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The other day my friend Nick asked me if my blog was good for the “extreme-budget-conscious” (he’s a tiny bit prone to hyperbole). I exclaimed, “Yes! Of cou—” and then remembered that I had just spent $45 on one pound of canned crab meat (canned,<\/em> no less), because I became obsessed with this recipe<\/a> from the New York Times (not from Melissa Clark – shocker!). Coming from Boston to Chicago, one of the things I miss most are the summers filled with fresh, abundant seafood. Friends and I would drive to the beach on the weekends, always stopping along the way for fried clams, lobster rolls, and juicy, garlicky shrimp. There are no seafood shacks in Chicago, but I did find a nice (expensive) fishmonger at Dirk’s Fish<\/a>, where I procured the aforementioned crab. Which immediately compelled James to joke that if the apocalypse arrived, we would be sitting pretty with our canned crab meat supply (not technically true – it says very specifically on the label that this canned fish is to be refrigerated at all times).<\/p>\n Anyway, I’m obsessed with this recipe because I love crab, and crab plays a prominent, unmistakable role in this dish. My (overpriced) tinned crab was fine, but I swoon to think how you could elevate this dish with fresh, sweet, just plucked-from-the-sea crab meat. If you live on the East Coast, get your hands on fresh crab meat. This dish doesn’t have a lot of ingredients or strong flavors, so quality ingredients is really key here. Besides that, though, this dish is just so darn easy. Cooking the pasta actually takes the longest time, and the sauce literally just involves chopping a bunch of herbs and warming up the cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche. This recipe should be almost a Fuss Factor<\/a> 0, it’s so breathlessly easy.<\/p>\n Fun Facts Time: Cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche is French for “fresh cream.” Despite the name, however, it isn’t really fresh at all! Instead, it is a thick, soured cream traditionally produced by simply leaving fresh\u00a0cow’s cream at room temperature<\/a>. The naturally occurring bacterial cultures not only prevent it from spoiling, but also work to thicken and acidify the cream. Today, European\u00a0regulations<\/a> do not allow any ingredients in\u00a0cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche other than cream and bacterial culture. However, in the U.S. where all dairy is\u00a0pasteurized (if not ultra-pasteurized),\u00a0the cream is instead fermented\u00a0with the addition of buttermilk or yogurt.\u00a0Cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche may be difficult to find, or can be expensive, but remarkably, it is shockingly easy to make your own<\/a>! Just mix together heavy cream and buttermilk, let sit at room temperature for half a day, and WATCH SCIENCE HAPPEN!\u00a0In a pinch, or if you don’t like science, you can substitute sour cream, although cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche is thicker, less tangy, and has a higher fat content and richer flavor than sour cream<\/a>. If substituting sour cream, take care to just<\/em> warm the cream, and do not let it simmer<\/em>, as sour cream can easily curdle over high heat.<\/p>\n Other Things to Note:<\/p>\n So, Nick, no, this particular recipe is not for the extreme budget conscious. It’s probably for those who chase down (overpriced) fishmongers to have crab on a Wednesday, and who probably sip tea with their pinkies in the air.<\/p>\n We served this with some roasted asparagus. Total time to dinner, including sides: like, 30 minutes.<\/p>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trialbyfryer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/20180725_185502-e1533072332666-1024x713.jpg?resize=1024%2C713&ssl=1\")
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\n\t \nServings<\/th> Fuss Factor<\/th> Total Time<\/th> Prep Time<\/th> Cook Time<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\t 4-6<\/td> 1<\/td> 25 minutes<\/td> 5 minutes<\/td> 20 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n \n\t\n\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/trialbyfryer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/20180725_192103-e1533072483121.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1\")
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