Crab

This soup can be pureed by pressing it through a strainer or a food mill. It can also be pureed in a blender and then strained.

We recommend using a sturdy food mill (available at cookware stores) to help produce a thick stew base from simmered vegetables and fish. Alternatively, you can use a large heavy-duty mesh sieve to strain the seafood broth. Then push through enough fish and vegetables to make 13 cups of stew base. Serve cioppino with sourdough toasts.

"My husband and I were married at the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada," writes Janie Cloutier of South Lake Tahoe, California, "and we celebrate our wedding anniversary at the restaurant there every year. The crab cakes are superb." These crab cakes are loaded with fresh crabmeat, which gives them a delicate texture.

Cooking the sea bass in parchment paper is a great technique — it keeps the pistachio topping in place and allows you to brown both the fish and the topping in the skillet (the parchment becomes translucent so you can see the browning. Since Gras is on the West Coast, he likes to use Dungeness crab when he makes this dish. We've substituted jumbo lump crabmeat because it's available year round nationwide.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. If you prefer your soup a little thicker, crush 6 saltines into fine crumbs and add them at the end of the procedure, when you add the crab.

A perfect crab cake is plump and moist with a crisp crust and has enough spice to accent, not overpower, the crab.

A seafood spread such as this one—especially when paired with crisp benne-seed (sesame-seed) wafers—has long been a popular cocktail nibble in South Carolina's Low Country.

In manor-house cooking, meat, poultry, and fish were preserved by being "potted" — minced and combined with seasonings, then packed in a container and covered with a layer of fat or butter. The fat was removed before serving, and the contents of the container spread on toasts or crackers.

This appetizer has been one of the restaurant's most popular since it opened in 1950. For a pretty presentation, arrange the crab legs in Belgian endive spears, and garnish with cucumber and radicchio.

"I'm hoping to get the recipe for a terrific appetizer I tried at Hamiltons' at First & Main in Charlottesville, Virginia," says Sue Carter of Murieta, California. "The seafood fritters came with lettuce leaves (to wrap around the fritters) and a spicy sauce."

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 20 min

"Andaluca restaurant in Seattle offers a delicious—and beautiful—green gazpacho served with a crabmeat topping," says Elida D. Wilson of Olympia, Washington. "Would chef Wayne Johnson be willing to share his recipe?"

This springtime dish would go nicely with sliced red and yellow tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette; offer corn muffins, too. End the dinner with wedges of chocolate mousse cake.

These sophisticated crab quesadillas need only six minutes of stove time. Citrus, green onions and Monterey Jack cheese provide delicate flavor; when teamed with a salad, the quesadillas make a light and lovely meal. Pour a dry Gewürztraminer, and finish with melon accented with fresh mint.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

We topped these rolls with a combination of plain tobiko (flying-fish roe) as well as seasoned and wasabi-flavored tobiko and golden whitefish caviar. The specialty tobiko and caviar are available from the mail-order source given below.