Crustacean Nation -- Prep For National Crabmeat Day With Cookbook Featuring South City Kitchen Chef Chip Ulbrich's Recipes

Surimi (or imitation crab) is absent from the ingredient list from all of South City Kitchen Executive Chef Chip Ulbrich's crab-centric recipes. The award-winning chef uses fresh lump crabmeat in his recipes for crab and shrimp ceviche with watermelon relish, South City Kitchen crab hash, crab cakes and she-crab soup. You'll find all of these recipes alongside Ulbrich's anecdotes in Judy Colbert's book "Chesapeake Bay Crabs." With National Crabmeat Day skedaddling in today, this book and Ulbrich's recipes will cause more swooning than Jack Sparrow. Go ahead and get crabby with Ulbrich's recipe for crab and shrimp ceviche with watermelon relish:

Relish: 

4 cups seedless watermelon, finely diced

½ cup red onion, finely diced

1 cup red bell pepper, finely diced

l jalapeño or poblano chile (depending on your spice level), finely diced

2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, peeled and grated

2 limes, juiced and zested

¼ cup champagne vinegar

¼ cup garlic, chopped

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. ground coriander

¼ cup honey

salt & pepper to taste

2 lb. fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined 

1 lb. lump crabmeat, picked clean

Relish: Mix all relish ingredients and allow to rest in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

Shrimp: To blanch shrimp, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and season with a healthy dose of salt. The water should taste like seawater. Add shrimp and cook for no more than 10 seconds. Remove shrimp and shock in ice water to cool rapidly; shrimp should still be a little raw on the inside. Once cool, drain well.

Assemble:  Toss shrimp, crab and relish in a bowl and allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes. Serve with fresh watermelon and lime wedges.

Eat Like You Work Here: South City Kitchen Makes Mouths and Wallets Happy

With your nose glued to the grindstone, you’re beginning to feel like a dull Jack or Jane. You know, all work and no play? Turn the tables to relish the play without the work when you take advantage of Fifth Group Restaurants’ “Eat Like You Work Here” patron appreciation special on Tuesday, January 20 at South City Kitchen Midtown and Vinings. That night, you’ll save 25 percent off your meal tab, same as the employees! You can tell the wait staff and culinary crew genuinely love to work at these bustling sister restaurants - and who could blame them?! Chef Chip Ulbrich's sophisticated Southern cuisine keeps the masses coming back for favorites like buttermilk fried chicken and the seasonal vegetable plate or new additions such as Fudge Farms pork ribs and grilled Meyer beef meatloaf. Share their joy and eat up (and don't worry, they won't make you wash dishes)!

South City Kitchen Midtown: 1144 Crescent Avenue; 404-873-7358.
South City Kitchen Vinings: 1675 Cumberland Parkway; 770-435-0700.

Buy Local: Pick Summer Menus at Ecco and South City Kitchen

Summer’s longer days and garden pickings have grown into fresh new seasonal menus at Fifth Group Restaurants’® Ecco and South City Kitchen Midtown and Vinings. The harvest is bountiful, yet space is limited, so click on the links to view the entire menu of mouthwatering morsels at each restaurant.

European-inspired Ecco rules the neighborhood for share-ables, cheeses and desserts. Check out their summer spread here. Ecco: 40 70th Street in Midtown; 404-347-9555.

South City Kitchen Midtown plates up Deep South-gone-uptown specialties that show off the farm at weekday lunch and nightly dinner, courtesy of Executive Chef Dean Dupuis and Sous Chefs Chris Mullally and Blake Wagner. Check out their menu and make plans to visit soon! South City Kitchen Midtown: 1144 Crescent Avenue; 404-873-7358.

A few miles away at South City Kitchen Vinings, Executive Chef Chip Ulbrich and Sous Chef Adam Maddox roll out their summer menu to the neighborhood. Their new menu offers similar Southern favorites made with the freshest ingredients. South City Kitchen Vinings: 1675 Cumberland Parkway; 770-435-0700.