Sandies, two great way of doing them, Steamed with Old Bay Seasoning and Deep Fired

[Tangles]

I wanted to try something new with Sandies so tried this on the recomendation of a mate of mine in the States:

MARYLAND STEAMED BLUE CRAB with OLD BAY SEASONING

Get a pot, combine the following
1: 1/2 cup of Old Bay Seasoning ( see below)
2: Add some a bit of salt, a bottle of beer and some white vinegar (same amount as beer
3: Bring to a strong boil
4: Sprinkle cleaned crab with the Old Bay Seasoning and steam over the pot till done, just make sure they are above the boiling liquid ( can add some corn cobs to liquid to do this if you like and added bonus of corn!)

Some of the juiciest crabs i have ever had.
Variation, add some corn cobs in the boiling liquid

OLD BAY SEASONING (this makes 1/2 a cup)
2 tablespoon ground dried bay leaves
4 teaspoons celery salt
3 teaspoons dry mustard
3 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
2 teaspoon ground celery seeds
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or Cayenne Pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground mace (substitute nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

DEEP FRIED SAND CRAB
Sort of followed a recipie but tried a couple of different spice mixes,

First thing is this is great for the body but no good for the claws so boil or steam them.
1: clean crab, only use the bodies! dry the bodies off!
2: Toss crabs with spice mix,
3: Deep fry, drain and serve..

Spice Mix:
You can cajun seasoning or again use the OLD BAY SEASONING mixed with some salt to coat the crabs ( i tried this the 2nd night), it was good but i preferred this spice mix, it rocked Country BBQ Chicken Dry Rub ( i use this for Chicken), i think it was because of all the pepper!

Country BBQ Chicken Dry Rub
4 Tablespoons Salt
3 Teaspoons of Ground Bay Leaf
2 Tablespoons of ground Pepper
4 Teaspoons of Garlic Powder
2 Teaspoons of Sweet paprika

With the spice mix your choice but the bodies deep fried are bloody good!

Cheers
Mike

[Horse]

the Yanks love their Old Bay Seasoning. I haven't been able to find it in Aust and haven't been bothered to make it from scratch. I think I will now. Its also a main ingredient for Chesapeake Crab Cakes

[Tangles]

Highly recommend it Horse, those crab cakes sound good.

i made up a big batch, ground up the bay leafs etc, its a good seafood rub... the Chicken one is good as well

this website also has a lot of info and recipies as well, im thinking of doing one of those Crab and Prawn boils as well someday ( maybe Agnes?)

http://www.bluecrab.info/bbqcrabs.html

[Noelm]

the Yanks love their Old Bay Seasoning. I haven't been able to find it in Aust and haven't been bothered to make it from scratch. I think I will now. Its also a main ingredient for Chesapeake Crab Cakes

I was told by the importers that "Old Bay" contained some sort of banned substance (well banned here in Australia) that's why you can't buy it now. My ex neighbour was from the US and he used to get some for me now and then, but he has since moved away and I have run out long ago.

[Noelm]

Highly recommend it Horse, those crab cakes sound good.

, im thinking of doing one of those Crab and Prawn boils as well someday ( maybe Agnes?)

http://www.bluecrab.info/bbqcrabs.html

Made the Crab cakes lots of times (well variations of them) and I was always "gunna" do a boil up of crabs and potatoes and corn and stuff, and one day, I actually did, worked a treat, had Blue swimmers (sandies to you) Prawns, corn, potatoes, some Chorizo and some carrots and onions, came out a treat, shame though, I only ever did one, don't really know why, but I might give it a go again, great for a big group of people who like to have a laugh and a joke and eat with your fingers.

[netmaker]

hey mike. i gather the deep fried recipe means the shell is eaten as well? i used to deep fry the claws but i would boil them first and carefully peel them so the meat stayed in one piece and keep the end of the claw shell as a handle and just do the usual batter or crumb job.

[robsue]

i myself like the chilli sandcrab or mudcrab, recipes are in google

[Tangles]

yes Dave, shell and all is eaten