CRAB LEG BOIL RECIPE RECIPES

Steps:

• In a very large outdoor boiler/fryer or in a very large pot heat first 9 ingredients. Using half the water and adding as you need it so food is completely submerged with an extra 2-4 inches to cover.
• When it comes to a boil lower heat to medium high and add sausages cook 3 minutes add potatoes cook for 8 minutes add corn and Dungeness crabs cook for 4 minutes and follow with rest of the crabs cooking for 7 minutes. There should be enough water so that the crab is completely submerged.
• Strain into a large pot or bowl set aside and cover.
• If needed add more beer or water into the cooking liquid.
• Add lobster into pot and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add clams for 1 minute add shrimp for 3-4 minutes, toss.
• Dump and Serve on table covered with brown paper with melted butter, lemon, salt, and cocktail sauce.
• Open a lobster-- To open a boiled or steamed lobster.
• Break off large claws; separate tail from body; take body from shell, leaving "lady" or stomach on shell.
• Put aside green fat and coral; remove small claws; remove woolly gills from body, break later through middle and pick out meat joints.
• Cut with very sharp scissors through length of underside of tail, draw meat from shell,yum.
• Draw back flesh on upper end and pull off intestinal cord.
• Break edge of large claws and remove meat.
• Enjoy!
• For the Crab--.
• Twist off the legs and claws, take the mallet, and have fun gigging out the meat with forks or picks.
• Pry off the crabs "apron," the small flap on the underside, and discard it.
• Next, with the crab upside down, press down on one side of the top shell and pull up on the center and leg sections with the other hand until they come apart, discard top shell. Also, discard the intestine, which runs down the center of the back.
• Remove the gills (NOT EDIBLE) from each side and discard.
• The greenish yellow "mustard." Of course, it's not really mustard (it is the crustacean's equivalent of a liver). Many do eat it, but probably as many just toss it.
• The "crab butter" (the yellow, mushy stuff in the cavity. Is consider a delicacy and there are recipes that call for them. So, set them aside if you like. If not discard.
• Snap crab body in half.
• The edges where the two halves have broken open are where you'll find the biggest chunks of crabmeat. Pull it out with your fingers. As you dig deeper into the body closer to the leg openings, a knife or pick comes in handy. There are smaller cavities here, which should not be overlooked.
• To Crack claws either use a mallet or a nutcracker. A mallet is fairly self-explanatory but look out for flying bits of shell and juice.
• Before you roll up the mess in the paper, carefully check that no utensils or, even worse, a stray uneaten claw gets thrown away by accident.
• Be sure to put the garbage bags in tightly sealed cans to keep animals out. Even if you wash your hands thoroughly with soap the smell of crabs and Old Bay may linger for a day. Rubbing lemon juice mixed with baking soda on your hands will remove this odor.

Steps:

• If you're cooking a live crab, first bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil. (If using a ready-cooked fresh crab, proceed to the next step.) Add the crab to the pan and boil for 20-30 minutes. Remove from the water and stand on its nose to allow the water to drain away as the crab cools.
• To prepare the cooked, cooled crab, first remove the legs by twisting them off where they meet the body.
• Remove the claws by pulling them off from the body.
• Separate the crab body from the central part of the crab by placing the crab on its back (hard shell-side down). Put your hands under the edge of the crab and push upwards until you hear it break. You may need to use a heavy knife to help you lever the crab apart.
• Remove all ten of the spongy 'dead men's fingers' and discard.
• Drain any excess water from the shell of the crab and remove the stomach sac and hard membranes inside the shell.
• Use a spoon to remove the brown meat from the shell and any soft shell that has formed. Place it into a clean bowl and mash with a fork.
• Press down on the edges of the crab shell, breaking away the outer edges to form a 'dish' for serving.
• Break each claw in half. Use the handle of a teaspoon to scrape the white meat out of the thick end of the claw. Place into a separate clean bowl.
• Use the back of a heavy-bladed knife to crack open the remaining piece of claw and the pincers. Remove all the white meat and flake into the bowl. Remove the piece of cartilage inside each of the claws, pick off the meat and discard the cartilage.
• To remove the meat from the body of the crab, take a sharp knife and cut the crab body in half then in half again. Pick out the meat using your fingers.
• If the legs are large enough, it's worth picking the meat out of them. Snap them in half and discard the thin end of the leg. Using the back of a heavy-bladed knife, smash the shell on the thicker part of the leg. Pull the meat out and add to your bowl.
• Run your fingers through the white meat in the bowl to break up the meat and to pick out any remaining bits of shell.
• Return the prepared white and brown meat to separate halves of the prepared crab shell.
• Serve on a plate with some good-quality mayonnaise, some brown bread and a wedge of lemon. Garnish with fresh parsley, if you like.