Recipes

Panera Bread® of Iowa

http://www.paneraiowa.com/

Deviled Chile Crab with Thai Basil

This dish is the perfect focal point for any spring or summer brunch.

Excerpted from The Panera Bread Cookbook
© 2005 Panera Bread. All rights reserved.

• 6 live Blue or Dungenesscrabs
• 1 bird or serrano chile, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon hot Hungarian or Spanish paprika
• 1 tablespoon dried mustard
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco® sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, minced
• 2 cups Panera sourdough bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup fresh Thai basil, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Olive oil, for drizzling

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place crabs in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Cook until all are bright red, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove and cool. Remove the top shell from the crabs, keeping it intact. Rinse and reserve. Pick out all the meat (from claws, legs and behind the head) and discard the gills. Set picked meat aside.

In a large bowl, combine crab, chile, paprika, dried mustard, Tabasco sauce, soy sauce, cream, eggs, breadcrumbs and all but 2 tablespoons of basil. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the cavity of each crab top-shell with stuffing and bake on a sheet pan, stuffing side up, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a crust begins to form. Serve with a drizzle of oil and a sprinkle of reserved basil.

serves six