Recipe: Crab Ravigote and California Avocado Napoleon (Chef Darrin Finkel, Jazz Kitchen)

It was California Avocado Week in Downtown Disney Anaheim 3 weeks ago, and the chefs from each restaurant held an avocado cooking demo and sampling. I attended one where Chef Darrin Finkel from Jazz Kitchen cooked up a New Orleans-inspired crab ravigote and california avocado napoleon and here's the recipe for you to try at home. Remember the California avocado season only lasts until the fall, so hurry to enjoy it!

Crab Ravigote and California Avocado Napoleon
by: Chef Darrin Finkel. Jazz Kitchen, Downtown Disney, Anaheim, CA
yields about 2 1/2 cups

1/2 Large California Avocado

Lime

3 oz Blue Crab meat. Picked and free from the shells

2 oz Chipotle Ravigote (see below)

Optional garnish:
Heirloom tomato salad (see below)
11/2 oz pepper coulis (see below)
Pinch micro salad greens

Dice avocado into small pieces. Squeeze lime juice on avocado, season with salt and pepper. Using a ring mold, press diced avocado on the bottom of ring mold. Gently toss crab meat with the chipotle ravigote sauce, season with salt and pepper. Spoon crab directly on top of avocado and press down gently until they are molded together. Remove ring mold and garnish dish with heirloom tomato salad. For additional garnish, squeeze 3 dots of pepper coulis around avocado crab mold. Top with micro greens.

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Cozying Next Door for Brunch

I've heard many good things about Little Next Door, but hearing that Boule's old pastry chef has moved to little next door made me decide I just had to go. I actually went quite some time ago, but just now got around to writing it up ...

We went for a weekend brunch, so the wait was quite, quite long ... About 30 min or so. But I love my weekend brunches, so oh well.

We had a hard time deciding what to order, but I opted for the Maryland blue crab melt. Why? The melted mimolette cheese, of course! Plus it's blue crab!
The blue crab melt was yummy!! It is loaded with crab meat that cheese! Oooh! The portion is smaller than some other places but the price is not too bad. Anyway, smaller portions are good for my "diet" hehehe.

One of us ordered the smoked salmon benedict.
This was a standard, but very well executed eggs benedict. Smoked salmon was fresh and flavorful. The other ingredients were also very high quality. I should also mention that I liked the salads that come with these dishes.

Now, back to the rumor of the boule pastry chef ... of course we had to order dessert!
We had the apple tart tatin (it fell apart on the plate, but the taste was good :P )
Again, standard, but well done.

The next one is more interesting: the cinnamon pear tart.
I love spices! This tart was very good, we all really liked it. A bit dry though, I think more cream or even maybe ice cream would be good?

The couple with us also bought some other baked goods , like some financiers, which were also very yummy :)

Although I would have liked to see more unique/interesting items on the sweets/bakery menu, I did think what they have were all very well done.


Little Next Door
8142 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048