Crab is a common ingredient in Bahian cuisine. In this recipe it's sauteed with onions, tomatoes and herbs and then baked in the oven. The results were wonderful. My guests raved about it and wished I'd made more. In an effort to be thrifty I used canned rather than fresh crab, which resulted in a very light crab taste (my husband actually thought I'd made a potato gratin), using fresh crab would probably make this recipe even better.

I combined two different recipes in making this one. I started with the more traditional recipe for frigideira de siri from the Tasting Brazil cookbook and added some of the more "modern" enhancements of the casquinha de siri recipe from the Brazil: A Cook's Tour. Those not-really Bahian flavors are marked in the recipe as optional.

I baked the crab mixture in (four) individual ramekins but you can also stuffed them into cleaned crab shells or in a casserole dish. I'd recommend that you double the recipe, even if serving just four, as you'll certainly want to have leftovers.

Note that you can prepare the bake ahead of time, refrigerate and bake it before serving - you may want to give it an extra five minutes in the oven if doing this.

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Casquinha de Siri

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup white wine (optional)
• salt & pepper
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 12 oz crab meat, shredded and drained if using canned
• 1/2 tsp. cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. basil, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. parsley, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. palm oil (optional)
• a dash of nutmeg
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 2 eggs
• cassava flour

  Instructions

  Preheat oven to 375F

  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the sauce to a holding bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  Return the skillet to the heat and melt the butter. Add the crab meat and sautee for a couple of minutes. Add the tomato sauce, cilantro, basil, parsley, palm oil and nutmeg. Stir and cook for a minute. Add the coconut milk and cook in low heat for 5 minutes.

  Remove from the heat, add the two eggs and mix well. Adjust seasoning. Pour mixture into crab shells, ramekins or oven-proof dishes, dust with cassava flour and bake for 15 minutes.
  
  

  Adapted from Tasting Brazil and Brazil: A Cook's Tour