Crab with Orval and Leeks
This recipe for Crab with Orval and Leeks enhances the natural sweetness of the crab while making a wonderful ingredient for other recipes.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 2serving | 10 minute |
| Cook Time |
| 18minute |
|
|
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients:
- 4tablespoon butter, unsaltedpreferably European style
- 1each leekcut in half, washed and sliced
- 1tablespoon thyme, freshleaves only
- 1tablespoon miso, whiteavailable in many grocery stores
- 8ounce Orvalfrom Brasserie d’Orval, preferably aged over 6 months
- 1cup creampreferably organic
Crab Ingredients:
- 1pound crab meat,preferably Dungeness or King, saving the shells for stock
- sea saltto taste
- white peppercorns,freshly cracked, to taste
- 2tablespoon parsley, Italian leafchopped
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Once it starts to bubble, add the prepared leeks and lightly season with salt. Using a spatula, toss to coat in the fat. Cook slowly for the next 5 minutes, stirring frequently, to wilt the leeks. Add the thyme and white miso and let it dissolve and caramelize with the leeks. Stir and continue to cook for another 5 – 7 minutes, or until the leeks are tender and soft, but still hold their texture. Deglaze with the Orval, preferably aged over 6 months (saving the remaining brew for the chef’s enjoyment) and let the beer reduce until an almost syrupy consistency is reached, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and continue to reduce again, about 5 minutes. The final sauce should be thick and full of earthy funky flavors, coating the back of a spoon.
- Place the picked crab in a bowl (saving the shells to make a seafood stock), then add the slightly cooled sauce and the parsley.
- Lightly toss or fold the crab into the sauce to coat the meat, leaving any larger chunks intact, keeping the meat from dissolving. The sauce is ready to use, whether it’s warm over a White Miso Roasted Salmon Filet Topped with Crabor cold in a Decadent Crab Sandwich for Two.
- Beer Pairing: With all of the earthy, funky flavors in the dish, along with the seafood sweetness, a bright Saison | Farmhouse Ale, Tripel work as a compare beer pairing while a sour ale or Orval will pair nicely as a contrasting beer pairing. The yeasty elements of these styles will accentuate the miso and the Brettanomyces attributes.
Recipe Notes
Recipe Variations:
- Crab Cakes: Allow the above recipe to cool, after the crab is added, then add 1/3 cup bread or cracker crumbs and a beaten egg and divide the mixture into four large cakes for an entrée (served atop a celery root puree or mashed potatoes) or 10 appetizer-sized cake rounds. Encrust each cake in panko bread crumbs. Fry over medium heat in a butter and olive oil blend for 3 minutes per side.
- Pasta Sauce: Pour this sauce over al dente pasta or risotto (made with seafood stock).
- Pasta Filling: Let the crab sauce cool completely. Make your favorite fresh pasta into sheets and add tablespoon-sized mounds of the mixture, topping with another sheet of fresh pasta, wetting the edges of the dough and sealing with a ravioli cutter or a sharp knife to make squares, triangles or other shapes.