Dungeness Crab Caesar from Stoller Family Estate

This summertime salad from culinary director, Chef Becca Richards, at Stoller Family Estate is crisp and hearty, and pairs beautifully with Stoller’s Dundee Hill Chardonnay or another bright Chardonnay from the Dundee Hills. It can feed two as an entree or four as a side.

 

Dressing

• 2 small garlic cloves minced (1 tsp)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp anchovy oil – much easier to work with than regular anchovies, but two of those minced work too!
• 1 tsp Worcestershire
• 2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Whisk everything together into a beautiful dairy-free dressing.

 

Parmesan crisps

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a food processor, put a 4oz block of parmesan in and pulverize that cheese, or grate it by hand. The fresher the grate, the more robust flavor the crisps have, which is why I steer away from the pre-grated stuff in the store, but it will totally work if you’re trying to save time.

On a parchment-lined baking sheet, spread out the parm evenly, reserving a few tablespoons to sprinkle over the salads on the finish. Pro-tip on this, pat the cheese down, so there aren’t any wild fly-aways before going into the oven, which makes for nicer crisps coming out of the oven.

Bake for about 4 minutes.

Let cool COMPLETELY before trying to break apart.

Gently break into fun, funky-shaped crisps. I like to make some big, some small, and use an assortment of sizes on the salads.

 

Crab

• 1 pound fresh Dungeness crab meat
• Juice and zest 1 Meyer lemon
• 2 Tbs fresh chopped flat leave parsley
• 1 Tbs fresh chopped chives
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• Salt and pepper

 

Pinch of favorite chili, whether it’s crushed red pepper or my two personal favorites Espelette and Aleppo.

Check the crab for any shells that may have been missed. Then micro-plane the zest into the crab, toss around for even distribution.

Add the salt, black pepper, chili, and herbs. Toss again. Next, add the lemon juice and olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Cover tightly, let rest in the fridge until needed for the salad.

 

Croutons

I like to make my croutons thin and flat for this, to mirror the Parmesan crisps. It makes for an exciting play on textures and a different aesthetic on the salad overall.

Thinly slice a fresh baguette, and lay them on parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and if you want to get crazy with me, some freshly picked thyme leaves, and a sprinkle of the parm.

Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.

 

Salad Build

• Little Gem Lettuce
• Dressing
• Crab salad
• Parm Crisps
• Croutons
• Olive oil
• Lemon zest
• Salt and pepper

 

Wash and dry the Little Gems well, leaving most of the leaves whole and tearing the rest gently into large pieces.

On the bottom of your plate, make a pool of Caesar dressing, swirling outward like saucing pizza.

Place the Little Gems in a mixing bowl and lightly drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, salt, and lemon juice.

Artfully arrange the Little Gems on the plate with the swirled dressing. 

Then lay a scoop of the dressed crab on the greens. I like to make it cascade from the center outward, so it falls a little into the dressing swirl.

Tuck the 3-5 croutons and crisps into the salad leaves on each salad for a little bit of extra crunch.

Finish with the lemon zest over the whole salad, a pinch of your chili, a twist or two of fresh ground black pepper, and your remaining parm.