Fresh Marinated Cracked Crab

I wanted to include this fantastic crab feast before crab season is over. I love crab with melted butter but I must admit that this marinated version has won me over. It is lighter and perfectly complements the crab. Hurry. You don’t want to have to wait until next December.

This is what one crab looks like.











3 Dungeness crabs, cooked and cracked

Marinade:
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 bunch Italian flat-leaf parsley, washed, leaves coarsely chopped
Sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes or Aleppo pepper
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup olive oil

Provisions for the table:
Plenty of paper napkins or paper towels to wipe off your face and hands.
Bowls for the shells.
Crab-eating utensils (crackers, forks, picks) so that you can get in the little tiny crevices for the best parts of the crab.

1. Drain your cracked crabs of any water that has accumulated in the plastic bag or wrapping paper. Stir all of the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl and toss in the drained cracked crabs. Refrigerate for several hours.
2. Remove from the fridge about 30 minutes before serving. Transfer to a large platter and place in the middle of the table. Have at it.

I love to serve this crab with warm bread and a nice crisp green salad, perhaps with grapefruit sections and pomegranate seeds.

Serves 6 moderate crab lovers. If you are serving extreme crab lovers, you may need to purchase a crab for each of them and increase the marinade accordingly.
Adapted from Peggy Knickerbocker’s Simple Soirées

Parsley, Celery and Herb Salad

2 cups parsley leaves
½ cup 1-inch snipped chives
½ cup tarragon leaves or mint
4 stalks celery, cut on the bias about 1/8-inch thick
OR
An equal amount of fennel
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon, Meyer if possible
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

1. Combine the parsley, chives, tarragon/mint, and celery.
2. Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper.
3. Just before serving, pour the olive oil mixture over the greens and toss gently. Taste for seasonings.
Note: The proportions can be varied depending on the herbs you have at hand. Celery leaves are a good addition. You can also add 2 small seeded tomatoes for color.

6-8 servings
Adapted from the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, January 30, 2005, David Bazirgan at Baraka

Tabbouleh Cracked Wheat Salad

Elias Abusaba, our dear friend and a remarkable poet, would make us his version of Lebanese tabbouleh every time he and Mary Edith came to dinner. Nothing could compare to his. After he died, I was on my own and have tried my best to duplicate his wonderful salad, although I must confess (please forgive me, Elias) I don’t chop the parsley, green onions, and mint by hand. In memory of Elias…

½ cup bulgur (cracked wheat)
Juice of 1-2 lemons equaling about 6 tablespoons
3 Romas or other tomatoes, seeded, juiced, and chopped (you want about 2 cups chopped), see instructions if you need them
Note: Romas are pretty good during the winter—but are certainly not local. You can also use sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, thinly sliced.
2 cups chopped parsley (1½-2 bunches) using a food processor
½ cup chopped green onions (4-5 green onions) using a food processor
½ cup chopped mint, using a food processor
1 tablespoon dried mint
½ cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced, see instructions if you need them
Pinch of allspice, optional
Pinch of cinnamon, optional
½ teaspoon cumin, optional
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
Lettuce for serving

1. Soak the bulgur in 2 cups water for 20 minutes. Squeeze well with your hands, removing as much moisture as you can.
2. Put in a bowl and add the lemon juice and tomatoes. Let sit for 30-45 minutes to absorb the liquid or until the grain is tender.
3. Add the parsley, green onions, fresh and dried mint, cucumber, spices, if desired, salt, pepper and oil. Mix well.
4. Just before serving, taste for seasonings. Adjust as needed. You can serve the salad on a bed of greens or use the leaves to scoop it up.

6 servings
A combination of two recipes: Cassie Maroun-Paladin’s Foods of the Lebanon and Claudia Roden’s The New Book of Middle Eastern Food