Makes 8 stuffed crab shells
YouTube instructional video is at the bottom.
What you’ll need
3 pounds 8 large boiled highly seasoned blue crabs
1 pound crab meat
5 ounces of French bread or freshly baked cornbread.
Italian breadcrumbs
Salted butter
Large eggs (Room temp)
Seasonings
1 yellow onion
celery
Green bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Garlic
Salt (Optional
Black pepper (Optional)
Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning (Optional)
Chef Paul’s seafood magic (Optional)
Dried thyme
Vinegar
Tools you’ll need
11 by 17-inch baking pan
Food processor
Mesh strainer
Fork, spoon, butter knife, sharp serrated knife, chef’s knife
Preparation of ingredients
Seasonings
Step 1- Chop 1/2 of a yellow onion, 2 ounces in weight of green onion, 1 or 2 ribs celery, 1/2 of a green and red bell pepper, 2 cloves garlic, and 0.4 ounces in weight of fresh parsley until minced.
French bread
Step 2- Cut 5 ounces in weight of French bread into medium-sized cubes and place onto an 11 by 17-inch baking pan. Place into a preheated 450-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Once done, remove toasted bread from oven and let cool completely.
Step 3- Add toasted French bread pieces into a food processor. Blend for 30 seconds until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Blue crabs (Picture Gallery Demonstration is below)
Step 4- Flip crab over and remove the bottom section from the crab. Separate the shell from the body of the crab. Place the top portion of the crab shell on the side. Detach the crab’s claws and legs from the crab’s body shell. Remove any contents of the crab’s digestive tract with a spoon. From there, remove the crab lungs. Once done, take top portion of the crab’s shell and crab legs and add into 2 separate bowls.
Step 5- Cut the crab’s body shell in half using a chef’s knife. From there take each half of the crab’s body shell and cut it in half. You should have 4 halves of the crab’s body shell.
Directions- Click or tap on the arrows (Right) to navigate through the pictures.
Removing the crab meat
Note- Once done you should have 8 ounces 1/2- pound crab meat from the 8 crabs.
Step 6- There are grooves in each half of the crab’s body shell where the crab meat is. Take each half of the crab’s body shell and remove the crab meat using a fork. Inspect the crab meat and remove and shell parts or other particles. Place crab meat into a small bowl and keep in fridge to keep cold. Take the halves of the crab’s body shell and place into a bowl with the rest of the crab’s shell parts.
Step 7- Lightly crack all the crab claws using a chef’s knife. Remove the cracked portion of the crab shell and remove the crab meat using a fork. Take the smaller crab shells and twist them slightly. Remove the cracked portion of the smaller crab shell and remove the crab meat using a fork. Remove the Inspect the crab meat and remove and shell parts or other particles. Place crab meat into a small bowl and keep in fridge to keep cold. Take the pieces of the cleaned crab claws and place into a bowl with the rest of the crab’s shell parts. This will be used to make a stock.
Cleaning the top portion of the crab shell (Picture Gallery Demonstration is below)
Note- This will be the part you’ll stuff with the crab dressing.
Step 8- Take a spoon and a fork and remove and discard all the contents that’s inside the crab shell. Scrape around the inside of the crab’s shell with a fork and a butter knife, this will remove any additional particles that’s attached to the inside of the crab shell. Take a sharp knife and carefully remove any debris located deep inside the crab shell’s corners located on the left and right side of the crab shell. Remove the crab’s eyes and antenna’s using a fork.
Directions- Click or tap on the arrows (Right) to navigate through the pictures.
Soaking and cleaning of the crab shells
Step 9- Add 8 cups water and 1/3 cup vinegar into a large bowl and stir. Rinse each crab shell off with cold water and add into the vinegar and water solution. Let soak for 15 to 30 minutes.
Step 10- Clean each crab shell using napkins and place on the side.
Making the crab stock
Preheat fire to medium heat.
Note- No seasoning is needed as the crabs were boiled in a highly seasoned liquid.
Step 11- Add 6 cups water and crab body shell and claw pieces into a medium-sized pot. No seasoning is need as the crab parts are already highly seasoned. Let simmer for 30 minutes.
Step 12- Add crab stock into a mesh strainer with a medium-sized bowl underneath it. Discard the contents remaining in the mesh strainer. Once done you should have 2 1/2 cups crab stock.
Making the crab dressing
Preheat fire to medium heat.
Note– Seasonings (Salt, black pepper, Tony Chachere’s, and Chef Paul’s) are optional. The crab stock is already highly seasoned from the crabs. 1/4 teaspoon of each seasoning is good enough.
Step 13- Add 1/2 stick salted butter, 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion, 1/2 cup chopped green onion ends, 1/3 cup chopped celery, 1/3 of chopped green bell pepper, and 1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper into a large saucepan. Stir all ingredients together and let sauté for 8 to 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
Step 14- Add 1 1/2 pounds crabmeat, 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon Chef Paul’s seafood magic, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, and 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley. Stir all ingredients together.
Turn your fire off.
Step 15- Add 2/3 cup breadcrumbs or crumbled cornbread, and 1 cup crab stock. Stir all ingredients together until combined. Let cool for 10 to 12 minutes. You can add any additional amount of breadcrumbs, cornbread and crab stock to suit your desired texture of the dressing.
Step 16- Add 2 large eggs (Room temp and whisked together) and stir all ingredients until combined.
Stuffing and baking the crab shells
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Step 17- Brush melted butter inside of all 8 cleaned crab shells. From there add the stuffing into each crab shell and place onto an 11 by 17- inch baking pan.
Step 18- Place into a preheated 425-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove crab shells from oven. Let cool for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.
YouTube instructional video
