Crab Cake in Kataify Pastry

Served with Grapefruit and Lime Vinaigrette. Recipe courtesy of Chef Lee Duberman, Ariel's Restaurant, Brookfield, Vermont.

Clarified Butter Directions

Put one pound of unsalted butter into a 2 quart saucepan. Turn on heat to medium to melt the butter. Turn heat down to low. Let butter simmer until the white solids float to the top, leaving a clear golden liquid. Turn off heat and let sit a few minutes. Skim solids off the top, then pour clarified butter through a fine seive into a heat proof container. May be refrigerated and reheated before use.

Homemade Mayonnaise Ingredients

3 egg yolks
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. hot sauce, such as tabasco
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 cups vegetable oil (soy or canola)

Homemade Mayonnaise Directions

Put first 4 ingredients into a cuisinart with metal propeller blade. Cover and start machine. Let blend for a minute. Open top hole on cuisinart cover, and very slowly dribble in oil, about one tablespoon at a time, while cuisinart is going. When all of the oil is in, mayonnaise should be thick and shiny. Remove to clean container and refrigerate.

Lime Vinaigrette Ingredients

1/2 cup lime juice
1 t. Dijon mustard
1/8-1/4 cup honey
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
1 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cup vegetable oil

Lime Vinaigrette Directions

Place first 5 ingredients into blender, cover and turn blender on low speed. Blend a few seconds, remove cover and slowly add oil in a thin stream. Taste frequently. Add honey, salt or more oil as needed. Pour into a clean container.

Crab Cakes in Kataify Pastry Ingredients

1 lb. vacuum packed, refrigerated lump or backfin crab meat
2/3 cup homemade mayonnaise
1/2 bunch chopped cilantro
1/4 small red onion, diced small
1/4 red bell pepper, diced small
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste

Crab Cakes in Kataify Pastry Directions

Mix all ingredients gently, so as not to break up crab too much. On clean table, or large cutting board, lay out 1/2 lb. Kataify pastry (available at coops by special order). Have 1 cup Clarified Butter warmed, with a pastry brush available. Divide Kataify into 8 portions, each approx. 6 inches long by 3 inches wide, one layer only. Brush Kataify with good amount of clarified butter. Measure 1/3 Cup of filling and place on center of buttered Kataify. Bring up sides of Kataify and roll into a ball, making sure all filling is enclosed in pastry. Repeat with rest of pastry and filling. Place crab cakes on cookie sheet and refrigerate until time to serve.

To Serve: Heat saute pan large enough to hold four crabcakes, with about one T. of clarified butter. When hot, but not smoking, add crab cakes. Saute until first side is golden. Gently turn and sautee other side until golden. Repeat with rest of crab cakes. Serve one crab cake on a bed of arugula or mesclun. Arrange 3 grapefruit sections around crab cake. Drizzle with Lime Vinaigrette.