Berdou’s was a restaurant located near the bridge in Gretna. It was a very unique restaurant. The restaurant closed at 7 or 8pm. No one was allowed in after the door was locked, no matter who you were. The food was Creole cooking. It’s wait staff was top notch. Gilbert LeFluer, the waiter I worked with at LeRuth’s restaurant, used to wait on my grandmother there. It closed in the 1990s. But this recipe has lived on. Tom Fitzsmorris, wrote down the recipe while George Berdou was preparing it on TV. It is one of my favorite Crab dishes.
Bechamel:
4 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour
1 cup milk, warmed
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 Tbs. chopped garlic
Pinch cayenne
1/2 cup sherry
1 lb. lump crabmeat
Preheat the broiler with the rack about four inches below the heat.
1. Make the bechamel by heating the butter in a saucepan until it bubbles. Stir in the flour to make a blond roux; don’t allow it to brown. Whisk in the milk over low heat until the sauce thickens. Add the salt and keep warm.
2. In a second saucepan, heat the butter until it bubbles, and in it saute the green onions, mushrooms, garlic and cayenne until the mushrooms are tender. Add the sherry and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
3. Carefully add the lump crabmeat, agitating the pan to combine with the rest of the ingredients so as not to break the lumps. Spoon the mixture onto an oven-proof serving dish.
4. Nap two or three tablespoons of the bechamel over the top of the crabmeat. Put the plates into the hot broiler for about a minute. Serve immediately, warning that the plates are hot.
Serves four entrees.
Enjoy!!!
