Crabmeat Cheesecake with Pecan Crust

Recipe Categories : | Cheesecake | Crab | Cajun/Creole | Pecans | MAIN INDEX |

Ingredients :

• for Pecan Crust : ¾ cup pecans
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tspn salt
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, cold
• 3 tbsp ice water
  for Filling :
• ½ small onion, finely diced
• 4 oz fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 oz Creole cream cheese (or 3 tbsp each plain yogurt and sour cream)
• 2 eggs
• salt and white pepper, to taste
• Crystal hot sauce, to taste (or your favorite hot sauce)
  for garnish:
• 2 tbsp chopped shallots
• 4 oz sliced mixed wild and exotic mushrooms
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 oz Worcestershire sauce
• 1 oz hot sauce
• 3 oz heavy whipping cream
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 24 crab claw fingers
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation and Cooking Instructions :

1. For the pecan crust: Grind the pecans, flour and salt in a food processor until fine. Transfer to a bowl. Add the butter. Work the butter into the flour until you have crumbs about the size of a pea. Toss in the ice water, lifting up the dough with your fingers to incorporate evenly. The dough will remain fairly crumbly. Starting with the sides, and then the bottom, press the dough into a 9" tart pan. Bake the crust in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. Allow the crust to cool before filling. Meanwhile, make the filling.
2. For the filling: Cook the onion in a bit of butter over medium heat until translucent. Add the crabmeat and cook just until heated through. Remove from heat and set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand using a wooden spoon), blend the cream cheese until smooth. Add the Creole cream cheese and then the eggs one at a time. Fold in the crabmeat mixture. Season to taste with salt, white pepper and hot sauce. Pour the mix into the prepared cooled crust. Bake at 300°F for about 30 minutes until set and firm to the touch.
3. For the garnish topping: Sauté shallots until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sweat until just cooked through. Add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, and reduce by ¾. Add the heavy cream and reduce by half. Whisk in the butter. In a separate sauté pan, add crab claw fingers. Salt and pepper to taste, then pour the reduction over and keep warm. Each slice of cheesecake gets three crab claws and 2 tbsp of sauce.