[eric the red]

Here in the N'West, we are lucky enough to be able to buy King Crab year 'round for $10 bucks a lb. I used to work on commercial fishing boats in Alaska (one of my skipper's wife was the very first Miss Alaska) and one year we had our own pot so I am very familiar with how good King Crab can taste. Today the colossal legs (32" long are the ones I have in the freezer ) are on sale here for 1/2 off their regular $20.00 price at Safeway, so if anyone is interested and likes King Crab as much as I do, here's the best way I have found to cook KC over the years.
Ask the seafood guy at the store for the frozen legs and not the ones sitting unthawed in the case.
Let thaw in your refrig or in cold water.
You'll need a big roasting pan with a little screen on the bottom to keep the crab off the pot.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Pour one cup of beer in the bottom of the pan
After oven preheats, place crab in pan and pan in oven
Heat for 20 minutes and serve with butter
Crack a beer or two (berore and after) and enjoy
For some reason this way of cooking makes the crab better tasting then steaming or broiling, probably because most of the steam is still in the pan after cooking. Substitute water or a water/wine mixture if so desired.

[vinylkid58]

Positively the best crab I have ever eaten. Came fresh off the boat in Skagway, and cooked same day on the cruise ship I was working on. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Jeff

[eric the red]

Positively the best crab I have ever eaten. Came fresh off the boat in Skagway, and cooked same day on the cruise ship I was working on. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Jeff

yeah nothing better-I've hooked (no pun intended) quite a few people I know on it -as one of my friend's said "It's the crack cocaine of seafood"

[Turnandcough]

Funny coincidence I just picked some up today for a Vietnamese spring roll recipe. Crab meat, shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, rice noodles, garlic, ginger, green onions, carrots and soy sauce. All wrapped in rice paper(soaked in sweetened water) and deep fried in peanut oil.
 I love Alaskan King Crab(most crab actually) and there was a time when it was prohibitively expensive - especially where I live(Montréal) Back then we used to buy the Snow Crab instead which is also delicious(sweeter) but a hassle to eat(scrawny little legs with little meat) Now, for some reason the AKC is everywhere and they're practically giving it away so lately I've been eating crab with melted butter(garlic, lemon, etc), crab cakes, crab rolls, crab and avocado salad, stir fried crab with lobster sauce, crab on pumpernickel flatbread with hard boiled eggs and caviar, hot and sour soup with crab, crab...   

[eric the red]

I had deep fried dungeness in a restaurant in Los Angeles' Chinatown last year and that was also about as good as it gets. From the live tank to your table in about 15 mns-absolutely delicious

[some young guy]

it's been a banner year for king crab for sure. i've been buying it for as low as $7.99 a pound. last week i put it in a risotto along with peas, lemon, lemon verbena and white truffle oil. the week before that, i made a thai green curry with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf, galangal, garlic, shallots, green curry paste, asparagus, peas and crab over basmati rice... the week before that, it was oven steamed (simular to eric's method) with white wine and served with a lemon-garlic beurre fondu (melted butter stablized with a little water so it doesn't separate). i really love crab.

[Nels Ferre]

I'll have to try that recipe, thanks!!   

My absolute favorite crabs at a restuarant are the BBQ Dungeness Crabs from Joe's Crab Shack, a chain place.  BBQ crabs sound nasty, but these things rock. The last time I was there (for 4 hours) my tab (by myself) was $150. I don't go there as often as I would like.

My sister was trying to talk my brother and I into traveling to Richmond VA for a family reunion. Neither of us really wanted to go.  Then she mentioned bushels of crabs and kegs of beer.....   aa

I leave for VA next Thursday. 

[Turnandcough]

thai green curry with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf, galangal, garlic, shallots, green curry paste, asparagus, peas and crab over basmati rice...
lemon-garlic beurre fondu (melted butter stablized with a little water so it doesn't separate). i really love crab.

Green curry paste with coconut milk you say...hmmm...sounds good.
"Beurre fondu" is simply melted butter. When it's emulsified with a liquid(lemon juice, white wine, water, etc) the correct term is "beurre blanc"

[some young guy]

I'll have to try that recipe, thanks!!   

My absolute favorite crabs at a restuarant are the BBQ Dungeness Crabs from Joe's Crab Shack, a chain place.  BBQ crabs sound nasty, but these things rock. The last time I was there (for 4 hours) my tab (by myself) was $150. I don't go there as often as I would like.

My sister was trying to talk my brother and I into traveling to Richmond VA for a family reunion. Neither of us really wanted to go.  Then she mentioned bushels of crabs and kegs of beer.....   aa

I leave for VA next Thursday. 

oh yeah! soft shell crabs! i make a pretty mean soft shell po-boy. i also used to make these softshell and brie sandwiches that weren't too bad either. my favorite bbq style crab is the dungeness filled with red curry and coconut milk. you poke a hole in the the top, pour in the coconut milk and red curry mixture and make sure it gets all the way down into the legs, then put it on the bbq for 10-15 minutes... from there, you just make a huge mess and eat the thing with lots of beer. after that one, i guess the old than long crab (stuffed with garlic and herb butter, then oven roasted) is my next favorite. did i mention that i love crab?

[some young guy]

thai green curry with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf, galangal, garlic, shallots, green curry paste, asparagus, peas and crab over basmati rice...
lemon-garlic beurre fondu (melted butter stablized with a little water so it doesn't separate). i really love crab.

