Crab Salad - Chef Matt Video Recipe

 Next to lobster, fresh boiled crab is the most luxurious seafood. My nephew, Chef Matt is back with a simple but luscious Crab Salad.

On a visit to Louisiana to see Mom, we came into a few crabs supplied by another nephew, Zak, who worked with a seafood distributor, so the wholesale price was right. The crab's outer shells are removed along with the insides (lungs, gills, etc.). What is left is called a Crab Cluster which includes legs, claws, and the body.

Normally, raw whole crabs are covered in seasoned water (using a package of Crab or Seafood Boil) and boiled for about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Click on any photo to see larger.

When we picked and cleaned half a dozen boiled Crab Clusters there was about a pound of crab meat to work with.

Before the 99c only Stores shut down this year, I managed to nap a few 6-ounce cans of Crab Meat for $1.99 each. Oh well, this may be the last crab I have for a while unless my ship comes in! 

I am a fan of fake Krab. It has the flavor of cooked crab but at bargain basement prices. So if you are a cheap$kate like me, and want to try your hand at a Crab Salad, why not first try it with Krab? My last recipe using Krab was for a Cerviche, and it was a tasty one I make during warm summer patio parties, click here to see how I do it. 

You could also skip all the hard work of peeling a crab body and crab claws with a container or two of picked and cleaned Lumb Crabmeat. 

If you use crabmeat in the shell, it takes work to get the flesh out. Now, the crab claws are not too hard to work with, think of them as a pecan or walnut in the shell, break the crab claws with a nutcracker. Crack the claws close to the pincher or joints so when the shell is pulled apart you will reveal the flesh, then it's fairly easy to remove in a large piece. 

The hard part is removing flesh from the body of a crab. Once cooked and cooled, the body is broken into a couple of segments, and then you probe and scrape the white chambers with a small fork and butter knife to remove the tender and sweet flakes of flesh.  

Zak and the Swamp Chef were the designated crab peelers so we made quick time of it, even the Swamp Chef picked, I mean, pitched in.

Same as a typical Tuna Salad, Crab Salad has chopped celery and onion, pickle relish, mayo, mustard, and a squeeze of lemon juice. The main adjustment is how much mayo you will add. It can be creamy or go lite and add less mayo.

 Crab meat will spoil, so it's best to keep it refrigerated until preparation. Keep the finished Crab Salad chilled. Serve on a salad or as a sandwich. I like it on a cracker.

Join my Cajun family and get out any fave crackers, or toasty grain bread, and spread on Chef Matt's creamy and rich (flavor and moneywise) Crab Salad. 

Chef Matt's Crab Salad - VIDEO     Play it here, video runs 5 minutes, 56 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients

• Crab Meat -1 pound cooked and peeled. If using whole crabs about 3-5 crabs depending on size. Okay to use a container of Lump Crabmeat or a package of Krab (Imitation Crab).
• Onion - half cup chopped.
• Celery - half cup chopped.
• Lemon Juice - from 1 or 2 lemons.
• Sweet Pickle Relish - 2 tablespoons.
• Mayonnaise - 1 cup. Add a couple tablespoons at a time to reach the desired creaminess.
• Creole Mustard - 1 tablespoon, optional. Okay to add any favorite mustard.
• Salt and Pepper - to taste.

*Serve Crab Salad with favorite crackers, carrot or celery slices, on a salad, or in a sandwich.

Directions

Containers of Lump Crab Meat are for sale in cans or plastic containers. Okay to use cooked Lump Crab from a container. 

The cheapest Crab Salad is made with fake crab or Krab.

For uncooked fresh crabs, boil submerged in water with Seafood Boil for about 15 to 20 minutes. Crab shells will turn bright orange when they are ready.

Peeling cooked crabs takes time and can be a bit tricky. But as with anything, practice makes perfect. Tools include a nutcracker for the shells, and a small fork and butter knife to remove crab meat from shells.

For this recipe, Chef Matt used Dungeness Crab Clusters that were pre-cooked. The outer shell and internal organs were removed. Claws, legs, and body segments were ready to peel.

Once the boiled crabmeat is removed from the shells, make sure to give the meat one more go-over to remove any small shell pieces. To quote Matt: "Nothing worse than biting into a shell."

Add cooked and peeled Crabmeat, celery, and onion to a bowl. Spoon in sweet pickle relish and mayo. Mix well, but use a light touch so you still have some crab chunks.

Add a little mayo at a time to reach desired creaminess. It's up to you how much mayo to add.

You can add mustard or leave it out. I've had it both ways.

Salt and pepper to taste. I add very little salt, as mayo has some already, but I add plenty of pepper.

Chill Crab Salad until ready to eat. 

Serve Crab Salad on favorite crackers, carrot or celery slices, in half an avocado, on a salad, or as a sandwich.

National Mango Day

When ripe, a mango is easy to peel so on National Mango Day you can get right down to picking a cheap$kate recipe of mine to celebrate with.

I peel a Mango by just slicing into the skin, top to bottom. That is usually enough to peel each segment of skin to reveal the orange flesh underneath. Then you just slice off the flesh until you hit the large flat/oval seed.

Mangos are ripe when soft to the touch, kinda like an avocado. Although, in a Thai Mango Salad green sour Mangos are used. Mangos come in all sizes, from small Manila Mangos to large Mexican and Central American Mangos. 

I visited Hawaii many times with my late wife Amy, and Mango, coconut, and other fruit trees are everywhere, as our vacation blog post describes, here. 

And they are cheap here in Los Angeles, especially when on sale at my local Latin grocery store. 

