Review: Looking for a Legit Seafood Supper near the Wright Memorial on the Outer Banks?

 We recently spent a few days in late Autumn at a favorite spot on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. On our last night, we sought a restaurant, not too expensive, that served locally sourced seafood. We got lucky! 

I found a great spot with a touristy name (I Got Your Crabs) but a legit local "dive". For starters, my son Jon and I shared a dozen freshly-shucked fried oysters (the owner fishes for oysters). Hot, crispy, and juicy from the deep fryer, within moments of placing our order. They met the Platonic ideal! 

Then, Yes, they did have soft shell crab! My order came as 6 large, perfectly cooked crabs, an ear of sugar-sweet corn, and to drink, a can of the local Pilsner. Jon chose a flounder sandwich and waffle fries. A sizeable meal. Fresh fish, but frozen fries. He really liked it. Washed down with a bottomless fountain Coke. The tab: $72, including a 20% tip and the tourist tax. I came home with 3 crab and an ear of corn.

https://igotyourcrabs.com

How to Refresh Canned Seafood

Canned crabmeat and shrimp are shelf stable and widely available. They can be used to add a briny flavor to soups and sauces. Often it has an unwelcome 'tinny' taste but that can be largely overcome with a simple rinse in salty water. This method is adopted from an earlier recipe.

1 qt tap water
1 T kosher salt

Stir the salt into the water to form a brine about equivalent to normal saline for crustaceans. In a sieve, thoroughly drain the packing liquid from a can of crabmeat or shrimp. Gently stir the meat into the brine and let stand about 5 minutes. Thoroughly drain the rinsed seafood and proceed to the recipe.

Quick and Easy Crab-Spinach Crêpe

Developed January, 2016. A dish for a special brunch that comes together quickly using commercial crab, spinach, and Hollandaise. The pancakes are a snap to make and can be kept for days in the refrigerator or months in the freezer.

100 g cooked crab meat
150 g frozen creamed spinach
4 crêpes
1 T butter
1/2 t Old Bay seasoning
2 T seafood or chicken stock
4 t prepared Hollandaise sauce (Trader Joe)

In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the Old Bay, and after 30 seconds, the crab and the stock. Warm through gently, and set aside in a bowl. Heat the spinach in the microwave. Place a crepe on a plate, arrange a quarter of the crab in the center, spoon on a quarter of the spinach, top with a teaspoon of Hollandaise sauce, and fold over by thirds. Present seam side down. Makes four crêpes.

Crab Cakes

As prepared in Margaux's, Raleigh, NC. Their recipe was published 2004 in the Raleigh News & Observer in response to a reader's request. Prepared and revised over the years by DrDaddy.

1 lb backfin crab meat
2 oz saltine crackers (whole wheat, if available)
2 large eggs
2 T mayonnaise
1 T Dijon mustard
2 T light cream
1/4 t Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes Louisiana hot sauce
1 t Old Bay® seasoning
1/2 c green onions, finely sliced
dry bread crumbs or matzoh meal for coating crab cakes

canola oil for frying

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Crush saltines in a plastic bag by hand until finely crumbled. In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, cream, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce and Old Bay. Whisk until smooth. Stir in the green onions and fold in crab meat and cracker meal gently so that the mixture just holds together. Add more a bit more cream if too dry. Chill until ready to fry the cakes.   
Frying
Shape 1/3 cup of the crab mixture into an oblong cake.  Press firmly to hold together. Gently coat both side in dry crumbs. This will yield 10 to 12 cakes. Add 1/4 inch oil to a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat (325 degrees F.). When the oil is hot, carefully lower each cake into the hot fat. Do batches of four cakes, frying about 2 minutes on one side, and about 1 minute on the second side. Accumulate the cakes on layers of paper towels in the warm oven in a baking pan. Offer a fresh tomato salsa, tartar sauce, and lemon wedges as condiments.
Variation: Minced raw catfish can substitute quite nicely but will need longer cooking.

Breakfast Burrito with Crab

Conceived and prepared February 13, 2011 by Laura as part of our special Valentine's Day breakfast.

