THE BEST CRABS OF THE SEASON

TODAY’S LESSON: The warming waters of Summer convince the crab population to shed its Winter armor and become briefly what we know as soft shells. This is the special time that you can easily enjoy the entire crab without the tough shell interfering. Today we will explore the tricks to a special crunchy Japanese tempura style coating with these delicacies of the deep.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A SOFT SHELL CRAB? After the cold winter as the water begins to warm, the Blue crab emerges from the mud and becomes active again. They start to molt, which is the shedding their skin to allow for their body to grow. Once they have molted, their skin is soft almost like a wonton wrapper in consistency, but quickly hardens on contact with the salt water of the ocean. The soft skin turns leather-like in 12 hours and back into its hard shell quality within a day or so. This molting process continues during the year usually a half dozen times or more.

SO HOW DO THEY CATCH THEM AT THE EXACT RIGHT TIME? The trick to commercial fishing of soft shells is not to catch them at the right time because in nature the molted soft shell hides in tall underwater grasses once it has lost its armor. Fishermen catch the hard shell crabs and hold them in tanks of bay water until they molt. They are then removed with a small net as this process occurs. They are transferred to wet straw-lined boxes to be kept moist and cool during shipping to your table.

WHERE DO THEY COME FROM: Soft shells are harvested from Maryland south through Florida and even in parts of the Gulf of Mexico. The Mid-Atlantic area is considered the best because of the habitat, lots of shallow muddy inlets of brackish waters that are perfect for the crabs to winter in.

PREPARING YOUR SOFTSHELLS: The easiest way to prepare your softshells is to have your great fishmarket clean them for you as you wait, making sure they were very fresh when you selected them.To clean them yourself, fold back the flaps and remove the gills, the cottony fibers on the sides. Cut the side aprons and head off with a pair of scissors. Pull the pointed flap on the underside down and twist off. If you don’t prefer the taste of the tomalley, some like it some don’t, gently squeeze the crab to remove.

COATING WITH CARBS? Usually sauteed or fried soft shells are loaded with carbohydrates from a flour or breadcrumb crust, but we can use Buckwheat flour make a the crispy Tempura crust with lower carbs. Buckwheat is not actually a member of the wheat-grass family but a relative of rhubarb.

TRY YOUR TECHNIQUE: Try these simple and crunchy Ginger Tempura Crusted Soft Shell Crabs.

GINGER TEMPURA CRUSTED SOFT SHELL CRABS

Makes 4 appetizer servings of about 15 grams carbohydrates each
& 25 grams of protein each
Prep Time 15 minutes – Cook Time 15 minutes
Carotino or Canola oil to fry in
1 recipe for Buckwheat Tempura Mix (C=84g / Net Carbs are about 2/3rds of the batter actually attaches to the food C=52g)
3 tablespoons minced ginger root (C=3g)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (C=1g)
few red pepper flakes to your taste (C=.2g)
Sea salt (C=0g)
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (C=0g)
1 tablespoon Splenda (C=0g)
2 tablespoons low sodium natural soy sauce (C=2g)
1 tablespoon Chile-Garlic paste (C=2g)
Available in the Asian section of the market
1 tablespoon Sesame Oil (C=0g)
1 bunch fresh Cilantro leaves, half picked & half chopped (C=3g)
4 large soft shell crabs, cleaned (C=0g)(P=100g)
In a medium bowl, combine the Tempura mix, 2 tablespoons of the ginger and all of the garlic. Season
generously with red pepper flakes and salt. Reserve.

In a small bowl make the dipping sauce by combining the vinegar, Splenda, soy sauce, remaining ginger, Chile-Garlic sauce and sesame oil. Add the chopped cilantro. Adjust seasonings to your taste with salt.

In a large deep skillet, fill and heat the oil to a depth of 2 to 3 inches but not more than half the depth of the pan. Heat the oil, over medium high heat to 350 degrees as indicated by a cooking thermometer. Working very quickly, dredge the crabs through the tempura batter, shaking off the excess. Lower the crabs into the skillet, top side down. Cook until golden about 4 minutes. Turn over and finish cooking about 2 to 3 more minutes. Transfer to paper toweling to drain. Season with sea salt.

To Serve: Position the crabs in the center of the warm serving plates. Drizzle a the sauce over the crabs,
sprinkle with the cilantro leaves and serve immediately.

