Chef Rautureau will prepare this dish at the 7th Annual Heart's Delight Wine Tasting & Auction in Washington, D.C., a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. (Donate!)
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- * * * * Pea Soup * * * *
- 4 cups lobster stock or vegetable stock
- 3 cups freshly shelled English peas (from about 3 pounds whole pods)
- 6 ounces Dungeness crabmeat, plus 4 nice leg pieces
- 1 teaspoon minced shallot
- 1 teaspoon minced chives
- 1 teaspoon hazelnut oil or olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper
- * * * * Chervil Cream * * * *
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons minced chervil
- 1/4 teaspoon hazelnut oil
- * * * * Garnish * * * *
- Carrot oil
- Chervil sprigs
Preparation:
Makes 4 servings.Bring the stock to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the peas with a pinch of salt and cook until bright green and tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Strain the peas, putting the stock back in the saucepan, and set the pan aside. Purée the peas in a blender or food processor with about 1 cup of the stock until very smooth. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a medium bowl, pressing on the skins to remove as much flavorful purée as possible.
Return the remaining stock to a boil and boil until reduced by one-third, 3 to 5 minutes. Take the pan from the heat and stir in the pea purée; set aside.
Set aside 4 whole leg pieces from the Dungeness crab to use for garnish. Put the remaining crab in a medium bowl, using your fingers to break up any large pieces and remove any bits of shell or cartilage. Add the shallot, chives, hazelnut oil, and garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss well to evenly mix.
For the chervil cream, whip the cream in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk in the chervil and hazelnut oil with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, gently reheat the pea soup over medium heat and taste for seasoning, adding salt or pepper to taste. Form the seasoned crabmeat into 2-inch mounds in the center of warmed shallow soup bowls, using a ring mold if you have one. Set the reserved crab leg portions on top. Ladle the warm soup around the crab. Spoon the chervil cream over the crab. Add a drizzle of carrot oil on the soup. Top the chervil cream with a sprig of chervil and serve right away.
