Food Network: Spicy Crab Boil

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Spicy Crab Boil
Recipe courtesy Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients
18 live blue crabs
2 tablespoons Crab-Boil Spices, recipe follows
1/2 tablespoon cayenne
1/4 cup table salt
2 lemons, quartered
1 onion ,halved
3/4 pounds small potatoes (about 2 inches in diameter)
1 head of garlic (not separated into cloves)
3 ears of corn, shucked
1 tablespoon Crab-Boil Spices, or to taste, for sprinkling over
boiled seafood

Accompaniments: French bread

Directions

In a kettle bring 5 gallons water to a boil.

While water is coming to a boil, in a deep sink rinse crabs in 2 or 3 changes of water. (Do not fill
sink too full or crabs may crawl out.) Add 2 tablespoons Crab-Boil Spices, cayenne, salt, lemons,
and onions to boiling water and boil 5 minutes. Add potatoes and garlic and boil until tender, about
15 minutes. Transfer potatoes and garlic with a large sieve to a large platter and keep warm,
covered with foil. Add corn to boiling water and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer corn
with tongs to platter and keep warm, covered with foil.

Return water to a boil. Transfer about 6 crabs carefully with long tongs to sieve, holding them down
in sieve with tongs, and turn crabs out into boiling water. Add remaining crabs in same manner.
Return water to a boil and cook crabs until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. (To determine
doneness, remove a claw and crack it with the handle of a dinner knife. Use knife to extract meat
from claw.) Transfer crabs with sieve to another large platter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon
Crab-Boil Spices.

Serve with French bread.

Ingredients
Crab-boil spices:
1/4 cup pickling spices
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon celery seeds
2 tablespoons dried hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons ground ginger
5 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon minced dried chives
1/4 cup sea salt

Directions
In a food processor combine all ingredients and pulse until mixture
forms a coarse powder. Crab-boil spices keep in a well-sealed container for several months in a
cool, dark place.

Yield: about 1 cup