Posted on 07/01/2021 7:58:48 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
We’re in crab season, here in Maryland.
Some versions of Crab Imperial can be totally ‘keto friendly’, and here is one, from the long-time Maryland seafood company and restaurant ‘Phillips':
http://www.phillipsfoods.com/recipes/classic-crab-imperial
Crab Imperial
1 lb. Phillips Jumbo Lump Crab Meat
1 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 egg
1 tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 oz. Hellmann’s mayonnaise
1 tsp. melted butter
Imperial Topping:
3 oz. Hellmann’s mayonnaise
1 oz. half & half
1/2 tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
Pinch of paprika
1/4 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
4 ramekins for baking (or empty natural crab shells)
Combine all Crab Imperial ingredients (except for the crab meat) in a medium mixing bowl and whip until smooth.
In a separate mixing bowl, add Phillips crab meat and pour imperial mixture over crab meat.
Blend all ingredients together by tossing very gently in order to avoid breaking delicate crab lump meat. Place 4+ ounces of the mix into each of 4 individual ramekins (or empty natural crab shells) and bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes.
While the imperials are cooking, combine Imperial Topping ingredients (mayonnaise, half & half, seafood seasoning, lemon juice & Worcestershire sauce) in a medium mixing bowl and whip until smooth.
After imperials are finished baking, remove from oven and switch oven to broil.
Top each ramekin (or natural crab shell) of baked crab imperial with the imperial topping and a pinch of paprika. Top each crab imperial with a Tbsp. of shredded Cheddar cheese.
Place in broiler to finish off until cheese has melted and imperials start to brown.
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And for those who don’t care about carbs, here’s another Maryland tradition: the Smith Island Cake which, since 2008, has been the Maryland State Dessert. (There are varying opinions on why the layers are so thin. Some say that in the late 1800s, when legend has it that the cake originated, it was easier to bake thin layers in a wood-fired oven; others say that it’s because the fudge packing the layers caused the whole thing to hold up better out on the watermen’s boats.
Doesn’t matter to me – more chocolate gets my vote no matter the reason):
http://www.visitmaryland.org/article/Smith-Island-Layer-Cake-Recipe
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And for your late-night listening pleasure, here is the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain performing ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLgJ7pk0X-s
The red seems always more sweet...
Ah, they are. Part of the ripening process. My wife and I grow some bell peppers with our tomatoes every year, and I leave some green out there to ripen. Others, I’ll pick them as they start to ripen, and have striped bell pepper strips. Delicious in a stir fry and fajitas.
I preferred Old Savannah Seafood Boil to Old Bay but they don’t make it any longer.
” I think traditionally it was usually parmesan on Crab Imperial.”
Parmesan works with most seafood. Cheddar does not.
If you like cheddar on fish, get a filet-o-fish at McDonalds.
Yeah! I too am an Old Bay Seasoning fan! I like it on a steak and cheese sub…
When my mom used to cook the crabs, she would grab the crabs out of the bushel basket with tongs and toss them into the pot, grab that yellow and red can of Old Bay, and pour it liberally on those crabs until they were caked with that red stuff, then she’d throw a few more crabs in.
I sure miss eating them.
Funny thing about the newspapers...before we hit the digital era we gauged time by the schedules of newspaper boys and milkmen making their deliveries.
With the virtual disappearance of news papers what are the crab shacks using for table coverings?
The last useful purpose of newspapers, crab feasts and fish wrap.
;>)
I grew up off of a small cove of the Chesapeake Bay. My Dad would love to go crabbing and, of course, we ate a lot of crabs.
Your post made me smile and brought back fond memories.
Baltimore is now a crappy town but THEY STILL HAVE CRABS!
Rules for eating crabs at my house:
-you must learn how to de-shell your own crabs. Do not ask parents to do it. This rule starts around age 5 or so.
-you must take a crab closest to you. You cannot fish around in the pile of steamed crabs for the biggest one.
-you must finish all parts of your crab before you take another one.
Wow.....I live in Delaware now and yes, we have crabs. But that’s only because most Delawareans are now former Marylanders.
;)
Trilllian.... found this recipe online about a month ago and my family has asked me to make it every week since. For anyone reading... this is the best “pound cake” that I have ever made. I do use a good amount of Crisco and flour for the Bundt pan... it is so darn good!
You just made me so hungry! What a great memory.
I love grated parmesan w/ seafood & my guilty pleasure, one of them ; ) ,is the filet I’m fish from McDonald’s.
Kitchens in nearly any house can be a hotbed of family activity, and ours was no different.
I remember coming home from one of those crabbing voyages with several bushel baskets of blue crabs, and when we walked in that evening, my mom was ready with the pot on the stove and the table laid out with newspaper.
We were all watching and gabbing (all eight of us in that kitchen) when a crab my mother was transferring with tongs broke free, dropped to the floor, and my mother, wearing open toed sandals, took the lateral spike on the crab’s shell right in her big toe, and deep, too.
She began swearing and hopping around, the crab scuttled sideways along the wall, the dog began chasing it, barking and snapping at it, while everyone ran around in the brightly lit kitchen trying to corral it all at once!
It was an absolute zoo of pandemonium!
Eventually, the crab was cornered and dropped into the pot, and we ate dinner.
My mom got a badly infected toe from that crab shell puncture on her toe.
Hah...we kind of had those same rules. I admit, I never went any further inside the body than those “cabinets” the legs attached to.
The gills always disgusted me.
Oh, wow!
Funny that you say that...I had to purchase a new military ball cap because the one I had was all nasty and stained looking from sweat.
I was going to spray Scotchgard on it, and realized...I don’t have any newspapers or paper bags...what could I put down under it?
And then, I had the same thought you did: What do poor birdcage owners do?
They go to a home improvement store and buy big rolls of brown contractor’s paper.
Hahahahaha...of course!
Looks delicious!
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