Creole Crab Imperial

CLASSIC CRAB IMPERIAL USUALLY INVOLVES LUMP crabmeat combined with mayonnaise or a sherried white sauce, spooned into shells, sprinkled with cheese, and baked till golden brown. Indeed, there is no more impressive, richer dish in all of Southern cookery. In Louisiana, however, cooks often transform the dish completely by incorporating additional ingredients, including a spicy Creole mustard, and serving it chilled on a bed of lettuce or red cabbage leaves. I still love to serve traditional hot crab imperial for an intimate, rather formal dinner any time of the year, but when the warm weather comes, nothing is more appropriate for a deck luncheon than this zesty chilled version. The measurements for these ingredients are precise, so don’t tamper.

MAKES: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 tablespoons (1⁄2 stick) butter
• 1⁄2 cup minced scallions (part of green tops included)
• 4 tablespoons minced green bell pepper
• 4 tablespoons minced celery
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 1⁄2 cups mayonnaise
• 1⁄2 cup Creole mustard
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup well-drained and minced pimento
• Tabasco sauce to taste
• 1 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
• 4 leaves red cabbage
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large skillet over low heat, melt the butter.
2. Add the minced scallions, minced green bell pepper, minced celery, salt, and freshly ground black pepper to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are completely softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.
4. Add the mayonnaise, Creole mustard, Worcestershire sauce, minced pimento, and Tabasco sauce to the bowl with the vegetable mixture. Mix lightly and let it cool further.
5. Place the lump crabmeat in another large bowl.
6. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the crabmeat and gently blend to coat the crabmeat without breaking up the lumps.
7. Chill the crabmeat mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
8. To serve, spoon equal amounts of the chilled crabmeat onto the red cabbage leaves arranged on 4 salad plates.
9. Sprinkle each serving with chopped fresh parsley.