Shedders

There’s a sweet scent to the thick, humid air here in southern Maryland; a gentility and graciousness that permeates the culture the way the air fills my lungs. When I breathe it in, I’m transported to my childhood when I spent my summers in Alabama with my grandmother.   People speak slowly, it’s too hot to do anything fast.

St. Mary’s County is just 90 miles south of Washington, DC, but is decidedly a southern county.  Route 235 with farm stands and strip malls lining the road, bisects the county.  The Chesapeake Bay a few hundred yards to the east and the Potomac River to the west.

On a barren stretch of the road between the Air Force Base and Point Lookout, Kellem’s Market hangs out a flag.  They stock the few shelves with fishing gear.  And the refrigerated case holds just a few pounds of fresh, local fish –  whatever was caught that morning.  It’s the best place in town to buy seafood.

Every morning I call Kellem’s to find out if they have any soft shell crabs – I’ve been craving them since my general gau’s dinner.  The first day, they tell me they don’t have any peelers, the term for the blue crabs that will shed their shells.  The next day they'll have some, and they offer to call me if they’ve shed their hard shell.

When they call, they apologize that someone had put the crabs in the ‘fridge, so they didn’t shed their shell. But they offered to call around on my behalf.  Fifteen minutes later, Kellem’s calls back.  His neighbor down the road has soft shells.  He would pick them up for me, but he doesn’t have someone to watch the shop for him. I’ll have to get them myself. “Is that okay?” he asks.

He gives me directions… turn down the small street between the church and the market.  The road will curve to the left and then to the right.  Go along the dirt road until I see a sign for McKay’s.  They will sell me some.
McKays-1
I pull into the driveway, a house on the right and a little shed with an “open” sign on the left.   Their land is right on the bay, with old crab pots piled high in the driveway.

McKays-2
On the dock, a shallow fish tank acts as the holding spot for the freshly fetched crab to shed their hard shells.

Shedder-tanks Once they shed they are quickly scooped up (in less than 24 hours, the soft shells will be hard again) and transferred to the fridge until they are sold.

An older woman emerges from the house. “Can I help you?”

She takes me into the refrigerated shed and shows me her selection of crabs – dozens of soft crabs in various sizes, ranging in price from $1.50 each to $2.50 (significantly less than the $4 frozen ones offered at a store close to the Base).  I buy 8 large ones, and wonder who else will find this place and buy the rest…

Soft-shell-green-goddess

Soft Shell Crabs with Corn Cakes and Green Goddess Dressing

1 tbs. capers
1 cup spinach or arugula leaves, washed and picked over
1 bunch scallions, washed, slice green only in 1/2 inch lengths
1 bunch tarragon leaves picked from the stem
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbs. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper

Puree capers, spinach, scallions, tarragon, and sour cream in a food processor.  Fold in mayonnaise, and season with vinegar, salt and pepper

Corn Cakes
(makes about 12 cakes)
¾ cups flour
½ cup corn meal
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 ¼ cup buttermilk
2 tbs. melted butter
1 egg
1 cup corn kernals
2 scallions, chopped

Puree ½ cup corn with buttermilk.  Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.  Make a well, add the wet ingredients.  Stir to incorporate.  Cook cakes in a non-stick pan over medium heat.

Soft Shell Crabs
8 soft shells, cleaned
½ cup flour
1 egg mixed with ½ cup corn starch
oil for pan frying

Toss soft shells in egg/starch mixture, and then dust with flour.  Pan fry in oil until crispy on both sides

But it Has a Great Personality (Part 2)

  General-Gau-Soft-Shell-Crab
I've always struggled with plating Chinese dishes so that they look as refined as some of the American or European dishes I make.  Perhaps it's because I typically serve Chinese family-style, as opposed to plated.

Whatever it is, I wasn't planning to post this photo because the presentation doesn't even begin to tell you how amazing this dish was.

So let me say this:

General Gau's Soft Shell Crab

I cut the crabs in half and then prepared them exactly as I do General Gau's Chicken

The soft shell crab season will last for a few more weeks, so I will be sure to create opportunities to refine this presentation.

 

Hello? Hello? Is Anybody Out There? (Recipe Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crabs)

About 6 weeks ago, I started a transition from Blogger to TypePad.

It’s been a rough ride, but I think I’ve finally landed. In case you didn’t notice, I’ve had a whole host of web-hosting issues – from having no template, just plain text to having a lone post from 2 years ago as the only content on the site. But now, after countless hours of calls and emails to tech-support, I think (*finally*) everything is fixed. If you used to subscribe to my blog-feed in reader or through RSS, please re-subscribed. If you didn’t already subscribe, now would be a fine time to start.

Though the blog has been an unhappy place, my garden continues to offer a respite.

With the unusually warm spring, the lettuces developed thick stems and spicy leaves. I like the flavors better now, but it requires a little more cleaning. The stems, though edible, are not palatable. So I trim them.

Destemmed-lettuce-1
Lettuce-stems

The garden yields about a gallon of leaves every other day. I realized this is far more lettuce than I can really eat on my own – I’ve been sharing with friends and neighbors, and bringing lettuce to client meetings. As I was strategizing where to plant tomatoes, I realized I could part with some lettuce. Out it went and in went the tomatoes.

Tomato-plant
I planted scallions several years ago. And when I harvest them, I only cut off the green stems and leave the white bulbs so they will continue to grow. By now, the scallions are quite thick and hardy – still pleasant as a raw garnish, but bordering on tough and fibrous. I planted a replacement crop of scallions, and as soon as those are ready to harvest, I will pull out the older ones completely.

Salt-and-pepper-softies
Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crabs

In Chinese restaurants in Boston, they serve dried-fried shrimp on a
bed of shredded lettuce. I adapted the traditional dish to use soft
shell crabs on a bed of spicy lettuce greens. 
Serve with steamed white rice for a main meal.

2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. Sichuan peppercorns, ground
pinch Chinese Five-spice
1/4 cup corn starch
2 soft shell crabs, cleaned
1/4 cup plain oil
3 scallions cut into rings
1 red jalapeno cut into rings
salad leaves for garden

  1. Mix salt, sugar, Sichuan peppercorns and five spice.
  2. Dredge soft shell crabs in corn starch
  3. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat.  When oil shimmers, gently place crabs in oil, smooth side down.  Cook for 3 minutes or until they start to get crispy.  Flip them over and cook fro 3 minutes more.
  4. Remove soft shell crabs from pan, and drain the oil.   Return the crabs to the pan over high heat.  Sprinkle about 1 tsp. of the seasoned salt on top, and stir to coat.  Toss in scallions and jalapenos and cook for 1 minute more.
  5. Remove from heat.  Serve crabs with salad greens.