Crabfest!

In these cold and dreary days of winter (though this weekend was pretty nice...yay 50 degree weather!), we thought it appropriate to treat ourselves to a little taste of summer with some crab legs.  Also, we were super-over-achieving-crazy productive this weekend, so we also felt a nice decadent meal was the perfect way to congratulate ourselves for our efforts. 

Is it time to go to the beach yet?  Seriously. 

Obviously the only place we shop is Sam's... so that is where the crab legs came from (for a pretty good price, I must add).  We augmented the legs with some claw pieces from Walmart, an equally good deal for the amount of meat in them, as well as the fact that they're pre-cut for you.  We threw in some frozen shrimp and made quite a mess of dinner!

Crabfest!

3 cups Water
1 large Yellow Onion, chopped into 1"-1 1/2" pieces

1/2 cup Old Bay Seasoning
3 tbsp Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
2 packages of Snow Crab Legs (I think they were 2 lb bags, but not sure)
1 package of Crab Claws
1 lb. of frozen Shrimp (you can use shell on or shelled, just make sure they're de-veined)

In a large pot, bring water, lemon juice, onions,garlic powder, and 1/4 cup of Old Bay to a boil, add in remaining ingredients, sprinkle remaining Old Bay on everything.  Add lid and let steam for approximately 15-20 minutes or until shrimp is thawed.

I placed everything in frozen and it took somewhere around 20 minutes.  The crab turned out perfectly and the majority came out in those perfectly intact pieces - one of the little pleasures in life... pulling a complete piece of crab from a leg!  The claw pieces were pretty amazing, as they were already cut in exactly the right place to break and end up with a complete bite. 

The one warning I have on this boil is that Old Bay has a LOT of salt.  I had to forgo a pair of black shoes I was planning to wear because my feet were being pinched...and my rings refused to make any movement on my fingers.  When I say a lot of salt... I seriously mean it.  You could dial back the amount of Old Bay and add some celery seed, paprika, chili powder, and additional garlic and probably come out with nearly the same mix.

The ideal way to eat this meal is outside, on a brown paper lined table... and most people add corn cobs and potatoes... but we're on our way back to the Dukan Diet so we tried to cut out the carbohydrate elements... though I'm sure the dish of butter on the side helped us in no way. 

The only other thing I made this weekend was burritos... so we'll be eating leftover taco meat this week! 

On Restaurant Reviews:

Chaang Thai in Morgantown

Lovely experience!  Wonderful atmosphere!  The food was broth-drinking good.  I had Red Curry Chicken - it makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  I want to go back.... NOW.  After our crabfest though, I think we'll be hitting up an all-you-can-eat crab buffet this week... though I may subconsciously drive us to Chaang Thai.