Green curry paste with coconut milk you say...hmmm...sounds good.
"Beurre fondu" is simply melted butter. When it's emulsified with a liquid(lemon juice, white wine, water, etc) the correct term is "beurre blanc"

actually beurre blanc is made with a reduction of vinegar and or wine and shallots.

[eric the red]

thai green curry with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf, galangal, garlic, shallots, green curry paste, asparagus, peas and crab over basmati rice...
lemon-garlic beurre fondu (melted butter stablized with a little water so it doesn't separate). i really love crab.

Green curry paste with coconut milk you say...hmmm...sounds good.
"Beurre fondu" is simply melted butter. When it's emulsified with a liquid(lemon juice, white wine, water, etc) the correct term is "beurre blanc"

actually beurre blanc is made with a reduction of vinegar and or wine and shallots.

how do you make it?

[some young guy]

thai green curry with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf, galangal, garlic, shallots, green curry paste, asparagus, peas and crab over basmati rice...
lemon-garlic beurre fondu (melted butter stablized with a little water so it doesn't separate). i really love crab.

Green curry paste with coconut milk you say...hmmm...sounds good.
"Beurre fondu" is simply melted butter. When it's emulsified with a liquid(lemon juice, white wine, water, etc) the correct term is "beurre blanc"

actually beurre blanc is made with a reduction of vinegar and or wine and shallots.

how do you make it?

beurre blanc? i usually use 1 part champagne vinegar, 2 parts white whine and a ton of shallots. reduce this mixture over medium heat, being carefull not to scorch it (this will color your final sauce). if it does get any color on the sides of the pot, change pots before finishing the sauce. let it reduce untill it's almost dry (sec). at this point some people use a little cream to help stablize it, but i just start whisking in cold butter, a little knob at a time untill the sauce is balanced between the acidity and the richness. season with salt and white pepper.

you can make countless variations with this mother sauce.

[Turnandcough]

beurre blanc? i usually use 1 part champagne vinegar, 2 parts white whine and a ton of shallots. reduce this mixture over medium heat, being carefull not to scorch it (this will color your final sauce). if it does get any color on the sides of the pot, change pots before finishing the sauce. let it reduce untill it's almost dry (sec). at this point some people use a little cream to help stablize it, but i just start whisking in cold butter, a little knob at a time untill the sauce is balanced between the acidity and the richness. season with salt and white pepper.
you can make countless variations with this mother sauce.

That's the classic method as I was taught in cooking school.
The cream method is a trick sometimes used in restaurants as it acts as a "liaison" and helps delay separation in case the sauce needs to sit for a while before being served. Beurre blanc, sauce Hollandaise, etc are referred to as "unstable emulsions" Mayonnaise and sauce Béarnaise would be an example of  "stable emulsions" 

[some young guy]

beurre blanc? i usually use 1 part champagne vinegar, 2 parts white whine and a ton of shallots. reduce this mixture over medium heat, being carefull not to scorch it (this will color your final sauce). if it does get any color on the sides of the pot, change pots before finishing the sauce. let it reduce untill it's almost dry (sec). at this point some people use a little cream to help stablize it, but i just start whisking in cold butter, a little knob at a time untill the sauce is balanced between the acidity and the richness. season with salt and white pepper.
you can make countless variations with this mother sauce.

That's the classic method as I was taught in cooking school.
The cream method is a trick sometimes used in restaurants as it acts as a "liaison" and helps delay separation in case the sauce needs to sit for a while before being served. Beurre blanc, sauce Béarnaise, etc are referred to as "unstable emulsions" Mayonnaise would be an example of a "stable emulsion" 

yup, you've got to find just the right spot to hold your your bb's or holondaise's. i got really good at fixing them in the middle of service back in the day.

[eric the red]

We also ate a lot of fresh halibut on the boat. Try this in fish tacos:
fresh halibut cut into 1" chunks
a whole lot of mayo
Progresso bread crumbs Italian style
Dip the halibut in mayo and then roll it in the bread crumbs then fry in a good oil until brown for a few minutes. The simpler the better on a boat and halibut cooked this way is still one of my favs.

[PhilNYC]

You'll need a big roasting pan with a little screen on the bottom to keep the crab off the pot.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Pour one cup of beer in the bottom of the pan
After oven preheats, place crab in pan and pan in oven
Heat for 20 minutes and serve with butter

Do you cover the pot when you put it in the oven?  Or do you leave it open?

[JoshK]

Call me traditional, but my favorite food is crab and I like them boiled, them cracked and ate...nothing added, just el naturel.  I much prefer snow crab to king crab though...it is much sweeter. 

[JoshK]

Dungeoness is a hard shell crab...at least the ones we used to scoop out of Gig harbor with fishing nets were.   Those are my second favorite crab.  Those were the days. 

yep, wikipedia has this to say...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeness_crab

[eric the red]

Cover the pot-you can also preheat the pan/liquid in the pot in the oven while the oven is coming up to temp-just add a little more liquid

[TomS]

When in a time pinch, I throw frozen King Crab legs in the microwave wrapped in a couple paper towels inside a ziploc baggie for about 3 minutes.  No fuss, taste great, and they don't come out overcooked and rubbery.  Tom