Yesterday, I did a favour for a friend in the village where I live. In
return, I came home with a huge bag of snow crab legs which had just
been landed. He recomended that I cook them up right away. Today I
steamed the lot and spent about two hours extracting the meat. I now
have just over 2 Lbs. of meat.
My problem is, can I store the meat for any length of time? I'm
thinking crab cakes but as there is just my wife and I, we will be
eating crab cakes all week. (not a bad thing...) is freezing an
option?(the meat or the cakes?)
Any suggestions? Thanks!

Kevin in Nova Scotia

> wrote

> Yesterday, I did a favour for a friend in the village where I live. In
> return, I came home with a huge bag of snow crab legs which had just
> been landed.

I did a double-take, where does this person live? Who gets
fresh snow crab?? Novia Scotia, funny.

> My problem is, can I store the meat for any length of time? I'm
> thinking crab cakes but as there is just my wife and I, we will be
> eating crab cakes all week. (not a bad thing...) is freezing an
> option?(the meat or the cakes?)

Well, I make up crab cakes and freeze them uncooked. That
has worked for me. I assume you could also just freeze the
meat, that might be better for you. Let's see what other people
say.

nancy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>
> > wrote
>
> > Yesterday, I did a favour for a friend in the village where I live. In
> > return, I came home with a huge bag of snow crab legs which had just
> > been landed.
>
> I did a double-take, where does this person live? Who gets
> fresh snow crab?? Novia Scotia, funny.
>
> > My problem is, can I store the meat for any length of time? I'm
> > thinking crab cakes but as there is just my wife and I, we will be
> > eating crab cakes all week. (not a bad thing...) is freezing an
> > option?(the meat or the cakes?)
>
> Well, I make up crab cakes and freeze them uncooked. That
> has worked for me. I assume you could also just freeze the
> meat, that might be better for you. Let's see what other people
> say.
>
> nancy
>
>

I would think you could just freeze the meat, too. When you get snow crab
clusters at the grocery store, they're already cooked, right?

In the fridge alone, I would say crab would keep for a maximum of 3 days.
You never want to mess with shellfish!

kili

wrote:
> Yesterday, I did a favour for a friend in the village where I live. In
> return, I came home with a huge bag of snow crab legs which had just
> been landed. He recomended that I cook them up right away. Today I
> steamed the lot and spent about two hours extracting the meat. I now
> have just over 2 Lbs. of meat.
> My problem is, can I store the meat for any length of time? I'm
> thinking crab cakes but as there is just my wife and I, we will be
> eating crab cakes all week. (not a bad thing...) is freezing an
> option?(the meat or the cakes?)
> Any suggestions? Thanks!
>
Lucky you! To start with, all you need is drawn butter and lemon and
you can eat a large part of your 2 lbs. just as it is. A baguette, a
chilled white wine, a caesar salad. Enjoy the unexpected,
unadulterated bounty first. Cakes or other uses to stretch it can come
later.

The leftovers will keep in the fridge for a day or two or three. A
little bit can go into an omelet. Another 1/2 lb. or so can go in this
light pasta dish:

Vermicelli with Crab

4 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped coarsely
1/2 Cup olive oil
2 1/2 lbs. ripe fresh tomatoes (or canned, but it's summertime)
1 tsp hot red pepper flakes
12 lb. lump crabmeat
1 lb. vermicelli (or thin spaghetti)
1 large bunch flat leaf Italian parsley

Chop garlic. Put oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add garlic.
Cut tomatoes into small pieces and add them to garlic after 5 minutes.
Season with red pepper flakes, salt and ground black pepper. Simmer on
low heat for 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Meanwhile, bring large
pot of cold water to boil, add salt generously, and cook pasta until
just al dente. Chop parsley leaves (no stems). When tomato sauce is
ready add the crab meat to heat for about 3 minutes. Drain pasta,
transfer to platter or pasta bowl, pour the sauce over and toss well.
Sprinkle the parsley over and toss again. -aem

On 7 Aug 2006 16:13:57 -0700, "aem" > wrote:

>Lucky you! To start with, all you need is drawn butter and lemon and
>you can eat a large part of your 2 lbs. just as it is. A baguette, a
>chilled white wine, a caesar salad. Enjoy the unexpected,
>unadulterated bounty first. Cakes or other uses to stretch it can come
>later.
>
My kind of person! Seriously, crab needs very little handling. For
me, it's butter and lemon/lime, soy sauce and wasabi, or ponzu sauce
only with wine or good quality chilled sake. Although I like crab
cakes and all the rest, nothing beats the simple treatment for crab.

