Pan-fried Soft Crabs

Ingredients:
4 soft crabs, cleaned
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon Old Bay
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt


Directions:
Whisk together the milk and Old Bay in a medium bowl. Soak the crabs in the milk for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, salt and pepper together. Dredge both sides of the crab in the seasoned flour. Melt more butter than you'd think in a skillet. Fry the crabs for about 3 minutes on each side. Try and keep the legs from tucking under the body of the crab; arrange them straight out. Serve naked or in a sandwich.

My thoughts:

Soft crabs are in season again. If I had to name a favorite food, I think it would be soft crabs. When I posted the how to clean soft crabs last spring, I received a few requests on how to prepare them. Honestly, I've never made them any way but pan-fried and in a sandwich. For this recipe, I splashed out and added Old Bay but honestly I mostly just season them with salt and pepper. You don't want anything to cover up the crab flavor but in Baltimore, Old Bay is always a welcome addition. Anything fancier just seems wrong to me!

Note: It is traditional to soak the crab in milk before cooking, it sort of tenderizes the shells (if they are a bit tough) and allows you to coat the crab in flour without needing egg. I added the Old Bay for a bit of kick without being overpowering.

How to: Clean Soft Shell Crabs

Start with a live soft shell blue crab. They are in season now so if you live in an area where they are available, they should be fairly easy to find alive. Buy them on the day you plan on eating them and keep them refrigerated until you are ready to prepare them. I keep them in the box they come in or on a plate covered with a paper towel. If you do have to use frozen, they probably have already been cleaned. Defrost them and double check before cooking. I don't recommend buying dead (refrigerated/"fresh") soft crabs. Soft shell crabs are very perishable and should be cooked or frozen within a day of their demise. If they are already dead, you have no way of knowing when they were caught or how long they have been kept refrigerated and that puts you at risk for food poisoning. Frozen crabs can be defrosted overnight in the refrigerator.



Start by cutting off the mouth and eyes of the crab using a knife or kitchen shears. I used kitchen shears because I could cut using my non-dominant hand while the other wielded a camera but a knife works just as well. There is some goo behind the eyes. Use the tip of your knife or closed shears to scoop it out. Don't worry about the crabs moving around, the cold makes them pretty dopey and once you do this step, they are dead. Keep the rest of the crabs refrigerated while you work on each one.



Flip the crab over. That pointy bit is the apron. Bend it towards you.


Cut it off at the base of the crab.


The appearance of the apron depends on the sex of the crab. It might look like this. Cut it off in the same way.



Flip the crab over. Lift one side of the shell. It isn't attached on the ends so it will open easily. Those squishy pale things are the gills. Use your fingers to pull them out or your shears to cut them out. Repeat for the other side. You're done!



This is just to show you how the shell is attached to the crab. There are some organs in the the middle section but they will be thoroughly cooked when you cook the crab and are safe to eat. If you really want to remove them for some reason, you will have to cut the bottom of the shell. I don't bother. I think it makes some of the juices run out and I like a juicy crab.



Cleaned and ready to go!

My thoughts:

If I had a favorite food I think it would be soft shell crabs. It seems like they are increasingly difficult to find so when I do, I snap them right up. When I was a child my mom would buy at least a dozen soft shell crabs at a time. She'd prepare them, we eat a couple of soft shell crab sandwiches and then she'd freeze the remaining ones in bundles of two and every week for the rest of the summer we'd defrost a pack and have another sandwich. In my opinion, that is the best way to eat soft shell crabs: dredged in flour with a little salt and pepper and pan-fried in butter. On white bread. Nothing else that might possibly distract from the crab's flavor. I do have to say that I had a soft crab sandwich that had a cornmeal crust that was pretty good. The crab was huge though, I haven't found a crab that big at the market yet, and that helped the crab flavor stay strong.

Rachel's Ultimate Crab Dip

Ingredients:
16 oz blue crab claw meat
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sharp cheddar
2 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons Old Bay
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1 shallot, minced


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients EXCEPT the cheddar cheese until they are evenly distributed. Or, if you are like me and you hate mincing yet don't want any chunky shallot bits in the final dip or want make sure the ingredients are fully incorporated, place all of the ingredients EXCEPT the cheddar and crab in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Then stir in the crab.

Spread into a 8x8 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with the cheese in an even layer. For bonus points, shake a bit of Old Bay on top of the cheese.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

Serve warm with crackers, pretzels, bread wedges, or plain Utz chips. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers. Bake @ 350 for 10 minutes or so to reheat. I don't recommend microwaving.


Note: For this recipe, quality reduced fat sour cream and cream cheese will work just fine.

My thoughts:

Crab dip is serious business here in Baltimore. We are a people who like our (blue) crabs and our cheesy dips. Growing up, my family didn't do much in the way of entertaining and well, crab is pricey so we didn't make it but I loved having friends whose families would make it for holiday parties and such. Of course, it has been on the menu of nearly every locally owned restaurant and pub at some point or another. I think if it doesn't make an appearance on the menu at least once, your food permit gets yanked.

