"Crab salad" news and stories

There are few better role models for those wishing to whip up fare in the style of a seasoned pro than Daniel Boulud. Boulud grew up on a farm near Lyon, France, worked under renowned European toques before making his way to New York City and in 1993 opened Daniel. The eatery not only garnered a four-star review from the New York Times but was also was named one of the 10 best restaurants in the world by the International Herald Tribune.

This video for crabmeat salad hearkens back to Boulud's early days (when both his hair and accent were a wee bit thicker!), but his technique still looks masterful. The salad -- a simple mixture of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs molded into an eye-pleasing ring -- looks ideal for warmer summer months, reminding us that sometimes the basics are all that's needed to create a succulent, four-star meal.

There's nothing quite like having the desire to use a few ingredients in your fridge, doing a quick Google search, and finding something that incorporates it all right away.

I've been on a mission to clear out my fridge and freezer as much as possible over the next week, go away for a week, and come back and restock (hopefully in a more rational and less "oh my god that looks good!" way). So the lone remnants in my fridge that caught my eye -- imitation crab, lemons, some almost-bad celery, and a jar of horseradish I don't use nearly enough. A quick "crab salad" search brought up this result over at RecipeZaar. Imitation crab meat. Celery. Lemon juice. Horseradish. It answered every whim!

Horseradish mixed with dill, mayo, and lemon and added to seafood is just divine. This shouldn't really come as a surprise considering the fact that horseradish is the backbone of cocktail sauce, but how many of us actually horse up our salads? It's a woefully underused ingredient.

And if you decide to follow the recipe, I urge you to get creative. Mix up the mayo/lemon/etc beforehand with the spices until you get a sauce that makes you wow, then add it to your collection of crab and veggies. I just did it by eye and taste, and it was so very worth it.

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