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Red Rock Crab, What to fix with?

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SonnyE

SonnyE

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Dec 13, 2017
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Saugus, California
Home is the hunter, home from the hill....
Well, OK, the docks of Puget Sound.
So went for the Grandson's Graduation, stayed for the fishin.
Crab Season opened and I found my nitch catchin crabs, cleanin crabs, steamin crabs, and freezin crabs. Came home with the freezer filled with crab halves. Got the limits in the deep freeze and ready to put on a crab-fest.
I watched a T-roy Cooks video on my phone do his version of a Sea Food boil. But I'm going to keep browsing around.
Still have to get my new-2-me, 6 Quart steamer out of the RV basement. It's a little booger, but does 8 half-crabs in a batch easy. Or 6 crabs (12 halves) fully loaded.
Learned a lot, never got pinched. (But the Grandson got clawed by one. OUCH!)
We limited out on Varnished Clams as well. SIL steaming 180 clams for freezing

Frozen Crabs.jpg


SIL steaming clams for winter clam chowder.

Clams.jpg
 
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Nice haul for sure Sonny! I'm really curious how your crab freezing went? Did you try the flash freeze and ice glaze method?

I cant say I have ever done a "crab boil". I guess its just kind of not my thing. Me personally, I would rather just eat the crab, and forsake all other sides. I like to eat all I want when I can when it is fresh. Set me down with cup of melted butter with a little garlic and sometimes a dash or two of Worchester! :D Of course I would wash it down with a good brew. Maybe some garlic bread...

Red potato's, corn on the cob are generally a part of a boil. You could also add some sausage. Garlic bread on the side, Coleslaw, pasta salad, and yes- dill potato salad. I also like creamy cucumbers (in ranch dressing) or even cucumber and tomato salad with red onion.... OH YEAH!

If I have any left over crab, I usually give it away to family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Beyond that I will go ahead and crack it out for freezing. Now with the frozen crab meat my first go-to is in seafood omelet with a little onion and celery (still a little crunchy), and fresh tomato on top.

Now the varnish clams I will do just like the manilas in the classic "steamer clam" broth of butter shallots and white wine just until they have popped open, served with a good crusty bread.
 
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SonnyE said:
I have some Louisiana Brand Crab Boil on the way.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how the dill would go with the Louisiana crab boil seasonings. I'd, maybe, smell or taste the dill and seasoning mix with each other to make sure they don't conflict with each other too much. Dill would be great with plain seafood, but maybe they just use plain corn and potatoes in the crab boil because their flavors aren't too strong. You could try a scalloped potato with a plain cream sauce and add some of the crab boil seasoning to keep stuff from conflicting.
 
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browneyesvictim said:
Nice haul for sure Sonny! I'm really curious how your crab freezing went? Did you try the flash freeze and ice glaze method?

I cant say I have ever done a "crab boil". I guess its just kind of not my thing. Me personally, I would rather just eat the crab, and forsake all other sides. I like to eat all I want when I can when it is fresh. Set me down with cup of melted butter with a little garlic and sometimes a dash or two of Worchester! :D Of course I would wash it down with a good brew. Maybe some garlic bread...

Red potato's, corn on the cob are generally a part of a boil. You could also add some sausage. Garlic bread on the side, Coleslaw, pasta salad, and yes- dill potato salad. I also like creamy cucumbers (in ranch dressing) or even cucumber and tomato salad with red onion.... OH YEAH!

If I have any left over crab, I usually give it away to family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Beyond that I will go ahead and crack it out for freezing. Now with the frozen crab meat my first go-to is in seafood omelet with a little onion and celery (still a little crunchy), and fresh tomato on top.

Now the varnish clams I will do just like the manilas in the classic "steamer clam" broth of butter shallots and white wine just until they have popped open, served with a good crusty bread.
Click to expand...

No way to "Flash Freeze" at the daughters. So I killed, dismembered, cleaned, steamed, ice bath chilled, bagged, and froze limits of halves. (Limit is 6 crabs, often we got two limits a day. Grandson and I)
So they were wet when frozen in vacuum bags. Her deep freeze was showing Zero degrees. My chest freezer here at home runs -20°.

It was a learned process... :(
The older Grandson's Fiance` and her Dad do a lot of crabbin in the Sound. She was telling me of the process he taught her while we were painting their new home before we moved them in.
They do a live, whole crab immersion, followed with an ice water bath that helps release the meat from the shell.

My first attempt with 5 crabs resulted in extremely difficult to remove crab meat. But made good crab cakes, after the intensive pickin labor. :mad:
So I had a good old boil in mind.
I came home with a crab trap, and a crab hawk crab catcher, too. I hope to try my hand on the California coastline, as well as a return trip this fall to get more fishin and crabbin in.
The Daughter and SIL bought me an annual out of State fishing license that is all inclusive. I've got reason to get back up for another stay. :rolleyes:
 
Looks like there will be some mighty fine meals being made. As far as sides go there are many things to do. Depends on the amount of people and the tastes are. We used to do crab or lobster feasts a few yrs back when things were really busy. We would do a potato salad ( about 10# ) lots of bacon and cheese involved, a macaroni salad ( wifes recipe) then smoke and deep fry a turkey for those that didn't do seafood. Invite 30 + people and have at it.
 
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Man... Tell your SiL to shave :eek:

That all looks and sound fantastic, the fishing/crabbing and everrything.

Now as for food...
Fried Crab Claws, Crab Cakes, Crab Rolls and West Indies Crab Salad.
The crab stuffed fish everything, and douse it all in cream of shrimp sauce.
Oh man, I love crab, but I despise picking the meat.
 
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chilerelleno said:
Man... Tell your SiL to shave :eek:

That all looks and sound fantastic, the fishing/crabbing and everrything.

Now as for food...
Fried Crab Claws, Crab Cakes, Crab Rolls and West Indies Crab Salad.
The crab stuffed fish everything, and douse it all in cream of shrimp sauce.
Oh man, I love crab, but I despise picking the meat.
Click to expand...

Oh, you thought SIL was Sister In Law... LOL!
Naw that's Mark, Son In Law.
It was fun watching him work the clam haul. They were yummie!
But mostly for next winters clam chowder.

We also caught 8 Dogfish. A type of a shark. We thought they were sharks, so we clipped the leader.
Later, we found out we could have kept them. But just as well. They'll be there for another day.
Good way to get rid of some old snelled hooks.

As for the pickin, I'm leaving the rest of that up to whoever eats them. Just 5 of them was torturous.
 
Sorry I can't help with how to cook them Sonny, but if you send them over here I'll do some experimenting for ya.

I'll be looking for part two of this thread.

Chris
 
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