Galley Edition - 11 Crabs in 3 days

Audacious and Ludicrous Gourmet Crab Enjoyment in Puget Sound

( click on the Crab Dishes to get to the recipes)

They're Monsters!!!!!

6 Crabs on opening day means:

Day 1

Fresh crab, steamed and then cracked in the cockpit with Garlic Bread, and melted butter for dipping.  We had apples and carrots for lunch, and limes in our Mount Gay and tonics, so that counts as salad… Right?

Get out the crackers!
(Caught short?  Break out the pliers.)
The pointy toes mean crabs come with their own picks.

Day 2

Breakfast on the fly (coffee, juice & granola bars) to pick up the pot as we head north to the islands. 

5 more Dungeness!  (it would have been 6, but 1 was a survivor – jumped off the boat!)

Lunch that day – Crab Melts and apples. This was especially appropriate while ‘hove to’ waiting for a favorable tide, at an infamous passage.  The leg meat from the 1^st 6 crabs created an impressive pile of Crab Salad.  Gourmand proportions.

A 2 mile walk (round trip) for provisions landed us a half dozen eggs, buttermilk pancake mix and some veggies. 

Dinner that night – another crab crackin’ good time! 

And the trek to the store meant a Big Green Salad – we were ready for it!  What a way to start the season.

Day 3

Remember those 6 eggs we got last night?  That means breakfast is Crab Omelets.  Too much you say?  But wait, there’s more.

Lunch, after nesting at a mooring with our cruising partners, is Crab Cakes!  More salad on the side.

Dinner – more Big Green Salad, and a pile of Crab Salad made from all the leg meat left.  A loaf of sourdough, and correct beverages make it a lazy summer dinner to write home about.

Day 4

I know I said 3 days, but as long as we eat it all by the end of lunch, it counts as 3.

So for breakfast, a share of the lump meat goes into Crab Crepes.  That packet of buttermilk pancake mix thinned way down made this happen.

And for that last lunch?  Crab Quesadillas.  If you happened to bring tortillas you are all set.  If not, left over crepes might even be better.

What happens next?  Sail around outside your crabbing grounds, and eat some of the food you had actually packed for the cruise.  And then catch some more crab.

Crab by the bucketful!

1st CSA Bag of 2011!

The first bag arrived... and it is time for salad!

Sweet, spicy, bitter with crunchy & creamy.  A little sour and salty from the dressing.

From the bag I had access to:

Arugula - 1 large handful washed and chopped

Lettuce - 3 leaves washed and shopped

Radishes - 4 small mild ones (I would have used fewer spicy ones)

Walla Walla sweets (1/2 of a tiny, young one)

Apples (1/2 of a Fuji sliced into sticks Half the height of the apple)

Tossed some bread cubes with a little oil - toasted them to crispy crunchy

Some mild super soft rinded cheese (in this case Fromager d'Affinois)

The dressing was white wine vinegar, a bit of chopped parsley, a smashed garlic clove and a small spoon of mustard. Then I whisked in walnut oil (olive would have been fine, but this was sitting in my fridge, begging to be used!)  Added salt to taste.  Skipped the pepper.

It was divine as I munched on the salad while nibbling on the cheese smeared on my fresh croutons, and sipping a nice white wine.

But dessert was there too!

Summer strawberries in Cointreau Marscapone

As many strawberries as you think you can eat in 1 sitting (Half in my case - the other half were for breakfast).

The right size dollop of marscapone cheese (sour cream, creme fraiche, greek yogurt all work fine.  Just needs to be thick and creamy to start -  I was just feeling particularly hedonistic in the face of my first strawberries of the summer.)

Stir in dribbles of Cointreau (or Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur) and sprinkles of brown sugar until it tastes decadent and a tiny bit sour.  (You may need a dash of salt if using yogurt)

Place a dollop over your strawberries, and then realize it looks skimpy, and pour it all on.  You only have your first of the season strawberries once a year.

Enjoy in greedy, satisfied bliss.