Hunt Crabs, Make Crab Pie!

Live crabs

It's getting close to that time of year again!  The water is still 55.9 degrees, but that's about 4.9 degrees warmer than last week.  One of my favorite spring - fall activities is hunting for crabs.  The hunt is half the fun though; cooking them afterwards is the other half.

One of the best recipes to use crab meat for is crab pie.  If you don't have access to get your own crabs, or you just don't want to, you can get crab meat at most grocery stores - go for the backfin as it is cheaper and just as good.  .

In order to get the crab ready to pick, you will have to cook the crabs while they are alive.  Cooking crabs after they are dead ruins the meat.  If you can't cook them right away, put them in a paper bag and keep them in the refrigerator until you need them.  They will remain dormant until you cook them.  Below is a scene I filmed the last time I was fruitful.

Once the crabs are pink to red, they are ready.  You can let them cool before you pick.  You can even keep them in the refrigerator for a couple days if you don't have time to pick them.  Picking crab is an art in itself, so it's beneficial to have some extra crab meat on hand from the store to add to what you pick.  I like a lot of crab in my crab pie.

CRAB PIE!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups crab meat
• 1 cup swiss (shredded)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp. flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 chopped onion (grate)
• salt & pepper
• Dash - hot sauce
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (Hellman's)
• 2 - Deep pie crust

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• Pre-heat both pie crusts for 8-10 minutes
• Combine eggs, flour, mayo, and milk
• Add all other ingredients except for the crab
• After all ingredients are combined, fold the crab meat in making sure it is evenly mixed
• Cook for 40-45 minutes
• Garnish with flat leaf parsley

Recipe makes 2 pies, so great for a crowd!

Enjoy and cheers!
Margaret