Soft Shell Crab, Corn Shoot and Lovage Salad

I ran into the wonders of corn shoots at the Union Square market recently.    The explosive sweetness of corn, along with a mild hint of anise, are packed into these seemingly innocuous, yellow salad greens.    The corn shoots appear innocent enough, but their intense flavors completely shocked and overwhelmed me. 

I recently picked up a lovage plant, as I've always loved the fresh celery flavor of the herb I first tasted years ago while working in the kitchen at 11 Madison Park.  I envisioned dressing the corn shoots with a fruity olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and some of the chopped lovage leaves. 

Considering the intense flavor of this little salad, I immediately began thinking of pairing these flavors with a meaty fish like scallops, but then noticed the first soft shell crabs I'd seen in quite some time.   I can't pass up soft shell crab, so I paired the corn shoot salad with a crispy soft shell crab seared in olive oil, garlic and finished with a squeeze of lemon.  (I rarely enjoy soft shell crab with a thick batter coating.  Pan searing allows a very crispy texture, without masking the crab with a thick crust).

The crispy and subtly sweet crab is a great match for the herbal, sweet and explosive flavors of the corn shoot lovage salad.    Every bite made me thankful for the wonders of Spring that will be in my kitchen for the next few weeks.

Related:   My Technique/Recipe for Seared Soft Shell Crab

Comments

[Chicken Fried Gourmet]

Man I have been looking for corn shoots down here in Louisiana with no luck. Maybe Dallas has some.....

[Erin]

I just discovered your blog. Yummy. When are you doing another event? Couldn't find the information on the site...

[Fun and my diet]

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I'm from Japan.
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Keep it up please.

[edamame]

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[Cheap hotels New York]

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[ellen]

Can you tell us where you got the lovage? I'm looking to use fresh lovage leaves... Do I have to buy a whole plant? Did you get yours at the Union Sq market & if so, do you remember from which purveyor?

With advance thanks,

Ellen (another foodie in NYC)

[ellen]

Can you tell us where you got the lovage? I'm looking to use fresh lovage leaves... Do I have to buy a whole plant? Did you get yours at the Union Sq market & if so, do you remember from which purveyor?

With advance thanks,

Ellen (another foodie in NYC)

[MangerLaVille]

This sounds incredible. I love all types of shoots, so tender and flavorful. I will have to look for these at the Market. Oh by the way, where did you come across the fresh soft shell crabs?

[bibliochef]

Ok, this is a swell recipe and I love your idea of having events tied to your blog. Crab and corn is one of my favorites.

[ka]

Hi,

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[Daita]

Hi,

I am looking to buy lovage and haven't had much luck. It is so wide-spread and commonly used in Romania that I didn't expect not to find it in the US and NY. And the ciorba's don't taste like real ciorba without lovage. Where did you find it?
Thank you,

Daita

[Danielle]

Hey, check out www.behindtheburner.com and sign up for email updates. It's going to offer tips,tricks, and techniques on recipes from NYC's top chefs.

[Choose a Culinary School]

Hi,

I liked your blog, Good information on restaurants in New york.

Keep posting.

Thanks.
Katherine

[Anne @ Pink Galoshes]

So glad I stumbled upon this post. I know it is not the season for soft shells, but I can't wait to try a variation of this out at home.

[Foodista]

We also love crabs at Foodista. Do drop by and share some of your interesting foodie finds with us. We have launched an online food and cooking encyclopedia ala wikipedia, and anything food related is always welcome!

[Anne]

what a beautiful picture! i love the contrasts of the shades of green.

[take_the_responsibility]

It’s a Fact, Chef Tom Colicchio, despises and has total disdain towards Chef Grant Achatz and everything he has worked so hard to build, namely his restaurant Alinea and his original style of Molecular Gastronomy.

Moving forward, what is even more distaining is the fact that by virtue of his actions, he also has now shown disrespect and loathing toward other great Chef’s namely: Juan Roca, Feran Adrian, Heston Blumenthal, Anthony Flinn, Willie Dufresne, Thomas Keller, but also to these resuarants and all their hard working staff El Bulli, Mugaritz, Moto, WD-50, The Fat Duck, Pierre Gagnaire, Arzak, Alkimia, Martin Berasategui, Akelarre to name a few.

So what are these factual actions I speak of???
When someone does a TV commercial and generates income from their involvement as a spokesperson and as a person of so called deemed authority in which millions of Americans will watch and offers negativity… they should be responsible for their actions. I believe Americans of late have had enough of this “all care but no responsibility” attitude (look at the banks and CEO’s).
And before Tom’s PR Peeps try to gloss over this as a mere fun campaign for Diet Coke…. Too late … The damage has been done. And you have overstepped your mark !!!

View this situation here:
http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/02/tom-colicchios-diet-coke-commercial-video/

A full apology from you “Chef Tom Colocchio” and Coca Cola is eagerly awaited by the worldwide chef community.

take_the_responsibility@yahoo.com

[Kelvin]

There's a difference between chefs that uses techniques and what some may be conceived as a trend to make their foods taste better, and chefs who uses food trends to pontificate poor food. There are chefs like Heston Blumenthal and Willie Dufresne who uses molecular gastronomy, but they themselves are able to make good food without those techniques. Then there are other chefs who essentially can't cook, and uses these techniques as a gimmick to get people into their restaurants.

There's no need for an apology.

[Sharon]

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