Seasonal Pantry: There’s nothing like Dungeness in December

How do you like your Dungeness crab?

Do you catch it yourself? Buy it live? Buy it cooked, cooked and cleaned, or cooked, cleaned and picked? On the table, do you prefer it chilled or hot? With drawn butter? Butter and Tabasco? Cocktail sauce? Louis dressing? Something else?

Our Dungeness crab is, to my thinking, just about the best thing about this time of year. I love the winter sky, especially on a clear, cold night, and I love decorative lights in just about any form. Cinnamon coffee cake on Christmas morning, Yorkshire pudding for Christmas dinner, turkey barley soup all month long, oysters on the half shell, sparkling wine and Champagne any time at all — these are the pleasures I associate with December. But Dungeness crab, preferably crab that I get directly from a boat in Bodega Bay, is the biggest thrill of all. It's been several years since I've had my fill, and I plan to correct that this year.

I prefer my crab chilled. My favorite way to enjoy it is in a very traditional crab Louis, with nothing but iceberg lettuce and my own Louis dressing. Once I've enjoyed this a time or two, I move on to a salad of crab and chopped Italian parsley dressed with lemon juice and the year's newest olive oil. If I'm hosting a dinner party, I may served chilled crab vichyssoise with a swirl of lemon; and, at least once during the season, I make crab cakes, which is my favorite way to enjoy heated crab.

Although the season for local crab typically lasts until June 15, it is most abundant between Thanksgiving and early February, when prices are the best, too. As the first buds of spring begin to emerge, the crab catch declines and some of our local fishermen pull their pots.

For more recipes for Dungeness crab from the Seasonal Pantry archives, visit 'Eat This Now' at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.

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Crab and avocado flatter each other, and I enjoy them in a variety of ways, from avocados filled with crab salad and chilled avocado-crab soup to these simple tostadas. To serve this as an appetizer, use cocktail-sized tortillas, available at most Latin markets.

Crab Tostadas with Avocado Cream and Radishes

Serves 4

Meat from 1 Dungeness crab2 serranos, stemmed, seeded and minced2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro1 small shallot, mincedGrated zest of 1 Meyer lemon2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from 1 or 2 lemonsKosher salt4 to 5 tablespoons olio nuovo or extra virgin olive oil, to taste1 Haas avocado2 tablespoons lime juiceWarm water4 corn tortillas, fried until crisp and drained2 generous handfuls of arugula3 radishes, julienned1 lime, cut in wedges

Put the crab meat into a bowl. Add half the serrano, half the cilantro, the shallot, the lemon zest and the lemon juice. Toss gently with a fork, season with a little salt and add the olive oil. Cover and set aside.

Cut the avocado in half lengthwise, remove the pit, scoop out the flesh and put it into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the remaining serrano and cilantro. Add the lime juice and sprinkle several pinches of salt into the lime juice so the salt dissolves. Pulse several times. Thin with a little warm water — add a tablespoon at a time — until the puree is smooth and not too thick. Taste and correct for salt.

To serve, set the tortillas on individual plates. Set aside about 2 tablespoons of avocado cream and slather the rest on top of the tortillas. Top the avocado cream with arugula, divide the crab and its juices among the servings and scatter the radishes over it all. Add a bit of the reserved avocado cream, garnish with lime wedges and enjoy immediately.

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If you live in the Bay Area and enjoy cooking, you should have cioppino in your repertoire. It's an easy way to entertain and, when made carefully, is absolutely delicious. The mistake most cooks and many chefs make is overcooking the seafood, which in turns creates a broth with an unpleasantly fishy taste. I've been served many versions that I could not eat for this reason. It's easy to avoid this; make the broth first and then cook the seafood quickly, adding it in stages rather than all at once. And it's important to cook the crab separately and simply reheat it in the broth.

San Francisco-Style Cioppino

Serves 6 to 10

3 tablespoons olive oil1 yellow onion, cut into small dice1 celery rib, minced6 to 8 garlic cloves, crushed and mincedKosher salt2 cups dry white wine1 bay leaf½ teaspoon red pepper flakes1 tablespoon fresh minced oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or ½ teaspoon dried thyme4 cups tomato concasse or 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen brand1 cup minced fresh Italian parsley3 Dungeness crabs, cooked and cleaned3 pounds small clams or cockles, thoroughly washed2 pounds black mussels, trimmed, if needed, and thoroughly washed2 pounds wild prawns, headed and deveinedBlack pepper in a millSourdough hearth bread, hotExtra virgin olive oil, preferably local olio nuovo1 lemon, cut in wedges

Pour the olive oil into a large heavy soup pot or Dutch oven set over medium-low heat. Add the onion and celery and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add the garlic, sauté 1 minute more and season with salt. Add the white wine and stir in the pepper flakes, oregano, thyme and tomatoes.

Increase the heat to high, bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to very low; simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and correct for salt. Stir in the parsley.

Meanwhile, break apart the crab if you have not already done so; break the body into 4 pieces and separate the segments of legs and claws. Sort through the clams or cockles and the mussels to remove any that don't close tightly, that are obviously empty (they will be very light) or that are filled with mud (these will be the ones that open very easily, without resistance).

Put the clams or cockles and the mussels into the pot, cover and simmer over medium heat for 4 minutes. Add the crab and simmer 2 minutes. Stir in the prawns, cook for 1 minute, remove from the heat and let rest, covered, for a few minutes.

Taste the broth, correct for salt and season generously with black pepper.

To serve, ladle into large soup bowls, making sure that each portion has a good mix of seafood. Drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately, with the hot bread, lemon wedges and more olive oil alongside.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 17 books to date, including 'Vinaigrettes and Other Dressings.' Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You'll find her blog, 'Eat This Now,' at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.