3375. SMOKY PAPRIKA SOFT-SHELL CRAB SANDWICH with BACON and CHIPOTLE REMOULADE

makes two servings


2 soft-shell crabs cleaned, rinsed and pat dry
1 teaspoon smoky paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 lemon
4 slices fried thick cut smoked bacon
2 Portuguese rolls
4 slices tomato
4 romaine lettuce leaves
Salt & pepper

Chipotle Remoulade
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, stemmed

Season both sides of soft-shell crabs with a pinch of salt and pepper. Combine flour, paprika, garlic powder, pinch of salt in a bowl and fold. Place crabs one at a time in mixture to lightly dust. Use a skillet large enough to hold both crabs, placing skillet over medium high heat adding butter and oil allowing to melt, about 2 minutes. Place crabs in skillet with juice of 1/2 lemon and sauté on each side for 4-minutes per side only turning once (sauté longer if large crabs). To make chipotle remoulade combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth (add more chipotle peppers and adobo sauce if you like it hot). Serve soft-shell crab on Portuguese roll or roll of choice with chipotle remoulade and two slices of bacon. Add lettuce and sliced tomato (optional)


bacon recipe source: Michael Van Horn (The Social Chef), September 13, 2013

1514. SOFT-SHELL CRAB and BACON SANDWICHES

yields 10 servings


1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 small head green cabbage, cored and shredded
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 small carrot, coarsely shredded
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon crème fraîche
1 pound thickly sliced bacon
about 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, for dusting
8 medium soft-shell crabs, cleaned
1 long baguette, split lengthwise
lemon wedges, for serving

In a small saucepan, boil the vinegar over moderately high heat until reduced by half. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl and let cool, then stir in the honey. Add the cabbage, onion and carrot, season with salt and black pepper and toss well. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of the mustard, the chives, parsley and cayenne and season again with salt and black pepper.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of mustard with the crème fraîche.

In 2 large skillets, cook the bacon over moderately high heat until crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Reserve the bacon fat in the skillets.

Spread the flour on a large plate. Lightly dust the crabs with the flour. Warm the bacon fat over moderately high heat until shimmering. Add the crabs to the skillets and cook, turning once, until golden, about 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season lightly with salt.

Arrange the bacon on the bottom half of the baguette and mound the slaw on top. Arrange the fried crabs on the sandwich as close together as possible and drizzle with the mustard crème fraîche. Close the sandwich and use a serrated knife to carefully cut it into 10 pieces. Serve immediately, with lemon wedges for seasoning.


bacon recipe courtesy of: David Lentz, "A Banner Day, Editor's Picks: Grace Parisi's Favorite F&W Recipes," Food & Wine, July 2003

1296. AVOCADO, BACON, LETTUCE and CRAB CROISSANT SANDWICH

serves eight


1 pound Dungeness crab meat
1 apple thinly sliced
A few drops of tabasco
¼ cup chopped red onion
Squeeze of ½ lime
¼ cup chopped parsley
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
½ cup mayonnaise
8 fresh croissants
8 leaves of crispy lettuce (Romaine would work well)
2 ripe avocados, peeled and sliced into wedges

Cook bacon until crispy. Mix together crab meat with sliced apple, tabasco, chopped onion, lime juice, parsley and dill. Add half of the mayonnaise to the mixture and incorporate well. Cut the croissants in half, spread mayo over the croissants. Place a generous amount of the crab mixture onto one half of each croissant, dividing evenly over eight croissants. Top with avocado and lettuce leaf, fold the top portion of the bread over and enjoy.


courtesy of: Oregon.gov, Official Oregon State Website | Vitaly Paley, Paley’s Place, 1204 NW 21st Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97209, (503) 243-2403

117. BACON and SOFT CRAB SANDWICH.

6 strips bacon
1 cup bacon drippings
3 soft-shell crabs
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 slices rye bread
3 lettuce leaves
1 tomato
Dijon mustard

Clean soft-shell crabs by first cutting off the eyes and mouth. Lift each end of the shell and remove the gills with a sharp knife. Turn the crabs over and remove the apron. Fry the bacon and leave the drippings in the pan. Mix flour, cornmeal and seasonings in a shallow pan. Dredge crabs one at a time in seasoned flour. Heat bacon grease in the frying pan on medium heat until flour dropped onto the surface bubbles to the top. Fry crabs on both sides until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Spread one side of rye bread with Dijon mustard, and stack lettuce, tomato, bacon and crab. Top with other slice of bread.


courtesy of: Lillian Brown, Annapolis, Maryland / The Capital