Soft Shell Crabs With Tomato Compote Recipes

SAUTEED SOFT-SHELL CRABS WITH TOMATOES

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in saute pan and add shallot and garlic. Cook gently for about two minutes or until the shallot has softened. Add tomatoes and basil and stir until juices are released.
• Turn up heat and cook until tomatoes are somewhat dry. Remove from heat, swirl in the butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
• Rinse capers, dry them and sprinkle them with flour. Heat peanut oil and fry capers until light golden brown and crisp. Drain on paper towels. Discard oil.
• Prepare crabs. Dip crabs in milk, then in flour, season with salt and pepper. Heat three tablespoons peanut oil in large skillet and saute the crabs, starting with the shell side, the crab's top side, down first, for a few minutes. Turn over and saute for one and a half to two minutes on underside. Drain on paper towels.
• Serve crabs on heated individual plates. Divide the tomatoes among four plates and place crabs on top. Sprinkle with the fried capers and garnish with parsley or basil leaves and lemon wedges.

SOFT-SHELL CRAB BLTS

Steps:

• Stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish, lemon juice, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, turning, until browned and crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and break the slices in half.
• Whisk the flour and 1 tablespoon Old Bay in a shallow bowl. Season the crabs with salt and pepper, then dip the crabs in the seasoned flour to coat on both sides.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until foamy. Immediately add the crabs and cook, turning, until browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with more Old Bay.
• Assemble the sandwiches: Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on 4 slices of toast. Top each with lettuce, tomato, some bacon and a crab. Spread the remaining mayonnaise mixture on the 4 other slices of toast and place on top of the sandwiches. Gently press down on each sandwich and cut in half. Serve with pickles.

SOFT SHELL CRAB WITH A MICRO BREW SAUCE

Steps:

• In a saucepan bring apple juice to a boil and reduce to a sugar syrup. Add beer. Do not foam. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, let reduce by 2/3. Set aside.
• In a large bowl combine mango, pineapple, shallots, scallions, plum tomatoes, add cilantro, lime juice, vinegar and oil. Set aside.
• In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup of cornstarch and some of ice water make a slurry. In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, flour and remaining cornstarch. In a saucepan heat slurry stirring constantly until slurry is clean and pasty. Remove from heat, add ice water. Stir to combine. Add ice water slurry to flour mixture, whisk to make tempura batter.
• Preheat deep fryer 400 degrees F.
• In a saucepan heat beer sauce.
• Dip soft shell crabs into tempura batter and deep fry until crisp and golden brown. When done remove crab to paper towels, let drain and season with salt and pepper. Arrange mango pineapple salsa in center of a plate. Place soft shell crab on top salsa. Add beer sauce to plate.

SOFT-SHELL CRABS WITH WILTED SPINACH AND WARM TOMATO-BASIL VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Make soft-shelled crabs:
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Dip each crab in milk and them lightly coat both sides with flour. Heat butter and oil together in a large, oven proof (no plastic handles) pan over medium heat. Add crabs and sauté until crispy and golden, about 4 minutes. Place pan in preheated oven and cook 3 more minutes. Transfer crabs to paper toweling to absorb oil. Set aside and keep warm.
• Make warm herb vinaigrette:
• In a large bowl, combine shallots, basil, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. After these ingredients are incorporated, add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Mix well, cover with plastic and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• When ready to prepare dish, warm the vinaigrette in a sauce pan over high heat, removing from stove when it begins to simmer.
• Make wilted spinach:
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add spinach and sauté 4 minutes, until wilted. Drain liquid.
• Serve:
• Place wilted spinach on one side of four individual dinner plates. Arrange two soft-shell crabs over each mound of spinach, overlapping one over the other. Spoon tomato vinaigrette over crabs and around the sides of the plate.
• To properly clean a soft-shelled crab:
• Peel back the pointed part of the shell and scrape away the gills from each side. Using sharp scissors, cut off the head and carefully squeeze out the green bubble behind the eyes. Next, bend back the "apron," the thin piece that folds under the crab. Twist the apron until it breaks off, removing the intestinal vein at the same time.

SOFT-SHELL CRABS WITH TOMATO-BUTTERMILK SAUCE

Steps:

• Mince garlic.
• Over high heat, heat nonstick saute pan large enough to hold the crabs. Spray lightly with pan spray. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds over medium heat.
• Remove from heat, and stir in cumin, red pepper and sugar. Add the tomatoes, crushing them between your fingers before adding to the pan. Simmer for a few minutes.
• Mix 1 teaspoon of flour with a little of the buttermilk to make a paste; then, add the paste to the remaining buttermilk, and stir it into the tomato mixture. Cook over low heat until mixture thickens. Remove from saute pan, and set aside.
• Wash crabs and dip into remaining flour, coating both sides.
• Return pan to medium-high heat, and add oil. When pan is hot, add the crabs, and brown on both sides, allowing 2 to 3 minutes a side, depending on the size of the crabs.
• Spoon the reserved tomato sauce over the crabs, and cook just to heat sauce through.

SOFT SHELL CRABS WITH TOMATO COMPOTE

Steps:

• Prepare the compote: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Core the tomatoes and halve crosswise, then squeeze out the seeds. Put the tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Roast until shriveled, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly, then slip off the skins. Cut into chunks. Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a skillet over medium heat, about 2 minutes. Remove from the skillet and grind with a spice grinder or chop with a knife. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic and ginger in the skillet over medium heat and cook until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, ground coriander and cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the crabs: Heat 1/8 inch vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Put the polenta in a baking dish; add 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Put the milk in a bowl. Dip the crabs in the milk and shake off the excess, then dredge in the polenta and shake off the excess. Working in batches, fry the crabs, upside-down first, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towellined plate. Wipe out the skillet and add fresh oil between batches. Reheat the compote and stir in the herbs. Serve the crabs with the compote and lime wedges.