Dungeness crab recipes to try from Sonoma County cookbook authors, chefs

Dungeness crab will soon be back in Sonoma County grocery stores and on local tables as California’s much-delayed crab season gets underway Saturday.

Here is a collection of favorite crab recipes that have appeared in The Press Democrat over the past few years.

From cookbook author Michele Anna Jordan in 2022:

Crab and Avocado Tacos with Radish Salsa

Makes 2 servings

Radish Salsa (recipe follows)

Freshly cooked and picked meat from 1 small Dungeness crab

1 firm-ripe Haas avocado

2 tablespoons lime juice

Pinch of salt

8 corn tortillas (if handmade style, use just 6)

Lime wedges

Radish wedges

Make the radish salsa and set it aside.

Put the crab meat in a bowl, add most but not quite all of the lime juice and a pinch of salt and toss gently.

Cut the avocado in half, take out the seed and remove the flesh. To do so, make ½-inch diagonal slashes to (but not through) the skin and then make crosswise slashes in the other direction. Use a large soup spoon to scoop out the flesh; put it in a small bowl and drizzle with a bit of lime juice and a pinch of salt.

Heat the tortillas over a gas flame or on a hot grill, turning them frequently, until they are very hot and very tender; do not let them become even slightly crisp.

Set two tortillas on top of each other, add a generous amount of crab and top with avocado and salsa. Set on a plate. Repeat, with two tacos per serving.

Garnish with lime wedges and radish wedges and enjoy right away, with the salsa alongside.

Radish Salsa

Makes about 1 cup

8 - 10 small radish leaves, cut into very thin slices

8 medium radishes, trimmed and cut into small dice

1 tablespoon minced red onion

1 small serrano, seeded and minced

1 small garlic clove, minced

Zest of 1 lime

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Kosher salt

Black pepper in a mill

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Set the radish leaves aside briefly.

Put the radishes, red onion, serrano and garlic in a medium bowl and toss gently. Add the lime zest, cilantro leaves and radish leaves and toss again. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the lime juice and olive oil.

Let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and correct for salt, pepper and acid.

Cover and set aside until ready to use. This salsa will keep, covered and refrigerated, for two to three days.

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This recipe has gone through variations but originated with former Nick’s Cove Chef Austin Perkins:

Nick’s Cove Dungeness Crab Mac & Cheese

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 cup unsalted butter

2 leeks, white part only, sliced

¾ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups whole milk

3 cups heavy cream

2 cups shredded aged Gruyere cheese, such as Grand Cru

2 cups shredded Point Reyes Toma or medium white cheddar

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Kosher salt

Vinegar-based hot sauce (such as Tabasco), for seasoning

Juice of ¼ lemon

1 pound dried fusilli pasta

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup fresh breadcrumbs

1 pound fresh-cooked Dungeness crabmeat, picked over for shell fragments

2 tablespoons chopped, fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

In a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the flour, whisk until smooth, then cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture bubbles and starts to smell like shortbread, 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream. Continue to simmer, stirring, until the mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Slowly add the cheeses, a handful at a time, stirring after each addition until melted before adding more. Season to taste with salt, hot sauce and lemon juice.

About 15 minutes before the cheese sauce is ready, begin cooking the pasta and toast the breadcrumbs. Fill a large pot two-thirds full of salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 6 to 8 minutes or according to package directions. Drain into a colander, then transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

In a small dry skillet, warm the oil over medium-high heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and stir to combine. Add the crabmeat and gently stir to distribute evenly. Divide the pasta between individual bowls or plates. Top each serving with the toasted breadcrumbs and parsley. Serve right away.

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From Michele Anna Jordan in 2021:

Dungeness Crab with Brown Butter Potato Purée

Serves 2

1 stick (½ cup, 8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) butter, preferably local

¾ pound potatoes, such as dry-farmed German Butterball, peeled and sliced

Kosher salt

Meat from 1 Dungeness crab

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ cup heavy cream, hot

White pepper in a mill

2 teaspoons snipped chives

1 chive flower, blossoms separated, optional

Put the butter into a small saucepan set over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, use a thin spoon to scoop off any impurities that have risen to the surface. Carefully pour the butter into a bowl or other container, leaving the film of white milk solids behind in the pan.

Clean the pan, return it to the heat, pour in the butter and cook until the butter takes on a golden-brown glow and gives off the scent of hazelnuts. Remove from the heat, cool slightly and refrigerate. This step can be completed several hours or a day before preparing the dish.

Peel and slice the potatoes, put them into a small saucepan, cover with water by 1 inch, season generously with salt and set over high heat. When the water boils, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 to 12 minute or a bit longer for thick slices. Remove from the heat and drain.

