Rosie Makes Crab Meat-Stuffed Shrimp

This right here ↑ ?????

This is jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab meat.

And I'm tellin' you -  it's GOOD.
  REAL GOOD!

That said, I have to apologize

for being late to the party on this one.

I made this stuff last month - on a whim -

a damn good whim at that -

and I forgot to post it

what with Thanksgiving and Christmas,

and ... well ... Life in general.

I even had some of the crab stuffing leftover,

and used that to stuff into my little individual boules.
I just added 1 TB each cream cheese, brie cheese,
and melted butter to 1/2 cup of the crab mixture.
Then baked at 350° until heated through.

So, if you can find you some crab meat,

you NEED to make this.

Else, just bookmark this page and come back to it

when the crabs are back.

Before I start, here's a picture of my little Reba.

She's a year old now and she is precious.

Now, on to the crab meat stuffing and shrimp.

Crab Meat Stuffing

2 TB unsalted butter

1 TB minced red pepper

1 TB minced celery

1 TB minced onion

half a heaping yepsen of chopped spinach

For those of you who aren't up to speed

on archaic, obsolete words,

a yepsen is a unit of measurement.

It's the amount that can be held by two hands cupped together.

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 TB unsalted butter

8 ounces crab meat, picked through for shells

Melt 2 TB butter in medium sauce pan.

Add in pepper, celery, and onion.

Sauté about a minute, stirring.

Add in the spinach, lemon juice, and remaining 2 TB butter.

Stir, letting butter melt and spinach wilt a bit.

Add in the crab meat and combine everything.

Try not to break up the lumps of crab.

Heat through.

Have on hand:

chopped parsley

minced garlic

club cracker crumbs

sherry

For the step-by-steps:

Melt butter and sauté pepper, celery, and onion.

I use red pepper because I like the color

and I like the taste of red,

but you can use whatever you have.

Pour in a little lemon juice,

drop in the chopped spinach,

 and poke it around.

Melt another tablespoon of butter.

And add in the crab meat.

Heat through.

And now you have a heavenly crab meat concoction.

You could stop right here,

get out some crackers,

and go to town on this.

But I'm going for stuffed shrimp.

I melted a little butter on my metal platter,

then placed butterflied jumbo shrimp on the platter,

which I messily mounded with the crab meat mixture.

If you don't know how to butterfly shrimp,

here's a good tutorial.

Start with JUMBO shrimp.

Basically, you de-head the shrimp,

then shell them.

I like to leave the tails on

so you have something to pick them up with.

Remove the digestive tract down the back

(It's not a vein.)

and the nerve cord on the underside,

if you're so inclined.

Then take a small paring knife and cut into the shrimp

but not all the way through.

You want to open it up wide

from the head to the tail and press it so it stays open.

Pile the crab meat on each butterflied shrimp and...

... sprinkle chopped parsley over and around it.

Pour a little sherry onto the platter.

Cracker crumbs go on next.

Then give it some minced garlic for good measure.

Place the little buggers in a 350° oven

and bake about 10 minutes -

until the shrimp are just done.

Please, please, do not overcook your shrimp.

My Sweet Reba loves shrimp.

And here's the shrimp.

Those juices are wonderful.

You just might want to have some bread

so you can sop up every bit of goodness.

Please enjoy!

Now, back to that crab meat stuffing.

If you run out of shrimp to stuff,

just hollow out a little round loaf of bread,

preferably homemade,

and pour the crab meat mixture into that.

Scatter the torn pieces of bread on the platter

to toast up and to use to scoop out the crab.

Sprinkle on some parsley and cracker crumbs.

Drizzle some butter.

And bake it till it's hot all the way through.

This is happy food!

And remember:

I only used 8 ounces of crab meat.

I've got crab cakes coming up for the remaining 8 ounces.

So stay tuned!

 

 Happy Reba!