Crab Recipes

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Ingredients

1 large acorn squash, quartered and seeds removed

½ cup of apricot nectar, divided

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1 teaspoon white pepper, divided

½ teaspoon olive oil

3 green onions, thinly sliced, plus additional for garnish

¼ cup of dried apricots, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ cup half-and-half cream

2 6-ounce cans of lump crabmeat, drained

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place acorn squash in a greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Drizzle it with ¼ of a cup of the apricot nectar and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon each of salt and white pepper.
3. Bake, covered, until fork-tender. Approximately 35 to 40 minutes.
4. While the squash bakes, heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Add the green onions and cook for 5 minutes or until tender, then add the dried apricots and garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
6. Stir in the half-and-half and the remaining apricot nectar, salt, and white pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to let it simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Gently stir in the crab; heat through.
8. Arrange the squash on a serving dish and add the crab mixture over top. Sprinkle with additional green onions and serve hot.

Recipe and photo courtesy of the Seafood Nutrition Partnership.

Ingredients

½ medium-sized onion, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup Arborio rice

½ bottle pale ale

14 ounces chicken stock, hot

7 ounces water, hot

1 cup pink shrimp, cooked

1 king crab leg, cut into quarter inch rounds, cooked

1 tablespoon tarragon, chopped

1 tablespoon chives, chopped

2–3 tablespoons butter

¼ cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a medium-sized pan over medium heat, sauté onion in olive oil until soft and translucent; season with salt and pepper. Add the rice and stir to coat; cook and stir until the grains turn opaque. Add the beer and continue stirring for 1 minute to allow alcohol to evaporate. Add hot chicken stock to the pan until it just covers the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid. Continue adding the stock in small increments. When all of the stock has been absorbed, begin adding small increments of hot water until the risotto reaches the desired consistency (slightly firm but creamy).
2. Fold in king crab, pink shrimp, chopped herbs, butter, and parmesan cheese.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Stefani Marnon, Alaska Chef, 2005 Great American Seafood Cook-off.

Ingredients

Fish and Stuffing

2 pounds hake (or other thin white fish)

8 ounces picked crab meat

¼ cup panko breadcrumbs

¼ cup parsley, chopped

½ shallot, finely diced

4 tablespoons butter

Pepper

Paprika

Sauce

½ shallot, finely diced

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ cup heavy cream

Directions

Fish and Stuffing

1. Mix crab meat with breadcrumbs, parsley, and shallot into melted butter in a sauté pan until well mixed and breadcrumbs are slightly browned.
2. Cut fish into portions long enough to wrap around the stuffing.
3. Stuff hake (or other white fish) with the crab stuffing. Roll and place on a baking rack, using toothpicks to keep the fish closed if needed.
4. Sprinkle tops of rolled fish with black pepper and paprika.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for around 10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.

Sauce

1. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a small pan.
2. Add the diced shallot, parsley, and lemon juice to the melted butter.
3. Add the heavy cream and reduce to desired consistency.
4. Serve stuffed fish with the sauce ladled on top.

Ingredients

Salsa Fresca

½ pound crabmeat

2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 tablespoon capers, drained

Salt and pepper to taste

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Fish

4 (6-ounce) rockfish filets

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions

Salsa Fresca

1. In a bowl, mix all ingredients gently so as not to break the crabmeat. Set in the refrigerator to allow flavors to develop.

Fish

1. In a 10-inch sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Season both sides of the rockfish filets with salt and pepper. Add filets to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes until the first side is golden brown.
2. Turn and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes longer until golden brown on both sides and opaque in the center.
3. Place rockfish on a plate and spoon crab and tomato salsa fresca on the top or side.

Recipe adapted from Chef Simos Marmaras, NOAA Chef, 2005 Great American Seafood Cook-Off

Ingredients

1 pound cleaned and skinned flounder filets

1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked clean of shell

2 egg whites, beaten to stiff peak

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup dry white wine

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Cut the flounder into eight strips, about 1 inch by 6 inches each. Set aside.
2. Gently mix together the crabmeat, ½ of egg whites, all the bread crumbs, and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
3. Lay the flounder out skinned side up. Divide the crabmeat evenly between the eight strips of fish, spreading it evenly to cover about 3 inches of each strip. Place a bit of whipped egg white on the “empty” end of the flounder (this will stick the roll together). Beginning with the end with the crabmeat, roll up each flounder strip toward the egg white, and stand roll up so that the crab is on top.
4. Place each roll in a lightly greased baking dish. Divide butter into eight pieces and place one piece on top of each flounder roll. Pour wine in the bottom of the baking dish, around rolls. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the crab is lightly browned.
5. Flounder rolls may be made ahead of time and stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator (33 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit) up to two days before cooking.

Recipe by Chef Christine Zambito Morillo, Williamsburg, VA, courtesy of the Virginia Sea Grant “Chefs’ Seafood Symposium” archives.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sweet butter

1 leek root with green tops trimmed

1 cup lump crabmeat picked over for any remaining bits of shell

1 pint oysters with their liquor

½ cup white wine

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and white pepper to taste

Directions

1. Butter four scallop shells (or small ovenproof dishes) and set aside. Quarter the leek, rinse it under running water, and pat dry. Chop the leek to measure about 1 cup. Over low heat, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan, add the leek and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and stir in the crab meat. Spread the mixture on each of the scallop shells.
2. Put the oysters in a small saucepan with their liquor, the wine, and the lemon juice. Poach them just until their edges begin to curl. With a slotted spoon to drain them, place the oysters on the crab mixture, dividing them among the four shells. Over high heat, reduce the liquid remaining in the pan to about ⅓ cup, skimming the surface as it boils down. Add the cream and reduce further, until the sauce is thick and concentrated in flavor. Season delicately with salt and pepper, and spoon the sauce over the oysters.
3. Just before serving, preheat the broiler and run the dishes under it briefly, only enough to glaze them.
4. Serve immediately.

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