Soft Shell Crab BLT

Soft Shell Crab BLT
Greer first tried this at The Grove in Houston before an Astros game.  After a few tries, we ended up with our own recipe.  If you like BLTs, you will surely enjoy these additions.  This does take a little bit of time, but worth it in the end.  This makes enough for two.

Ingredients

2 softshell crabs, cleaned

Milk (enough to cover crabs in a bowl)
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ c flour
Vegetable or Canola Oil for frying

2 teaspoons mayonnaise

2chipotles, finely chopped

½ bunch watercress

1 roma tomato, finely diced
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ avocado, sliced

4 slices bread

Directions

Place the cleaned softshell crabs  in milk, and let soak for about an hour. 
While crabs are soaking, remove watercress from stems, combine with diced tomato and bacon, set aside.  Mix mayonnaise and chopped chipotle.  Spread mixture on bread, and toast. 
Coat crabs with beaten eggs, dredge through flour and repeat.  Fill wide pan with tall walls with about 1.5 inches of oil.  Place crabs in hot oil and fry until golden brown, flip once.  Remove from oil and place on rack and lightly pat dry.
On toasted bread, generously heap watercress, tomatoes and bacon.  Place one crab on top.  Finish with avocado slices.

Feel free to add some spices (like pepper, chili powder, paprika) to the flour to give a little kick.

Cost

Softshell crabs $13.98
Watercress $0.89
Tomato $0.31
Bacon $0.79
Bread $0.50
Avocado $0.99
On Hand $2.oo
Total: $19.46
Per Sandwich: $9.73

Crab Pepper and Mint Pasta

Crab, Pepper and Mint Pasta

We first saw this dish on television.  The combination of mint and pepper sounded appetizing and we both really wanted to try it.  It is a simple dish that we enjoy eating throughout the summer.  Even better this year was being able to pick the mint leaves and peppers from our garden.  Makes 3-4 servings.

Ingredients
½ lb spaghetti noodles
½ lb lump crab meat
2 Serrano (or jalapeno) peppers, chopped
5-6 mint leaves, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt to taste

Directions

Cook pasta per box directions
In large skillet, add olive oil.  When warm, add garlic and lightly toast.  Add crab meat and cook for 4-5 minutes.  Add peppers for last minute of cooking and salt to taste.  Remove from heat and add mint.  Toss with cooked pasta.  Serve immediately, garnish with parmesan cheese if desired.

Leftovers

This reheats really well the next day, turning an easy dinner into an even easier lunch.