Anyway, for the perfect crab dip you need, crab, some sort of combination of cream cheese, mayonnaise (or occasionally straight mayonnaise, no cream cheese), shredded cheese and lots of Old Bay. Beyond that I've had versions with garlic or garlic powder, onions or shallots, mustard, Parmesan cheese, and crab meat of every variety of from lump to backfin. I like to use claw because it has a flavor that is stronger than lump meat (but still sweet and not "fishy") and has a good mix of big chunks and smaller bits of crab. I like how the crab is distributed in the dip if you use claw or even backfin, with jumbo or regular lump you end up occasionally getting a bite that is entirely crab free. Not a problem with the claw.

When I set out to make the ultimate crab dip I had some parameters in mind. It had to be thick, creamy but not too mayonnaise-y, and spiced but not overpoweringly spicy. I am a sour cream addict so I always have to add that to my dips. I think the slight tang keeps the dip from tasting too rich or cloying. The trick is not to use too much or the crab will be spread too thin. You want a dip that is thick with crab meat. I like the crab flavor to be the star so I only put a thin layer of cheddar on the top (not mixed in as I've seen in some recipes) and just enough spices to accent the crab flavor, not overwhelm it. I always use extra sharp cheddar but a mix of cheddar and Monterey Jack (in a 2:1 ratio) is a good variation.

Crab dip is so popular here in Baltimore that it actually has spawned a spin off appetizer, the crab pretzel, which isn't quite as common but perhaps it should be, it is sort of a twist on the dip in the bread bowl fad of 30 years ago and is oddly satisfying.

Asiago & Crab Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:
16 oz lump crab meat
12 oz evaporated milk PLUS enough milk to equal 2 cups
2 cups shredded asiago
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt
freshly ground black pepper
panko
minced Italian parsley
1 lb small or medium sized pasta, cooked (I used cavatappi aka cellentani)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium pan, melt the butter. Add the flour and spices and stir until smooth. Add the milk, mustard and evaporated milk and whisk together until slightly thickened. Whisk in the asagio until smooth. Stir in the crab meat. Pour over the drained pasta. Pour into a lightly oiled baking dish with a lid. Top with a sprinkle of panko and parsley. Bake covered about 15 minutes, then uncover and cook until hot and bubbly, about 10-15 additional minutes.

Yield: 4-6 meal sized servings or about 8 side dish sized servings.

My thoughts:

When the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board approached me about developing a recipe using a Wisconsin cheese to share on their new Macaroni & Cheese Blog, I couldn't say no. It had been entirely too long since I made mac & cheese. I decided to use fresh asagio because it has long been a favorite. While I've had lobster macaroni and cheese before, I've never had crab. Being a Baltimore girl, this just seemed wrong. I had to make a crab macaroni and cheese and asagio seemed like the perfect cheese to pair it with, mild enough that it wouldn't overpower the crab but distinctly flavored and most importantly, it melts well. Adding smoked paprika and mustard gave it some bite and blended seamlessly into the simple cheese sauce. It ended up being a very easy but elegant macaroni and cheese. Fancy enough for company but quick enough for a weeknight.

My Favorite Recipes of 2009

Here are two of my favorite recipes from each month of 2009. It was really difficult to narrow it down to just two for each month, I posted 160 original recipes this year! Check out over five years' worth of recipes by browsing the archives located on the right column.


January


Hello, Hawaii, How Are You? Pulled Chicken



Lemon Bars

February


Nutella Cheesecake Squares



Spicy Peanut Sauce

March


Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes



Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad


April


Corned Beef with Deli-style Mustard

May



Strawberry Asparagus Salad with Bee Pollen Dusted Hazelnuts

June


Blueberry Goat Cheese Muffins



Blueberry-Mint Cupcakes


July


Indian Tacos



Kiwi Lemongrass Pie

August


Peaches & Herb Panini



Homemade Sno-Balls

September


Pommes Frites



Baltimore-Style Crabcakes

October


Pumpkin Five Spice Sweet Rolls



Smoked Gouda and Ham Jalapeno Poppers

November


Pomegranate Wild Rice Salad


Turkey & Pea Risotto

December


An Excellent Eggplant Pasta


Smoked Salmon & Green Onion Latkes

Rachel's Homestyle Baltimore Crab Cakes

Ingredients:
1 shallot, minced
16 oz backfin blue crab meat
16 oz lump blue crab meat
2 eggs, beaten
2 slices white sandwich bread, torn into small bits
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1-2 tablespoons Old Bay
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Place the crab meat in a large bowl. Add the spices and mix to incorporate, without breaking up the chunks of crab meat. Add the remaining ingredients and gently mix in by hand.



Cup handfuls of the crab mixture and mold into balls.



