I'm catching dinner!!!!

[Jenise]

The first of the two crabs was battered, not sauced like the second, and the tamarind flavor was in the second. The first was more like preparations I've had in Vietnamese Chinese restaurants simply called "salt and pepper crab"--or lobster or shrimp. The seafood's pretty interchangeable. I don't know what goes into the batter besides salt and pepper, but I'm fairly sure both white and black pepper are involved. Loved that dish!

The maddening part was that they didn't give us any little forks to winkle out the bits of crab meat, which left one very reluctantly relinquishing a leg that still had visible but unsuckable meat in it!

After that course we needed hosing down in the alley, not finger bowls! Hopefully Coop will get some pics up in the thread with notes.

Sometime if you and Carl would like to make the drive up, we'd be happy to take you out with us. The crab fishery is quite literally right in front of our house, and we have our own neighborhood marina so the boat's right here, too.

Hey, I forgot to post my pix from last weekend. Let me go find my camera.

Carl is not big on adventure! We are certainly mismatched in this part of our lives together. But, I would love to take you up on it. As a matter of fact, my friend from Japan, Fumiko, will be up for the entire month of September. I'd bet she would love to have this adventure with me -- with you and Bob. I'll be in touch. Huh -- 33 crab, imagine that!!!

[Jenise]

Carl is not big on adventure! We are certainly mismatched in this part of our lives together.

Maybe not. Between Bob and I, there's a similar mismatch. And where I'm always the intrepid one, Bob is at least nearly always willing to go along for the ride because he's learned to trust my instincts. It just won't ever be his idea.

But, I would love to take you up on it. As a matter of fact, my friend from Japan, Fumiko, will be up for the entire month of September. I'd bet she would love to have this adventure with me -- with you and Bob. I'll be in touch.

Would love to do this. There are several factors, however: crab season is only open Wednesday thru Saturday. The weather/water has to be good (today is horrible) and I have to have Pat D's boat available to me. If we can line up all three of those, we can go crabbing!

The first was more like preparations I've had in Vietnamese Chinese restaurants simply called "salt and pepper crab"--or lobster or shrimp. The seafood's pretty interchangeable. I don't know what goes into the batter besides salt and pepper, but I'm fairly sure both white and black pepper are involved. Loved that dish!

Sal and Pepper crab is probably my favorite way to eat whole crabs. Joanne Weir has a recipe for salt and pepper crab in her cookbook Weir Cooking In The City. If you want, I'll post it for you here. Hers uses Szechuan peppercorns, and I think it's a bit more involved than it needs to be to get the flavors you are looking for. I've made it with cracked black peppercorns, Szechuan peppercorns, red pepper flakes and a combination of jalapeno peppers and garlic. I like it every way, but thejalapeno peppers and garlic is my favorite. Once you've got the basics, it's really quite easy to do a riff on it.

Would love to do this. There are several factors, however: crab season is only open Wednesday thru Saturday. The weather/water has to be good (today is horrible) and I have to have Pat D's boat available to me. If we can line up all three of those, we can go crabbing!

It's a deal! Look up the tide tables or whatever you have to consult to consider the water. Who is Pat D? How much to we have to pay to have the boat available? Pick a day (with or without short notice) that it looks like it could be possible and I'll make it happen. I'll be taking many vacation days during that time -- and I would like to provide Fumiko with as many memorable experiences as possible (she arrives 9/7). This would be sweet. I'll PM you my email address and my phone number for easy contact. Thx for the invitation!

[Jenise]

Would love to do this. There are several factors, however: crab season is only open Wednesday thru Saturday. The weather/water has to be good (today is horrible) and I have to have Pat D's boat available to me. If we can line up all three of those, we can go crabbing!

It's a deal! Look up the tide tables or whatever you have to consult to consider the water. Who is Pat D? How much to we have to pay to have the boat available? Pick a day (with or without short notice) that it looks like it could be possible and I'll make it happen. I'll be taking many vacation days during that time -- and I would like to provide Fumiko with as many memorable experiences as possible (she arrives 9/7). This would be sweet. I'll PM you my email address and my phone number for easy contact. Thx for the invitation!

Tide tables won't tell us all we need to know, unfortunately. The water was way too rough to go out this morning even though the weather prediction last evening suggested this morning would be good. It's to some degree a day by day thing. Pat D is my neighbor who lets me use his boat since we sold ours in June and haven't replaced it yet, and he's parking it on my dock at the moment. We don't have far to go for the crab, they're literally right in front of my house, we just need a boat to get out into 30-50 feet of water where the keepers tend to reside (crabbing in the shallower water can be like crabbing in the nursery). Let me see if I have a picture from John and Annabelle's visit two weeks ago.

[Jenise]

Okay, here's the drill, in pictures.

First, find good weather and gather friendly crew. Go out, drop traps. Celebrate.

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Return home, do advance dinner prep. Get back in boat, go pick up traps.

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Return home. Clean and cook crab. Set table. Open wine. Dine.

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See the boats on the water in this shot? They're all crabbing. That's as far as we have to go!

Showoff!!!

[Jenise]

Showoff!!!

Showoff!!!

I'm supposed to pretend I live in a cave?

So, who is in the picture? Is that you Jenise, with the cute hat????

Nah. Jenise is stacked.

[Jenise]

Nah. Jenise is stacked.

And Jenise is not Chinese. (Celia, that's one of your cousins. )

Ah yes, I remember you telling me about her once! I bet she loooooved the crab!