Wednesday, July 6, 2011

CRAB SALAD SANS MAYO

This is a crab salad that is made without mayonnaise. Hard to believe, but it can be done…and tasty, too

2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped (minced, actually)
1 shallot, chopped
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
1 cup of basil leaves (no stems)
¼ cup of evoo
2 tablespoons of sherry wine vinegar
1 # of crab
Combine the garlic, shallot, tomato, basil in blender and chop some more. Add oil and vinegar. If you’d like to, add a pinch of salt (Kosher only, please)/pepper. Dressing is set now.

Add about ¼ to ½ cup of the dressing to the crab to moisten it.
That’s it. Be creative. The salad is mayo free and healthy. Enjoy!!

Put this on a bed of lettuce, romaine, watercress, whatever you feel would go well to create a healthy dish.

HERB- CITRUS ROASTED CHICKEN




• 1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) chicken
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, fresh
• 2 tablespoons chopped sage, fresh
• 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary, fresh
• 2 tablespoons chopped thyme, fresh
• 4-5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 1 lemon quartered
• 1 lime, quartered
• Dash of black pepper, preferably butcher block
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, stripped of the fine threads and cut into long strips
• 2 carrots, peeled, and cut into long strips
• 2 onions, yellow, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch rounds.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Fill a large (more than 5 quarts) pot with water. Bring to a boil. Let the boiling water sit for about 5-10 minutes. Place the chicken into the pot to “cleanse”. Let chicken stay in the warm water bath for about 5 minutes. Remove chicken and pat dry. All of the “elements” would be removed at this point and you will have a very clean chicken.

Take the herbs and mix with the melted butter. Rub the butter-herb mixture under the skin of the chicken and inside the cavity. Also, add the lemon and lime quarters and garlic inside the cavity. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes while you prepare its roasting pan bed of mireproix

Make a mirepoix bed in the roasting pan, consisting of the celery, carrots, and onions. Then, Place the rested chicken on top of this. Drizzle olive oil and Pepper on top of chicken and inside the cavity.

Place chicken (in the roasting pan) in the oven. Then, after every 15 minutes, turn chicken’s roasting pan one-quarter of the way --clockwise. Until done. About 1 hour and 15 minutes. After chicken is roasted, remove from oven and let sit for about 20 minutes. This has to be the best chicken you’ve ever eaten. Clean, fresh, nutritious and full of flavor.