Cook immediately or refrigerate until ready to cook, up to overnight. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a large skillet and fry the crab cakes until golden, flipping once. A large, shallow spoon makes flipping and removing crab cakes from the pan a breeze. Drain on paper towel lined plates before serving.

Yield: about 10 crab cakes

My thoughts:

Here in Baltimore where to get the best crab cakes is a hotly debated topic. Blood is drawn, friendships are lost, and families are divided as people debate which restaurant has the most flavorful crab cakes with the largest chunks of crab and the least filler. Almost as controversial are the crab cake recipes people make at home. Often they are a closely guarded secret trotted out only on the most special of occasions. Fortunately for you, I don't feel the need to keep my recipe to myself. My recipe has been refined over the years, building up from the very simple Old Bay, backfin, egg and bread cube version my mother makes.

My version uses both lump and backfin crab meat for a couple of reasons. Backfin is finer and easier to form into cakes but it is wonderful to bite into succulent lumps of crabmeat, so it is worth it mix some lump in. Lump, by itself, is rather difficult to bind without using a lot of filler and is more expensive than backfin, so mixing the two is easier, cheaper and tastier than using just lump. I also like to add a bit of mustard and extra celery seed to the mix to give it a bit of a kick without being spicy. The trick is to season your crab cakes thoroughly enough that it needs no adornment but not so much that you can't taste the crab. The crab is the star!

My recipe is sort a cross between the old-fashioned, homelier crabcakes typically made by native Baltimoreans at home and the broiled jumbo lump-only crab cakes one finds at restaurants. Of course, there are as many ways to make crab cakes as there are crabs in Bay but these are tastiest I've made and easy to make at home.



Quick tips:
Often small bits of shells and cartridge can be found in packages of crabmeat, even if the label says it has been picked over. Take a minute to check over the meat before forming the crabcakes.

The moisture level of the crab varies from batch to batch. If the crab mixture is very wet, making it difficult to form a cake, add a small amount of bread or cracker crumbs until the mixture can hold its shape.

If you are so inclined, lump and jumbo lump crab meat can be used instead of the backfin and lump but it will be more difficult to mold into crab cakes.

How to Eat Steamed Blue Crabs

You need:
newspaper
crabs
crab mallet
paper towels

Quick notes:

Crabs are sold by size: small, medium, large, jumbo and occasionally colossal. They can be very expensive (especially if you buy them already steamed) and the price difference between the sizes can be significant. I recommend getting at least the medium size. The size difference between medium and large is often slight but the price difference is frequently about $10 a dozen.


Picking crabs is time consuming. Unless you are a professional, plan to spend the bulk of an afternoon or evening picking crabs.

Your hands will get very dirty. I find it is difficult to eat anything but crabs while you are picking unless you're willing to get up and wash your hands frequently. If you want to serve other food, I suggest serving it before or after the crabs.

Avoid touching your eyes while picking, seafood seasoning burns. Also, it is not uncommon to cut your finger on a shell but it is generally no worse than a papercut.



Step One:
Cover a large dining surface with a thicker than you would think layer of newspaper. It really is best to do this outside on a picnic table if at all possible. If not, resign yourself to cleaning the floor afterwards.



Step Two:
Pick out a crab. Try and get one that has both claws and feels "heavy" before someone else does.



Step Three:
Bend or twist the legs and claws to snap them off at the body. Some times a bit of crabmeat will come off with the legs or claw. Eat it. Set the claws aside. There is not much meat (if any) in the legs so I just push them aside.



Step Four:
Pull off the "apron". Some people use a butter knife for this but I am a purist and only use my hands. Simply slip your finger under the edge of the point and pull down. It should pull off easily.





Step Five:
Pry the shell away from the body. The easiest way is to use both hands and pull the crab halves in opposite directions.



Step Seven:
Flip the crab over.


Remove the squishy, grey gills. They pull off very easily. Discard them. The yellow stuff is colloquially known as the "mustard" and is edible.



Step Eight:
Crack the crab in two. Pull out any loose crabmeat and eat it.



Crack the halves and extract the meat. Again, some people use butter or crab knives but I find that fingers work just fine. Eat the meat as you go.



Step Nine:
Hold both sides of the crab claw and break off the part that I am holding in my fingers.




The meat should come off on the claw. If not, break the claw with your mallet.



The other half of the claw has meat as well. Break it off at the joint. If this doesn't yield meat, hit it with your mallet.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

My thoughts:

Steamed hard shell blue crabs are a staple here in Baltimore and I think us natives possess innate knowledge of how to pick crabs. However, I realize that this isn't true of many people, my husband included. Last year I posted a how to steam crabs that was well received. After that post, I got quite a few requests for a how to pick crabs post. I had tried to take pictures of the picking process at the time but it is hard enough to photograph yourself but covered in seafood seasoning? Nearly impossible. So I waited until we had crabs again and tried again with much more success. Having a crab feast is a lot of fun and it is a shame to miss it because you are crab-wary! Now everyone has a slightly different crab picking style but this is all you really need to get the most out of your crabs.