Cooking with "Softies"

How to Clean, Prepare, and Enjoy Softshell Crabs This Season

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June is upon us and on the East Coast, when it comes to seafood, that means it’s softshell crab season! These delectable crustaceans from Maryland, South Carolina, and Louisiana usually start showing up at the end of May, and they’ll stick around until about Mid-July. Prices usually range between three and six dollars depending on where they were harvested. Maryland crabs are very high quality, as the colder waters produce Blue Crabs high in delicious fat, and these are usually the most sought after.

While many chefs experiment with numerous way of “crusting” these crabs with different flours, cornmeal, nuts, and even plantains, they can be prepared as simply as sautéed whole with salt and pepper. Still, the preferred method is frying them, producing a super crunchy coating that contrasts perfectly with the inside meat, which, under the crisp “soft shell”, becomes smooth and creamy.

Most supermarkets will try to carry softshells during the season, and they can be easily purchased at the Whole Foods fish market or Wegman’s. It is extremely important to make sure that when buying them, the crab is still very active and moving when picked up. If you must keep the crabs in your refrigerator for a few days before using them, hold them in a cardboard box, a shoebox perhaps, covered with a damp towel. If the crabs die after you buy them but before you use them they will still be good. Just make sure they are completely free of an ammonia-like odor, as this means the crab has gone bad.

To prepare the crabs, there are three things that need to be cleaned off the body before cooking. First, most cooks will use kitchen shears to remove the face of the crab with one snip. Second, under each side of the “shell” are lung tissue, which needs to be cut out as well, and third, the sex organs need to be removed from the underside of the crab. They are simply folded out and snipped off. Overall, this process is very quick and easy, but it is not for the squeamish. Many fish mongers will handle this cleaning process for you if you do not want to do it yourself.

The diagram below shows the areas that need to be cleaned, and once this is done we can bread the crab, and fry it! These little guys are perfect for the beginning of the summer, fried crisp over a nice bed of citrus dressed greens, sautéed with forbidden rice, caramelized sunchokes and eggplant, or even grilled, with bacon, fennel, and leeks. Nothing says “Summer’s Here!” more than softshells… except maybe cherries… or peaches… or maybe squash blossoms.

Recipes

Fried Softshell Crabs over Late Spring Greens

INGREDIENTS

Fried Softshell Crabs
6 Softshell Crabs
1 cup All purpose Flour
1 Tbsp. Cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. Black pepper (finely ground)
1 Tbsp. Paprika
1 Tbsp. Salt
1/2 Tbsp. Cumin
1 cup Buttermilk
Salt (kosher) to taste
1 1/2 quarts Canola Oil

Late Spring Greens
1 1/2 cups, loosely packed Pea Shoots
2 cups loosely packer Baby Arugula
1 1/2 cups loosely packed Baby Mache
1/2 cup loosely packed Chervil
2 Tbsp. Chives (sliced)
2 each Avocados
1 ea. Grapefruit
2 ea. Blood Orange
2 Tbsp. Blood Orange zest
2 each Shallots (minced)
1/2 cup Good quality salad oil

METHOD

Fried Softshell Crabs
Mix together all the dry ingredients except the kosher salt in a large mixing bowl.
When ready to fry, heat the oil to 370 degress F (check temperature using a fry thermometer).
Place the buttermilk in a medium bowl and dip the crabs in it.
Take them out of the buttermilk one by one and coat completely with the seasoned flour.
Remove from the flour shaking off the excess, and place directly in the hot oil. Fry for about 4 minutes or until the crabs are all golden brown all over.
Remove from the oil, drain on paper towels or plates, and season with the kosher salt.

