JEAN-GEORGES VONGERICHTEN'S CRAB SALAD

Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Crab Salad image

Provided by Molly O'Neill

Categories salads and dressings, appetizer

Time 30m

Yield 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 17

Ingredients

1 cup minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin seeds
2/3 cup white-wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 pounds crab meat
2 small ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 1/2 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 bunches of mache, about 2 cups, rinsed
1 1/2 mangoes, peeled and cut into -inch dice

Steps:

To make the crisps, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and cumin seeds. Add the vinegar, butter and water and mix thoroughly, but do not overmix.
Working in batches and using a pastry brush, dab very thin 2-inch discs of batter onto a nonstick baking sheet. Bake until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
To make the crab salad, break up the lumps with your fingers, removing any shell or cartilage but leaving the crab as intact as possible. Refrigerate. In a blender, combine the tomatoes, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, oil, vinegar and basil and blend until smooth. Season to taste.
Slowly stir the tomato sauce into the crab meat. Coat the crab, but do not soak it. Place 3 scoops of crab salad on each of 6 plates. Place a cumin crisp between each scoop. Garnish with the mache and the mangoes.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 286, UnsaturatedFat 8 grams, Carbohydrate 24 grams, Fat 11 grams, Fiber 3 grams, Protein 23 grams, SaturatedFat 3 grams, Sodium 831 milligrams, Sugar 17 grams, TransFat 0 grams