Crab Lovers Don't Put Your Mallets Down

For years, Labor Day represented the end of the crab season for my family. A few years ago though my mom suggested we go to a Dundalk area crab house in December! I was skeptical but since I'd been living in New Orleans - where they boil, not steam crabs - I put aside my doubts, and at the restaurant ordered up 2 dozen steamed crabs.

What a revelation that night proved to be. The jumbo #1 males were fat and heavy, filled with crab meat. From then on I was a convert and now my family enjoys crabs from the start of the season in April until the last crabber pulls down its shingle in December.

Fall crabs are luscious and delicious. They are all the more precious because I know it will be several months before we'll be able to have them again. That's why nothing goes to waste. If we have leftovers - and this is true in the spring, summer and fall - that's just an opportunity to indulge in some of our favorite crab recipes the next day.

Years ago when buying crabs was still relatively inexpensive, my best friend Christy and I would drive down to Monroe St., get a 1/2 bushel of #1 and #2 crabs for just the two of us. We would buy so many because in truth we just wanted to make Cream of Crab Soup the next day. Rich and wonderfully creamy, the recipe is everything cream of crab soup should be.

Garlic Crabs are a big favorite and so simple. The only time consuming thing about 'em is that you have to clean the crabs first. Depending on how many crabs you have left over this could take a few minutes or an hour.

I've also been working on my own take on Maryland Crab Soup. I've had many versions of the stuff served in fine dining and dineresque settings. What stands out to me in most instances is that the tomato soup base they use - much like that for a vegetable soup - is too heavy for the delicate flavor of crab meat. It completely overwhelms the crab and all you're left with for the most part is the sense that you've just had a spice bowl of tomato soup with a few bits of crab added for looks.

I'm behind though with my day job...so the recipes will follow shortly!