Baked Crab With Garlic Chile Butter Recipes

Steps:

• Fill a large stockpot two-thirds full of water. Add enough salt so that the water tastes like seawater. Add half of the sliced lemon and the reserved peels from the garlic and onion, and bring to a boil. Plunge the crabs in the water, in batches if necessary, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the crabs from the stockpot and set aside until cool enough to handle.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• When the crabs are cool enough to handle, remove the top shell and apron and discard. Remove the gills and any transparent cartilage and scrape out any crab fat and rinse crabs under cool running water. Place crabs, bottom side down, on a cutting board and halve lengthwise with a heavy knife.
• Combine 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, the minced garlic, onions, butter, olive oil, crushed red pepper, and black pepper in a large roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven on the lowest rack, and bake, stirring occasionally, until onions and garlic are golden, about 8 minutes. (Do not allow the garlic to burn.) Remove the pan from the oven and add the crab pieces and mix thoroughly so that the crabs are well coated with the garlic and butter mixture. Return the pan to the oven and bake, stirring occasionally, until the crabs are heated through and the garlic mixture is braised onto the shells, 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the chopped parsley or cilantro, and serve hot.

Steps:

• Remove the garlic chile-butter from the refrigerator and using a spoon, scrape about 1 cup of the butter into shards. Add 3/4 cup of the shards to a small bowl; set aside the remaining shards.
• Add the crabmeat to the small bowl and toss gently with the butter to avoid breaking up the crab too much. Lightly season with salt. Transfer to a broiler-safe baking dish, such as ceramic (but not glass) that's about 7 by 5 inches in size (or similar) and top with the remaining butter pieces.
• Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.
• When ready to serve, preheat the broiler to medium-high.
• Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet and remove the plastic wrap. Broil until the top is golden brown and bubbling, rotating the dish a few times so it browns evenly, 7 to 10 minutes total. Carefully remove the dish from the broiler.
• Garnish the dish with a few sprigs of parsley and a few lemon wedges to squeeze over the top. Serve with the crostini.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated. Alternatively, mix the ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
• Freeze the butter just until firm enough to shave with a spoon, about 10 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 1 week in an airtight container. Alternatively, transfer the butter to a sheet of parchment paper and form into a log. Wrap tightly with the parchment and plastic wrap and freeze for up to 1 month. Makes about 2 cups.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the bread on a baking sheet and season with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Bake until golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside until ready to serve.

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Meanwhile, grab yourself a small saucepan. On med low heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic (I prefer a press) and LIGHTLY saute. Squeeze in the juice of the citrus of choice. If using a lemon, squeeze the juice into your hands so that you can remove the seeds with ease. Turn the heat to low and let those flavors mesh until the oven is nice and hot. Toss in as much salt (to taste) and a couple pinches of parsley. Then whisk in that olive oil with a fork. Turn off your burner.
• Arrange your tasty crustaceans in a 9x13 baking dish, brushing each leg with the sauce. ***TASTY TIP*** I use an injector to pop a *little* extra UMPH into my crabs. Pour any remaining sauce over those puppies. Now toss the pan into the oven on the center rack.
• Bake your crabs for about 25 minutes or so (depending on how thick the legs you have are), brushing the sauce from the bottom of the pan onto the legs every 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with a few pinches o' parsley for garnish.
• I am a lazy gal, detest doing more dishes than I have to, and am a firm believer in the "waste not, want not" phrase. With that said, I just serve the crab in the same dish I baked it in so I can dip the meat into the tasty sauce, savoring every last drop. If you are the opposite, use tongs and place them on a platter and pour the buttery-goodness into ramekins. VOILA! Crab House comparable delicacy! "Ohhhh my CRAAAABS!

Steps:

• Cut a slit, length-wise, into the shell of each piece of crab.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat; cook the garlic in the butter until translucent; stir in the parsley, salt, and pepper. Continue to heat mixture until bubbling. Add the crab legs; toss to coat; allow to simmer in the butter mixture until completely heated, 5 to 6 minutes.