Endive With Dungeness Crab And Citrus Salad

This is another wonderful Hors d’Oeuvre to serve when having a dinner party or just a simple wine and cheese evening with family and friends.

• 6 large Belgian endive, make sure they have firm fat heads with yellow tips that are at least 6 inches long.
• 1/2 fennel bulb, trimmed and finely chopped
• 1/2 lb. fresh Dungeness crabmeat
• 1 finely minced shallot
• 2 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp. sour cream
• 1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tbsp. orange juice
• pinch of sea salt
• pinch of lemon pepper
• 1/2 cup orange segmented, skinned and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Trim the ends off the endive and separate into spears. Keep 24-30 of the largest ones and place in a ice water bath. Chill no less than 15 minutes, then drain and pat dry with paper towels. Refrigerate.

In a bowl mix together the fennel, crabmeat, shallot, mayonnaise, sour cream, lime and orange juice and zest. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Spoon a generous amount of the crabmeat salad onto the wide bottom of each spear. Garnish with a few segments of the orange. Serve immediately.

Jump back so you don’t get trampled by the stampede of everyone wanting to  try these. Yup! You did it again.