(From Don’s Seafood Cookbook, 1958)
Don’s Seafood Restaurant, located in Lafayette, Louisiana, has been serving authentic Cajun food to generations of local seafood lovers since 1934. As a newlywed living in New England in the 1960s, I cooked this dish for new friends who had never heard of Cajun food, though I had to go easy on the cayenne pepper.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup chopped white onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 lb. unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 can evaporated milk, (13 ounces)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 lb, lump crabmeat picked clean
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, saute onions and celery in melted butter until vegetables are translucent for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Mix flour into sauteed vegetables, gradually adding evaporated milk. Stir constantly until mixture becomes smooth and creamy.
- Add half the cheddar cheese and stir until melted.
- Reduce heat and add the egg yolks, salt and pepper.
- Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and fold in the crab meat, being careful not to break up the lumps.
- Pour the mixture into a deep buttered casserole dish and top with remaining cheese.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 10 or 15 minutes and the cheese becomes bubbly.
Louisiana crabs are especially sweet, but local crabs from all areas in the United States are good in this quick and easy dish.
