Baked Stuffed Lobster with Jonah Crab Meat and Lobster Stuffing - Cooking the Catch

Let's face it, lobster tastes twice as good when you have to dive your butt off to get them. This recipe  is easy as can be and an makes a great impression on your lady friends for all you single divers out there. To this day every time I prepare this for Mrs. NEF she brings up "remember the first time you made this for me when we started dating?" See..... Crab meat freezes excellent so this is a tasty way to use some of that Jonah Crab meat we took the time to remove form the shells a couple of weeks ago. Blue crab is also another great local substitute for the crab meat.

What you need: recipe for 2 stuffed lobsters

• 4 fresh lobsters - two to stuff the stuffing in and two to remove all the meat to add to the stuffing.
• 2 cups of crab meat (one cup per stuffed lobster) 
• Ritz crackers 
• butter
• garlic powder
• salt and pepper

1. Half the two live lobsters down the muddle from their mouth to tip of the tail. Clean out anything undesirable from the body cavity and tail.
2. Steam the other lobsters and remove all the meat you can from the tail, claws and body. Remove in the largest lumps you can, whole claws and tails cut in  4-5 pieces works nice.
3. In a large ziploc bag add a 3 sleeves of ritz crackers, close bag, and roll out with a rolling pin to crush them up good.
4. In large bowl mix the crushed ritz crackers, add lobster meat and crab meat, and one stick of melted butter. Add about a teaspoon of garlic powder and salt and pepper to your desired amount (not too much salt) .
5. Stuff the lobsters generously with the ritz cracker, lobster meat and crab meat stuffing you prepared.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When oven is ready at temperature place the stuffed lobsters on a cookie sheet and cook for about 25 minutes.

Stuffing in lobsters should be a golden color in about 25 minutes and usually a sign that the lobster has cooked perfectly. Serve with melted butter, I love a baked potato and asparagus as my sides.

Cheers,
Mike

June 19th & 20th Lobster Diving Report from Cape Cod Bay - Mike Chace

Day: Saturday June 19, 2016
Location: Cape Cod Bay side of Cape Cod
Report Contributor: Mike Chace
Conditions: a 9 out of 10.

Met up with a good friend for some freediving for lobsters in Cape Cod Bay. We arrived at 9:00 am to a flat sea, perfectly sunny morning with slight NE breeze on a flood tide. The tide was high as we entered mother ocean to find she had gifted us with some beautiful conditions. Vertical visibility was about 20 feet and calm waters. We were pleased to find there was many more keeper size male lobsters in the general area than just 2 weeks ago.  A few hours of some hunting in some gorgeous scenery resulted in 17 keepers between my dive buddy and myself. Noticeable was the lack of large Jonah Crabs that were here two weeks ago... gone. A few small ones scattered about. My dive bud got a swarmed in a school of 30 lb class bass he could only watch as they seemed to be looking for all the sand eels that seemed to be present this week. The flood tide kept it really high most of the afternoon making the conditions stick for the rest of the afternoon. A couple of cold ones to celebrate back at the homestead and I washing off my gear and changing my plans for Sunday to head back to the same general area and try another spot.

Saturday's catch 2 divers:

Day: Sunday June 20, 2016
Location: Cape Cod Bay side of Cape Cod

Conditions: a 10 out of 10.

We arrived by boat at a different location and suited up hoping the conditions had stuck around over night and the ocean would be just as nice as the previous day. Today we planned to scout out a few new locations with the boat and not stay too long at either one spot. We jumped in to find it was even better conditions than the previous day with gin clear 25 ft + vertical visibility with 50 ft + horizontal visibility over the sandy bottom as we kicked in to the shoreline to find some rocks over the sand the bugs like some much. The conditions were so superb, the lobsters plenty and the ocean life so beautiful we could not help be in awe of what a lucky day was to be there, take it it... and appreciate it. Had the opportunity to shoot a decent tautog for my Captain and harvested him who requested one. Again the striped bass were today were working the edge of the rockweed beds at high tide with schools of fish in he 20-30 lb class not spooked too much by your presence, quite a cool experience. About four hours and 58 drops later my legs were exhausted from two days of diving and decided to head home with another nice catch. Father's Day dinner was baked stuffed lobsters for the family,  I will share the recipe in my next Cooking the Catch post.

