HOT CRAB FLAKE SANDWICH

Last Friday, our friends from Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina came to visit. Guy set the table with his crab paper and we steamed about 3 dozen blue claws for a crab feast. All we needed to accompany the steamed crabs was fresh local corn on the cob and a simple tomato-cucumber-green pepper salad. Dessert was cheesecake that I had frozen.

Fortunately, this feast meant that our freezer was emptied of crabs. Unfortunately, we had about a dozen crabs left over. (I didn't eat any crabs.)

We took our friends to Pamlico County and we checked the crab
traps. Here's a photo of one of the crab traps. There were about 10 crabs in each trap. We threw a few back in. It's not that they were too small; it's just that most were so large, the standard-size crabs looked small. So, all in all, our friends had 2 dozen crabs to take home -- cleaned and iced. You can see in the bottom photo how Guy does it. He rips the back shell off and hoses out the mustard, then puts the crab on ice. This is how New Jerseyans do crabs -- we clean 'em before we eat 'em.

On Sunday, Guy and I picked the leftover steamed crabs and got 2 heaping cups of crabmeat, which means I need some recipes. While I'm searching for recipes, here's one to keep you busy:


Hot Crab Flake Sandwich
(Merchant's Club, Baltimore, Md.)
1 lb. backfin crabmeat
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 dashed liquid hot pepper sauce
1 pt. cream or half and half
8 slices toast
Sherry, if desired

Remove cartilage from crabmeat. Melt butter in 2-qt. saucepan; add crabmeat, and saute` until heated through. Add salt, Worcestershire, pepper and liquid hot pepper sauce. Add cream and allow mixture to come just to the boiling point, but do NOT boil.

Place 1 slice of toast on each of 4 plates. Using a slotted spoon, cover toast slices with crab flakes. Top with another slice of toast and cover with remaining crabmeat. Pour desired amount of sauce on each sandwich and serve. Sprinkle with sherry, if desired. Makes 4 sandwiches.

CRAB MELT SANDWICHES

My thanks to crabplace.com for this recipe.

Crab Melt Sandwiches
1 lb. fresh lump crabmeat, cartilage removed
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice, or to taste
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. coarse-grained mustard
4 (1") thick slices Italian bread, with crust removed
4 tsp. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
unsalted butter, softened

Put crabmeat in a bowl and add 1 Tbsp. lime juice; toss to combine. In small bowl, whisk together remaining Tbsp. lime juice, mayonnaise, and mustard until smooth. Pour sauce over crab and toss to coat. Season crab mixture with salt and pepper and chill, covered, for 30 minutes.

Preheat broiler. Lightly toast bread. Lightly butter toast. Spoon 1/4 crab mixture into 1/2 cup measure. Holding toast on top of mixture in measure, invert crab onto the toast and set on an ugreased baking sheet. Repeat procedure with remaining crab mixture and toast and sprinkle 1 Tbsp. Parmesan over each sandwich. Broil sandwiches about 3" from heat until cheese is melted and golden, 1-2 minutes. Serves 4.

CRABMEAT SUPREME WITH PIMIENTO SAUCE

This recipe is from Ginger Silvers, Food Editor-Sentinel Newspapers, who has authored several cookbooks and wrote a popular food column. I haven't tried it, but it sounds really good. Let us know if you try this one by leaving a comment at the end of any post.

Crabmeat Supreme
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. backfin crabmeat
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped parsley
3/4 cup Lite mayonnaise (I like Smart Balance)
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. liquid hot pepper sauce
Sea salt, to taste
10 oz. pkg. frozen patty shells, thawed in package
Pimiento Sauce (see recipe below)

Remove cartilage from crabmeat. Combine crabmeat with next 6 ingredients; set aside. Roll out each patty shell into a circle. Spoon about 1/3 cup crab mixture into center of each shell; fold up ends to completely enclose crabmeat. Place patties, sealed ends down, on an ungreased baking sheet. At this point you may refrigerate puffs for 4-6 hours. Bake in 425F oven for
35-45 minutes, or til pastry is puffed and lightly browned. Serve with Pimiento Sauce.
Makes 6 puffs.

Pimiento Sauce
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup Smart Balance buttery spread (or butter if you prefer)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2-1/2 cups milk (or fat-free half and half -- Land o'Lakes, only because it won't curdle)
1 tsp. finely chopped onion
1 tsp. lemon or orange zest
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup chopped pimientos

Melt Smart Balance in a 1-quart saucepan; blend in flour. Gradually stir in milk. Add onion, zest, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add pimientos. Serve with Crabmeat Supreme. Makes about 2-1/2 cups sauce
NOTE: This sauce may be prepared and refrigerated one day in advance. Reheat in double boiler (or microwave).

CRISFIELD CRAB BURGERS

Crisfield, Maryland, is the home of this recipe. Read about Crisfield at Wikipedia, and check out their photo of Crisfield's water tower with the Crab Logo. There are some serious crabbers in that town, and this is a serious crab sandwich. This recipe comes courtesy of the Maryland Dept. of Economic and Community Development, Office of Seafood Marketing, who published "Maryland Seafood Cookbook I, Traditional Tidewater Recipes." If you try it, come on back and leave a comment by clicking on the comment link at the end of this or any post.

Crisfield Crab Burgers
1 lb. crabmeat
2 Tbsp. minced green pepper
3/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 Tbsp. minced onion
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup small cubes mild cheese
few drops Worcestershire sauce
few drops hot sauce
salt, to taste
lemon and pepper seasoning, to taste
8 hamburger buns split in half
grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Remove cartilage from crabmeat. Mix crabmeat with all but the last two ingredients. Put hamburger buns on a cookie sheet and lightly brown under broiler. Remove from heat and spread crabmeat mixture on bottom of buns. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top. Broil 4 inches from broiler, until lightly browned and bubbly. Serve at once. Yield: 8 servings