Betty Crocker Cookoff

Crab Louie (or is it Louis?) Salad

Bruce drew the Betty Crocker stick this week and we decided to do yet another old classic -- crab louie.  The old Betty Crocker cookbook spelled it "Louis" while modernn day recipes seem to choose "Louie"...not sure why, so we went to Wikipedia to get the scoop.  Here's what we learned:

"Crab Louie salad, also known as Crab Louis Salad or the King of Salads, is a type of salad featuring crab meat. The original recipe dates back to the early 1900s and originates on the West Coast of America.

The exact origins of the dish are uncertain, but it is known that Crab Louie was being served in San Francisco, at Solari's, as early as 1904^[1]. A recipe for Crab Louie exists from this date in a publication entitled Bohemian San Francisco by Clarence E. Edwords,^[2] and in the 1910 edition of a cookbook by Victor Hertzler, head chef of the city's St. Francis Hotel.^[3]

Wikipedia's Photo of Crab Louie

By some accounts it was created by entrepreneur Louis Davenport, founder of the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington. Davenport spent his early years in San Francisco before moving to Spokane Falls. He would use crab imported from Seattle to be offered in his hotel. His recipe pre-dates 1914 and can be found in hotel historical menus. The popularity of Crab Louie has diminished since its heyday in the early to mid 1900's, but it can still be found on the menu of some hotels and restaurants on the West Coast, including the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and the Davenport Hotel."

 

The main (but quite significant difference) in this week's recipes centers around the dressing. Betty's recipe includes sugar and worcestershire sauce, while the challenger recipe is way different!  It incorporates many of the classic louie ingredients such as eggs and olives in the dressing.

Betty Crocker's Crab Louis

Note from Betty:  A classic from our happy heritage of West Coast salads.  It's an ideal salad for a light luncheon -- you can count on everyone liking crabmeat.

2 cans (7.5 ounces each) crabmeat or 2 packages (6 ounces each) frozen cooked crabmeat, thawed
Louis Dressing (below)
4 tomatoes quartered
4 hard-cooked eggs, quartered
Ripe or green olives
4 cups bite-size pieces salad greens, chilled

Drain crabmeat and remove cartilage; chill.  Prepare Louis Dressing.  Arrange crabmeat, tomatoes, eggs, and olives on greens.  Pour Louis Dressing over salad.

4 servings.

Louis Dressing

1/4 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 teaspoon instant minced onion
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt to tast

Mix all ingredients.  Cover and chill 30 minutes.

1 1/4 cups.

The Challenger Crab Louie Salad Recipe

Connie checked out Rachel Ray's recommendation for the best Crab Louie.  She highlighted this recipe from the Swan Oyster Depot in Nob Hill, San Francisco on one of her shows, so this seems like a definite winner.

Just to be sure, Connie checked out comments from patrons of this restaurant after they had eaten the Crab Louie salad and this is an example of what they said, "Pure, unadulterated seafood is the be-all and end-all at this historic eatery.  Lump crabmeat drenched in creamy Louie dressing elevates the throwback salad's shredded iceberg lettuce.  Try the Crab Louie...VERY delicious".  Watch out, Betty!!!

Salad:
1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
8 - 12 ounces fresh picked Dungeness crabmeat
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced lengthwise thinly
3 tomatoes, quartered
1/2 lb. asparagus speers, cooked

Dressing:
1 pint mayonnaise
1/2 pint tomato ketchup
1/2 cup sweet relish
1/2 cup chopped black olives
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Directions:
To make the dressing, mix together all ingredients.  Make a bed of iceberge lettuce on a large plate.  Top with crab, avocado, tomatoes, and asparagus.  Drizzle with Louie dressing.

4 servings.

So....who's gonna win the Crab Louis cookoff???