Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Cook's Illustrated Crab Stuffed Flounder


This looks and tastes fancy, but comes together surprisingly quickly, and it's delicious.  Cook's Illustrated has another hit at our house with this Crab Stuffed Flounder.  The stuffing can be made ahead, which is what I did, and the final product takes very little work.  I can't afford real crab meat, which is like $20 per pound, so we used the imitation Krab meat, and it was still delicious.  Owen and Aaron gave this an 8, and Noah and I gave it a 9.  I had more stuffing than I needed, and it is delicious as a sandwich.  The calories for 5 portions, while not exact because I did have leftover stuffing, come out to about 370.  Here's what to do:

6 T unsalted butter
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced
1 t Old Bay seasoning
1 dash cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
salt
1/2 c heavy cream
1 lb imitation Krab meat
4 T minced fresh parsley
1 T fresh lemon juice
5 skinless flounder fillets
1 c bread crumbs

Melt 3 T butter over medium heat.  Add the onion, bell pepper, Old Bay, 1/2 t salt, and the cayenne.  Cook until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.  stir in the cream.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the mixture is very thick, about 5 minutes.
Transfer the cream mixture to a bowl, gently fold in the crab meat, 2 T of the parsley, and the lemon juice.  Refrigerate the filling until chilled, about 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400.  Pat the fish dry with paper towels, then season with salt.  Roll the fish around the stuffing, then lay the fish seam side down in a buttered 9x13 baking dish.  Melt the remaining 3 T butter and brush it over the fish.  Toss the bread crumbs with the remaining 2 T parsley and sprinkle it over the fish.  Bake until the bread crumbs are golden brown and the fish flakes apart when gently prodded with a knife, about 15-20 minutes.  Serve.

1 comment:

  1. I sent a comment, but for some reason it did not post. I have made this before, but not as a stuffing for fish. Could you not use canned crab meat? It is really good. We like fish, so maybe we will try this. Love mom

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