Weekly Recipe: Crabe Pithiviers By Chef Angie Mar

Chef Angie Mar has risen to fame in New York City’s food scene and beyond, thanks to her impeccable talents for innovation and French technique. Her restaurant Les Trois Chevaux is a Manhattan must, and the flaky Crabe Pithiviers is one of the most popular plates on the menu.

See also: 18 Rapid Fire Questions With Wolfgang Puck

But you don’t need to get a reservation to enjoy this head-turning delight because chef Mar has done us the great honor of sharing her recipe for Crabe Pithiviers in full below.

This dish uses Dungeness crab, a frangipane of Bay scallops, and oloroso sherry to create an addictive and complex flavor that will absolutely wow your guests. This decadent dish is top shelf, but the step-by-step guide demystifies the process so anyone can become a celebrity chef, if only for an evening.

This recipe serves four diners, with one pithivier and ¼ cup of sauce per person. It takes about two hours all told with prep and active cooking until ready to serve, so plan accordingly.

Crabe Pithiviers

Ingredients:

• 2 (14-oz.) pkg. frozen all-butter puff pastry, thawed (like Dufour)
• Scallop Frangipane
• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (130g)
• 4 tsp. granulated sugar (15g)1½ tsp. kosher salt (5g)
• 1 large egg yolk
• ⅓ pound bay scallops, adductor muscle removed (160g)
• ¼ cup heavy cream (50g)
• ¼ vanilla bean, seeds scraped (pod reserved for another use)
• ½ tsp. finely ground white pepper (1g)
• 1 cup finely ground, bleached almond flour (85g)
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (40g, 1.4 oz.), plus more for surface
• 1 pound picked crab claw meat, or lump crabmeat (460g) (if cooking and picking your own crab, reserve the shells for the sauce)
• 1 large egg, beaten
  
  Sauce

• Reserved crab shells from crabmeat, or shells from ¼ pound extra-large shrimp shells, shrimp meat reserved for another use
• 3 tbsp. brandy (50g)
• 4 cups veal stock (homemade or store-bought) (990g)
• ½ cup good-quality oloroso sherry (125g)
• Healthy pat of good-quality cultured butter, such as Beurre de Baratte (about 2 Tbsp.)
• Kosher salt, to taste

Directions:

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll each sheet of puff pastry to ¼-inch-thickness. Using a ruler, pencil and paper, trace a 4½-inch round and a 6¼-inch round—cut out and use as guides for cutting pastry. You’ll need 4 (4½-inch) pastry rounds and 4 (6¼-inch) pastry rounds.
2. Place pastry rounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate while you make the filling.

Scallop Frangipane

1. Beat butter, sugar and salt in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until it doubles in size, about 3 minutes.
2. Transfer butter mixture to a food processor and add egg yolk, scallops, heavy cream, vanilla seeds and white pepper; blend until smooth, scrape down the bowl twice, about 2 minutes.
3. Add almond flour and all-purpose flour and combine until smooth, scraping down the bowl twice, about 1 minute.
4. Transfer to the medium bowl, and very gently fold in the crab meat. Try not to break up the crab—the goal is to have gorgeous crabmeat bound together by the frangipane.
5. Once the crab is incorporated, divide the mixture into four loose balls, and refrigerate until the mixture firms up just a bit, about 30 minutes.

To Cook

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Place all four of the 4½-inch pastry circles on individual squares of parchment paper, about 1 inch larger than the pastry itself.
3. Prick gently with a fork all over to prevent the pastry from rising unevenly.
4. Working quickly, so as not to melt the frangipane, form the (about 1 cup frangipane per ball) balls into as even and smooth a ball as possible, placing in the middle of the pastry, leaving a ⅓-inch border. Score the border of the pastry with the broad side of a fork and brush lightly with egg wash.
5. Lay the larger, 6¼-inch pastry round over the top of the frangipane, gently smoothing out any lumps and bumps.
6. Line up the rim of the top layer of pastry with the bottom layer, and lightly prick the top layer of the rim with a fork to ensure the edge will rise evenly. Gently press to seal the top layer and the bottom layer all around.
7. Repeat with the remaining pithiviers.
8. Brush the pithiviers with the beaten egg, making sure to seal the sides where the pastry rounds meet.
9. At this point, run your fingers around the side of the pastry once it’s egg washed to even out where the edges meet, and help to seal the edges.
10. Working from the center of the pastry out, lightly score the top and sides of the pastry with the edge of a spoon held at a 45-degree angle to create a pinwheel pattern.
11. Let the pithiviers rest at room temperature until the first egg wash is a bit tacky, about 15 minutes, and then brush with egg wash once more.
12. Let them rest for another 10 minutes to let the second coat of egg wash set, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place in the oven.
13. Bake until golden brown, rotating the baking sheet once or twice during the baking process, 35 to 45 minutes.
14. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.

Sauce

1. Dry roast the crab or shrimp shells in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until blistered and golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Deglaze with the brandy. Add the veal stock and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until liquid is reduced by two-thirds, about 33 minutes (should have 1⅓ cups liquid).
4. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium saucepan, pressing the shells to extract as much liquid as possible.
5. Discard shells. Set the saucepan with the sauce base aside until the pithiviers are ready to serve.
6. Once the pithiviers come out of the oven, we can finish our sauce.
7. Bring the sauce base to a boil over high heat.
8. Add the sherry and reduce until it lightly coats the back of a spoon, about 12 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
9. Remove from heat, add the butter and swirl to incorporate, adding gloss and thickness.
10. Plate each pithivier and surround generously with the sauce. Serve immediately.

Visit Ange Mar at Les Trois Chevaux in New York City and follow her on Instagram for more delicious dishes and inspiration.