Woohoo! Dungeness crab season! Happy days are here again!

[sherifffruitfly]

Hi all,

So I can go to my grocery store about 3 blocks away, and get whole crabs for $3/lb.

Can I freeze them? For how long? I don't typically do anything all that special with em - heat n eat with butter, or mix with garlic n parm to layer on a steak, or crab fett fredo is about it....

I'd like to buy a jillion of em and freeze n use as needed... Is this feasible? Or do you pretty much have to eat em when you buy em? How long can they be just plain refrigerated, btw?

Thanks!

EDIT: Why are there like 17,000 threads about shrimp and grits?

[marmalady]

Here's a recipe for you -

ROASTED DUNGENESS CRAB

4 servings

1tsp. fennel seed,toasted, crushed
1 bunch parsley
2tsp. fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic
1T red pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cooked 2lb. dungeness crabs
1 lemon quartered

Combine fennel seed, parsley, thyme, garlic, red pepper flakes, and oil in food processor; pulse til pureed. Pull top shell off crabs and remove gills; scoop out and discard any soft fat. Crack legs with nutcracker and split crabs in half down middle. Place in shallow baking dish and pour marinade over crabs; cover and marinate in fridge for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 400; roast crabs, uncovered, til golden brown, about 10minutes. Cut into sections between legs and garnish with lemon quarters.


RE: Freezing the crabs; the only 'raw' crabs I have frozen whole are soft shell crabs. For regular blue crabs, which is what we get around here, I steam them first, pick the meat, and just freeze that. It's fine for stuffing and using just as an ingredient, but I'd never use the frozen for things like crab cakes. It gets a little mushy after being frozen.

RE; Shrimp and grits - 'cause grits is gooooood'! :)