I often buy dungeness crab to freeze through the non-dungeness season
and although it never beats freshly steamed, it's good enough for many
recipes and uses.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. It hadn't really occured to me
that you could just eat it as-is with a bit of butter and lemon. The
pasta dish sounds like something to try too. My friend suggested that
The was lots more where that came from, so perhaps I will have the
chance to experiment a bit.
What is "Ponzu sauce"?
Cheers!
Kevin


rinshi wrote:
> On 7 Aug 2006 16:13:57 -0700, "aem" > wrote:
>
> >Lucky you! To start with, all you need is drawn butter and lemon and
> >you can eat a large part of your 2 lbs. just as it is. A baguette, a
> >chilled white wine, a caesar salad. Enjoy the unexpected,
> >unadulterated bounty first. Cakes or other uses to stretch it can come
> >later.
> >
> My kind of person! Seriously, crab needs very little handling. For
> me, it's butter and lemon/lime, soy sauce and wasabi, or ponzu sauce
> only with wine or good quality chilled sake. Although I like crab
> cakes and all the rest, nothing beats the simple treatment for crab.
>
> I often buy dungeness crab to freeze through the non-dungeness season
> and although it never beats freshly steamed, it's good enough for many
> recipes and uses.

wrote:
> Yesterday, I did a favour for a friend in the village where I live. In
> return, I came home with a huge bag of snow crab legs which had just
> been landed. He recomended that I cook them up right away. Today I
> steamed the lot and spent about two hours extracting the meat. I now
> have just over 2 Lbs. of meat.
> My problem is, can I store the meat for any length of time? I'm
> thinking crab cakes but as there is just my wife and I, we will be
> eating crab cakes all week. (not a bad thing...) is freezing an
> option?(the meat or the cakes?)
> Any suggestions? Thanks!
>
> Kevin in Nova Scotia
>

Sorry I can't help. Crab (of any kind) never lasts long enough in my
home to worry about "storing". ;-)

On 7 Aug 2006 19:18:29 -0700, "kartwood" > wrote:

>What is "Ponzu sauce"?
>Cheers!
>Kevin

Ponzu Sauce:

1 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup lemon juice (traditionally yuzu, but this is hard to find
outside of Japan or California)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup dried bonito flakes
PREPARATION:
Boil soy sauce in a pan. Add bonito flakes in the pan and cool it.
Drain the soy sauce. Mix soy sauce, vinegar, and lemon or yuzu juice.

or simply order:

http://www.amazon.com/s.html/002-919...=ponzu%20sauce

This sauce is excellent with many mild tasting food suce as steamed
vegetables, tofu, etc.

Nona

"kartwood" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. It hadn't really occured to me
> that you could just eat it as-is with a bit of butter and lemon. The
> pasta dish sounds like something to try too. My friend suggested that
> The was lots more where that came from, so perhaps I will have the
> chance to experiment a bit.
> What is "Ponzu sauce"?
> Cheers!
> Kevin
>

Another easy thought is an open faced crab sandwich. English muffin, mayo
or butter, a slice of cheese, a slice of tomato and your lump crab meat
Then broil or toast. You could add avocado or whatever to it as well. I
used to eat these at a restaurant we used to go to when we visited my
grandparents in South Carolina. It was always a favorite of mine.

kili

In article .com>,
says...
> Yesterday, I did a favour for a friend in the village where I live. In
> return, I came home with a huge bag of snow crab legs which had just
> been landed. He recomended that I cook them up right away. Today I
> steamed the lot and spent about two hours extracting the meat. I now
> have just over 2 Lbs. of meat.
> My problem is, can I store the meat for any length of time? I'm
> thinking crab cakes but as there is just my wife and I, we will be
> eating crab cakes all week. (not a bad thing...) is freezing an
> option?(the meat or the cakes?)
>
>

You can certainly freeze the cakes, after all mixing but before the
final cooking.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

kartwood wrote:
> Actually, I've lived here 20 years. It seems very few people fish snow
> crab here. I think it all gets exported. Everything seen in the stores
> is frozen and from away.
> The catch of choice here is lobster (in season) and groundfish
> (haddock, halibut, cod), which is getting quite scarce. Soon, the
> swordfish will be coming in which is our favourite after lobster.
>
I knew about the fish but somehow forgot about the lobster. Ample
reward for the challenges of living there, I hope. -aem

Tonite I set out to prepare Crab Cakes with about 1/2 of what I had
extracted yesterday. I thought that the recipe in the "New" Joy of
Cooking looked pretty good.
Then I saw the recipe for "Deviled Crab Gratin". Basically, a simple
white sauce seasoned with garlic with the addition of: Pernod, whole
grain mustard, pinch o'cayenne, fresh parsley and tarragon. Top the
whole mess with loads of parmeasan and bake.
The Pernod gave way to Sambucca. The only fresh herbs around right now
is Cilantro so a pinch of dried parsly and a smidge of basil had to do.
The oven is presently pre-heating. There is still 1 lb of crab left for
Crab Cakes tomorrow.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback!

Kevin

wrote:
> Yesterday, I did a favour for a friend in the village where I live. In
> return, I came home with a huge bag of snow crab legs which had just
> been landed. He recomended that I cook them up right away. Today I
> steamed the lot and spent about two hours extracting the meat. I now
> have just over 2 Lbs. of meat.
> My problem is, can I store the meat for any length of time? I'm
> thinking crab cakes but as there is just my wife and I, we will be
> eating crab cakes all week. (not a bad thing...) is freezing an
> option?(the meat or the cakes?)
> Any suggestions? Thanks!
>
> Kevin in Nova Scotia