Cajun Crab Jambalaya

Ingredients:

0.75 lb crab

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup green peppers, chopped

Sherry Cooking Wine

1/2 tbsp all purpose flour

1.5 tbsp crushed tomatoes

Weber New Orleans Cajun seasoning

Dash of paprika

Dash of garlic powder

Dash of hot sauce

1/8 cup each of flour and semolina

1 cup cooked white rice (or any rice of your choice)

I had half of a crab. I pulled apart the legs and kept them intact.  I pulled all the meat out from the shell and the claw.  Keep the meat as intact as possible. Collect and add any juices that you get to the sauce below.  Keep the cleaned crab aside. 

Heat some butter in a pan. Add onions and green peppers. Sautee until translucent. The onions and green peppers will start sticking to the pan. Use some Sherry cooking wine to deglaze the pan.  Add some more butter and sprinkle the all purpose flour. Keep stirring constantly so as to not let the flour to clump up. Add some water or broth to get the mixture going. Add the tomatoes and keep stirring. The flour should have thickened by now lending a thick gravy kind of texture.  Add all the seasonings - cajun seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, hot sauce, and some salt. Mix well and bring it to a boil. You may have to add some water or broth through this process. You want a thick but flowing gravy.  Set aside.

We are going to pan sear the crabs. So have the flour and semolina mixture ready. Add cajun seasoning and paprika to this mixture (Quantity depends on your taste).  Now dab the legs in the flour mixture.  Add some butter to the pan and pan sear the legs.  Cook covered for 3 to 4 minutes on low. Since you are using a steel pan the flour mixture will stick to the pan. Keep deglazing with the Sherry whenever possible. Set aside. Take some butter and now add the pulled crab meat. Sprinkle the flour mixture.  Cover and cook for a few minutes.  Uncover and sautee the meat around. Set aside. 

Now for the final step.  Add some butter and some wine and deglaze the pan.  Add the white rice. Keep the flame on high and sautee the rice around. Add few spoonfuls of the sauce we prepared earlier tossing the rice around in the pan.  Add some salt and black pepper. Now add the cooked crab meat and toss around.

To plate the dish, serve the rice and whole crab legs as shown. Drizzle some sauce on the top.

Note:

- It is important to use a stainless steel pan for this recipe. One cannot deglaze well in a nonstick pan.

- I have used many cajun seasonings and this particular brand I have used has come the closest to the real deal.

- If you are not a crab or seafood eater, substitute with chicken and sausage.

- I had some sauce leftover so adjust your quantities accordingly. Or you can just have some extra sauce on your hand for another meal.