Saturday, June 14, 2014

FFwD: Crab-Avocado Ravioli

I did not have a phenomenal week, as far as dinners go. Things just went wrong at every turn, all week long. Is there a full moon or something?

This week, the French Fridays with Dorie gang made Crab-Avocado Ravioli. This is supposed to be two thin slices of avocado that encompasses a crab/lime/cilantro mixture in the shape of a ravioli. I knew right off the bat that I'd be turning this into a salad. Dorie says to use your mandolin to slice the avocado WITH THE PIT STILL IN. Maybe that would work if you have access to a fancy, restaurant-grade mandolin, but there was no chance my neon green cheapy would be up to the task, and I'm pretty sure I'd lose my fingertips (best case scenario) along the way. No thanks.

I don't think crab is local here in Naples, which means that it doesn't exist. I've never seen it in the store, in any form. The Commissary sells one-pound cans of claw meat, so I bought one of those. Mistake, though I don't know what my alternative was. Maybe I should have made this with shrimp. The crab tasted like the South Street Seaport in Manhattan smelled, circa 1989 (aka horrible). Additionally, I couldn't get my hands on cilantro, so the crab mixture was a disgusting bust.

My avocados were crispy. Felt soft enough on the outside, but inside they were inedible. Bust.
I wish this was the first time I had this problem with Commissary avocados.
Matt attempted to salvage this salad by sauteeing up some zucchini, since the avocado was totally useless. Even still, I couldn't stomach it. The crab was flat-out too fishy and wrong.
That's a lot of nasty crab.
So, this recipe was disgusting for me, but I am certain that I'd love it with fresh and ripe ingredients. Bummer. If I end up back in the DC or Norfolk area for our next tour, you can bet that this will be one of the first recipes I try once I have access to Chesapeake Blue Crab again. Until then, I'll be avoiding crab.

This week, I also made up the Garbure from the Supermarket. I never made this recipe because I never make ham, and therefore had no ham bone to use. Fortunately, my friend offered me one that was sitting in her freezer, so I snatched it up.
I'm thirsty.
I should have read the recipe closer. I didn't realize that it's meant to boil for three whole hours. I remembered that Doristas said that they put their vegetables in halfway through so they didn't dissolve, but when I read the instructions, I thought it only boiled for an hour. My bad. My vegetables disintegrated, and I oversalted it. By a lot. I hated it the first night. The second, I added more water, potatoes, carrots, and beans to absorb some of the salt. It helped, but the whole thing still tasted like hot ham water to me.
No thanks.

8 comments:

  1. Awww... I'm sorry about your week! That does not sound fun. It was a full moon and Friday the 13th all wrapped into one, so that was probably it!!

    The ravioli were ok. I was able to make a few that turned out, but didn't want to waste the rest by smashing them up, so I mixed together the remainder of the ingredients and made mini-tostadas. I think you'll find that almost everyone went with a salad. But certainly it would be tough if you couldn't find any of the right ingredients! Good for you for trying!

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  2. That's too bad. I've yet to make the garbure (as my partner has decided he's avoiding meat for the foreseeable future). I really liked the "ravioli," but would probably just make it as a salad next time. Ingredients are everything, aren't they?

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  3. Yeah, I wasn't a fan either. I also had to use canned crab meat and it was interesting, to say the least. Sorry about the garbure - that one tasted great for me, but then again, I boiled out too much of the liquid and ended up not so much with soup as with hash. LOL - love the video. I have never see Arrested Development, but it looks good.

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  4. Sometimes, this happens... to every one. At least you tried the two recipes and can now move on to others! 5 STARS for trying!

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  5. I think there is a northern african crab that you can get in Italian. A friend of mine made the dish with tuna and love it too.

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  6. Oh no :-(

    The next tour may put you next to better grocery stores, but I don't know how the stories could be as intriguing as your time in Italy!

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  7. I'm sorry you didn't like either of these recipes :-( I was disappointed by the canned crab that I bought too. And it wasn't even cheap. I hope you like next week's recipe better!

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  8. Well that sucks. The term "crispy" is never good when used in the context of avocados.

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