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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

a late summer feast

We caught 63 crabs. That's a heck of a lot.
Steaming the crabs is rather easy. You need boiling water and very large pots.Shucking is a little more complicated. For easy clean up, I covered the table on the back porch with some heavy brown paper bag like material. My Mom conveniently has a large roll of this stored in her closet for various projects. Then I lined up the first batch, march of the crabs style. This process is messy and time consuming. Good thing we had 7 of us. And Bud Lights. You really have to be prepared to get your hands dirty. The meat per crab is plentiful, but there is a lot of other gunk to work your way around. Gills, intestines, cartilage. Ew sorry, but it's the truth! Keep a pot of warm water next to you for rinsing purposes, a clean bowl for the meat, and a can of Bud Light to ease the pain.
Clean up: The meat goes to the kitchen. The shells and claws etc. go right into my Mom's compost pile. Our family has always been big on composting. What is waste on our plates and elsewhere in the kitchen will be recycled back into the earth (Mom's garden soil.) The concept of throwing an article of food in the trash was once very foreign to me. College and city living definitely changed that. I digress. My Mom and her boyfriend John got right to work in kitchen. John went through all the crab meat with a fine tooth comb, removing any excess cartilage.Last year my sister and I adapted our crab cakes and remoulade using Gretchen's recipe, which is excellent. This year John prepared them while the kids played Polish Horseshoes.
Holy mother of crab cakes burgers. 
Before the crab feast we snacked on chips, salsa and homemade guacamole. Then, my Mom served up one of the most incredible appetizers to date. Crusty bread topped with a goat cheese spread / some had a Boursin cheese spread, then layered with roasted beets
I poured the tequila shots!!
Espelon Tequila Reposado is smooth and goes down easy.

We went around the circle and each toasted to something we were thankful for. Nothing like tequila shots to bring the family together in thanks. To compliment the crab, corn was roasted on the grill and a fancy caprese salad topped with pine nuts, balsamic vinegar and olive oil was prepared. Everything was so fresh - from the garden grown tomatoes, to the local corn on the cob to the sweet succulent crab meat caught hours earlier. The warm pan seared crab with crisp chunks of celery and peppers topped with a luscious remoulade was as expected, the star of the plate. The fruits of an entire days worth of labor paid off tremendously. We spent the rest of the evening in food coma around the fire pit. My Mom's adorable neighbor brought over a homemade Tiramisu. After the fullness from dinner wore off, we passed the dessert pot around. I love tiramisu!Now this is what I call summer living and eating at its finest.

27 comments:

  1. oh my gosh another post to come! something for me to look forward to....great write up!

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  2. omg bread, beets, and cheese?! i need those. all the food looks so fresh!

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  3. I totally need some of those antique shot glasses. Way to make tequila shots super classy.

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  4. Can my prize be that I get to come over for dinner?! Those crabcakes look incredible! My family goes all out like that too. So much fun!

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  5. Oh yum! Looks like it was a great...and delicious time!

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  6. Oh my! This is fantastic in every way possible!

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  7. Oh, this is one of my fave posts! What an awesome day, love this! Looks delish! When we were little my dad would go shrimping in New Orleans when he was there on business and we would have to de-head and peel what seemed like millions of shrimp! The reward is definitely in the eating!

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  8. This entire post looks AMAZING! What an awesome family dinner!

    Can't wait to see you and catch up with you tonight!

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  9. wow - those burgers were truly a labor of love. Shucking those babies takes time and has resulted in more than a few cuts on my fingers (fully equipped with old bay, of course). The entire meal looks amazing. Impressive!!

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  10. I love crabs - I ate them in the Caribbean - those burgers look toothsome;-)

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  11. -karen wins appetizer of the year award!!!
    -john wins the crab burger award.
    -adam wins best fall of the year award.
    -neighb wins best neighb award
    -you win blogger most likely to make me lick the comp. screen award.
    -leah wins most intense shucker award (in both pics shes the only one focused on her business)

    winnah winnah, crab burger dinnah

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  12. I luuuvvvv crab cakes. And like Corinne, I now want to like the computer screen.

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  13. I looooove crab cakes...I am so hungry now!! Crab cake benny- yum!
    Also, love how you lined up all the crabs on the table lol

    PS: I got a pair of TB flats off ebay for $70-80 off! Def go try on for size and then scour ebay! :)

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  14. Crabs are a lot of work but well worth it. Those burgers look awesome.

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  15. I am so jealous of everything in this post. I just ate lunch but I'm now absolutely starving after reading this. Wow- 63 crabs!!!!!!!!!

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  16. oh please stop.

    lol.

    this sounds like fun!!!!!!! and delicious! argh. i will have my day too. lol

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  17. I have never had crab before but everything looks brilliantly amazing! You have a new follower!

    xo

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  18. Crab cakes are my favorite! I cannot wait to try this recipe!

    http://jammer10am.blogspot.com/

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  19. That beet dish actually looks really good!! I've been looking for new beet recipes for awhile now (they're not that easy to come by), I think I've found the perfect one! Thanks sweetie!

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  20. Everything looks so fresh and delicious! I love crab cakes so much!

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  21. An incredible feast! The blue crab burgers sound fantastic!

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  22. YUM! I am not much for seafood, but crabcakes are AWESOME!

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  23. OK the food just looks too good. We'v been out all day (again! ugh I'm exhausted!) and eating crap kiddie food - obviously there will be NO photos. I think I'm dehydrated, I need water. I'd pass out if I had any alcohol now!

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  24. Too bad I can't drink ANY tequila anymore :S I had a bit too much when I was younger and even the smell makes me feel bad. BOO. Although in recent years I've tried Golden Tequila with orange and cinnamon, not a bad combo.. although I usually don't feel that good after one shot :D

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