Avocado Crab Rolls

By Mike_67

Your Best Avocados Contest Winner!

by James Ransom
• A&M's Testing Notes:
WHO: meganvt01 is an attorney in Annapolis who loves to cook with local seafood and produce whenever possible.
WHAT: A butter-toasted roll bursting with crab and bound by avocado mayonnaise.
HOW: Like the best seafood rolls, less is more here: just puree the mayo, chop the vegetables, and fold it all together. Don't skip the butter lettuce during assembly!
WHY WE LOVE IT: We admire meganvt01's scrappiness -- when you move and lobster stops being local, just sub in the local seafood!
• meganvt01's Notes:
The first summer after my husband and I met, I made my first trek to the East End of Long Island where he spent his summers growing up, and had my first bite of a lobster roll. The sweet simplicity was a revelation. I look forward to one each time we visit our family. Lobsters certainly aren't local here in Maryland, but sweet blue crab is abundant this year. So I based this dish on my favorite parts of a lobster roll, with the avocado playing up the richness of the dish in a way that helps humble crab be a bit more exotic. We can't get the classic top split hot dog buns here - so I trim off the crusts from regular buns and toast the sides in butter. If I were at the Clam Bar in Amagansett - I'd have a Red Stripe with my lobster roll. I think it makes a nice pairing here too. This recipe makes more than enough avocado mayo for 2 rolls - so use the extra for a tasty BLT or more rolls! I had 2 people to serve and 1 avocado that was perfectly ripe so I made this for 2. Easily scales upwards.

Makes 2 rolls

Ingredients

• Avocado Mayo:
• 1/2 ripe hass avocado - rough chop
• 1/3 cup good quality mayo
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon champagne vinegar
• Avocado crab rolls:
• 1 cup crab meat - I used blue crab but use your best quality local or available crab (or even lobster if you had too :))
• 1/2 ripe hass avocado - chopped
• 2 tablespoons red pepper, minced
• 2 tablespoons celery, ribs removed, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 2 hot dog buns (top split preferred - if not, trim the side crust off to leave a flat space for toasting)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3-4 leaves buttercrunch (butter) lettuce - optional
• Old Bay seasoning

Details

Servings 2

Preparation

Step 1

Avocado Mayo:
1. In a food processor, combine all ingredients and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Avocado crab rolls:
1. In a bowl, gently combine the crab, red pepper, and celery. Add spoonfuls of the avocado mayo to adjust the moistness to your liking. For my two rolls, I used approximately 3 tablespoons of the avo mayo.
2. Fold in the avocado gently. Taste for seasoning.
3. Assembly - OPTIONAL to use the buttercrisp lettuce - I like the crunch on mine - my husband and son prefer to leave the "salad" out of their roll. Its up to you. Layer (or not) a few leaves of lettuce in the bun. Heap on the crab salad. Sprinkle with Old Bay and top with chives.