Instructions: In a large saute pan heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat and add the small diced onions. Cook the onions, while stirring constantly, until translucent but not brown. Add the peppers, garlic, and celery and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the peppers and celery have become tender.

Add the sweet corn that has been shucked and cut from the cob, then add the crab stock. Reduce the liquid by one half, then season with salt, fresh ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.

"Mount" the corn mixture with chilled butter (one tablespoon at a time, stirring until melted, then adding more), crab claw meat and chives, then remove from heat and reserve in a warm place until ready to serve.

Yield: 8 servings

"This," said a very well-travelled friend of mine with a highly educated palate, "is the best maquechoux I have ever had in my life." Not an exaggeration. Its truly heavenly, and all it took was a lil crab stock and a lil crabmeat. You use claw crabmeat for this dish, which is about 1/3 or even less than the cost of jumbo lump. Get a few crab shells to make a stock that will go a long way toward giving this dish an incredible flavor.

This maquechoux variation comes from Chef John Besh, of Restaurant August in New Orleans. When he was chef at Artesia, he made this dish to serve as a bed for parmesan- and flour-encrusted cobia (lemonfish)

fillets.

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