Blue Crab Bliss

Bring a hearty appetite, roll up your sleeves and head out to the Sunbury Crab Company in Sunbury, Georgia to do some real crab crackin'. It's been a family-owned restaurant for more than 20 years, and is hands down the most unique dining experience in all of South Georgia. It's staunchly no frills, with a menu that couldn't be simpler; fried or steamed seafood year round and fire-roasted oysters when the chill hits the salt marshes. Located off the beaten path, somewhere in the middle, just south of Savannah and north of Jekyll Island. It's a rustic, open-air waterfront culinary delight with one of the most spectacular views anywhere on Coastal Georgia. Go by boat, or car, as there is plenty of parking and dockage.

Arriving just as they opened, we were greeted by owners Elaine and Bernard Maley, and seated creek side. To say Bernie has a passion for seafood is like saying the SEC has some pretty good football teams. A native of South Georgia, he spent his early years traveling to the coast to enjoy seafood at its finest. Then in the 1980's he purchased the land in Sunbury for his home and built the restaurant right next to it, where he's been preaching the seafood gospel ever since.

The menu was simple and brief. We ordered the steamed blue crab which they serve in buckets, cleaned and ready to eat. They gave us each a wooden mallet for crackin' and a big piece of parchment paper for a placemat. Sunbury prides itself on pulling their blue crabs right out of the surrounding waters and serving them that same day. In fact, they ran out of crab while we were there and told us to "wait a minute" because the boat was just pulling in with another load fresh from the briny waters out front. It took all of about 20 minutes from boat to table. Now it doesn't get any fresher than that! Never is their blue crab frozen.

Just as we finished eating all the crabs, Bernie came by the table to say he was going back out to empty some more traps and invited us to go along. Eager for the experience, we climbed into the boat, the motor sputtered, then he took off full throttle down the creek. We headed out toward the first crab pot, which is a large trap attached to a line and lowered into the water with a white marker attached. As Bernie pulled up on the line he said,"Gotta lift with the current or you'll be outta luck." That first trap was full of blue crab. He dumped it all into a black plastic bucket on board and grabbed some Menhaden baitfish to refill it, then lowered it back into the blue waters.

Darkness was settling in as the tide ebbed, exposing miles of black pluff mud along either side of the creek. Pungent aromas of the great salt marsh filled the night air, sites of great blue herons in flight, and miles of primitive vistas still untouched by civilization created a nostalgic atmosphere, with an atavistic pull back the old and real. For this is our inheritance. There's a timeless appeal here that reflects the history and character of a community and the generations of fishermen and their families who went before us.
So grab a beer and hang out on the docks as the sun goes down, and watch the boats chug along the dockside canal as dusk settles across the land. No other experience like it. No place. No where.

 

Blue Crab Salad with Watermelon

Chef Kevin Cavanaugh, SC Yacht Club

Ω lb. blue crabmeat picked clean
Ω lb. braised pork belly, cut into Ω in cubes, fried crisp
Ω lb. seedless watermelon, cut into Ω in cubes
2 cups Asian vermicelli, rinsed in hot water,
set aside to cool
1 ripe mango, thin julienne
Ω fennel bulb, very thin julienne
8 heirloom cherry tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
Ω small head radicchio, shredded
1 bunch kale greens, lightly steamed and cooled
Ω cup bean sprouts
Yum Yum Dressing (recipe below)

In a large mixing bowl, toss vermicelli,  half of the crabmeat, mango, radicchio, fennel and bean sprouts with 2 Tbsp Yum Yum Dressing (below). Set aside. On each plate arrange a bed of kale. Place about Ω cup of the noodle mixture in the center of the kale. On top of that arrange 3 or 4 pieces of pork and watermelon. Garnish with additional crab meat, mango and vermicelli. Dress lightly with Yum Yum Dressing.

Yum Yum Dressing

Ω cup soy
º cup fish sauce
º cup lime juice
º cup sugar
1 Tablespoon Siracha
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons grated ginger
1 Tablespoon crushed red pepper
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 cup salad oil

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT oils, in a food processor. Blend well, drizzle in oils to emulsify.

 

Meeting Street Crab Tassies

One of the most popular recipes from my book, Shrimp, Collards and Grits is crab tassies; little cream cheese pastry tarts.  Most tassies are filled with a rich, golden pecan custard, but in this case they are little savory and highly addictive tarts filled with crab, herbs and cheese. They absoutely melt in your mouth with their rich goodness.

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces all-purpose flour
1 pound claw crabmeat
º teaspoon salt
Ω teaspoon seasoning salt
Ω cup good mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed
lemon juice
Ω cup grated Jarlsburg cheese
1/8 cup fresh dill weed, chopped
º cup minced flat leaf parsley
1 green onion, finely minced
Ω teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
dash of tabasco
1 teaspoon good sherry
paprika

Cream the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and shape the dough into 24 equal balls.  Chill for 1 hour, then press into the cups of a non-stick or lightly buttered mini pan to form shells.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 350?. Pick over the crabmeat for bits of shell and mix it with the remaining ingredients except the paprika. Divide the filling among the prepared pastries, mounding it in the center and sprinkle lightly with paprika. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool somewhat before taking them from the pan. They can be made ahead, covered and refrigerated or frozen. Reheat on an ungreased baking sheet at 350?.

