Crab Towers with Avocado & Gazpacho Salsas
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Yield
Serves 6
Ingredients
Crabmeat Salad
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or minced½ teaspoon Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon table salt ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 12 ounces lump crabmeat (or backfin), preferably Atlantic blue crabmeat, carefully picked over for shell fragmentsGazpacho Salsa
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)1 medium plum tomato, cored, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)½ small cucumber, peeled if desired, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)1 small rib celery, cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)½ small red onion, minced (about ¼ cup)½ small jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves ¾ teaspoon table salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon sherry vinegarAvocado Salsa
3 avocados (ripe), cut into ¼-inch dice¼ teaspoon ground coriander ½ teaspoon table salt ½ teaspoon ground black pepper 2 tablespoons lime juice from 1 limeGarnish
1 cup frisée 2 oranges, peeled using a paring knife and segmentedBefore You Begin
You can prepare the crabmeat salad and gazpacho salsa several hours ahead of serving, but the avocado salsa should be prepared just before assembly.
Instructions
- Whisk the olive oil, champagne vinegar, lemon zest, mustard, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Measure 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette into a medium bowl and mix with the mayonnaise. Add the crabmeat to the mayonnaise mixture and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Set the remaining vinaigrette aside.
- Toss the yellow bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, celery, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, salt, pepper, olive oil, and sherry vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Toss the avocado, coriander, salt, pepper, and lime juice in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Place a 3-inch-wide round biscuit cutter in the center of an individual plate. Use a slotted spoon to press 1/3 cup of the Avocado Salsa into the bottom of the cutter using the back of a soup spoon. Lift the cutter off the plate slightly to reveal some but not all of the avocado. Holding the cutter aloft, press 1/3 cup of the Crabmeat Salad evenly into the cutter on top of the avocado. Lift the cutter farther to reveal some but not all of the crab salad. Holding the cutter aloft, use a slotted spoon to press 1/3 cup of the Gazpacho Salsa evenly into the cutter on top of the crab. Gently lift the cutter up and away from the plate to reveal the crab tower. Repeat the procedure five more times with the remaining ingredients.
- Dress the frisée with the remaining champagne vinaigrette. Place a few sprigs of the dressed frisée on top of each crab tower and arrange the orange segments, if using, around the towers. Serve immediately.
for the crabmeat salad
for the gazpacho salsa
for the avocado salsa
to assemble
Yield
Serves 6Ingredients
Crabmeat Salad
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or minced
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon table salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
12 ounces lump crabmeat (or backfin), preferably Atlantic blue crabmeat, carefully picked over for shell fragments
Gazpacho Salsa
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
1 medium plum tomato, cored, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
½ small cucumber, peeled if desired, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
1 small rib celery, cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
½ small red onion, minced (about ¼ cup)
½ small jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
¾ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Avocado Salsa
3 avocados (ripe), cut into ¼-inch dice
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lime juice from 1 lime
Garnish
1 cup frisée
2 oranges, peeled using a paring knife and segmented
Ingredients
Crabmeat Salad
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or minced
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon table salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
12 ounces lump crabmeat (or backfin), preferably Atlantic blue crabmeat, carefully picked over for shell fragments
Gazpacho Salsa
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
1 medium plum tomato, cored, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
½ small cucumber, peeled if desired, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
1 small rib celery, cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
½ small red onion, minced (about ¼ cup)
½ small jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
¾ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Avocado Salsa
3 avocados (ripe), cut into ¼-inch dice
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lime juice from 1 lime
Garnish
1 cup frisée
2 oranges, peeled using a paring knife and segmented
Ingredients
Crabmeat Salad
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or minced
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon table salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
12 ounces lump crabmeat (or backfin), preferably Atlantic blue crabmeat, carefully picked over for shell fragments
Gazpacho Salsa
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
1 medium plum tomato, cored, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
½ small cucumber, peeled if desired, seeded, and cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
1 small rib celery, cut into ⅛-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
½ small red onion, minced (about ¼ cup)
½ small jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
¾ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Avocado Salsa
3 avocados (ripe), cut into ¼-inch dice
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lime juice from 1 lime
Garnish
1 cup frisée
2 oranges, peeled using a paring knife and segmented
Why This Recipe Works
Sometimes a dish served in a restaurant is so delicious and impressive-looking that we just have to try to make it ourselves. A crab salad molded into towers, from the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle, is one such dish, but a hotel restaurant can easily handle the recipe’s 35 ingredients. Was there a way to re-create the flavors and presentation at home, with fewer ingredients and a lot less effort? By breaking down the recipe for this appetizer into its components—crab salad, avocado–hearts of palm salsa, and gazpacho salsa—we were able to address each one separately. For the crab salad, we used lump crabmeat mixed with a little mayonnaise and champagne vinaigrette. We eliminated the hearts of palm from the salsa; it was impossible to find any that tasted decent, and tasters felt the avocado alone worked quite well. For the gazpacho salsa, we used only one kind of bell pepper rather than two and omitted the diced lime and orange segments that were in the original recipe; we also cut back on some of the seasonings, limiting ourselves to sherry vinegar and olive oil. Garnishes were simplified to frisée and orange segments. Now that we’d streamlined the components, we had to assemble the dish. The restaurant uses timbale rings, but we found our workaday biscuit cutter did the job just fine.
Before You Begin
You can prepare the crabmeat salad and gazpacho salsa several hours ahead of serving, but the avocado salsa should be prepared just before assembly.
Instructions
- Whisk the olive oil, champagne vinegar, lemon zest, mustard, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Measure 3 tablespoons of the vinaigrette into a medium bowl and mix with the mayonnaise. Add the crabmeat to the mayonnaise mixture and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Set the remaining vinaigrette aside.
- Toss the yellow bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, celery, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, salt, pepper, olive oil, and sherry vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Toss the avocado, coriander, salt, pepper, and lime juice in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Place a 3-inch-wide round biscuit cutter in the center of an individual plate. Use a slotted spoon to press 1/3 cup of the Avocado Salsa into the bottom of the cutter using the back of a soup spoon. Lift the cutter off the plate slightly to reveal some but not all of the avocado. Holding the cutter aloft, press 1/3 cup of the Crabmeat Salad evenly into the cutter on top of the avocado. Lift the cutter farther to reveal some but not all of the crab salad. Holding the cutter aloft, use a slotted spoon to press 1/3 cup of the Gazpacho Salsa evenly into the cutter on top of the crab. Gently lift the cutter up and away from the plate to reveal the crab tower. Repeat the procedure five more times with the remaining ingredients.
- Dress the frisée with the remaining champagne vinaigrette. Place a few sprigs of the dressed frisée on top of each crab tower and arrange the orange segments, if using, around the towers. Serve immediately.
for the crabmeat salad
for the gazpacho salsa
for the avocado salsa
to assemble
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