What’s Cooking: Crab and Shrimp with Maryland Rice

Awhile ago, Chris and I were invited to spend the day at a friend’s house in the Hamptons. While there, we went to a restaurant that is supposed to be known for their crab legs…in my gut I was cautiously optimistic. My gut was right! The crab was OK, but I really felt that for a small and average cluster the only thing that made these Hampton legs special was the Hampton price! Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate our friend and his opening his home to us, but for some reason whenever seafood is around I feel a slight angst of rivalry. Like a football game or something. It is really weird. So if this was any other person this would have been amazing but all I kept thinking was,

If we were down in MD I could beat these…hahahaha! (my wicked and dastardly laugh)

So as I sat there cracking legs with my teeth and scissors I kept thinking of my father, the consummate one-upper, shaking his head and grinning as if I was committing some seafood sin, by eating these. However, I did feel a sense of pride as I was the only one who consistently pulled the meat out, intact. A sign of a true pro.

If you do it any other way in Maryland you are a novice. Please put the hammer down and get those teeth clacking!

Later that evening Chris asked me never to do the teeth thing again. I will admit it may have looked a tad ghetto upon first glance, but if I was back in seafood land (Maryland) no one would have thought twice, but I guess I will conduct myself more fitting to the Hamptons next time..lol. I will also admit that scissors are much easier, but never as much fun.

Fast forward a couple months and Chris is visiting my family in Maryland. My father picked up some Jumbo ( I am talking arm’s length) size crab legs and colossal prawns (yes they are actually called that). Chris’ jaw hit the floor. My father beamed with pride as though he had made the catch himself. I knew Chris had never eaten seafood down here in the Chesapeake when exclaimed,

WOOOOW!!! Where do those come from? Wow! Are those real?

My Dad replied back,

Well, you know I have connections…hahahaha! (another wicked laugh) You know…my man hooked me up at the wharf. But EVERYBODY can’t get these. You have to know people.

You would think we were dealing in illegal narcotics. Or better yet, like in Coming to America when the guy opened his jacket to sell the gold tooth brushes. That is the picture I get of my father whenever he brings one of his culinary delights home. There is always a slight mystery to it and you can never get the whole story from him. It’s like he walks around in secret and then cracks open his jacket to reveal an assortment of strange meat and spices that “only he can get”. As I pushed aside the thought of my dad being some black market, back of the truck food addict, I went over to inspect the goods for myself. They were a beaut!

Ahhh! Washington, DC… The home of many national treasures. None so worthy of prestige as the DC wharf. The wharf is a privilege of many seaside communities in which local fisherman create a co-op of sorts to sell their catch. Some come as far as Asia and Alaska. Of course it is a magical place to locals such as myself, but for most the smell alone wouldn’t allow them to take a step out the car. Especially since you have to park closest to the gut shack…no need for explanation I’m sure.

Yes, many of my delightful childhood memories were built on the back on this old Washington, DC preservation site. That summer we ate seafood almost every other day. Whether grilled or broiled , Calamari to hand caught Rockfish, we enjoyed a plethora of seafood delights. None were as anticipated as the legs and shrimp. So in honor of our first seafood “real” experience together I made Chris my Maryland classic – Seafood with Maryland rice. I usually like to make toast points or Red Lobster style biscuits, but rice is what I had in the pantry. Of course I couldn’t get my hands on true MD crab legs so I settled for NYC ones (sooooo small in comparison). None the less it was a great meal and great memory.

BTW…I won’t even bother with the recipe because I used two ingredients: Butter and Old Bay. Of course you can add Serrano peppers and parsley, but I am old school and like to keep it simple. Oh…and yes, it is perfectly acceptable to eat seafood in the winter.