Crab Lovers’ Crab Louie

Crab Lover's Crab Louie

🦀 🧡 Crab Lovers’ Crab Louie 🧡 🦀

Fabulous Dungeness Crab & Louie Dressing are the stars of this show. Tomato wedges, asparagus spears, cucumber slices, and hard boiled eggs definitely need not apply. 👎

This is a Crab Lover’s Crab Louie Salad. Cold crunchy shredded iceberg lettuce is lightly dressed with the terrific Louie Dressing, then a giant mound of Dungeness leg and shoulder crabmeat is piled on top. More dressing, a sprinkle of chopped chives and cracked black pepper. That’s it. Maybe a squeeze of lemon. It’s simply scrumptious with no rubbery eggs nor off-peak vegetables to distract from that stellar gift from the sea.

Apparently, no one can agree on the origins of the Crab Louie, but it is widely known that it is from the West Coast – San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle all have claims to the recipe. That being said, a bold wine pairing from the West Coast is in order. Here we serve the salad with Rombauer Vineyards 2022 Carneros Chardonnay.

The rich and buttery characteristics of many California Chardonnays complement the sweetness and delicate texture of crab meat. The wine’s acidity can also help cut through the richness of the creamy dressing. Rombauer is famous for its complex aromas, intense fruit flavors, and lively acidity.

Crab Lover’s Crab Louie Recipe

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Picasso’s Scallop, Potato Mousseline, Jus de Veau

Still Life with Fruit Dish and Yellow Vase by Pablo Picasso
The Original Still Life with Fruit Dish and Yellow Vase at The Bellagio by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Re-Creating Picasso Restaurant
At The Bellagio, Las Vegas

If you’ve been following Taste With The Eyes for a while, you know that I love to re-create dishes. Not just the food but the entire experience, including the ambience right down to the china, glass, and silver.

One of my most cherished creative outlets is to re-create historical events through food. The most popular by far is the re-enactment of Julia Child’s first meal in France in 1948 including her recipe for Sole Meunière.

Another favorite is the reimagining Julia’s kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts where we sneak a peek at her kitchen table with husband Paul as they enjoy a light supper that begins with Vichyssoise on a hot August night.

Our evening at Picasso Restaurant by Chef Julian Serrano in Las Vegas was worthy of re-creating. We had a fantastic meal where we enjoyed several fabulous courses, were awed by the ambiance and artwork, and thoroughly impressed by the service.

The Chef’s menu is drawn from his own background in the regional cuisines of Spain and France, and in honor of Pablo Picasso’s Spanish heritage and years the master artist spent living in France.

The Day Boat Scallop, Potato Mousseline, Jus de Veau course was especially captivating for its diminutive yet powerful presentation, combination of flavors and textures, and quality. If a restaurant is serving only one scallop, it had better be perfect!

Picasso's Scallop, Potato Mousseline, Jus de Veau
Taste With The Eyes Re-Creation of Picasso’s Scallop Course

icasso Restaurant, Bellagio, Las Vegas

Picasso Restaurant, Bellagio, Las VegasPicasso’s Scallop Recipe

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Baja Sea Bass

Baja Sea Bass

Baja Sea Bass
Recipe by Terranea Resort Executive Chef
Andrew Vaughan

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy in partnership with Terranea Resort recently hosted their annual Palos Verdes Pastoral Garden-to-Table Dining Experience. This year Pastoral highlighted the necessity of butterflies, bees, birds and other pollinators.

Sustainable food proponent, Chef Andrew Vaughan, created the event’s garden-to-table menu using the finest local sustainable seafood and the freshest ingredients and flavors to present delicious and thoughtful Low Carbon Footprint courses paired with an inspired selection of wines. (from PVPLC.org)

Palos Verdes Pastoral, Terranea Resort

The fish, Farmed True Striped Bass (aka Baja Sea Bass) has beautiful striped skin. The meat is white with a reddish-pink bloodline. It has a higher fat content than wild fish, providing excellent taste and texture.

Baja Sea Bass

This sushi-quality fish can be enjoyed raw, or in any variety of cooked applications. It is harvested to order from a small, responsibly run farm just off Ensenada, Mexico. (from Santa Monica Seafood)

The Chef graciously shares his recipe for Baja Sea Bass Cooked in Freshly Harvested Giant Kelp below. Merci beaucoup and muchas gracias, Chef!

The Recipe
Baja Sea Bass Cooked in Freshly Harvested Giant Kelp
Dried Cherries, Zucchini, Heirloom Faro and Black Quinoa Pilaf
Sunflower Seeds, Preserved Mandarin with Desert Sage

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Wine with Dinner


Stony Hill
Napa Valley 1995 Chardonnay
Stony Hill Vineyard has been producing delicious, fruity, non-oaky Chardonnay for over a half century. This wine has been off my radar screen for years. Too bad. This is just the style of Chardonnay that I adore – non-oaky, balanced and elegant.
The 1995 vintage is still fresh and lively, with concentrated fruit, it is complex and graceful, has an attractive minerality with a honeyed character. Love it! It was an extraordinary complement to some of first courses of David Humm’s fresh modern French dishes we enjoyed at Eleven Madison Park restaurant.

Marcassin, Three Sisters Vineyard
Sonoma Coast 2003 Pinot Noir
We had ordered a variety of main courses at Eleven Madison Park including the Lavender Honey & Spiced Duck, Vermont Farm Suckling Pig with Plum Chutney & Five Spice Jus, and Organic Chicken with Oregon Morels & Sauce Vin Jaune. We were very excited to have the opportunity to drink Helen Turley’s world-class Marcassin Pinot Noir with our main course.
Wine writer/critic Robert Parker writes: “The 2003 Pinot Noirs are showy wines, with the 2003 Pinot Noir Three Sisters offering a combination of white chocolate, blueberry, raspberry, a touch of smoke and earth, with good underlying, tart acidity, very seductive aromas and flavors, and a spicy, long finish.” Ooohhh!

Helen Turley, one of the world’s most influential winemakers, talks about Marcassin Pinot Noir:

FYI – Marcassin is French for young wild boar.