I love softshell crabs. I love their little twitching eyes and the way the eyes stay open after you remove them. I really love telling the fish guys “no thanks, I’ll clean them myself.” they always look funny at me and start to ask if I know what the h*ll I’m doing, but then they just shake their heads and give me the suckers. I love eating them whole, with my hands. I love their little legs poking out of the sandwich buns. I love them on salads. I love how it disgusts my family.
I don’t do anything horrible like save the eyes and put them on my husband’s plate. Yet. Here’s what I did with them last night:
Mix some Old Bay seasoning with some buttermilk. put the crabs into the buttermilk for an hour or two. Pull ‘em out, shake off some of the buttermilk, and dredge them in a little flour. Pan-fry for a few minutes. Set aside until the shrimp you’re grilling is done, because your husband won’t eat the softshells. he just … can’t. SIGH.
I had these with a little bit of orzo cooked in stock and shallots, and some really good Romesco’ish sauce.
-A great, big tomato. About a half-pounder, roasted and peeled and chopped. (Live dangerously — go ahead!) A couple of sun-dried tomatoes with the oil. A red pepper, about 1/4 pound, roasted and peeled and chopped. Three or four garlic cloves, smashed and peeled (and little green shoots removed, if they’re there). About a 1/4 cup of almonds and hazelnuts, toasted and skinned. An ancho chile, soaked for a half-hour in warm water, seeded. Red pepper flakes, like the kind Pizza Hut puts in the little shakers on their table. All of the above put into smoking hot olive oil and cooked for a while. Cooled and put into a food processor, along with …
-Some capers, fresh parsley (from my garden), red wine vinegar, and white bread cut into cubes.
Whirl it all together until it’s the consistency you want. Taste and season, add stock if you want to thin it a bit.
It’s great immediately, but even better the next day.
Now then. Foods that look like a**, because this blog is about cussin’, too. My younger son refused to eat apricots, peaches and nectarines the moment he saw them, for one reason: “they look like butts.” They do, don’t they?
2 responses so far ↓
HeyAnnette // June 13, 2008 at 1:26 am |
You should have seen this Arizonan eating soft shell crabs for the first time in DC last year. I was trying to pick the meat out of the tiny little body and legs. Fortunately, I had a very nice waiter who pointed out to me that you “eat the whole thing”. I liked them. Very crunchy. I don’t think I crave them, tho.
fabulousfoodbabe // June 13, 2008 at 8:29 pm |
HeyAnnette! You truly are my most adorable friend. I can see you hunched over your plate, wishing that you had a toothpick or a tiny fork to get the meat out. I bet lots of people have stories like that. The first time I met my future in-laws, my husband’s youngest brother told a story about how he’d gotten some boiled peanuts (ahem: “bolled pay-nuts”) and was eating them shell and all, until someone told him the shells weren’t for eatin’, they wuz fer throwin’ on the ground. Shoot, at that point I didn’t even know y’all could boll paynutz.