Dishing It Up!

by Victoria Mattson

Victoria Mattson is a local cook, confectionaire and writer. She offers healthy and nutritious recipes and food tips in each issue of North County Outlook. Phone (360) 658-9903 or e-mail victoria@northcountyoutlook.com.

Crab season is once again upon us. My husband Jim and I are fortunate to have access to the waters of Port Susan and we enjoy the fresh catch he brings home.

I am reminded of the time a friend, affectionately known as King David, his wife, and two teenage boys came to visit us during crab fishing season. King David hails from the San Francisco area and is an excellent cook, and he did most of the cooking while they were here. He is one of those cooks who doesn't use a recipe. So if you want to know how to re-create his culinary delights, you have to pay close attention and write it down yourself.

Keeping two restless teenage boys occupied was accomplished, in part, by assigning them responsibility to man the crab pots. They eagerly rowed out to check the pots, knowing there would be another crab dish for dinner if they were successful. The first dish King David made for us was Cioppino, an Italian fish stew which included three fresh-caught Dungeness crab along with shrimp, scallops, cod and clams. It was a wonderful dish, with very exacting instructions and a story for another day!

King David declared his intention to make Crab Salad for his final Tulalip dinner. However, in order to create this culinary masterpiece, he needed NINE fresh crabs. We have made this dish many times since then, using far less crabs, and believe he came up with this magic number nine to keep the boys busy rowing out to the pots - as well as ensuring that we all had plenty of crab to eat.

The recipe below uses a modest three crabs, but can easily be doubled or tripled with a bountiful catch. Each of the distinct ingredients in this dish enhance, rather than overpower, the fresh crab. If you don't have a crab fisherman at your house or as a neighbor, whole Dungeness crab is available at the Waterfront Fish Market in Everett and Haggen's in Marysville.

King David's Crab Salad

3 whole Dungeness crabs, cooked and cleaned (*See note below)

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 large clove garlic, chopped

1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1 lemon, washed and cut in half

1/2 cup water

Separate the legs and claws into individual pieces. Gently crack the shells, using a mallet or crab cracker, leaving the shell mostly intact. Put the cracked crab in a plastic or glass container with a tight-fitting lid.

My directions next say to "Bless twice with Olive oil", which means pour a thin stream of Olive oil over the crab pieces, twice. Add the chopped garlic and parsley. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the crab, and toss the squeezed lemons themselves into the mix. Add 1/2 cup water. Close tightly with lid.

Turn the container over a few times to gently mix the ingredients and coat the crab with the marinade. Refrigerate for one to two days, turning frequently to keep the crab pieces evenly marinated.



Serve cold with small plates and lots of napkins.

*Note: For more information on how to clean and cook fresh crab, go to www.northcountyoutlook.com. Search for "Dungeness Crab" to find my July 2009 Dishing It Up! column describing how to clean and cook fresh crab.

Contact Victoria at Victoria@northcountyoutlook.com or by phone 360-658-9903.