Crab Meat au Gratin
Dear SOS: I am in search of my grandmother’s favorite dish. She lived in Santa Monica and dined at The Lobster in the early ‘60s. They served a crab au gratin, which she has described to me as delicious.
Casey Ann Coleman
Via e-mail
Dear Casey: You’re a good kid. The Lobster restaurant has a new life with chef Allyson Thurber, but crab au gratin is no longer on the menu. Here’s a recipe from a different Los Angeles restaurant, though, reported by Bert Greene, who wrote about San Francisco’s annual crab festival in 1986 for The Times. Green was a judge. “Crab au gratins come and go, but you will never taste a better version than the following handiwork of L.A. chef Raymond Marshall,” Greene wrote.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the green onions and cook 1 minute. Add the garlic, mushrooms and cilantro. Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes. Stir in the pepper and creme fraiche.
Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter with the flour in a small bowl until smooth. Stir it into the creme fraiche mixture and simmer over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Stir the crab meat into the saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the crab is heated through, about 8 minutes.
Heat the broiler. Transfer the crab mixture to a 1-quart casserole or 6 ramekins. Sprinkle the top with the Jack and Parmesan cheeses. Place 4 inches beneath the broiler to lightly brown, 2 to 3 minutes; watch them carefully. Serve immediately.
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