Dungeness crab, cordyceps & kief soup

By Chef Sebastian Carosi

 

All crab is good crab. Those small, mild, blue crabs are a treasure, generally eaten in big-ass piles on newspaper-covered East Coast picnic tables in unfuckenrealisticly humid air that drips off you. The king crab is prized for its snowy richness and lanky pieces of leg meat. There is also snow crab and rock crab, both excellent, if you can get them. But them Dungies, or Dungeness crabs as they are known, are the best—hands down! At its freshest, Pacific Northwest-harvested Dungeness crab tastes only as oceanic as the wind off the waters of the Puget Sound, more delicate and closer to sweet than anything from the bottom of the sea. I might have a deep-rooted regional bias on the subject of crab, but, after all, the Dungeness was James Beard's favourite as well. Writing in his Theory and Practice of Good Cooking, he declared the Dungeness “the most distinctive of all, it is sheer, unadulterated crab heaven.” The dead of winter is when the Dungeness are at their magical crab fat best. Residential crabbers soak their pots year-round, whereas commercial season usually opens around the first week of December if the fat is right. Dungies are an integral part of the Pacific Northwest diet, and if they aren't, they damn well should be. Heavily armoured, hard to crack, sweet and delicious, a true taste of place and a revelatory Pacific Northwest combination. Oh, and I hear that cordyceps and cannabis are really good for you, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Dungeness crab, cordyceps & kief soup

 

Prep time: 15 minutes 

Cook time: 30 minutes

Yield: 6 servings 

Total THC/CBD: depends on the potency of the products used 

Status: soup

From the cannabis pantry: cannabis butter, kief, cannabis olive oil 

Chef’s strain recommendation: Sour Diesel 

 

 

Equipment 

Medium saucepot, cutting board, chef’s knife, large spoon, immersion blender or high-speed blender, small stainless steel bowl 

 

 

Ingredients

½ cup cannabis butter (made in the mb2e)

1 cup sweet onion (peeled, medium diced)

5 cloves fresh garlic (peeled, crushed and rough chopped)

½ cup celery (peeled, medium diced)

½ cup fresh fennel (save fronds for crab salad garnish)

½ cup of all-purpose flour 

1½ cups roasted red bell peppers or piquillo peppers

2 tbsp tomato paste 

5-6 cups shrimp stock (water, shellfish or fish stock can be used)

½ tsp Old Bay seasoning

2 tsp sea salt 

½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper

½ tsp chipotle adobe (the contents of a can of chipotles pureed) 

1 cup heavy cream 

1 lb fresh Dungeness crab meat (reserve 2-3 ounces of the jumbo lumps for garnish)

1 tbsp whole dry cordyceps 

½ gram kief (decarboxylated)

 

 

Crab salad garnish

2-3 oz reserved crab meat

1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp cannabis olive oil (made in the mb2e)

1 tbsp chives (chopped fine)

1 tsp fennel fronds (reserved from above)

1 tbsp mayonnaise 

1 tbsp chive blossoms 

 

 

Preparation

In a medium saucepot, over medium-high heat, sweat the onions, carrots, fennel and celery until onions are translucent. Add the garlic and sweat for an addition two minutes. Add the flour to the onion garlic mix to create a roux. Add the stock, tomato paste, roasted peppers, crab meat (remember to reserve your garnish crab meat), Old Bay seasoning, salt, pepper, and chipotle adobe. Let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring vigorously to dissolve the roux. Add cordyceps and reduce heat slightly. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using an immersion or high-speed blender, puree the soup until smooth. Return pureed soup to a clean stockpot. Add the heavy cream and adjust seasonings to taste. Warm until heated through. 

 

For the crab salad garnish, delicately mix all the garnish ingredients except for the chive blossoms in a small stainless steel mixing bowl. 

 

Serve the hot soup in your desired vessel or bowl, garnishing each bowl with a little fresh crab salad and chive blossoms.

 

 

To learn more about Chef Sebastian Carosi and his approach to cannabis cookery read our exclusive interview, Eat your damn greens! Chef Sebastain talks wildcrafting, cannabis cookery and his respect for the movement’s deep roots. Chef Sebastian generously shared this recipe with Heads Lifestyle. Now get in the kitchen and whip up something delicious! 

 

   

Equipment + product source: MB2e MagicalButter Machine

 

Photos: Chef Sebastian Carosi and Carla Asquith

More about Chef Sebastian Carosi and his projects here

Follow on Instagram at: @chef_sebatian_carosi