BACCHANALIA’S BLUE CRAB FRITTER WITH AVOCADO, CITRUS AND HOT PEPPER ESSENCE

Makes 6 crab fritters

½ lb. fresh jumbo lump blue crab meat (purchase steamed, not boiled crab meat), carefully picked of shells but with large lumps still intact. ¼ cup mayonnaise (Recipe follows) or use your favorite

1 dash Tabasco

Salt to taste

Panko (Japanese bread

crumbs), for breading Peanut oil, for frying

1 ripe but firm avocado,

peeled and sliced Assorted citrus (such as orange, grapefruit, lime, honey tangerine and/or blood orange), supremed

Hot Pepper Essence

(Recipe follows)

Vanilla oil (Recipe

follows)

Fresh coriander, for garnish

Combine the crab with the mayonnaise, tabasco and salt to taste. Gently form into six balls, being careful not to compress.

Fill a shallow bowl with Panko and roll the balls in the Panko, until well coated. Fill a wide-rimmed pan or cast-iron skillet with enough peanut oil to cover the sides by 1 to 2 inches. Heat the oil to between 325 and 350 degrees. Add the fritters and fry until golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper-towel lined plate.

Serve fritters hot in bowls with avocado slices, citrus supremes and hot pepper essence. Finish with a drizzle of vanilla oil and garnish with fresh coriander.

Per fritter: 373 calories (percent of calories from fat, 39), 8 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 36 grams fat (6 grams saturated), 34 milligrams cholesterol, 363 milligrams sodium.

MAYONNAISE

1 egg yolk

1 whole egg

Juice of 1 lemon ½ tablespoon Dijon

mustard

1 – 1½ cups canola or

peanut oil

Salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste In a food processor, combine the eggs, lemon juice and mustard.

Process until well mixed. Slowly drizzle in the oil until emulsified, checking continually for texture.

Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use. Makes about 1½ cups Per tablespoon: 121 calories (percent of calories from fat, 99), 1 gram protein, trace carbohydrates, no fiber, 13 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 16 milligrams cholesterol. HOT PEPPER ESSENCE 3 fresh Thai chile peppers (or substitute with any other hot chile pepper), de-seeded and roughly chopped 1 fresh red chile pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and

roughly chopped

½ cup freshly squeezed

lime juice

¼ cup Thai fish sauce

(nam pla)

½ cup maple syrup

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for several days. Prior to use, strain through a fine sieve. Makes about 1 ½ cups.

Per tablespoon: 22 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 5 grams carbohydrates, no fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 237 milligrams sodium.

VANILLA OIL

1 cup grapeseed oil 2 vanilla beans, scraped

Combine the grapeseed oil and the vanilla beans in a Mason jar. Cap and let macerate in the refrigerator for at least one week. Vanilla oil will keep, refrigerated, up to several months. Makes one cup.

Per tablespoon: 126 calories (percent of calories from fat, 99), no protein, trace carbohydrates, no fiber, 14 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, no sodium.

CONTRIBUTED BY HENRI HOLLIS A first-course crab fritter is presented atop avocado and citrus. The year-round delicacy served at Atlanta’s Bacchanalia received a shout-out in the action-packed heist flick “Baby Driver.”