Recipe of the Week
July 12, 2008

Avocado and Crab Salad “Cakes” with Spicy Mayo
Makes 4 servings

These dramatic towers of fresh crab salad and avocado slices are easily shaped with the help of ring molds. You’ll need 4 molds that are about 2½ inches in diameter and 3 inches deep. You can sometimes find deep, round, open-ended metal molds or cutters in kitchenware stores. Instead, you could use lengths of 2-inch PVC pipe from the hardware store that have been sterilized in the dishwasher, or empty, clean cans of a similar size with both the tops and bottoms removed. Eight- ounce tomato sauce cans work perfectly.
Served with crusty baguettes, these “cakes” make a stunning lunch or a substantial first course.

For the spicy mayonnaise
¾ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1½ teaspoons sriacha or sambal (see Ingredients, page 000)
½ teaspoon sesame oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the avocado and crab salad
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
½ pound crabmeat, drained, picked clean of shell, and squeezed if wet
3 ripe avocados, as needed
4 teaspoons tobiko (flying fish roe), salmon roe, or other caviar

To make the spicy mayo, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, sriacha, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

To make the crab salad, whip the cream to soft mounds using an electric mixer or a whisk. Stir in the mustard, then fold in the crab and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Slice the avocados in half, remove the pits, and remove the avocado meat from the skins using a large spoon. Cut the avocados crosswise into ½-inch thick slices.

Set out 4 small plates and place a ring mold in the center of each plate. Attractively arrange enough avocado slices in the ring molds to completely cover the bottoms of the molds with the curved sides of the avocado facing out. You should have at least half the avocado slices left. Divide the crab salad between the four ring molds, smoothing the tops of the salads with the back of a spoon. Arrange as many of the remaining avocado slices as needed to cover the crab salad in the ring molds. Spoon some of the spicy mayo over the tops of the molds. Put about a teaspoon of caviar on top of the mayonnaise in each mold and remove the molds by gently lifting them straight up. Serve immediately.

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