pinch me

With my parents in for the weekend I thought it would be fun to serve several small courses for dinner. I also wanted to wow them with a showstopper. In Dayton Foremost Seafood has the most incredible soft shell crabs. You need to call ahead to see if they’re available but when they are Foremost will clean the live crustaceans for you on the spot, a most appreciated bonus.

Yesterday inclement weather hit causing a seven-hour power outage, upsetting several large trees and my do-it-all-before-my-folks-pull-into-the-drive plan. Thankfully the weather held off for the rest of the day and I was able to get all my starts and finishes together. Early early this morning I whipped together the vichyssoise. After our main we’re having a cheese and salad course. The formage perfectly room temp since it never made it into the frig before yesterday’s lights out. And luckily deep within my freezer were the petite fudge cakes to make the bite-sized dulce de leche sundaes for a sweet end. Now that everything is finally prepped and done I’ll have ample time to simply sauté my soft shell crabs mid-meal.

Soft shell crabs are actually blue crabs that have molted and are in the process of growing new shells. There is a short window in the spring and summer when these treats are available. The crabs are shipped live from the Chesapeake and the Gulf. Right before cooking you need to clean the gills and remove the eyes (a task I prefer my fishmonger to complete). Because tonight’s crabs are especially plumb, and one of several courses, I’m counting on one crab per person.

It’s essential to use clarified butter, otherwise your crabs will burn. Melt a stick of butter over low heat. Allow to sit for three minutes then skim the milk solids off the top. This can be done hours or days ahead of time.

Before cocktails set out a shallow dish of Wondra (the wonder flour!) and a large frying pan.

Before sitting down for our vichyssoise combine the milk, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish.

Let the crabs soak during the first course.

Lift the crabs out of milk one at a time, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the flour. Knock off excess flour and transfer to a tray. Repeat with remaining crabs.

Heat the clarified butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté crabs, upside down, 2 minutes. Turn over and sauté until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes more.

Transfer crabs to a serving dish. Spritz with lemon and a sprinkle of fresh chopped flat parsley. Serve immediately. Lemon asparagus makes an exceptional side for this extraordinary company .