Twice a month we feature local restaurants, farms and farmers markets featured on episodes of UNC-TV’s Flavor, NC. This week, we review episode nine of Season 3, in which hostess Lisa Prince highlights soft shell crabs from Currituck County and Steamers Restaurant in Corolla.
“It wouldn’t be summer in the South without a trip to the beach,” says Lisa. “And it wouldn’t be a trip to the beach without seafood.” The North Carolina coast is teeming this time of year with fresh and local fish and shellfish. In 2013, North Carolina’s fisherman harvested 50 million pounds of fish and shellfish. Danny Newbern, a fisherman from Powells Point, has been fishing and crabbing the waters of Currituck Sound for about 30 years. Each season he harvests 15,000 to 20,000 soft-shell crabs. A soft shell crab is a blue crab that has outgrown it’s shell. A blue crab molts its shell about 20 times throughout the course of its life, giving a fisherman about 20 times to catch him. Beginning with the first full moon of May, Newbern traps the crabs and checks for ones getting ready to molt. These soft shell crabs are then sold at seafood markets and to restaurants.
One of these restaurants is Steamers in Corolla. Lisa spent some time in the kitchen to learn the basics of cooking soft shell crabs. Chef Chris Braswell also shared a few recipes including the one below for Baked Soft Shell Crab:
Ingredients:
- 4 soft shell crabs washed and cleaned
- ½ pound peeled local shrimp
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- ½ stick of butter
- ¼ cup minced shallots
- ½ cup white wine
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 batch Chermoula Sauce (recipe follows)
Directions:
Combine Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Season soft-shell crabs with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in saute pan and saute crabs on each side until brown, about one or two minutes. Remove crabs and place in a baking dish top-side up. Deglaze saute pan with white wine. Add garlic, butter and shallots and reduce. Add shrimp to Garlic Shallot Saute. Heat for two to three minutes. Top soft shell crabs with shrimp saute and bread crumb/cheese mix. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown. Plate and drizzle with Chermoula Sauce
Chermoula Sauce:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup cilantro, stems and leaves
- ½ cup parsley, stems and leaves
- 2 tablespoons garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
Directions:
Mix cilantro, parsley, garlic, lemon juice and spices in a food processor. Mix well, chopping stems and leaves to a pulp. Slowly blend in olive oil.
For more recipes, visit the Got to Be N.C. seafood cookbook at www.ncagr.gov/markets/seafood/cookbook/index.htm.