Fleming’s that I became aware of the occasion. Scoffing at the menu, I immediately shot him an email back saying I’d prefer to make us brunch instead.
On the flight down, Nimbus and I began brainstorming ideas for easter brunch. I was initially going to do a corned beef hash with a poached egg on top (à la Nopa) with sage biscuits (à la Jane). In the end, my dread of baking and desire to cater to my mom’s tastes (she’s not so much a meat and potatoes gal) got the best of me, and I decided to go the more *fresh* *California* *hotel brunch* route.
Inspired by a salad Caro loves to make, or at least, that we often talk about (whenever it’s strawberry season, strawberry salads come out to play), I decided a strawberry-goat cheese-sugar snap pea salad would have to make an appearance in the brunch spread. I’d been thinking spinach but when we got to Bristol Farms I noticed they had mache, a spinach-like baby lettuce that’s sweet and nutty. It seemed like it would work perfectly and I’m always grasping for novelty in my food preparation (especially when I’m in an LA grocery store like Bristol Farms that doesn’t even have pea shoots or green garlic — I can’t help but be a produce snob!) so I nixed the spinach and went for the mache. I also grabbed some sliced almonds to round out the creamy sweet nutty flavor theme. The vinaigrette was a no-brainer — high quality Modena balsamic + pinch of dijon + honey + olive oil + pinch of salt + pepper — since good balsamic and strawberries is quite the classic combination.
I blanched the peas in salted boiling water for just a few minutes before rinsing them off under cold water. I really should blanch things more often but often find myself too lazy. It really is immensely more pleasant to bite into a blanched pea pod in your salad than a raw one, at least in my humble opinion – you still get the freshness and crunch but not to a grating degree.
[strawberry, sugar snap pea and mache salad with goat cheese and almonds, balsamic honey vinaigrette)
But this brunch wouldn't be my kind of brunch without a savory star to wake up the ol' palate. A gigantic crab cake, with a poached egg on top, and some kind of herby lemony reduction. My mom loves crab cakes and I love eggs. So we'd both be happy. (The men are easier to please.)
I have to hand it to Bristol Farms - their produce selection might be weak by Bay Area standards but their dungeness crab meat is top notch. The fishmonger picked out the best bits for me because I spoke to him on the phone. The meat was so sweet and succulent -- I almost regretted turning it into crab cakes.
[dungeness crab cake over mache, poached egg, lemon dill parsley reduction]
A bite or two of the unadulterated crab meat and I was ready to let go. I pretty much stuck to my old recipe for crab cakes but went easier on the mayo and instead of chives threw some fresh green onion into the crab cake mixture. I also halved the recipe.
I had the poached eggs and crab cakes going at once – it was quite the spectacle. Luckily I had a (somewhat reliable) sous chef. I mean he did wig out once and tell me to pull out an egg before it was done but by the by, he was a trusty kitchen partner.
The reduction was the trickiest part of the meal, which is to say, not 100 percent straightforward. I cooked a minced shallot in some butter for a while before adding a quarter cup of dry vermouth, the juice and zest of a lemon and a cup of fish stock. I reduced the fish stock by about half and added s&p and another quarter cup of vermouth to balance the flavors a bit. Right at the end I added corn starch slurry because it wasn’t thickening to my liking. I guess that’s cheating but who cares! I took it off the heat then stirred in a shitload of chopped fresh parsley and dill, because I wanted the reduction to be green. The herbs ended up browning in the hot liquid but the reduction still tasted great. I drizzled it over the poached egg right before serving.