Greens
Clean all the greens and wash well, taking care not to bruise them, as the mache is fragile.
Take 2 Tbsp. of Zest off the blood oranges with a microplane, then peel and segment the grapefruit and blood oranges. Reserve the juice that is squeezed from the remaining pith.
Using the juice as a base , mix in the shallots, chives, and blood orange zest. Adding the oil in a slow steady stream, whisk it in to the mixture rapidly.
Slice each avocado in halt and remove the seed. Using a spoon, scoop the flesh, as close to the skin as possible, out onto a cutting board. Small dice the flesh.
Toss all the greens together with the chervil in a large bowl, and coat with the dressing.
Place about 3/4 cup of the salad on each plate, and place 3 grapefruit segments and 3 blood orange segments with about 2 Tbsp of diced avocado around each salad.
Place the fried crab right on top. ENJOY!

Grilled Softshell Crab with Leek and Fennel Ragout

DESCRIPTION
Dish (and recipe below) includes:
2 cups Leek and Fennel Ragout
1 recipe Sweet corn cakes
6 each Grilled Softshell Crabs
Lemon and Bacon Emulsion
Garnish of 6 each Sauteed Ramps (if available)

Plating this Dish:
Place the corn cakes on the plate, spoon the ragout over top, and place the grilled crabs on top of that. Spoon the emulsion all around, and drape a single sautéed ramp, if available over the crab.
SERVINGS: 6

INGREDIENTS

Fennel and Leek Ragout
1 1/2 pounds Slab bacon
2 large bulbs Fennel
1 bunch Leeks
2 cloves Garlic (minced)
2 Tbsp. Parlsey, Italian (minced)
Kosher Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

Sweet Corn Cakes
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Masa Harina
1/4 cup Water
1/3 cup Yellow Cornmeal
2 Tbsp. Heavy Cream
1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt

Lemon and Bacon Emulsion
1/2 cup Reserved Bacon Fat
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp. Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Heavy cream
1 Egg yolk
3 sprigs Thyme
1 Shallots (sliced very thin)
2 Bay leaf
Salt and fresh ground pepper corns to taste

Grilled Softshell Crabs
6 each Softshell crabs
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Melted Butter

METHOD

Leek and Fennel Ragout
Medium dice the bacon and render in a medium sautoir. Once the bacon is rendered, remove from the pan. Strain off some of the fat (but reserve it, DO NOT THROW AWAY), and keep about 1/4 cup in the pan. Medium dice the leeks, and add this with the garlic to the bacon fat in the pan. Over very low heat, cook the leeks until they are “melted” or translucent with no color, but very very soft.
Meanwhile, slice each fennel bulb into 1 1/2 cm slices, and grill these off, ensuring that nice color is applied to each slice from the grill. Once cooked, medium dice these as well. Remove the leeks from the pan and place in a medium bowl, add the bacon, fennel and minced parsley, stir together and season with the salt and pepper.

Sweet Corn Cakes
Beat the butter in an electric mixer until light, gradually beat in the masa harina. On low speed, mix in the water, a little at a time. In a small bowl mix together the sugar, cornmeal, cream, baking powder and salt. Stir into the other mixture. Spread out in a greased pan, and bake in a water bath at 350F for about 30 minutes or until set.

Lemon and Bacon Emulsion
Heat the cider vinegar in a medium sauce pan over medium flame with the thyme, peppercorns, bay leaves, and shallot. Add a splash of water. Reduce the liquid until there is only about 1 tbsp remaining. Add in the heavy cream and reduce slightly until thick. Strain the liquid into a blender. Be sure to squeeze the remaining liquid from the shallots. Add the lemon juice, and the egg yolk. Turn on the blender, and in a slow steady stream, add the bacon fat until the mixture is a thick sauce. Season with the salt. Add pepper, parsley or chives if desired.

Grilled Softshell Crabs
Clean the crabs if not already done. Using a pastry brush, brush each crab with melted butter. Season with salt and pepper. When everything else is made, place each crab on a hot grill over medium flame. Grill each side about 3 minutes, or until the grill marks on each side are nice and pronounced. Check the crabs for doneness by touch, they should feel stiff to the touch. Remove and plate.

