Garlic Butter Roasted Crab

~serves 2-4 for dinner~

This recipe makes a huge mess, but dang, it is SO good.  Your best bet is to lay out old newspaper, wear a shirt that you don't mind butter spilling on and just plan on getting your hands dirty.  You can use dedicated crab crackers and fancy forks for removing the crab meat from the shell but I like to use the handle end of a regular butter knife (the idea being to crack, not to crush) and the pointy tip from one of the large legs for picking out the ity bits.  Cold frosty beer or a crisp white wine go excellent with this dinner! 

2 fresh whole Dungeness crab

1 stick butter 

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 sweet onion, chopped

chopped cilantro or parsley

lemon wedges

If you purchased live crab, boil in salted water for 15 minutes.  Back, clean and break crab into individual leg and body sections, (we can do this for you if you're purchasing cooked crab!), and place in the largest bowl you've got in your kitchen.  

Preheat oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with foil.  In a saucepan, melt the stick of butter and gently (you don't want to brown or boil anything, just soften) cook the garlic and onions for a few minutes. 

Pour the butter mixture over the top of the crab and do your best to "toss" to coat all the crab pieces.  Empty the bowl on the cookie sheet and roast in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.  Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with cilantro and top with lemon wedges.  Delish!