Soft Shell Crabs With Sliced Sweet Onion Recipes

SOFT-SHELL CRABS WITH SLICED SWEET ONION

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a shallow dish; set aside. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in another shallow dish.
• Working in batches if necessary, place crabs in egg mixture, and turn to coat. Let stand 5 minutes. Lift out, allowing excess to drip off. Transfer to cornmeal mixture; turn to coat. Tap off excess, and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high until hot but not smoking. Working in batches if necessary, add crabs; cook, flipping once, until crisp, golden brown, and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Using a slotted spatula, transfer crabs to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain. Place in oven to keep warm while making sauce.
• Divide onion slices among plates; set aside. Pour off oil from the skillet; wipe clean. Add butter; melt over medium-low heat. Stir in lemon juice, chopped parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Drizzle onion slices generously with lemon sauce, and top with crabs. Pour remaining sauce over crabs. Serve with lemon wedges. Garnish with parsley sprigs.

BBQ SOFT-SHELL CRABS WITH GRILLED VIDALIA ONIONS

Steps:

• Melt margarine over low-medium heat and add olive oil, salt, pepper, hot sauce, lemon juice, and bacon. Simmer for 2 minutes. Allow to cool.
• Place the cleaned crabs on plate. Liberally coat the crabs with the sauce, making sure to lift the sides of the shell to coat the meat inside. Save remaining sauce for basting. Cover the crabs and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Heat grill to medium-low.
• Place crabs on grill topside down. Baste with remaining sauce while they cook. Cook crabs about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. The crab will crisp on the outside and the meat inside will turn white.
• Remove from grill and serve topped with Grilled Vidalia Onions.
• Heat griddle or nonstick pan over medium-high heat.
• Peel onions and cut into thin rings. Toss rings with seasoning and olive oil.
• Cook until onions turn clear and start to caramelize. Serve over grilled crab.

PAN SEARED SOFT-SHELL CRAB WITH PICKLED ONIONS AND GARLIC AIOLI

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, salt, sugar, hot sauce and 1 cup of cold water. Add the onions and the radishes to the vinegar mixture and reserve.
• Clean the crabs by flipping up each side and removing the lungs. Pull the "apron" flap off of the bottom of the crab. Using a sharp pair of scissors cut the face off the crab, this seems really mean - it is- accept it and move on.
• Soft-shell crabs usually have a lot of water in them which can be very dangerous during frying. Pat the crabs with paper towels to remove excess water.
• Add the frying oil to a large saute pan until it reaches a depth of 1/4-inch. Bring to a medium-high heat.
• While the oil is heating, in a large bowl, toss together the mesclun, zucchini, some of the pickled onions and radishes with some of the pickling liquid, and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. The salad should be lightly dressed, very flavorful and not soggy. Arrange the salad on 4 individual salad plates.
• Set up a plate lined with paper towels to drain the crabs when they come out of the frying pan. Check the temperature of the oil by flicking flour into the pan. The flour will sizzle when the oil is hot. Put the flour into a shallow dish. When the oil is hot dredge the crabs the flour and pat off the excess. Gently add the crabs to the pan. When putting the crabs in the pan, be careful not to throw them in the oil because the hot oil will splash. Fry the crabs until crispy on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove them from the pan to paper towels to blot excess oil. Sprinkle with salt and put 1 crab on each of the prepared salads. Garnish with a dollop of the garlic aioli and serve.
• That's crabby!
• In the bowl of a food processor, add the garlic, vinegar and egg yolks. Turn the machine on. While the machine is running begin adding the oil, drop by drop, until you see the mixture thicken. When the mixture begins to look like a smooth homogeneous mixture, the oil can be added in a slow thin stream. If the mixture is too thick, add a few drops of water to thin it down. Season with salt and taste to make sure it is delicious.

SOFT-SHELL CRABS WITH CORN AND ONION SAUCE

Steps:

• Place a couple of inches of water in pot, and bring to boil.
• Shuck corn, and steam it over the boiling water for about 2 minutes, until tender. Remove and cool.
• Chop onion. Heat nonstick skillet; reduce heat to medium-high and add 2 teaspoons of oil. Saute onion until it softens and begins to brown.
• Meanwhile, scrape kernels and puree in food processor with milk.
• Rinse red pepper, and chop. Rinse crabs; dry on paper towels.
• When onion is soft, stir in corn puree and red pepper. Mix well. Heat through; season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan, and set aside. Keep warm.
• Heat remaining oil until it is very hot. Saute crabs until they brown and redden a little on both sides, about 5 minutes total.
• Cut lemon into wedges. To serve, top crabs with corn puree and, if desired, sprinkle with lemon juice.

FRIED SOFT-SHELL CRAB

Steps:

• Clean each crab. Lift one pointed side of top shell and remove the gills by pulling them out. Put top shell back down and repeat on other side. On the bottom side remove tail flap by twisting and pulling off. Using a pair of scissors, remove the face by cutting behind the eyes. Rinse the crabs thoroughly with cold water. Dry on paper towels.
• Heat oil in a deep fryer to 365 degrees F (180 degrees F). In a shallow dish, whisk together the egg and milk using a fork. In a separate bowl, stir salt and pepper into the flour. Lightly salt the crab, then dip in the flour, dip in the egg, then in the flour again.
• Carefully place crabs into the deep-fryer. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden brown on one side. Carefully turn over, and cook until golden on the other side. Drain on paper towels. Serve as soon as they are cool enough to eat. You can eat the whole crab.

SOFT-SHELL CRABS WITH FENNEL AND THYME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour olive oil into baking dish large enough to hold vegetables in one layer. Place onion, garlic, tomatoes, fennel and thyme in the pan and toss so they are thoroughly coated with oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and bake for one hour or until they are soft and almost carmelized.
• Prepare crabs. Dip them in milk, then in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Heat butter in large skillet and saute crabs, starting with the top side down, for two minutes. Turn over and saute for one and a half to two minutes on the other side. Drain on paper towels.
• Add Pernod or ouzo to the skillet and bring to boil, swirling up the cooking juices.
• Serve crabs on four heated plates. Divide vegetables among four plates and place crabs on the top. Spoon on the cooking juices and garnish with parsley or basil.

SOFT SHELL CRAB SANDWICHES WITH SPICY TARTAR SAUCE (PO BOY)

Steps:

• Make the Tartar Sauce: In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, onion, pickle, capers with spicy tartar sauce chives, Old Bay, lemon juice, and hot pepper sauce. Set aside.
• To Cook the Crabs: In a wide, shallow bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Dredge the crabs to coat on both sides.
• Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat until shimmering hot. Add the butter to the skillet and swirl the pan to melt it. Add the crabs top side down and cook, shaking the pan once or twice, until crisp and browned, about 3 minutes. The crabs may pop and splatter, so be careful.
• Flip the crabs and cook until crisp and just cooked through (an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the crab should read 145°F), about 3 minutes more. Transfer the crabs to a large paper-towel-lined plate.
• To Assemble the Sandwiches: Spread the tartar sauce on the 8 slices of toast. Top 4 of the toast slices, sauce side up, with a piece of lettuce and 1 or 2 slices of tomato. Put one crab on each sandwich, top with the remaining toast, sauce side down, and serve.