BUCKWHEAT TEMPURA MIX
Makes 2 cups of 124 grams carbohydrates
Prep Time 5 minutes
1 large egg white (C=.3)
1-3/4 cups sparkling almost frozen ice water (C=0g)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (C=0g)
1 cups sifted buckwheat flour (C=84g)
In a medium bowl combine the egg white, ice water and soda. Whisk the flour in very slowly to avoid lumps. Adjust the batter to be light sauce consistency just to coat the food.
COOKING NOTE I: (C=0g) & (P=0g)indicates the total carbohydrates and total protein in grams for the ingredient listed, so that you may see where the carbohydrates in the dish are contributed from.
© Jimmy Schmidt

TODAY’S LESSON: Winter salads are rich while being refreshing. Leafy greens that grow during these cool temperatures are low in carbs while delivering some protein and fiber to your diet. Today we will add the winter greens to the king of citrus, the blood orange, for a salad to long winter for.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A BLOOD ORANGE AND WHERE DOES IT COME FROM? A blood orange is produced by just a few varieties of the orange family. It is thought to have originated in China and been cultivated in Europe, specifically Italy and Spain, as well as Northern Africa in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. They have been grafted onto existing rootstock in California and have increased in volume every year. This orange is called a blood orange for the intense maroon color and deep almost raspberry scented flavor.
WHAT ARE THE VARIETIES? The most important varieties of blood oranges are:

* “Moro” is one of the favorites and the largest in production coming out of California into your supermarkets. It originates from the Sanguinello Moscato variety grown extensively in Italy. The fruit is deep maroon in color, round to oval in shape and varies in skin color from pure orange to deep red blush. They are juicy with higher acid flavor in December falling to the rich fruit flavor by February. They are usually seedless but a few seeds show up now and then.

* “Tarocco” is the largest produced variety grown in Italy but with a wider variation in flesh color from the red blushed-orange to deeper red with more like strawberry flavor tones. They are sweet with a high acid content in perfect balance for a terrific flavor.

* “Sanguinelli” is the largest variety produced in Spain with a red exterior and streaked pale red interior on maturity with more like strawberry to pineapple flavor tones. It is very juicy, sweet with low acid and few if any seeds.

WHY DO THEY TASTE SO GOOD? Blood oranges are generally lower in acid than their orange-fleshed cousins. These flavors taste more red and softer than orange thus the different blood oranges are compared more towards the red fruit of raspberries and strawberries.
ADVANTAGES: Like other citrus fruit they are high in Vitamin C, low in sodium and about 65 calories per fruit.
CHOOSE YOUR BLOOD: Select your blood oranges by the heavier weight and fragrant smell, avoiding bruised or flattened fruit. They are best as fresh as possible and may be stored for a few days in your refrigerator. They are more delicate than standard orange varieties so treat them with care, especially since they are a little more expensive.
We have been buying Moro blood oranges that have a little sticker on them that says; Sunkist(TM) Moro #4381. These are the most readily available in the market so far this year.

TRY YOUR TECHNIQUE: Combine the best of the season’s bounty with CRAB, BLOOD ORANGE, AND ENDIVE SALAD.

LUMP CRAB, BLOOD ORANGE, AND ENDIVE SALAD
Makes 4 servings of about 12 grams carbohydrates,
25 grams protein and 4 grams fiber each

Prep Time 15 minutes – Serve Time 5 minutes
6 Moro blood oranges, abundant 1 cup in segments (C=32g)(P=2g)(F=6g)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (C=0g)
1/4 cup blood orange juice from collected from segments above
1/4 cup Avocado Oil (c=0g)
Sea salt (C=0g)
a generous dose of freshly ground black pepper (C=.8g)
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives (C=.4g)
2 bunches of watercress, the lower third of coarse stems removed
(C=2g)(P=4g)(F=4g)
1/4 cup scallion greens, cleaned and cut on the bias (C=3.7g)(p=.9g)(F=1.3g)
4 small to medium Belgian Endives, cut into fine julienne
(C=8.4g)(P=2g)(F=5.2g)
1 pound cleaned jumbo lump crab meat (C=0g)(P=92g)

Prepare the oranges by cutting the rind off both ends. Place one end of the orange down on your cutting board. With a shape slicing knife, cut the skin away from the fruit interior in an arch about 1 to 1-1/2 inches wide, starting at the top to the bottom. Repeat this cut on the opposite side of the orange. Repeat these cuts on opposite sides until all the skin has been cut away. Cut the segments free from the inner membranes. Squeeze any of the membranes to release the juice into a bowl to use in the dressing.

In a blender, combine the vinegar, orange juice and Carotino oil. Adjust the seasonings as necessary with salt and a generous dose of black pepper to your taste. Add half of the chives and reserve at room temperature.

Assemble the salad: Divide the watercress and arrange around the edges of the serving plates. In a medium bowl combine the orange segments, scallions, Belgian endive and crab meat. Add the dressing and toss. Adjust seasoning as necessary with salt and pepper. Divide and mound the salad mixture into the center of the serving plates. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the watercress. Sprinkle with the remaining chives and serve.

COOKING NOTE I: (C=0g)(P=0g)(F=0g)indicates the total carbohydrates, total protein & total fiber in grams for the ingredient listed.
© Jimmy Schmidt