30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30: She Crab Soup

Before living in Virginia and close to the Atlantic, I'd never heard of She Crab Soup. It's on the menu at practically every restaurant around here and whenever my hubby and I go out to dinner one of us usually orders it. This creamy, decadent soup features fresh crab, celery and onion, LOTS of cream, and sherry. You must have sherry or it just doesn't taste right. I learned recently that it's called "She" Crab because the traditional versions use the meat from a female crab, as that meat is sweeter. 


I served it with Harry & David's Parmesan Flatbread, a gift from my friend Elizabeth, because you have to have some type of cracker to go with it. This soup is a total diet buster, but it was on my list of 30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30 and since I am a temporary Virginian, I had to try making my own version of it. 


She Crab Soup
From Emeril
Printable Version

Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons four
2 small onions, diced very fine
6 ribs of celery, grated
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and Pepper
1 quart whole milk
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 pounds fresh crab meat, picked over for cartilage
1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
1/2 cup sherry
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Directions

In the top of a double boiler, melt the butter and flour together. Cook for 3-4 minutes for a blonde roux. 

Stir in the onions, celery, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, cream, hot sauce, and Worcestershire. *At this point I had to pour everything into my Dutch Oven because my double boiler wasn't big enough. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes.

Stir in the crab meat and continue summering for 10-15 minutes. Reseason if necessary. 

Sprinkle the chopped eggs in the bottom of each soup bowl. 

Ladle the soup into the bowl and drizzle with sherry. Garnish with chopped parsley. 

Crab & Asparagus Supreme

My fabulous Aunt Chris shared this recipe with me once spring rolled around and fresh asparagus was abundant. This is a unique way to use lovely spring asparagus. We are spoiled living so close to the Atlantic because our fish counter sells fresh crab straight out of the ocean, but if you don't have access to fresh crab, you can use imitation crab. I really enjoyed this creamy, filling dish and modified it from the original recipe to use fresh tarragon instead of dried. Anytime I use fresh tarragon I am surprised at how much it changes the flavor of the dish, but always in a good way. I also added in half of a sauteed onion. I liked how it added a crispy, savory layer to this supreme dish.

Thanks Auntie Chris for another yummy recipe!!

Crab & Asparagus Supreme

Ingredients

6 ounces of crab meat

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 soup can of half and half

Half an onion, chopped

3 or so leaves of fresh tarragon, chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

Dash of pepper

1 pound fresh asparagus

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 cups of rice, cooked

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Place crab meat into skillet over low heat. Add undiluted soup, half and half, salt, and pepper. Stir, cover, and cook on low heat until heated through. In a separate pan saute onions until slightly browned.

While the mixture is cooking cut asparagus into diagonal slices and cook for 8 minutes in boiling water. Drain. Add to creamed crab mixture with lemon juice and tarragon. Stir in shredded cheese. Once cheese has melted, serve over hot rice. 

I had to show this picture of perfectly laid out rice - my cute husband's contribution to this dish. :)

Grandma W's Crab Salad

I must preface this post by stating that this is my absolute, 100%, undeniably favorite thing that my Grandma Walter's makes. I love it so much, in fact, that my Grandma would make it special just for me when she knew I would be visiting or for family potlucks. Grandma has oodles of original, tried and true recipes that anyone in our family could list off. Everyone has their personal favorites, my Mom's is Grandma's red velvet cake, my Dad's is her bread pudding, my husband's is her eewey, gooey mac and cheese, but mine is her Crab Salad. Gram would make a batch for me when I visited her from college, and I would take it back to college and hide it from my roommates because I wanted every morsel of it to myself. That is how much I love her crab salad.

I've tried to make it several times, but it's impossible to replicate. One reason is because Gram uses Hellmans' canola mayonnaise and I've never bought that in my life. I use the olive oil reduced fat mayo and it's just not the same. I think the next time I try this recipe, I'll splurge and buy the real deal mayo.

I love to eat this salad with buttery crackers or toasted on an English muffin, but Gram served it all by itself as a side dish.

Grandma Walter's Crab Salad

**Note: Grandma doesn't cook with measuring spoons or cups, she does "a little bit of this, a dash of that, etc." so this recipe is in approximate measurements. :)

Ingredients:

24 ounces of imitation crab chunks

1/2 cup chopped green pepper - I used a whole green pepper and it was too much!

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 tablespoon of chopped green onions

4 chopped Roma tomatoes

Dressing:

3/4 cups Mayonnaise

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of dill weed

2 tablespoons of milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix dressing together and toss over the combined crab and veggies. This recipe can be made the day before and is actually better if it sits and "marinades" for several hours.