The Washington herald., 1911-06-11
NOW IS THE WITCHING TIME OF YEAR WHEN
THE FESTIVE CRAB DELIGHTS THE MULTITUDE

it. and put several long sprays Of pars-
ley on the crabs. .
Crab Salad-In picking hard crabs, II
after boiling you will take on the top
shell, break the crab In half and cut
each half from side to side. open with
sharp knife. you can take the meat out
in large flakes without any shell In Il,
and save half the time it otherwise con-
sumes to pick them. II steamed, instead
OF boiled. the meat will be much sweeter,
firmer, and make beautiful salad.
Take the cold picked crab with no
fat, add nicely made French dressing,
mix we'll through it, and place on ice
until wanted. Have ready some white
lettuce leaves and upon each one lay
large spoonful of the crab, two olives,
one small radish, and cover with a rich
mayonnaise dressing
Develed Crab - Steam twelve crabs
pick and clean them carefully and put
meat aside. Heat one cupful Of milk
Blend thoroughly four tablespoonfuls Of
butter with two level tabIespoonfuls
Of sifted flour and stir in one-fourth
gradually on blended butter and flour.
Return to boiler and cook five minutes.
Take from fire and add crab meat yolks
of three hard-boiled eggs well mashed.
one level teaspoonfuI OF salt, and a
dash Of white pepper. FIJI crab shells.
brush over the top with the white Of
one egg, sprinkle with powdered bread
crumbs, and brown in quick oven.
Broiled Soft Crabs-Clean eight crabs
and season them with salt and pepper.
In deep dish melt one-half cupful OF
butter and add two tablespoonfuls OF
lemon juice and one-quarter teaspoonfuI
Of cayenne. Roll the crabs first in this
mixture then in dry, sifted flour. Place
them in a double broiler and broiI over
hot Goals eight minutes. Serve with
Dutch sauce.
Sauce: Stir together WELL all one way
over fire. one quarter pint of cream, the
yolks Of two eggs. two tablespoonfuls
of Tarragon vinegar, a little butter, a
pinch of cayenne, and a blade Of mace.
When thick, like custard, and very hot
serve with the boiled crab.
Fried Crabs-To steam crabs add cup
vineger. two cups water, one tablespoon
full of salt, and one teaspoon
full OF pepper. Staem about five minutes
Clean crabs, scoop fat from shells, pick
claws. add claw meat, and fat to I'LL cav
ity of crab, roll in -four which has been
seasoned, and fry in half butter and
half lard until a golden brown. To
make gravy add one heaping teaspoon
full of -four to lard, stir until golden
brown, add cold water until desired con-
sistency, season to taste, then add balance
of crab meat and let come to a boil Ar
range crabs on a platter. garnish with
parsley and pour on gravy. Serve hot
A Few "Don'ts."
There are just a few dont's to be re-
membered by the devotees OF the crab
fest. The crab, per sc, is by no means a
good mixer. There are a number Of
things, ordinarily considered highly nu-
tritious, which, combined with even q
normal dose Of crab meat, are to the
last degree dangerous
To the newcomer within the crab belt
let these few don'ts appeal. There are q
hundred things one can eat with crabs;
there are few things to be avoided The
hundreds of things one does not need to
remember, but remember these:
When you are invited out to a crab
supper the first thing to remember Is,
don't take any appetizer. The reason Is
obvious. Every known appetizer that is
in any sense of the word an appetizer
contains ardent spirits. No one should
approach his majesty the crab with
liquor on the breath.
Don't drink milk before, during, or at
least five hours subsequent to a crab
fest. The reason for this is as readily
junction to avoid powerful alcoholic
stimulants. Crabs and milk do not mix.
When they arrive for mixing and COM
mingling purposes within the human
stomach there is a row, a real row, and
the unwilling gourmand who had an
idea that because milk cooks we'll into
crab a la Newburg and few other deli
cious crab-meat combinations a little
milk in his system with or following a
feast of crabs will do him no harm is
wrong.
Take no chances with this belief. The
combination of three fine crabs and a
pint of milk has sent many fine old
Maryland or Virginia gourmand to his
grave. There are only two things to mix
in the stomach with crabs. They are
malt extract, as expressed in good beer,
ale, porter. or stout, and water. All
other combinations are self-confessed
failures from the jump. Just why beer
or ale or porter or stout has failed TO 4
kill anybody in combination- with the
meat of the crab is a question to be de-
cided by a future generation Of organic
analysts. The fact remains that no one
ever died of beer and crabs, and prob
ably nobody ever will
And lots of people have died from drinks
ing bad water.