September 12, 2007
You're getting sleepy...then boiled
Two years ago at the Outer Banks, my local friend finally tracked down a half-bushel of blue crabs for those of us who were blue crab-starved and crushed by their scarcity.
Little did we realize that they would still be scrabbling in their cardboard box when Cindy dropped them off, brushed her hands together and took off like a flash before we could protest or she could see them meet their untimely demise.
My husband, Howard, conveniently decided that it was time for a shower. A veeeeery long shower, at the end of which he hoped there would be cooked crabs waiting all beautifully seasoned and cooked and put out of their misery. It was all I could do to not introduce an unexpected shower partner to him-- a partner with big, blue claws!
Our buddy, Mike, bravely stayed in the kitchen with me and we set a pot of water to boil, gulped hard and reached into that box to retrieve our future meals. Crabs do not like tongs. They do not like tongs at all.
Several landed on the floor while we frantically tried to transfer them from box to pot. A very large one went right for Mike's bare toes, sending him squealing out of the room, at least temporarily.
We eventually got the crabs cooked, and they tasted just as good-- if not better-- than the pre-cooked guys we buy at the store. I learned some important lessons about steaming crabs, but I'm not convinced that any tips will ever make it an EASY job. But wait.....
This brings me to the weirdest food blog entry I have seen today. Almost as weird as Janet Jackson breast cupcakes or Kool-Aid pickles.
This fellow, disturbed that he has disturbed his 3-year-old daughter by boiling lobsters in front of her, has figured out how to hypnotize them first.
Now, if I could just figure out where I'm supposed to tickle those blue crabs.
Comments
[September 12, 2007 4:27 PM]
DebiOk, you made me roll on the floor but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to hypnotize my food before I cook it! I'll just go to Parkers or Awful Arthurs!
[September 13, 2007 9:07 AM]
HenryI was down in Bluffton SC with a friend and she decided to cook the crabs we caught that day. She didn't have a big enough pot so she used a metal bucket on the old stove in the outbuilding. She cranks up the stove and we wait. And wait. Finally, she declared the water "hot enough" and dumped in the crabs. We spent the next half hour trying to keep them in the "hot" water as they were trying to get out. I finally asked "Are we cooking them or giving them a bath?"
I still have the scar from the spoon in her hand.
[September 15, 2007 9:43 AM]
MarionSurely you have watched "Annie Hall" & seen the famous cooking lobster scene. If not, rent it & watch!
Water has to be BOILING before adding crabs or lobster.
delish!