Jerry's Seafood in Bowie, MD.
 

I don't know how often any of you may get into the eastern Washington D.C. area, specifically Bowie, MD, but if you do and you love seafood, you HAVE to stop in at Jerry's Seafood. It's located at 15211 Major Lansdale Blvd. near the intersection of route 179 and route 50. They have a dish called the "Crab Bomb", which is to kill for. Now I doubt there are many people more picky than I am about blue crab meat dishes, and I was really blown away by the CRAB BOMB (pun intended). Connie ordered the same dish and she was equally impressed with it. Matter of fact, we're trying to figure out a real good reason to run up that way again, just to stop in there to have dinner. It was purely a fluke that we even found the place, because we stayed at the Hampton Inn pretty much next door to the place and just happened to spot it.

Now this is pretty early in the season to be getting really good crab meat, so quite honestly, we REALLY need to find a reason to get up there in late Summer or early Fall when the blue crabs are at their best in Maryland. Yumm......


http://www.jerrysseafood.com/main.php

http://www.crabbomb.com/

I grew up there, in Glen Burnie, used to go to Bowie all the time. I refuse to eat Blue Crabs unless I'm in Maryland, crab cakes,...anything (ok..minus crab dips, it's hard to mess those up). I miss getting some fresh Crab Bisque.

If you ever go through or around Detroit I can tell you some fantastic Coney Island Chili places to hit up.

Yeah, we steam our own crabs here when we can get the live blue crabs and that works out fine. Connie can also make OUTSTANDING crabcakes. She's going to take a stab at making her own CRAB BOMBS when she can get a couple of pounds of the jumbo lump crabmeat at the local market in Panacea (MyWay Seafood).

With that oil spill, I'm thinking that fresh local Florida seafood is going to become rather scarce real soon. :nonod:

Man, you guys are getting me torqued up just talkin about it! No seafood (New England, Maine, San Fran...even Alaska) compares w/ Maryland/Chesapeake!!!

tb (raised in Montgomery Co. MD...when it was in the country)

Hey Rich,

I steam my own crabs down here in Ft. Myers too! I have a couple of sources in this area, so getting blue crabs is not too difficult. There is one place in N. Ft. Myers that steams them, but they have no clue on the seasoning. So, I just do it myself with Old Bay and rock salt. We may have moved from the Maryland area, but I will never get steamed crabs out of my system!

Rich

Try using vinegar with the Old Bay seasoning........ :thumbsup:

The steaming liquid I use is a blend of water, vinegar and beer. My daughter eats them by dipping the meat into vinegar and then rubbing the old bay and rock salt off the shell. Since I use a LOT of seasoning on the crabs, I have plenty on my hands while eating that will make your lips tingle. I have tried the vinegar, but prefer the natural taste of the crab meat with the seasonings.

BTW Rich, typically what are you paying for live crabs up there? Lately, I can usually get number ones (6 inches or better, point to point) down here for around $35 a dozen. Under 6 inches for around $25.

Haven't gotten any this year yet, but last year the price was $9 per dozen.... Mixed sizes and mixed sexes.

You guys are making me hungry for Crabs and it's still breakfast time. I use to eat steamed crabs in New Orleans back in my dental school days in the 80's. Nothing like a plate of crabs with some cold beer.
I like the Vinegar, Beer, Bay seasoning, and rock salt recipe. What proportions are you using per dozen crabs? :thumbsup:

I guess its Joe's Crab Shack for me this weekend...

I use a steaming pot that has a bottom section for the liquid and the large pot that has holes in the bottom for the crabs. I put a little more than an inch of the liquid in the bottom pot. I mix plain white vinegar 50/50 with water and I add a beer or two to this mixture. I put the bottom pot on the stove and get it simmering. Then I mix Old Bay 75/25 with rock salt. As I put the live crabs in the pot I sprinkle a little of the seasoning on each crab. The seasoning gets in their eyes and tends to calm them down. After I have a layer of crabs in the pot. I apply a liberal amount of seasoning on each crab, then start another layer. Once the pot is full (1 1/2 to 2 dozen, depending on size of crabs) I put the lid on the pot and place it on the bottom pot that is simmering on the stove. Don't forget to put something heavy on the lid to make sure that the crabs don't try to jump out of the pot. I use a couple of very small C clamps to keep the lid on the pot. I steam them for around 30 minutes.

If I am steaming more than one batch, I will pull the top pot off leaving the bottom pot on the stove simmering. I empty the crabs out of the top pot and put more crabs with seasoning back in the pot. This will take about 10 minutes to do and gives the crabs you just steamed a little time to cool down just enough so that you can handle them. While we are eating the first batch, the second batch is steaming.

Give it a try and enjoy!

Rich