Crab Boil

There about two times out of the year when I buy crab, and one of those times is today, on Valentine’s Day. I normally make my mom’s recipe where she places it on a broiler pan, water in the bottom, and covered with foil, cooking, and allowing it to steam. Today was not that day. Today was the day for the crab boil.

While living in Dallas, Texas, I became accustomed to eating crawfish boils all the time, and became addicted to them. What more could one ask for, but a table lined with newspaper, stacked with steaming hot crawfish, and lots of cold beer. Call that an afternoon! Based on those experiences, I decided to grab about four clusters of crab, as they were on sale, some shrimp, and other goodies, and get the party started.

Ingredients:

• Crab Clusters
• Shrimp (31-40s), roughly 20 or so
• 2 lemons, quartered
• 1 package of crab boil
• Cayenne Pepper (to your liking)
• 6 tbsp salt
• Old Bay seasoning (optional)
• Corn Cobs, cut into thirds
• 4 Red potatoes, often called New Potatoes
• Ice
• Butter, melted with garlic salt (optional)

Start by bringing a large pot to a boil. I have an extremely large pot, often used for brining, or making big batches of soup. You will want a pot large enough to not only hold all of the ingredients, but also being able to submerge the goods. Once your water comes to a rolling boil, add in the salt, crab boil seasoning, lemons, cayenne pepper, and the potatoes. Cook the potatoes for roughly 14 minutes. Next toss in the crab lakes and boil for 5 minutes.  Add in the shrimp, and corn. Cook for a minute or two, turn off the heat, then take about six cups of cold ice and place it in the water. This will kill the boil.

Keep everything in the water for 15 minutes. During this time, melt your butter, adding garlic salt, and let it go on very low heat.

if you are doing this outdoors, feel free to use newspaper, lined on a large table, and if indoors, plate on a large serving platter. Sprinkle Old Bay seasoning over everything, put the butter in serving bowls, and get ready to party.

This is such a treat. The crab boil allows you to eat with your hands, use crab crackers, and picks, and is just something that is just really fun to eat.