2 large flour tortillas
3 large eggs
1 small leek, white and light green parts, julienned
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T butter
1/4 c prepared salsa, medium
2 T grated Mexican cheese
4 oz canned or freshly-picked crab meat
2 T chopped cilantro

Lightly sauté the leeks and garlic in olive oil. When leeks are tender, lower heat, add crab meat, warm through, cover, and set aside. Melt butter in an omelet pan over medium heat, and add the well-beaten eggs. As they set, push the curds to the center of the pan and let the uncooked egg spread toward the sides of the pan. Repeat until the eggs are cooked but still soft and moist. Steam the tortillas in the microwave under a damp paper towel. Place a tortilla on a plate, adding half the eggs, the warm crab mixture, the cheese, salsa, and the cilantro, leaving room for the folds. To form a burrito, fold the bottom third up to close off the bottom, and then fold in half, and in half again, perpendicular to the bottom fold. Pair with a fresh fruit salad for a special brunch or light supper.

Wok-Grilled Snow Crab

Developed during 2010 when crab was 3 bucks (USD) a pound locally. The problem with frozen cold-water crab is that it has been subjected to a roiling boil in sea water on the trawler and then frozen. This produces a product that needs to be prepared without further disruption of its texture and dilution of flavor. This stir-fry method uses gentle re-heating without water or steam. It yields a product that is flavorsome and satisfying. Serves 3. A SIGNATURE DISH.

about 3 lbs (about 1.5 kg) frozen snow crab clusters
canola oil
roasted sesame oil
soy sauce (Kikkoman™ is good)
granulated garlic
Old Bay® seasoning mix 

Thaw the crab completely in a colander over a container or sink. Keep it cold after thawing if necessary under a layer of wet newspaper, covered with ice. Prepare the crab by lightly striking the larger leg segments with the side of a heavy cleaver to crack the shell.
Heat a large wok over medium high heat (setting 6 to 7) and add a few tablespoons of oil. When smoking, cautiously pile on the crab segments with tongs, and cover. Handle the crab with tongs and a wok paddle during cooking. With a gentle inverting motion (to keep the clusters intact), turn the stack of crabs from time to time as they fry. Add oil if necessary. After five minutes or so, drizzle on a few teaspoons of roasted sesame oil, and stir to coat. Sprinkle on a few tablespoons of soy sauce, the garlic powder, and Old Bay to taste. Continue to stir fry until crab is thoroughly reheated and invested with a mahogany sheen.
Serve with crusty warm sourdough bread and provide a range of opening and picking tools. My favorite is a heavy kitchen shears with a serrated bite and sharp tips. A young fresh wine is perfect with the dish. The leftover crab meat is well worth picking to make Quick Corn and Crab Chowder for a tasty lunch.

Seafood Crepes

[Laura believes her creation is "Worthy of a special occasion…", and it was!]
The day before:
Make crepes, wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.  Shell, steam and chop the shrimp, lobster, scallops and crab, store in refrigerator.  Reduce water used for steaming until you have approximately 1/2 cup and refrigerate.
For the Crepes:

1-1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 T sugar
2 c milk
1 large egg
1/3 c vegetable oil
5 T melted butter

Place flour and sugar in medium sized mixing bowl.  Slowly whisk in milk, eggs, vegetable oil and butter.  Let set in refrigerator for approximately 1 hour before cooking. Heat a nonstick pan or crepe pan over moderate heat. Brush the pan lightly with butter. Pour about 1/4 cup of crepe batter into the center of the hot pan -- tilt in all directions to cover bottom of pan.  After about 30 seconds, the bottom of the crepe should be lightly browned and ready to flip.  Shake the pan to release the crepe and flip to other side.  Cook crepe for approximately 15 to 20 seconds and turn out onto plate.  Repeat this process with the remainder of the crepe batter. Store cooled crepes in the refrigerator.
Filling the crepes:
Before starting the filling, heat oven to 250 F and turn off when it reaches temperature. Put chilled crepes on a cookie sheet and place in oven to warm through.
Filling:

