It’s Stone Crab Season!
Stone Crabs, the perfect ready-to-eat seafood, are in season through mid-May. Most are caught in Florida waters, but they are harvested along the Gulf and South Atlantic coasts.
Only the claws, which regenerate, can be harvested and egg-bearing females are illegal to keep. I can get them inland at the fabulous Dekalb Farmers Market near Atlanta’s Emory University. Chefs advise using a test before you purchase: be sure they smell like the sweetness of the sea. It’s hard to go wrong in preparing them, but here’s some recipes that are pretty universal.
Sunshine Stone Crabs with Mustard Sauce
4 pounds stone crab claws
1/2 cup sour cream
1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons butter
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
Thaw crab claws if frozen and keep chilled. Combine remaining ingredients and heat in sauce pan or in a microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir and serve
immediately with chilled crab claws.
Stone Crab Claws Miami
2½ pounds Florida stone crab claws
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
¼ cup extra dry vermouth
2 tablespoons Florida lime juice
Crack claws and remove outer shell leaving meat attached to one side of the claw.
On medium-high heat in a large skillet, combine oil, salt, pepper and stone crab
claws. Cook 3-4 minutes or until claws are heated through, stirring frequently. Add
vermouth and lime juice. Raise the temperature to high and cook 1 minute longer,
stirring constantly. Drain. Serve hot or cold as an appetizer or entrée.
Marinated Stone Crab Claws
1 pound Florida stone crab claws
1 cup tarragon vinegar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup Florida sugar
Crack claws and remove outer shell leaving meat attached to one side of the claw.
Combine vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and garlic; mix until sugar and salt are dissolved.
Pour over crab claws; cover. Drain. Serve on a bed of salad greens as an appetizer.
To serve stone crab claws, crack all sections of the shell with a hammer,
nutcracker, or the back of a tablespoon; remove the shell and movable pincher,
leaving the meat attached.
Sir Verde’s Wine Suggestion: Stone Crabs taste divine with a white wine from Burgundy or Spain. Chablis pairs wonderfully with stone crab claws. Chablis is light and low in acidity, so it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the stone crab. It’s a well-balanced white wine that does wonders for the palette when paired with crab.
Albariño, a wildly-popular wine from Spain pairs with your favorite stone crab recipe. The complex flavors complement the crab’s simplicity. There’s no need to worry about seasoning up your crab with an array of spices because the Albariño will do it for you. The citrus zests of the wine blends with the crab to create a mouthful of flavor.
Bonne dégustation. Love One Another!