 

Colossal Crab Salad with Remoulade

Ah, autumn in the lowcountry!  The humidity and heat of summer has passed, tourists have retreated from our islands and a certain calm permeates the air.  Dining must be simple, yet grand, with plenty of blue crab as the order of the day.

Recently I served this salad for a luncheon held at the home of the 2012 winner of the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina Auction, held each year to raise money for the arts. I used the largest white lump crab I could find, which is called "Colossal Crab." Being careful not to break up any of the lumps, I tossed it with some extra virgin olive oil, whisked in some fresh lemon juice along with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Next I placed each serving onto  bibb lettuce surrounded by heirloom tomatoes. Finally a dollop of remoulade sauce on the top gave it just enough of a kick.

For the Remoulade:
1 cup good mayonnaise
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 Tablespoon capers
3 sweet pickles, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped parsely
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Whisk together the mayonnaise and lemon juice.  Add the rest of the ingredients and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. This will keep 1 or 2 days.

This was served with Caprese appetizers, fresh marinated shrimp

 

Calibogue Crab Cakes

Crabbing was always one of my favorite activities while living in Beaufort. There was an abundance of them up by the dam where we lived on Lady's Island.  It was there that I was taught this timeless tradition by the Gullah people who lived nearby. As we dropped our lines into the water, I'd be spellbound by their tales of haints and hurricanes. They used chicken parts to pull in crabs on the end of a weighted cotton twine. Never do I remember going home empty handed from one of these crabbing jaunts.
Every home cook has a special recipe for crab cakes, and I am not about to compete with them or those Daufuskie Islanders whose crab cakes are legendary.  However, I do think my version is awfully good. In making crab cakes, I believe in the old adage that "less is more."  Let the flavor come from the crabmeat, with a minimum of ingredients.  Sometimes I serve these over pan-sauteed fresh spinach, lightly seasoned with really good olive oil.

Because I do not use breading in this recipe, I suggest refrigerating the mixture for about an hour before frying-that helps it all to hold together.

Crab Cakes:
1 pound fresh lump crab meat- picked free of cartilage
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 heaping Tablespoons flour
3 eggs
4 teaspoons butter
small cast-iron skillet

Once the crab meat is picked over to remove any bits of shell, keep it refrigerated until ready to combine with other ingredients. Squeeze lemon juice over the crab; lightly salt and pepper. Gently toss it together with the Worcestershire sauce without breaking up the crab meat lumps. Separate 2 eggs. Combine 2 yolks with the remaining whole egg and beat until blended.  Combine with crab mixture. Beat 1 egg white until stiff; gently fold into crabmeat mixture. Discard the remaining egg white. Melt the butter in the cast iron skillet and once heated, drop the crab mixture into the butter by 4 large spoonfuls.  Cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes on each side.

Caper Sauce:

1 Tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1Ω teaspoon freshly chopped parsley
2 teaspoons capers

Add butter to the still-hot skillet, stirring constantly. When butter begins to brown slightly, add juice and turn off the heat. Toss in the capers and stir.  Drizzle sauce over crab cakes and serve at once. Yields: 4 crab cakes.

 

Lowcountry She-Crab Soup

The names of some of our lowcountry dishes are as colorful and exciting as the fresh local ingredients that go into them: names like Frogmore stew, she-crab soup and Hoppin' John.

Cool autumn nights are perfect for enjoying a steamy cup of this sherry infused she-crab soup. It's creamy, smooth, delicious and quintessentially lowcountry.

1 pound claw or lump crab-
picked over for cartilage
1 small onion, finely minced
4 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon white flour
1 pint half-and-half
7 cups whole milk
5 Tablespoons dry sherry
Ω teaspoon mace
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Ω teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 ounces orange crab roe
Parsley or sprigs of dill for garnish

Saute the onion in a heavy bottomed pan of melted butter until soft and translucent.  Then sprinkle flour over them and stir. 

Over low heat, begin warming the milk and half-and-half in the top part of a double boiler. Add the crabmeat, but not the roe, to the pan of sauteed onion, being careful not to break up any lumps of crab. Then gently stir in the sherry, mace, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

 Once everything is warm, add it to the milk and cream in the double boiler.  Cook on the lowest temperature for an hour.

Crumble a small amount of the roe into the bottom of each soup bowl.  Garnish each serving with a lump of crabmeat on the top and a sprig of dill or some chopped parsley. Serves 6 - 8.

Note: If crab roe is not available, use some finely grated carrot to create the effect and color of fresh roe. However, the roe greatly affects the taste of this delicious soup. More sherry may be added at the table as the soup is served.