Warren Leruth'S New Orleans Style Crabmeat St. Francis - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Sauce ingredients
1/8 cup margarine
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 inner celery ribs, bottom 2 inches only, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves (dried)
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 pinch cayenne
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Accent seasoning (so, if you are anti-Accent, just omit it!)
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3 tablespoons flour
Topping
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
Plus
1 lb lump crabmeat
1/4 cup margarine, melted

Preparation

Heat the margarine in a saucepan until it bubbles. Add all the sauce ingredients except the milk and flour, and saute until the vegetables are well browned and sticking a little bit to the pan. Remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, add the evaporated milk and 3/4 cup of water to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring lightly.
While the boil is coming up, whisk the flour into 3 oz. of water. After the pan comes to a boil, stir the flour-water mixture slowly into the other ingredients. Simmer for three minutes, until the sauce is thick.
Spoon the sauce into a pan and refrigerate overnight.
To complete the dish, preheat the oven to 425 F degrees. Mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and paprika together.
Put about 3 oz. crabmeat into a scallop shell or small au gratin dish. Top with 5 oz. of the chilled sauce, then sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture.
Bake at 425 F degrees until the crumbs brown and the sides of the dish begin to bubble--20-25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top each with 1 teaspoon melted margarine.
Serve very hot.