4 T butter
2 medium shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 c white wine
3 fresh bay leaves
1 c heavy cream
1/2 c chilled reserved steaming liquid
8 oz mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced
8 oz lump crabmeat
1/2 lb raw shrimp, chopped
1/2 lb lobster tail, and scallops, chopped
2 T fresh chives, chopped
4 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 t paprika
salt and white pepper to taste

In a large pan, melt butter over a low temperature.  Add shallots and garlic and sauté until translucent.  Add chopped mushrooms and sauté until tender.  Mix flour and reduced chilled seafood broth and set aside.  Add two cups of white wine and bay leaves to pan and cook until reduced by half.  Remove from burner, remove bay leaves and whisk in liquid/flour mixture into the pan.  Return to medium heat burner and cook mixture until thickened.  Slowly add in heavy cream and warm.  Add seafood and warm.  When all ingredients are warmed through and just before serving, add chives, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper.
Place two crepes on a plate and spoon 3-4 tablespoons of filling into the center of each and folding the sides up to the top.  Top with a small amount of filling.  Serve with a garnish of parsley and piece of seasonal fruit.
Spinach salad with nuts, dried cranberries, red onion and oranges topped with raspberry dressing is a nice side.

General Purpose Breader and Pan Fry Method

Devised July 20, 2007; revised August 31, 2007; revised November 16, 2008 again after Paul Prudhomme's recipe for chicken fingers on his PBS TV program by addition of baking powder. The semolina gives extra crunch but can be left out.

Breader

1/4 c each unbleached wheat flour, coarse semolina, yellow corn meal, and white rice flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 T salt
1 t paprika
1 t ground pepper
1 t granulated garlic

Measure ingredients in a one-gallon sliding zipper bag. Mix well. Store in the freezer. Made initially for pan-fried soft-shell crab. Also good for fish fillets, pork chops, whole trout, chicken breast, frog legs, hamburgers, chile rellenos, etc.
Rinse food pieces and dry lightly. Place moist food items into breeder, a few at a time . Tumble to coat thoroughly. [For extra crispness, allow the food items to sit covered with breader for 10 minutes.] Knock off excess breader and place food in bubbly hot butter-oil mixture. Pan fry 2 to 3 minutes, turn and finish cooking another few minutes. A bit longer for thick pieces. Remove to a hot platter. Don't overload the pan. Cook in small batches. Note: Prudhomme added baking powder to his breader to increase crispness. In his recipe, he seasons chicken strips, dredges in flour, dips in milk/egg mixture, and then into dry breader. Fries in 350 ºF oil in skillet 7 minutes total.

Quick Corn and Crab Chowder

Developed November 18, 2009. When DrDaddy was a kid, our mom, Dorothy Magid, would make a simple, quick, and nourishing lunch by mixing a can of creamed corn and a can of milk, heating on the stove and adding a big pat of butter. Yumm. This is my homage to her, the most wonderful mother I ever had, and, as a bonus, a quick knockoff of a favorite Chinese banquet dish, Corn Velvet Chowder with Crab Meat. It's an early summer treat when feed corn is "in the cream", only available for a few days before the crop matures and coarsens.

1 14-1/2 oz can creamed corn
1 can of milk
1 T butter
4-1/2 oz canned or cooked crab meat
2 scallions, green and white parts, finely sliced across
1 t salt
freshly-ground pepper, to taste
2 T dry sherry
2 T lemon juice

To prepare the canned crab, dissolve a tablespoon of kosher salt in a pint of water. In a sieve, thoroughly drain the packing liquid from the crab. Stir crab into the salt water and let stand  a few minutes. Thoroughly drain the rinsed crab. Mix the corn, milk and butter together in a medium saucepan. Slowly bring to about 160 degrees F (70 C) over medium heat. The soup will be hot but not boiling. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the crab and scallions and rewarm gently. Add seasonings and adjust to taste. Serves 3 to 4, with bread or rolls.
Variation: Saute 1/2 cup of cut corn in the butter before adding the canned corn and milk.