Most of us are now undergoing the mid phase of food coma, aren't we ragazzi? Annalena hopes that all have had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and she salutes doubly those who worked to cook, and to clean. Thank goodness for the Guyman, who followed Annalena around, and picked up every dropped scrap, cleaned every pot, and made the event pleasurable for Annalena, who did not have to worry about the mess she made.
Annalena has seen a TREMENDOUS number of hits on the spaetzle recipe she posted. It has outpolled the number one recipe (her braciole), by a factor of four (no joke, carini). So, if you are reading this and also read the spaetzle recipe, Annalena wants to know what is it about that recipe that is driving the interest? She is curious because (i) it is not fast (ii) it is not healthy (iii) it does not use favorite ingredients and (iv) it is not familiar food to most of it. Hence, help the woman.
Ok, intros out of the way, you might think that the LAST thing anyone needs right now is a rich, calorie choked recipe. Well, ragazzi, Christmas is less than a month away, and New Year's just a scad more. Are you ready? Annalena is not. But this recipe, prepared yesterday, was a winner. A BIG winner. So, put it in your recipe box, and have it handy.
It is not cheap. As Annalena has said before, crabmeat is expensive. There are reasons for it, as anyone who has picked crabs can tell you. Getting a pound of good quality crab meat, is not easy. So splurge. Make it once. Or twice. And eat a small portion. Or eat a big one and go work out. Even you folks who don't cook often can do this one. So, let's go, shall we?
You will need a pound of the best quality crab meat you can get. Annalena used Dungeness lump meat, but you should use what you can get. Put it to the side, while you prep the dairy: half a block of cream cheese (four ounces), cut into cubes, and 8 ounces of creme fraiche. Put this in a pot, and melt the cream cheese into the creme fraiche at low heat. At first, it will look like you did something wrong, as water will begin leaching out of the cheese into the pan. Persevere ragazzi, it is all good. When it's done, you'll have a cohesive white sauce.
Next, get out your food processor, and put in two or three peeled garlic cloves, a nine ounce package of thawed artichoke hearts, the juice of a lemon, and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. Also, about half a cup of grated parmesan cheese (this is not an Italian recipe, so Annalena is going to let you cheat and mix dairy and fish). Process this until you have a nice, even puree. Take this, and mix it with the cheese mixture, off the heat, and then stir in the pound of crabmeat.
Annalena wanted to make herself a sandwich at this point, but refrained. Put it in a ceramic dish, and run it under a preheat broiler, for about 3-4 minutes, or until you just start seeing brown spots.
DONE. And then get out the crackers. Take a couple yourself, and then stand back, because your guests will attack this. In theory , this is to serve 12-14 people. Annalena laughs. Six of us damaged the recipe irreparably. Such is the holidays, ragazzi. Go for it.
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