Celebrate Crabmeat with a Crab Feed

Now why couldn’t this be yesterday? I mean, how convenient would that have been! Lenten Friday, Oregon Day and Crabmeat Day all rolled into one amazing supper. Oh well, I guess we can’t have everything.

During Lent, lots of churches host Crab Feeds as a way of raising money while encouraging fellowship. Our parish actually does their Crab Feed in January. I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s because during Lent there are lectures to attend, small study groups to join, with a focus on the meaning of Lent and ways to become closer to God. While we’ll be attending the Lecture Series, we won’t be opening up our home to a small study group as we did last Lenten Season. We’ll get into the reasons for that later. Right now it’s all about Crabmeat!

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While Kiddo’s not a huge fan of most seafood, he does enjoy crab legs. Just not crab feeds. I think it’s because he thinks of Crab Feeds as a bunch of old folks getting together in a giant church hall. And he’d be right. Every now and again, we like to have our own Crab Feed at home. After all, we need to put those butter warmers, bibs, crab crackers and seafood forks to use more than just once a year. (Yeah, have crab accessories, will travel – what can I say?)

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Simple Steamed Crab Legs
4 (8-oz) fresh or frozen Crab Legs
1 Lemon
8 tablespoons Butter
1 tablespoon Parsley
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

If frozen, thaw crab legs in the refrigerator. Place crab legs in a steamer basket that fits in a large pot with a fitted lid. If necessary, bend legs at the joints to fit into the steamer. Add just enough water to fill the pot just below the basket. Bring to a boil. Cover; steam for about 6 minutes or until heated through.

Note: This can also be done in an Instant Pot using the steamer basket.

Melt butter, place in a bowl. Zest lemon over the butter. Cut lemon in half, juice about a tablespoon fresh lemon juice into the butter. Dice parsley, add to the bowl. Season with garlic powder. Whisk to blend. Divide among butter warmers.

Serve steamed legs with seasoned butter. To remove crab meat, twist legs at the join, split legs open with a knife or fork, peel back shell and remove meat. Dip the sweet crab meat into the butter sauce and enjoy.

I love to serve up our crab feed with Baked Rigatoni, a Caesar Salad and warm bread. Just like having supper at the parish hall.

Baked Rigatoni
8 oz Rigatoni Pasta
Kosher Salt to taste
1 lb Ground Beef
Italian Seasoning to taste
1 (26 oz) jar Tomato Pasta Sauce
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Heat oven to 350-degrees. Spray a large 3-quart casserole dish with cooking spray, set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta al dente. Drain, return pasta to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, crumble the ground beef in a skillet. Season with Italian seasoning; brown beef over medium-high heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain well. Add ground meat to the pot with the cooked pasta.

Add pasta sauce and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese to pot with pasta and beef; stir to combine, then pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil; bake about 25 minutes or until casserole is heated through.

Simple Caesar Salad
1 head Romaine Lettuce
Favorite Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing
Parmesan Cheese as desired
Caesar Garlic Croutons as needed
Fresh Pepper as desired

Tear lettuce leaves into large bite-size pieces. Place in a bowl and add a small amount of Caesar Dressing on lettuce leaves, just enough to lightly coat leaves, toss to blend.

Plate the salad on chilled salad plates, top with Parmesan Cheese and croutons. Add fresh black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

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My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.