It's blue-claw crab season and the bay is abundant with crabs.
Actually, you can catch crabs on Long Island all summer, but it is not until late August into September that they are full size.
An interesting thing has been happening though, and my husband and I don't know why.
We seem to be only catching males. Where are the females?
Usually, we throw the females back into the water so they will reproduce, but this year we have not caught one female and we've caught dozens of male crabs so far.
Does anyone know why?
I'd appreciate a comment and some input to the reason why?
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How do you cook crabs?
Do you have a favorite recipe?
Well, this is how we make them in our family, a recipe handed down from my parents:
When you catch the crabs, immediately kill them with a sharp knife through the body.
(In my opinion, this is much more humane than steaming them alive, but I guess that's debatable!)
Then clean them by pulling off the top shell and cleaning out the insides. (I know some people eat that, but we don't.)
When they are clean, throw them into a fresh pot of tomato sauce.
That's it! Cook up some pasta and serve.
The crabs and sauce are so sweet this way. It is a messy dinner, so be prepared with lots of napkins, a washable tablecloth and don't forget the nut-crackers and picks.
Yummy!
Here is a another hint:
If you only catch a few and/or are not ready to eat them, freeze them after cleaning.
Keep adding cleaned crabs to the freezer in zip-lock bags until you have enough.
Sometimes we catch crabs all week and make the sauce on the weekend.
It's an inexpensive dinner and so delicious!
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8 comments:
Don't know the answer to your question.
But oh boy! Does that recipe sound great!
That recipe sounds delicious and I'm going to have to try it.
As for the females, maybe because people aren't releasing them like they should? We went to Jones Beach Field 10 a couple of weeks ago and some people were keeping each and every crab they caught, regardless of size or sex.
That's just my guess.
i'll give it a shot... thanks!
really nice photo Alida. I've never seen them before.
Oh my, just look at the blue on those crabs. Gorgeous images LIW.
Thankyou for the kind comment you left over at my place.
A blue crab represents the temperment of my 58 year old brother.
I caught a huge one off the Captree pier when I was a kid in Sept.
You just made me so hungry! I am so jealous:)
Alida,
That is hilarious. I'll go check out your entry.
I don't know if you remember, but you helped me with my UTATA Speaks 08 tags. I appreciate that. I found your blog and enjoy reading them.
Also, you should know that Carol and I have created a flickr group and want to turn the utata s. 08 essays into a printed book. You should get a flickr mail from Carol or me soon. I hope you are interested in doing this.
I'll post this comment on your blog too in case you don't check my blog.
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