Recipe: Rock crab-stuffed pepper with fisherman’s broth

Total time: About 2 hours, 15 minutes, plus overnight steeping

Servings: 4

Note: Adapted from Jason Tuley of Square One. Shelled Dungeness crab can be substituted for the red rock crab meat. Red rock crab also can be mail-ordered through the Santa Barbara Fish Market, www.sbfish.com. At the restaurant, Tuley uses corno di toro peppers instead of Anaheim peppers. Spanish smoked sweet paprika is available at gourmet shops such as Surfas in Culver City and Nicole’s in Pasadena. The optional chile threads can be purchased online at www.savoryspiceshop.com and www.chefswarehouse.com.

Roasted fennel and tomatoes

1/2 pound fennel

1/2 pound very ripe heirloom tomatoes

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Quarter the fennel and tomatoes lengthwise and place on a rack fitted into a baking dish. Place in the oven to roast 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the fennel is caramelized and the tomatoes are softened and start to color. Remove from the oven and reserve. While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the crab-stuffed peppers.

Crab-stuffed peppers

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons fennel seeds

1bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 2 parsley stems, 2 sprigs thyme)

4 (1 1/2 -pound each) Santa Barbara red rock crabs

8 Anaheim peppers

Salt, pepper

1. Place the cayenne pepper, fennel seeds and bouquet garni in a large stock pot and fill with water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and add the crabs. Boil the crabs for 12 minutes until cooked. Remove the crabs to a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. When the crabs have cooled, remove the meat from each crab: Pull the legs from the crab and set aside. Lift the shell from the body and remove the meat, breaking the meat up with your fingers. Crack open the legs and remove the meat (a skewer works well). Save the shells from two of the crabs for the fisherman’s broth. Place the crab meat in a covered container and refrigerate.

2. Roast the peppers over an open flame until all sides are blistered, about 5 to 8 minutes. Place them in a large bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand for 10 minutes. Peel the charred skin from the peppers and carefully slice the peppers to remove the seeds and allow for stuffing, trying to preserve the shape of the pepper as much as possible.

3. Dice four of the peppers and add them to the crab meat; season with one-fourth teaspoon salt and a small pinch of pepper, or to taste. Stuff the crab mixture carefully into the remaining four peppers and set aside.

Fisherman’s broth and assembly

Reserved crab shells

1 sweet onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 small leek, chopped

1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 2 parsley stems, 2 sprigs thyme)

2 garlic cloves

6 white peppercorns

1/2 pound roasted fennel

1/2 pound roasted tomatoes

1 teaspoon Spanish saffron

1/2 cup dry white wine

Crab-stuffed peppers

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon Spanish smoked sweet paprika (Pimenton de la vera dulce)

Chile threads for garnish, optional

1. In a large stock pot, place the reserved crab shells, onion, celery, leek, bouquet garni, garlic, peppercorns, roasted fennel and tomatoes, saffron, white wine and 6 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer, discarding the rest of the contents. Place the strained liquid in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1 cup, 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the crab-stuffed peppers in the oven to reheat for 10 minutes before serving.

3. Stir the butter into the reduced fisherman’s broth until melted and combined. Place one stuffed pepper in the center of each of four large bowls and spoon a couple tablespoons of the broth next to the pepper. Sprinkle a pinch of paprika around the plate and garnish each pepper with a few optional chile threads. Serve immediately.

Each serving: 268 calories; 40 grams protein; 10 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams fiber; 6 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 137 mg. cholesterol; 798 mg. sodium.