While the potatoes cook, pick the crab meat from its shells if you have not already done so. Put it in a small bowl, add the lemon juice and toss gently a time or two. Cover and set aside.

Return the pan with the potatoes to the heat and burn off any water; the potatoes should be quite dry. Use a sturdy fork or a small vegetable masher to mash the potatoes until quite smooth.

Remove the brown butter from the refrigerator, set aside half the butter and whip the rest, a tablespoon or so at a time, into the potatoes. Add the hot cream, season with salt and several turns of white pepper, taste and correct for salt.

Divide the potatoes between two soup plates and top with the crab. Working very quickly, heat about half the remaining butter and drizzle it over the crab and potatoes. Garnish with chives and chive flowers and enjoy right away.

Leftover brown butter will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.

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From Michele Anna Jordan in 2020:

Dungeness Crab Salad

Makes 2 servings, easily doubled

1 cooked Dungeness crab, cooked, cleaned, picked and chilled

1 very small shallot, minced

- Kosher salt

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2-4 slices sourdough hearth bread

2 garlic cloves, cut in half crosswise

- Best quality extra virgin olive oil or Meyer lemon olive oil

1 celery stalk, trimmed and cut into very small dice

2 lemon wedges, for garnish

Divide the crab between two soup plates or pasta plates. Cover and set aside.

Put the shallot into a small bowl, add a generous pinch of salt, and stir in the lemon juice.

Set aside.

Toast the bread lightly. Rub the cut side of a piece of garlic over one side of each piece of bread. Set next to the crab.

Add about 3 tablespoons of the olive oil into the lemon juice mixture, stir, and taste.

If it is too tart for your palate, add another tablespoon of olive oil. If it tastes a bit flat, add a pinch of two of salt.

Stir the dressing well and quickly, before it separates, pour or spoon it over the crab.

Scatter the celery over everything, drizzle a little olive oil over each piece of bread, garnish with lemon wedges and enjoy right away.

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From Michele Anna Jordan in 2019:

Dungeness Crab Cakes with Black Beans & Chermoula

Makes 3 to 4 servings

For the beans:

1 cup dried black beans, picked through for rocks, rinsed, soaked overnight and drained

1 serrano, split but left whole

1 shallot, quartered

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 bay leaf

- Kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

- Black pepper in a mill

For the chermoula:

3-4 garlic cloves

- Kosher salt

1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

½ cup lightly packed fresh Italian parsley leaves, chopped

2 teaspoons sweet paprika, preferably Spanish

1 teaspoon hot paprika, preferably Spanish

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon chipotle powder or piment d'Espelette

- Juice of 2 lemons

½ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more to taste

For the crab cakes:

2 large cooked Dungeness crabs, chilled

2 tablespoons butter, plus more for frying

1 serrano, seeded and minced

1 shallot, minced

2 inner celery ribs, minced

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

½ teaspoon hot Spanish paprika

1 large farm egg

¼ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

¼ cup coarse sourdough breadcrumbs, lightly toasted

First, make the black beans. Put the soaked and drained beans into a medium saucepan and cover with water by about 1½ inches. Add the serrano, shallot, garlic and bay leaf, set over high heat and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer very gently, until the beans are fully tender. When they begin to give off their aromas, season fairly generously with salt and stir in the cumin. When tender, remove from the heat and let cool for 15 or 20 minutes. Use tongs to remove and discard the bay leaf and serrano, along with the shallot and garlic if you can see them (sometimes they nearly dissolve into the beans).

Use an immersion blender to purée the beans until they are almost but not quite completely smooth.

Taste, correct for salt, add several turns of black pepper, cover and set aside.

This can be done several hours or a full day in advance.

For the chermoula: Put the garlic into a suribachi, sprinkle lightly with salt and use a wooden pestle to crush the garlic into a paste.

Add the cilantro and parsley and continue to grind with the wooden pestle until a uniform puree is formed.

Add the paprikas, cumin and chipotle powder or piment d'Espelette and stir in the lemon juice.

Season with salt and stir in the olive oil. Taste and correct for salt and acid, adding more salt if the sauce tastes flat and more olive oil if it is too tart. Cover and chill; remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before using. (Chermoula will keep for a day or two in the fridge but is best the day it is made.)

For crab cakes: Keep the crabs' body meat and leg meat separate. You should have about 2½ cups of body meat; if you don't, break up some of the leg meat until you do. Set the meat aside.

Put the two tablespoons of butter into a small sauté pan set over medium heat, add the serrano, shallot and celery, season lightly with salt and sauté until very soft and fragrant, about 12 to 15 minutes. Season with several turns of black pepper, add the paprika and set aside to cool.

