371. Crabs à la St. Jean.
—Add double the quantity of onions to some crab forcemeat ([No. 223]), also garlic, parsley, and chervil (let the crabs be in as large pieces as possible). Then, as for [No. 362], fill six St. Jacques-shells, besprinkle with fresh bread-crumbs, smooth the surface with the blade of a knife, moisten slightly with clarified butter, and bake in a brisk oven for six minutes. Serve on a hot dish with a folded napkin decorated with parsley-greens.
372. Crabs à la St. Laurent.
—Reduce half a pint of good velouté ([No. 152]) with half a glassful of white wine, season with one pinch of salt, half a pinch of pepper, and a very little cayenne pepper, adding three tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. Take three-quarters of a pound of shelled crabs, put them in the saucepan, and boil them for ten minutes; then lift from the fire and let cool. Prepare six squares of toasted bread, and with a knife spread some of the mixture smoothly over each slice, sprinkle well with grated cheese, and moisten slightly with clarified butter; place them on a baking-dish; bake in a very hot oven for three minutes, and serve on a hot dish with a folded napkin, garnished with parsley-greens.
373. Crabs à l’Anglaise.
—Pick twelve boiled, hard-shelled crabs in as large pieces as possible; mix them in a salad-bowl with half a cupful of the white of celery or finely shred lettuce leaves, one pinch of salt, half a pinch of pepper, one tablespoonful of olive oil, and one and a half tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Refill six well-cleaned shells with the salad, and on each one lay a good teaspoonful of mayonnaise sauce ([No. 206]), sprinkled over with one hard-boiled, finely chopped egg, the yolk and white separated, some crab or lobster coral, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, every article to be used separately, so they have each a different color. Serve on a dish with a folded napkin.
374. Oyster-crabs à la Poulette.
—Take one and a half pints of oyster-crabs, and proceed the same as for oysters à la poulette ([No. 383]).
375. Fried Oyster-crabs.
—Wash well, and dry one and a half pints of oyster-crabs, dip them in flour, then in cold milk, and finally in cracker-dust; shake them well in a colander, and fry in hot fat for three minutes; serve in shells made of foundation paste, or short paste for tarts ([No. 1078]), garnishing with parsley-leaves, and sprinkling a very little salt on top.