The simplest way I use a sliced Mango is to add some to my breakfast cereal or in a bowl of plain yogurt. My Mango and Yogurt recipe is a delicious start to your day or a cool anytime snack.

I can still find small containers of yogurt cheaply at my local Ralphs supermarket.

I have a fruity pancake series I've been doing for a few years now that features fresh fruit and Mango is at the top of my Pancake recipes. Nothing to my Mango Pancakes recipe as I use a cheap pancake mix. All you do is add water to the mix and stir until a batter is formed. 

I then add Mango slices to a hot grill then pour on the pancake batter. Just check out my recipe video below to see how easy it is to use fresh fruit to a typically boring stack of pancakes.

If you want to Wow a party, bring a bowl of my delicious Mango Salsa. Every time I bring it the compliments fly! Of course, don't forget a bag of tortilla chips. 

What makes my Mango Salsa off the hook is the push and pull of sweet mango flesh and spicy pieces of jalapeno. The other ingredients are cheap and easy to get including chopped onion, cilantro, and lime or lemon juice. The only hard part is chopping the veggies and peeling the mango - that's no big deal, really.

Mango Salsa Recipe - Video

My simplest recipe on National Mango Day is Spicy Mango. I always have Red Chili Pepper Flakes in my spice rack. If you like a sprinkle of Red Chili Pepper on your pizza and pasta then give them a try on fresh sliced Mango. The yin and yang of hot and sweet will thrill your taste buds.

I'll end National Mango Day with a refreshing Mango, Watermelon, and Spinach Salad. It's perfect on a summer day. It's light and sweet with a simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Do add a Mango to your shopping list on this special day.

National Hot Dog Day - Recipes & Reviews

July 17th is National Hot Dog Day, and you can't get much cheaper than a hot dog meal.

 So let's begin with a recipe that is literally a hot mess, the L.A. Street Dog. The wiener is bacon-wrapped and topped with mayo, ketchup, mustard, and a grilled fajita mix of bell pepper, onion, and finally a spicy jalapeno. Whew, that's a mouthful. Check out my version below. And click on any restaurant name or recipe name to see the original blog post with all the yummy photos and tasty prose.

The premier tube steak purveyor in town may be Fab's Hot Dogs. Chef-owner Joe Fabrocini has brought virtually all of America to the San Fernando Valley offering a menu of beautifully crafted dogs from every region worth its mustard. The selection of hot dogs is head-spinning, but go ahead and dive into my video, where I show you a few favorites.



Summertime is Hot Dog Season and nothing beats making your own. I always have mustard and pickle relish in the fridge, and tube steaks and hot dog buns in the freezer. I make 'em this way more than any other - sweet pickle relish, sour mustard, and a meaty weenie on a bun, so good, and below is my simple recipe for a Relish Dog.



Pink's, L.A.'s most popular hot dog stand (the place can't put up all its celebrity headshots of dining movie, television, and rock stars), was started in 1939 with just a pushcart and has the longest lines of any fast-food stand, and deservedly so. It has been filmed and reviewed by every media outlet in L.A. so I won't repeat it all here. 

However, I did notice one special hot dog that has not been covered, and that is the "Dude," named after the conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel (he is moving on, though). It's the most extravagant of hot dogs - get an eyeful of it in my video below.



I like a Chili Dog anytime. Where does this cheap$kate and lazy Chef get his chili? From the can of course! Just watch my Chili Dog recipe and make your own, the 99 Cent Chef way.



Let's Be Frank, serves up wieners with compassion. No factory farm beef, pork, or turkey is used in their franks. All the animals are 100% grass-fed and humanely raised locally in California. Hormones, antibiotics, nitrates, and nitrites are not added to the production of meat.



I often gild the lily, that is I lay it on thick, like my next Hot Dog recipe, a Chili & Sauerkraut Dog. I find sauerkraut from the can or jar and chili from a can is tasty enough -- no need to complicate things.



Carney's dining train car once hosted the cheapest Hot Dog Happy Hour on L.A.'s notorious, and famed Sunset Strip, serving a trifecta of beer, hot dog, and fries for $4.75! Alas, no more since Covid changed the price structure of most restaurants in L.A. But their Hot Dogs are just as delicious, Happy Hour or not. Below is a flashback video of dining at Carney's Happy Hour of Dogs, Fries, and Beer...oh boy, were those the days. 

If chili and sauerkraut are not your cup of tea then leave out the heaviness of chili and go with a simply delicious Kraut Dog. I've left a jar of sauerkraut in the fridge for weeks at a time and it keeps on giving these intensely flavored hot dogs.



Come on down to Crenshaw Boulevard in South L.A. for soulful hot dogz served by Earlez Grill. These wieners are split and grilled on a flattop for max flavor. Check out my video below to hang with the boyz and girlz in the hood.



I like a Chili Dog with a sweet relish. Hot, meaty chili cut through with sweet relish is satisfying on so many levels. Just watch my Chili & Relish Dog recipe...be still my heart!



A culinary car crash of cultures, the Oki Dog is a true representative of diverse Los Angeles. Combining the all-American fast food standbys of hot dogs, chile, and American cheese with the Jewish deli classic pastrami, all wrapped in a Latin street food Mexican blanket of a flour tortilla. I dare you to try and finish one. Well, if you want to see what I'm talking about look no further than the video below.

You don't have to go far these days to bring Coney Island to your town. 

I used to get a famous East Coast Nathan's Hot Dog from the frozen deli case of my local Dollar Tree, when I want an easy, microwavable, quickie lunch. They do the job and I even wrote a Cheap$kate Deal of the Day you can read here.

They come naked so I dress the dogs with just mustard and sweet pickle relish. So, what are your fave toppings?