Dartmouth Crab & Lobster Salad
Submitted by eschief
Elegant crab and lobster salad plated with a fennel-orange side salad and a silky Courchamps sauce made with crab, tarragon, and Dijon. A refined no-cook seafood dish for special occasions.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
0 minREADY
2 hrsThis is the kind of composed salad you’d find at a fine dining restaurant in a coastal New England town. Three distinct components come together on one plate: lump crab and lobster seasoned simply with lemon, a bright fennel and orange salad with blanched zest, and a velvety Courchamps sauce blended from crab, tarragon, and Dijon mustard.
No cooking required beyond blanching a bit of orange zest. Everything is fresh, chilled, and assembled with intention.
The Courchamps sauce is the real discovery here. Pureed crab with olive oil, lemon, soy sauce, and fresh herbs creates something that’s part vinaigrette, part aioli, and entirely addictive. Drizzle it around the plate and let your guests feel like they’re dining harborside.
Chef Tips
- Use the best quality lump crab and lobster you can get. This dish has nowhere to hide mediocre seafood.
- Blanch the orange zest julienne to remove bitterness. Five minutes in boiling water does it.
- Slice the fennel as thin as possible, ideally with a mandoline. Paper-thin fennel has a delicate anise sweetness; thick slabs are fibrous and overwhelming.
- Chill everything well before plating. Cold seafood salads lose their elegance when they hit the table warm.
Ingredients
Directions
In medium bowl, combine lump crabmeat and lobster.
Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper, tossing gently to mix. Cover and refrigerate.
Fennel and Orange Salad: Using a vegetable peeler, remove ¼ of the zest from 1 orange.
Cut in very fine julienne strips. Blanch in small pan of boiling water 5 minutes.
Drain and set aside in medium bowl. Peel oranges. Section oranges into same bowl, then squeeze in juice from membranes. Set aside.
Trim fennel, reserving tops. Remove tough outer layers of fennel bulb.
Cut fennel bulb in thin slices. Add to orange mixture. Chop 1 teaspoon feathery fennel tops and add to salad.
Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate.
Courchamps Sauce: In blender, combine flaked crab, lemon juice, anisette, chopped parsley, tarragon, soy sauce, and mustard.
Blend until pureed. With blender running, gradually add ¼ cup olive oil in a thin stream until blended.
Stir in salt and pepper to taste.
To serve: On each of 4 serving plates, arrange mounds of crab salad and fennel salad. Garnish with sauce, Italian parsley, fennel sprigs, and lemon wedges.
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