If you read my other blog then you might know that I allergic to most things that Mexican food makes up…raw tomatoes, raw onion, all peppers. My options are very limited. So whenever I see a recipe that is Mexican influenced but has none of the things I can’t eat I get very excited to try it. The orange bacon sauce sounded so very unusual when I came across it in the cookbook, but sounded like it could be good, and it is. I would have never in a thousand years thought of that combo, which is why I am more of a baker than a cook.
They were originally enchiladas but that was way too much work, with having to fry the tortillas and all. I just bought some pre-made tostada shells and that was so the way to go. When you do that, this meal can be made in minutes…and who doesn’t love that.

Cream Cheese Crab Tostadas with Orange Bacon Sauce

8 tostada shells
Bacon and Orange Sauce(recipe follows)
8 ounces cream cheese
1 pound freshly picked crab meat
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups shredded ice berg lettuce
½ cup bacon, broken into pieces

Mix together cream cheese, crab, and Parmesan. Place in a shallow baking pan. Place under broiler until mixture bubbles up and just starts to get brown(don’t let it get too brown). Remove from oven.
Divide mixture evenly onto each tostada shell, spreading it out evenly over the whole shell. Pour sauce over crab mixture. Sprinkle with lettuce and bacon.

Bacon and Orange Sauce

4 ounce bacon, chopped
6 TBSP flour
¼ cup finely chopped onion
½ tsp ground chili powder
¼ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp black pepper
2 cups crab broth, seafood bullion or chicken broth(last resort)
½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 TBSP grate orange zest
1 tsp crush garlic

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Lift out the bacon with slotted spoon, then stir in the flour and cook for a minute more. Stir in onion, chili powder, coriander, and pepper, and cook for 1 minute more. Whisk in the crab broth, orange juice, orange zest, and garlic and continue stirring until th mixture is smooth. Continue stirring until the sauce comes to a boil, then remove from heat, and stir in cooked bacon bits.

Adapted from: The Northwest Essentials Cookbook by Greg Atkinson