Labor Day Crab Boil

For Labor Day this year a friend of ours wanted to fly in blue crabs from Maryland. Since my boyfriend, Jedi (a fake name to protect the innocent, although why I am using it for him, I haven’t a clue), is from Maryland he was more then happy to join in and make this idea a reality. For this adventure, more equipment then then usual was necessary which called for a visit to the local Smart and Final for a large pot and outdoor propane burner. Next was a trip to William Sonoma for crab mallets (surprising difficult to find here in Los Angeles) and finally Surfas for the perfect clarified butter to accompany the sweet little crustaceans and make our purchases complete. A bushel of medium blue crabs arrived on the doorstep of Jedi’s house on Saturday morning and he was aglow with the excitement to come. Out of 6 dozen crabs, there were surprising few that gave up the ghost during their 6 hour flight from the East Coast. Although not lively when we first opened the box due to the cold (they were packed in dry ice), as we cooked more and the remaining in the box got warmer they began to wake up and show their feisty side. The crabs were ordered live from Harbour House in Maryland , they also specialize in soft-shell blue crabs and sending already steamed hard shell ones. Jedi was in his element with 3 lbs of Old Bay and gloves to protect his fingers from the crab’s pinchers he got down to the serious business of steaming.

First he made an intoxicating brew of heated beer on the outside propane burner which was gently brought up to boil. When the steam started filling the pot, a dozen blue critters were added alternating with heaping portions of Old Bay. Once the crabs were steamed to perfection, they were lifted from the pot and spread out on the brown paper covered tables for their last orange coat of Old Bay. Jedi even provided me with my very own portion of steamed crabs sans Old Bay due to my lichen planus (a condition on my lips and mouth that makes it painful to eat spicy or hot food…sad, I know!). Let the cracking, slurping, digging, and dipping BEGIN!!!

Throughout the daylong crab boil, there was so much food to be had that we felt slightly ashamed of our overindulgence. Jedi’s friends and neighbors and mine too stopped by from 2pm until 10 to pull up a seat at the paper covered feast table in the duplex’s backyard to talk, pick crabs, and eat a variety of delectable dishes. One friend, who’s originally from Georgia, to everyone’s delight made hush puppies. Later in the evening he created even more incredible fried food by spoiling us with beignets from a Café du Monde mix. They were scandalously good even though he though some were half cooked. I opted on the un-fried side and made traditional cornbread and honey butter to accompany the crabs. I used the recipe on the side of the cornmeal box which resulted in moist delectable bread. Jedi’s roommate (or as we call her, The Brown One-it’s not what you think) created a scrumptious caprese salad using the tomatoes and basil from their garden.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Maryland Blue Crab (and I was pretty much a Blue Crab virgin until dating my wonderful, gourmet beau, Jedi) this kind of crab is more delicate tasting and sweeter then it’s cousins the Dungeness and Alaskan King Crabs. It’s also a challenge to shell the smaller ones. Luckily we received mediums that were on the higher side of that size category (51/2-6 inches). You see blue crabs come in 5 different sizes for the males, which are the preferred type to eat, they are in descending order; Heavyweights, Jumbos, Large, Medium, and Small and then there are the females (usually not eaten due to the fact that they can produce up to eight million eggs in one mating season, so their capture and consumption is limited). It’s my inner desire to someday go out with crabbers in Maryland to catch my very own blue crabs. Imagine the freshness!

I find it very amusing that my boyfriend should love crabs so much given the fact that his star sign is Cancer, The Crab. People of this star sign are considered to be gentle and nurturing despite the irony that Crab is used to describe someone who is a grouch. I am very skeptical about astrology, but in this instance I find it amusingly fitting.