Crab 3 Ways

I wanted to make a nice dinner for my roommate tonight, whose favourite seafood is crab.  At work I've been thinking a lot about a nice crab feast that I could make for my roommate to thank them for being so awesome, and I decided to not settle for one preparation, but instead to make three different crab preperations that would each compliment each other, but would also stand as their own independent dish.   My roommate is allergic to dairy, so I used no dairy at all in the preparation of this dish, because opposed to popular belief, seafood does not need to be drenched in butter to be good, there are many other ways to make a sauce that compliments seafood much better than butter does.  

I decided to do Snow Crab Legs, Jonah Crab Claws, and and a Linguini with an Alaskan King Crab with brussels sprouts, zucchini, and broccoli rabe sauce.   One note, thought, I have tried Jonah crab claws multiple different ways, and I still really am not a fan of it.  I find it to be kind of dry, so I tried to do a sauce with it, and honestly it helped slightly but I am still not a huge fan.   The leftovers I will pick out the meat from the Jonah crab meat and use it to make crab cakes, or something along that lines.   Over all this was a great meal, and anyone who is a fan of crab will be delighted by it, also as I said each of the ingredients would work very well as their own meal with a few sides.   Also for each of these preparations I believe that less is more, and I used just a few basic ingredients to create dishes that would be sure to please whether for a simple meal, or even if you were entertaining guests. 

 Crab Three Ways

Ingredients:

1lb of Snow Crab Legs

2 lb of Alaskan King Crab (the part where the legs connect to the body, or the whole legs if you choose)

2lb of Jonah Crab Claws (pre cracked or scored for cracking are easier since these shells are very tough to crack)

2 Lemons (1 with its zest for the sauce and 1 for slicing and serving)

2 Shallots (minced)

10 cloves of Garlic (minced)

10-12 Multi Coloured Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

1 Zucchini (thick sliced and cut in half)

1 small bunch of broccoli rabe

1/2 of a package of Linguine noodles (1/2 lb if you package is larger than a 1 lb package)

Sea Salt to taste

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

1 can or 4 peeled plum tomatoes with their juice

Water for boiling

Olive Oil (you will need enough to coat the bottom of the pan for both recipes that needs it)

1 1/2 cup of white wine (plus more to drink while you cook)

Snow Crab Legs

Ingredients:

1 lb of snow crab legs

A pot of water for boiling

Sea salt to add to the water to make salt water (if you live near the ocean or have access to sea water that is best)

1. Boil snow crab in sea salt and water for about 5-10 minutes depending on if they are frozen or thawed (basically you are just heating these, not cooking them, since crab legs usually come pre-cooked)

Jonah Crab Claws in a Garlic Olive Oil and White Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

2 lb of Jonah Crab Claws (scored or precracked is preferred)

Olive Oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan)

Sea Salt to taste

1 shallot minced

5 cloves of garlic (peeled and minced)

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 1/2 of a lemon

3/4-1 cup of white wine

1. heat olive oil and sea salt in a deep skillet (over Med to Med-Hi heat)

2. add in 1 shallot and 5 cloves of garlic (minced both) and cook until aromatic (do not let garlic brown or it will get bitter)

3. add in lemon zest from 1 lemon, and juice from 1/2 of a lemon

4. add in 1/2 cup of white wine and cook the alcohol out

5. add in the Jonah Crab Claws  and cover and steam for 5 min or until they are heated through (don't over cook, since they are already cooked, we are just steaming them to get them hot)

6. Serve and either drizzle the sauce over them or put it in a dish to dip the meat into

Linguine with Crab, Zucchini, and Broccoli Rabe

Ingredients:

Salted Water for boiling

1/2 lb of Linguine (you can use more if you are feeding more people)

Olive Oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan)

Sea Salt to taste

1 Shallot (minced)

5 Cloves of Garlic (peeled and minced)

10-12 brussels sprouts halved

1 zucchini (thick sliced and halved)

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

1/2 cup of white wine

1 can or 4 peeled plum tomatoes with juice

1 bunch of prepared broccoli rabe

2 lb of picked Alaskan King Crab meat (DO NOT USE ARTIFICIAL CRAB MEAT)

10-12 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1. boil salt water for the noodles and cook noodles according to the directions on box, when they are done, shock them with cold water and set aside. 

Prepare the sauce while the water heats:

1. heat olive oil and sea salt in a large deep skillet over Med to Med-Hi heat

2. add in 1 shallot and 5 cloves of garlic (both minced) and cook until aromatic (do not let your garlic brown or it will get bitter)

3. add in halved brussels sprouts and sliced and halved zucchini (cook until they begin to soften and brown slightly on the cut sides of the brussels sprouts) season with cracked black pepper

4. add 1/2 cup of white wine and cook the alcohol out

5. add in 4 peeled plum tomatoes and their juice  (pressing them to break them up) and stirring them in. 

6. reduce heat to med-low and add in the prepared broccoli rabe and halved cherry tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes (this would be a good time to add your pasta to your boiling water)

7. in the last 5 minutes of step 6 add in the picked crab meat (I used Alaskan King Crab, the part where the legs join to the body, and I left it in big chunks, remember you are not cooking it but only warming it)

8.  taste and add sea salt and pepper as needed (it is important to taste your food as you cook).

9.  Add the noodles to the sauce, depending on how much noodles you made, you might find it better to just add the sauce to the pot with the drained noodles rather than the other way around).   Mix to combine over a low heat, folding in all of the ingredients of the sauce so that every noodle is covered and the ingredients have all blended well together. 

This is a light sauce, and it might not look like your noodles are heavily covered because it isn't a thick red tomato sauce, but rather more of a thin olive oil and garlic based sauce.   Also add more of anything you want to suit your tastes.

How to Prepare Broccoli Rabe:

Ingredients:

1 pot of heavily salted water

1 bunch of broccoli rabe

1 bowl of cold water with ice cubes

1. in a large pot boil salt water (don't be afraid to heavily salt the water, make it taste a bit like ocean water, same goes for doing your crab and noodles that also need boiling for this meal)

2. boil the broccoli rabe for 3-4 minutes until tender

3. drain and add into a bowl of iced water and set aside.