FRIED SOFT SHELL CRABS

This recipe is from Harrison's Chesapeake House, Tilghman Island, Maryland. Frying soft shell crabs is a pretty straightforward process with a minimum of ingredients. Soft shells are completely different from the crabs that most people are used to eating. There is no hard shell. The entire crab is edible, because it is a blue crab that has shed its hard shell and has not yet had the new shell formed. The Crab Guy is very finicky about his crabs -- he still cleans soft shells before cooking them.

Fried Soft Shell Crabs

1 cup flour

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. baking powder

12 soft shell crabs, cleaned

Fat or oil for frying

Mix together flour, salt, pepper and baking powder. Dredge crabs in flour mixture to coat well. In large fry pan, heat about 1/2 inch fat to 375F. Add crabs and turn heat down to 350F. Cook crabs until browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Serves 6, 2 crabs each.