Recipe - Parmesan-Curry Popcorn

YIELD: 8 SERVINGS
2 cup Flour
1 cup Parmesan; grated
One half teaspoon Salt
One fourth teaspoon Pepper
2 Egg; lightly beaten
One fourth teaspoon Tabasco
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 Lemon; juiced
Zest of 1 lemon; finely
grated
One half teaspoon Garlic; minced
One half teaspoon Thyme
1 tablespoon Olive oil; extravirgin
1 cup Oil; for frying
8 Softshell crabs; cleaned
8 Rolls, hard; halved
2 md Tomatoes; thinly cut or sliced up
2 Bn Arugula; large stems
removed

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour with the Parmesan, salt and
pepper. Make a well in the center and add the eggs and One fourth cup of water.
Beat the eggs and water together and gradually incorporate the flour
mixture to form a smooth batter. Add 1/8 teaspoon of the Tabasco and set
aside to rest for 30 minutes. In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise,
lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, thyme, olive oil and the remaining 1/8
teaspoon Tabasco. Whisk to blend and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
(The recipe can be prepared to this point up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate
the batter and mayonnaise. If the batter becomes very thick, thin it out
with a little water.) Preheat the oven to 250F. In a large skillet, heat
the peanut oil over moderately high heat to 350F. Dredge the crabs in the
remaining 1 cup flour and shake off the excess. Dip 4 of the crabs in the
batter, let some of the batter drip off, and then fry them in the skillet,
turning once, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper
towels, place on a heatproof platter and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with
the 4 remaining crabs. Scoop out some of the bread from the center of the
rolls to hollow them slightly. Spread 2 heaping teaspoons of the mayonnaise
on each half. Assemble the sandwiches by placing 2 or 3 slices of tomato
and 4 or 5 arugula leaves on the bottom half of each roll. Set the fried
crabs on top and close the sandwiches. Serve immediately. Serves 8. Recipe
from Food & Wine, June, 1991.

Submitted By WARING@IMA.INFOMAIL.COM (SAM WARING) On 4 JUN 1995 073117
~0600

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini