On Maryland's Eastern shore, watermen make a living pulling the "beautiful swimmers" (blue crabs) out of Chesapeake Bay. This recipe was given to me many years ago by a waterman's wife — pre-food-processor.
Note: This one's for the mini food processor because amounts are small.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly coat 6 large scallop shellswith nonstick cooking spray or, if you prefer, lightly coat a 6-cup au gratin pan or shallow casserole; set aside. Place the crab in a medium-size mixing bowl and set aside also.
Step 2
2. Tear the bread into small chunks, letting them drop into a mini food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade. Using 3 to 4 brisk pulses, reduce to moderately coarse crumbs. Drizzle the melted butter over all and pulse 2 to 3 times to incorporate. The crumbs should now be moderately fine. Tip onto a piece of wax paper and reserve.
Step 3
3. Add the parsley, salt, black pepper, and cayenne to the processor (no need to wash the bowl or blade), and pulse briskly 3 to 5 times until the parsley is coarsely chopped.
Step 4
4. Add the mayonnaise and mustard and churn until smooth, about 5 seconds. Scoop on top of the crab and toss lightly to mix.
Step 5
5. Mound the crab mixture in the scallop shells or spread evenly in the augratin dish, and scatter the buttered crumbs on top.
Step 6
6. Bake uncovered on the middle oven rack until bubbling and touched with brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
Step 7
7. Serve at once, accompanying with a tartly dressed salad of greens. Roasted asparagus spears also make a delicious accompaniment.
