The season for crawfish boils is taking off. Here’s how to upscale some of those leftover mudbugs in a fancy looking appetizer salad!
Ingredients
- 1 large fennel (keep the fronds)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 pinch coarse salt (to taste)
- juice of ½ lemon
- 6–8 small red potatoes, left over from crawfish boil* and peeled
- 1 heaped tablespoon mayonnaise
- ½ tablespoon capers, drained
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fennel fronds
- 1 cup crawfish tails
- Fresh herbs to taste for garnish
Preparation
Cut the fennel stalks (keep for chowder) and slice the bulb top to bottom in thin slices (about 1/4 inch).
Mix garlic, salt and lemon juice into olive oil. Brush slices with the olive oil mixture and grill in a grill pan until soft and charred. Transfer to a plate.
Mix mayonnaise with chopped capers and fennel fronds. Crush the potatoes and mix with mayonnaise. Mix in 2/3 of the crawfish tails. Keep the rest for garnish.
Plate family-style: In the middle of the plate, layer first the crushed potatoes and crawfish, then the grilled fennel, and then top with the remaining crawfish tails. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve with crusty artisanal bread.
* Potatoes from a crawfish boil soaked up all of those flavors. Use other potatoes if you don’t have any left over: Boil in the skin, peel, crush and season to taste.
