My personal recipies
Deep fried green crabs is one of the most simple recipe for green crabs that can be made year round since this recipe is for hard shell crabs, not the coveted soft shell green crabs (moeche) only available for a very brief period in the spring, usually late May into June here in Maine.
Though in this particular video I batter everything, you really only need to batter the center mass of the crab because that is what you eat, the legs are primarily for holding onto the crab.
The 'tooth fee' of this dish about like a tortilla chip or kettle fried potato chip. A little crunch and a lot of seafood flavor!
This is a very special dish I learned about which is essentially the same recipe as a classic Italian carbonara except... there is no pork only green crab.
My initial thought about this recipe was that it would taste fine but is ultimately just green crab with pasta, which I make fairly often.
It is so much more than that. I think the combination of using the whole green crab and a quick hard saute did something to the green crab flavor which indeed brought out an interesting seafood/porcine flavor I didn't expect.
MAINE GREEN CRAB's BISQUE (serves 4)
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8 Green crabs (remove carapace for lighter colored broth* and garnish)
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2 tablespoons butter
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1 tablespoon olive oil
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1 onion finely chopped
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2 carrots peeled and finely chopped
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2 stalks celery finely chopped
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1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped
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1 teaspoon fresh tarragon chopped, plus more to serve
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1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
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Pinch salt or to taste
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1⁄4 teaspoon cracked pepper
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1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
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4 cloves garlic minced
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2 tablespoons tomato paste
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3 tablespoons all-purpose flour or plain flour
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1 1⁄4 cup dry sherry (dry white wine can be substituted)
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4 cups green crab stock
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3⁄4 - 1 cup heavy cream
Green crab stock
Fill a large pot with 5 cups of water. Stir in 1 teaspoon sea salt and bring to a boil.
Add 6 crushed green crabs (reserve two and split bodies for garnish), cover with lid and let boil for 5 minutes, or until shell is bright red.
Remove split bodies and refrigerate. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for a further 15 minutes to draw as much flavor out of the crabs as possible. Once done strain stock from shell and set aside.
Preparing bisque
Heat butter and oil in a large, heavy-based pot over medium heat, sweat the onions, carrots, celery and fresh herbs. Cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with the bouillon powder, salt and pepper. Stir in 4 cloves of minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Mix in tomato paste, cook for another minute to coat vegetables. Sprinkle flour over and cook, while stirring occasionally for another 2 minutes making a lite roux.
Pour in sherry, simmer and let reduce to half. Stir in green crab stock, reduce heat and gently simmer while stirring occasionally, until liquid has thickened slightly and flavors have blended, about 30 minutes.
Take off the heat, transfer mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to medium-low heat and stir in heavy cream.
Serving
Plate in shallow soup bowl, sprinkle with fresh chopped tarragon, and half green crab body prepared earlier. Serve with fresh bread toasted and buttered or lightly rubbed with garlic clove.
*green crab’s heapatopancreas is similar to other crabs, however I find they are a much darker and make stock that’s equally dark. For a lighter stock I remove the carapace that the heapatopancreas is attached to and liquid before cooking, this will make the broth as light as possible while still giving plenty of flavor.
