dungeness crab « Putney Farm

Roasted Dungeness Crab. Yum.

Here on the west coast we get a special treat every holiday season, Dungeness crab. Starting in November and running through the winter, good fish markets will have chill cases full of big, bright red, cooked crabs. And they don’t go to waste, people out here love their crabs. And Dungeness crab is a truly lovely dish. The flesh is white, tender and sweet. And while it does take some work to get at all the meat, the cracking and picking is all part of the fun.

Most folks out here simply serve the crab with some lemon and mayonnaise. But roasting crab with herbs and spices is a popular way to add some flavor and develop a quick “sauce”. There are many good recipes for roasting crab with homemade curry sauce (so good, recipe soon) but that takes a little extra shopping and work. For a quick, but tasty, roast crab we use a marinade of oil, herbs, garlic and red pepper. Combine these flavors with a quick roast and some lemons and you have a very fun, flavorful meal.

To say the crab in the recipe is “roasted” is a bit of a misnomer. You really marinate the crab in the herb and oil mixture for a few hours and then warm the crab and sauce in the oven for about ten minutes. The marinade and extra heat bring out more flavor from the crab. With the added flavor and rich texture of the oil, this dish feels more like a main dish than appetizer, so it is a perfect family meal. And you do get the bonus of a great smelling kitchen while you roast the crab. This dish smells as good as it tastes.

So if you have a chance to get your hands on Dungeness crab, we suggest you buy a few. Have them cracked and cleaned and bring ’em home. You can certainly serve the crab by itself, but you can make a true meal of the crabs with a tiny bit of extra work. And the extra work, which really isn’t much, is certainly worth it. Few dishes give you so much flavor for so little effort.

Roasted Dungeness Crab:

Notes Before You Start:

Cooking and cleaning Dungeness crabs yourself isn’t fun. Most good fish mongers have quality, freshly cooked crabs they will crack and clean for you. We are all for DIY projects, but this isn’t one of them. Have your fish monger do the work.
Dungeness crab is pretty specific to the west coast of the US. But this basic recipe will work with any meaty, cooked crab.

What You Get: Dungeness crab with some extra flavor. A fun, messy meal.

What You Need: Assuming you have the fish monger clean and crack the crabs, no special equipment required.

How Long? About 2 and a half hours, but only 5 minutes of active time, most of the time is spent marinating the crab.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4-6)

1 cup Italian parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon tarragon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup good olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste, but we suggest you season liberally)
2, 2-pound. Dungeness crabs, cooked, cleaned and cracked
2 lemons, quartered

Assemble:

1. Combine parsley, thyme, tarragon, garlic, red pepper flakes and oil and then finely chop using an immersion blender or food processor.

2. Place the crab pieces in a shallow baking pan, pour marinade over crabs and toss, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 400°. Roast crabs, uncovered, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Garnish with lemon quarters (squeeze some lemon over the crab, if you like). Serve

Fresh Dungeness Crab, Garlic Noodles (therobotmusteat.com)
Steamed Dungeness crab (vietnamesefoods102.wordpress.com)
Dungeness crab season begins in California (photos.mercurynews.com)
Dungeness Crab Season is Here! How to Buy It, Enjoy It, and What to Drink with It (jvineyards.blogspot.com)

Dungeness Crab Salad With Avocado and Roasted Beets

As spring moves into summer, some of our favorite ingredients start to fade away and we try to enjoy them before they are gone. One of these seasonal ingredients is Dungeness crab. The Dungeness is a medium-sized crab (about the size of a large salad plate) with a red shell and sweet, flaky flesh. Dungeness is very common in the pacific states and is even the “state crustacean” in Oregon (somehow I don’t think Nebraska has a state crustacean). Dungeness crab is considered a “sustainable” delicacy and there is plenty to go around while it’s in season. The Dungeness season lasts while the North Pacific ocean is very cold, from about November to June. And as we are in May, our time with the Dungeness this year is running short. We wanted to be sure to make at least one more good dish with the Dungeness crab.

Happily, Carolyn recently got a copy of Suzanne Goin’s “Sunday Suppers at Lucques” cookbook and it has this great recipe for a Dungeness crab salad. In case you are curious, Suzanne Goin is a James Beard award-winning chef from Los Angeles and Lucques is her flagship restaurant (she is part of four). The cookbook is from 2005, but we just found it and are very pleased with the recipes. As Goin worked under Alice Waters (and a bunch of other serious chefs) early in her career, we see some similarities in their recipes, particularly with salads and vegetables. As we are big fans of Alice Waters’ vegetable recipes, this is a good thing. Many of the Lucques recipes seem like heartier updates to Chez Panisse classics. This is a compliment, trust us.

As for the salad, the recipe combines crabmeat in a flavorful citrus and jalapeño vinaigrette with earthy roasted beets, sweet and creamy avocados and crisp, slightly bitter watercress. A drizzle of crème fraîche and cilantro (if you like cilantro) add brightness to the dish. The salad is very tasty and has that “restaurant quality” of tasting better than the sum of its parts. There are a bunch of good flavors and textures in this dish. Oh, and it’s a pretty healthy dish, too.