Crab Recipes

B Baked Crabs Recipe Bisque Of Crab Recipe Bisque Of Crabs Recipe Boiled Soft-shell Crabs Recipe Broiled Crabs Recipe C Celery, Crab and Chicken Salad Recipe Codfish, Crab Meat And Bacon Recipe Crab And Oyster Soup Recipe Crab Appetizer Recipe Crab Meat And Red Pepper Sandwich Recipe Crab Meat And Tomato Jelly Salad Recipe Crab Meat Curry Recipe Crab Meat Fritters Recipe Crab Meat Toast Recipe Crab Meat With Apples And Paprika Recipe Crab Meat With Cheese And Tomatoes Recipe Crab Meat With Oysters And Tomatoes Recipe Crab Meat With Sweet Potatoes And Cream Recipe Crab Meat, Indienne Recipe Crab Meat, Terrapin Style Recipe Crab Salad Recipe Crab Soup Recipe 1

C cont. Crab Soup Recipe 2 Crab Soup Recipe 3 Crabs (soft Shell) With Bacon Recipe Crabs (soft Shell) With Onions And Tomatoes Recipe Crabs A La Creole Recipe Crabs With Rice Recipe D Deviled Crabs Recipe Deviled Crabs Recipe 1 Devilled Crabs Recipe 1 Devilled Crabs Recipe 2 Dressed Crab Recipe F Fried Soft-shell Crabs Recipe G Gumbo, Potato And Crab Meat Soup Recipe M Mock Crab Sandwich Spread Recipe O Omelet With Crab Meat Recipe Oyster Crabs A La Newburg Recipe Oyster Crabs With Green Peppers And Bacon Recipe Oyster Crabs With Mushrooms Recipe S Scrambled Eggs With Crab Meat And Red Peppers Recipe Scrambled Eggs With Crab Meat Recipe Shrimp, Crab Meat And Cucumber Recipe Shrimp, Oyster Crabs And Green Peppers Recipe Spaghetti, Crab Meat And Onions Recipe

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Crabs are hard-shelled crustaceans full of high protein meat with a sweet flavor and soft, melting texture. The most popular food crab is native to the coastal waters of the Atlantic seaboard, the blue crab, named for its blue-shaded shell, which turns red when cooked.

The best way to eat the blue variety is freshly caught and steamed. Buy them by the bushel or peck - a dozen per person is not unreasonable, since each only has a few bites of meat, and getting to it is hard, but rewarding work.

If you have never eaten blue crab before, your best introduction to them is at a crabhouse, a restaurant that specializes in 'cracking crab'. They typically have placemats that describe the process of getting into the shell, and are well worth a visit just for the ambiance of old time eating. Each table is covered with thick brown butcher paper, and each place setting contains a thick wooden dowel for cracking the shell and a pair of nutcracker-like pliers for assisting with the claws. Old Bay Seasoning, drawn butter and vinegar are the condiments, and diners simply pile the discarded shells in the middle of the table, to be bundled up in the paper when you are through eating.

The West Coast brings us the Dungeness crab, a giant compared to the much smaller blue. A dozen Dungeness would feed a dozen people. While the legs of the blue crab are so small that little meat is available in them, the Dungeness has thick legs and claws, well worth excavating, and the body cavities are sources of large juicy lumps of meat.

When you can't get fresh crab, fall back on frozen, or you can find the canned variety in the grocery store for making crabcakes and to use in salads, but it is a pale and wan substitute for the fresh caught.