Put the egg and cream into a large mixing bowl and whisk until light and thick.

Add the body meat, 2 tablespoons of the parsley and the bread crumbs and use 2 dinner forks to toss together very gently. Do not overmix. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To finish the cakes, remove the batter from the refrigerator and put the flour into a wide shallow bowl.

Heat the black beans. Set a large heavy frying pan over medium high heat, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of butter and heat until the butter is fully melted and foaming.

Using an ice cream scoop, make balls of crab somewhat bigger than a ping-pong ball but smaller than a tennis ball. Press together gently and dredge in the flour, gently working to keep each ball together.

Add 4 balls to the frying pan, leaving plenty of space between each one. Use a metal spatula to press down gently on each crab cake until it is about ¾-inch thick. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until browned on one side. Gently turn and cook on the other side. Continue cooking, adding more butter as needed, until all the batter is used.

While the crab cakes cook, pour a generous pool of black bean puree on individual plates. Set 2 or 3 cooked cakes on each plate, half on and half off the puree. Top the crab cakes with the reserved leg meat. Drizzle with a few slashes of chermoula, garnish with a lemon wedge and sprinkle with a bit of the remaining parsley. Enjoy right away.

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From chef and cookbook author John Ash in 2018:

Dungeness Crab Cakes with Tarragon Aioli

Makes 6 servings as a first course

1 pound fresh cooked Dungeness crab meat, picked over to remove any shell

1 egg, beaten

5 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 tablespoon minced green onion

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, white preferred

- Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

- Drops of hot sauce to taste

1/2 cup (or so) coarse dry bread crumbs (such as Panko)

- Clarified butter or olive oil for sautéing

- Tarragon aioli (recipe follows)

- Tarragon sprigs

2 ounces fresh salmon caviar, rinsed in cold water (optional)

Gently squeeze the crab to get rid of any excess moisture and combine with next 7 ingredients. Stir in ½ cup of the bread crumbs. Don't over mix. You want the cakes to just hold together and be delicate in texture. Mix in additional crumbs if mixture is too moist. (Fry a tester to make sure).

Form into 6 cakes. Lightly dust both sides with additional bread crumbs and sauté in clarified butter or oil until lightly browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Serve with a little dollop of aioli on top with the tarragon sprigs and the optional salmon caviar.

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Tarragon Aioli

Makes about 3/4 cup

3 large blanched garlic cloves

1 tablespoon or so olive oil

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon chopped tarragon

- Drops of lemon juice to taste

Add all ingredients to a mini food processor and pulse until smooth. Store refrigerated for at least one hour to allow flavors to blend before using.

This is a rich soup. Don't be scared by the length of the ingredient list. It's really pretty straight forward. You can use frozen corn kernels, but you won't have the cobs to make the flavorful stock.

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Crab Rice Paper Rolls

Makes 12 rolls

2 ounces thin rice stick noodles (often labeled vermicelli)

1 medium cucumber

2 firm ripe avocados

12 8- to 9-inch rice paper rounds, softened (see method below)

3/4 pound fresh cooked crab meat, picked over to remove any shell fragments

3 tablespoons or so drained, sweet pickled ginger

1/4 cup finely sliced green onion or garlic chives

1/3 cup loosely packed mint or cilantro leaves

2 tablespoons lightly toasted sesame seeds

- Dipping Sauce (recipe follows)

Soften rice stick noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, then cook until tender in boiling water for a minute or so. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside, covered loosely with plastic wrap.

Peel and seed the cucumber and cut into thin 4-inch long strips either with a mandolin or by hand. Peel the avocado, discard pit and cut into long slices.

Softening rice papers: Dip the dry rice paper into a bowl of hot tap water for 20 to 30 seconds or until they just begin to soften. Lay them out on a clean, dry, hard surface and they will soften further as you lay the filling on. You can do 2 or 3 at a time.

For each roll, lay out a softened rice paper on a clean surface and place a tablespoon or so of the softened rice stick across the bottom third of the round. Top with some cucumber, crab, pickled ginger, green onion and a couple of mint leaves. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Roll the bottom of the paper up over the filling and then roll it up gently but firmly, folding in the sides as you go. The paper will seal by sticking to itself. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Serve the rolls cut in half with dipping sauce on the side.

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Spicy Dipping Sauce

Makes about 13/4 cup

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

5 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

2 teaspoons minced red jalapeno or bird's eye chili, or to taste

2 teaspoons finely minced garlic

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

5 tablespoons sugar or to taste

1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

Combine all ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving for flavors to develop.