This recipe was inspired by my mom, who is an amazing chef. Our family’s favorite time of the year is Christmas time, and since I have been alive my mom has pulled out all the stops to make Christmas Eve dinner so special. This past year, her soup course was a celery velouté with marinated crab. On Christmas Day, we spent the whole day drinking champagne and eating the leftover crab with bagel chips or sea salt crackers. Although, her crab most likely puts mine to shame, I decided to reinvent it into a spicy summer crab roll.
8 oz jumbo lump crab
½ red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/3 cup celery, finely chopped
1 lime, juice
Mendocino Spices All-Purpose seasoning, to taste
6 brioche rolls
Chili Butter:
2 sticks salted butter, softened
2 tsp Mendocino Spices smoked paprika
1 ½ tsp Mendocino Spices ground de arbol
1 tsp Mendocino Spices Aleppo pepper
¼ tsp Mendocino Spices ground black pepper
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, grated
½ lime, juiced (optional)
– Prepare crab. Gently mix crab, red bell pepper, celery, and lime. Season to taste with a few heavy pinches of Mendocino Spices All-Purpose seasoning.
– Lather the outside of the brioche rolls with chili butter and toast in a medium skillet over medium low heat, until bread is toasty.
– Scoop marinated crab into buns and top with additional melted chili butter. Serve immediately while warm and enjoy.