Broken Blue Crab Stew
Serves 4 to 6
3 to 4 strips smoke bacon
2 tablespoons self-rising flour
6 live blue crabs, dipped in a pot of hot water to stun, then debarked (see page 97), cleaned, and broken in half
1 onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon wedges, for serving
In a skillet over medium heat, fry the bacon until crispy and set aside, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet. Stir the flour into the bacon fat and cook until it browns. Add the crab halves, bacon, onion, and salt and pepper to taste to the skillet, stir several times, then stir in 2 to 3 cups hot water and cover tightly. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes, or until the gravy thickens slightly. You can simmer over low heat until you’re ready to serve. Serve with lemon wedges.
From Sallie Ann Robinson’s Kitchen: Food and Family Lore from the Lowcountry by Sallie Ann Robinson. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, September 2019. Reprinted with permission.
Photo by Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn