for crab soup, when I am at the shore...


( note this is with Cheasapeake Bay Blue crabs)

This is the soup I make the day after having steamed crabs ( best bought by the bushel)

In a large pot of boiling water, add the crab legs and any claws not eaten from the night before. keep it on a low boil, and add vegetables ( onion, carrots, whatever is handy), rice or barley, and Old Bay seasoning. After about an hour of simmering, add any crab meat you may have picked from the bodies of the ones not eaten ( a variable amount, but you can always get a pound or two already picked...). Proportions of all ingrediants are subject to adjustment per taste.

Skim off any "muck" (fat and seaoning from the steamed crabs) and pull out the legs. If masochistic, try to remove the meat from the legs and add to the soup. Otherwise, serve with a decent bread while watching the waves rolling in. Best done in cooler weather- Late Fall to early Spring.