Crab Season!

Dungeness Crab Bordelaise

This winter guilty pleasure hits me like a bowl of clarified butter. Dungeness crab season on the central coast is a rite of passage. Every year my Dad would visit his buddy at the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor and pick up a couple of crabs right off the boat. At home he’d steam them up, a little wine, french bread and lemon and OMG let the decadent feast begin.

Like a giddy child, I wait for this. I don’t care that we have to work for our feast, gently extracting the tender sweet flesh from the shell.  Slowly and with care, dipping each succulent morsel in the lemon hinted clarified butter. A taste to savor, a sip to enhance, a sourdough crunch to cleanse, like the shampoo instructions… rinse and repeat!

I tried something new this time, I place the cooked crab pieces in a large bowl, sprinkled with garlic granules, a dusting of parsley, a drizzle of olive oil and splash of white wine. Covered with plastic and microwaved for 2 1/2 minutes to just take the chill off. WOW, instant bordelaise. Served over a quick spinach and romaine salad. Not bad for a Tuesday night delight!