Sautéed Softshell Crabs with Eggplant Timbales 

DESCRIPTION
Dish includes Softshell crabs, Eggplant Timbales with Forbidden Rice with Carmelized Sunchokes, and a Curry beurre blanc.

The eggplant timbales are do-ahead.

SERVINGS: 6

INGREDIENTS
Sauteed Softshell Crabs
6 Softshell Crabs
1 stick Butter
Blended Oil as needed
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Forbidden Rice with Caramelized Sunchokes
2 pounds Sunchokes
2 cups Thai Black Rice
1 Yellow Onion (medium)
1 stick (1/2 cup) Butter
Blended Oil as needed
1/4 cup Chicken Stock
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. Tarragon (fine chiffonade)
Salt to taste

Eggplant Timbales
3 Chinese Eggplant
Forbidden Rice and Sunchokes 1 recipe (below)
Kosher Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

Hot Curry Beurre Blanc
10 Peppercorns, mixed colors
1/2 cup White wine
1 Tbsp. Heavy cream
2 tsp. Hot Curry Powder
3 Bay leaf
4 Shallots (sliced very thin)
Salt to taste
1/2 pound Butter

Garnish
1/2 cup Micro arugula

METHOD

Sauteed Softshell Crabs
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Season the crabs with salt and pepper.
Sear the top side of the crabs first for about 1 1/2 minutes then flip the crabs, add in 2-3 tablespoons of butter and sear the other side for an additional 2 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and plate.

Forbidden Rice with Caramelized Sunchokes
Start by cooking the rice. Heat a large pot of water over medium heat to a boil. Add about 1 Tbsp of salt to the water. Rinse the rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear. Toss the rice in the boiling water and cook like you would
pasta, until tender.

Meanwhile, peel and small dice the sunchokes. Hold in a bowl of water while you are peeling and dicing so that they don’t discolor. Heat the butter in a sauté pan, an iron skillet would be even better if available, and add in the sunchokes. With the heat on medium-low, allow the sunchokes to become very nice and caramelized on all sides before removing them from the pan.

Small dice the onion and add this to the pan with a little blended oil. Sweat the onion until translucent. Remove from the pan.
Add the chicken stock to the pan, so long as the fond on the bottom of the pan is not burnt. Use the chicken stock to remove all the flavorful golden brown fond from the pan and reduce this liquid by half, then combine the rice, sunchokes, onion and liquid in a large bowl and mix in the tarragon and season.

Eggplant Timbales
Using a mandoline or very sharp knife cut each eggplant into very long vertical strips about 1/4 inch thick. Cook these strips either by roasting or grilling, if they are roasted, cook for about 8 minutes in a 450F oven. If they are to be grilled, cook each side about 2 minutes on the grill until they are marked nicely and tender. Make sure that they are seasoned well with salt and pepper. Once the rice mixture has cooled, it should be malleable because of the fat in it, so shape the rice mixture into small cylinders. Once the eggplant strips are cooled, roll up each cylinder of rice in the eggplant strip. You will need 18 rolls for 6 people.
These can be stored up to two days in a refrigerator, wrapped up. When you are ready to reheat place them on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, then see below for reheating instructions.

Hot Curry Beurre Blanc
We want to start this sauce with a reduction. Combine the peppercorns, white wine, bay leaves and shallots in a small saucepan. Reduce the wine over medium heat until almost dry. Add in the heavy cream and curry powder. Cut the butter into smaller chunks and gradually whisk this in a few at a time over low flame until all the butter is incorporated.
Season and place on the plates.

NOTE
Plating your dish.
Reheat the timbales on the baking sheet in an oven at 250F. place a small amount of butter on top of each timbale so this added fat helps to moisten the inside, as well as heat it through. Place a small pool of the curry sauce on each plate and spread it in a circular motion with a spoon. Place three timbales in a triangle shape on top of the sauce. Place the sautéed softshell on top of that, and garnish with a small amount of micro arugula.