Cooking With Friends

There are just times when you want to cook an appetizer or a dish that requires extra hands. This allows the guests to help and the cook to get help while entertaining their guests. This is a recipe that I developed about six years ago while living in New Orleans. This recipe makes for a great "group" cooking project. So open up a bottle or two of Sauvignon Blanc and enjoy the cooking experience with your family and friends.

Lorrie’s Crab Appetizers

Ingredients

1 lb. of lump crab meat

1 stick of unsalted butter

4 tablespoons of mixed seasoning ( I use fresh Italian parsley, yellow onion, celery, 2 cloves of garlic and ¼ of a red bell pepper finely chopped

¼ teaspoon of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning

2 or more pinches of Cayenne pepper

1/3 cup of Italian bread crumbs

3 tablespoons of cream of mushroom soup

1 16 oz. package of wonton wrappers

Enough canola oil to deep fry (about 2 inches or so of oil)

Preparation

Melt butter on low heat in a skillet. Then add the chopped seasoning, then creole seasoning, and the cayenne pepper. Let mixture cook for about 5 minutes or so, on low flame until tender. Stir mixture. Then add crab meat and cream of mushroom soup. Stir mixture. If you feel that you need more cream of mushroom soup, add another tablespoon. Then add the Italian bread crumbs. Stir mixture. Remove mixture from heat. Take a wonton wrapper and a melon baller or small spoon and put a small amount of the crab mixture in the middle of the wonton wrapper. Moisten three edges of the wrapper with water and seal tightly. This very important to seal tightly! These instructions should be on the back of the wonton wrapper package. Heat oil in frying pan or deep fryer. Test by flicking a little water in the pan. If it pops, it is hot enough to begin frying. Cook wontons until lightly browned on both sides. Place on a platter with paper towels to absorb any excess oil. This is a good group activity, the friends can wrap and the cook can fry!

Wine Pairing Suggestion: Rodney Strong Charlotte's Home 2009 Sauvignon Blanc

This wine is light-bodied, crisp, clean and refreshing. It is like "summer in a glass", with flavors of citrus, melon, a hint of pear with a clean finish. I could sip this wine all day long. It would pair well with grilled chicken on skewers, grilled shrimp, fish and my favorite pairing for this wine is a salad with grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, Roma tomatoes, grated Manchego cheese, croutons and Ken's Buttermilk Ranch salad dressing. It is to die for! Note: This wine was a sample provided by Rodney Strong Vineyards. http://rodneystrong.com