My catch Sunday:

I I have always been in love with freediving for lobsters so I looked forward to this time of year as much as I look forward to spearfishing each Spring. Now that I could dedicate two wonderful days in a row to my passion and get the "bugs" out of my system (so to speak) I can dedicate the next couple of trips back in the RI area looking for some decent bass. Thanks to some great dive buddies for a great weekend and mother ocean for gifting us with a pair of stellar days and diving experiences.

If you enjoy diving in the big bay... It is here. Set aside some time for a dive with favorite dive buddies and get in before the weather pattern switches and screws up the conditions that are there right now.

Cheers,
Mike

June 4, 2016 Buzzards Bay / Cuttyhunk Island Spearfishing Report - Mike Chace

Date: June 4, 2016
Location: Buzzards Bay, Cuttyhunk Island
Report Contributor: Mike Chace

FOG & TOG

Thanks to the hospitality of good friends Ted and Heather, we were invited to get out on their boat and dive one of my favorite locations In New England, Cuttyhunk Island. Ricardo Cruelles accompanied me on the dive and this would be his first visit to the island. We departed Padanaram Harbor about 9:29 and found thick fog keeping visibility to about 200 yards to 1/8 mile at best on the ride out. the forecast was for this fog to burn off and clear up by 11:00... but that never happened.

Arriving at the island we first pulled into harbor where I could deliver a wetsuit to one of my customers who happened to be out staying on the island this week. Pretty good service huh?

With the thick fog not lifting it was obvious there was no safe way to drop divers in the water offshore in what I consider a great spot we had planned to dive, due to the fog and boat traffic. Not a good combo for divers drifting offshore even with dive floats and flags. They would vanish into the fog less than 100 yards away.

So we settled for one of the good spots. Visibility was about 6-8 feet at best and water temps were 56-58 degrees during the day. We proceeded to find decent tautog around the rocky shore tight to the Island and then picked up to change spots in hopes of the fog lifting and getting out deeper. No such luck, so we hit another good spot where everyone managed to limit out on some decent tautog with Ricardo taking both a 9 lb + and 10 lb + fish.

Notable was the lack of other species usually see this time of year tight to the island, especially big bass. I have dove Cuttyhunk this exact week before other years and was accustomed to swimming with big bass sightings every few minutes while we hunted other species.  Not so today.

We next proceeded swing around Nashawena Island to hit Quick's Hole and look for some fluke and introduce Ricardo to the Highland Cattle who every day head down to the ocean to wade out and cool themselves off. Kind of the local visitor photo must for those traveling the Elizabeth Islands. We drifted by them hoping to pick up a fluke or two but settled with an up close encounter with these cattle in the water.

Good to see the MASS EPO out there keeping anglers honest. There has been a tremendous poaching problem with black sea bass in Buzzards Bay again this season and they have been doing there best to stop it. A quick boarding to check our licenses, catch and boat safety equipment check, and we were on our way.  Thank you officer Cody.

Another excellent day in the water with good friends in a beautiful setting. Time for the Tog Cult to fillet some fish.

Mahalo,
Mike

Bahamian Style Jonah Crabs and Rice, a New Englander's take - Mike Chace

Recipe: Bahamian Style Jonah Crabs and Rice
Contributor: Mike Chace 

I saw you all giving my crazy looks when i posted my pic from our lobster dive the other day when i harvested my limit of local Jonah Crabs. Many think they are a lot of work to get the delectable crab meat out, being their claws lack the size of their Northern Stone Crab cousins. I don't hold it against you, and you not wanting to harvest any leaves more for me. Actually I may only harvest them once or twice a year when the really big ones come inshore in Spring and they are in in good numbers. When they are sparse I let them be. They seamed to be everywhere this last weekend so I chose to harvest some with a couple of recipes in mind. We are always trying to find creative ways to utilize some local resources here in the north east and the Jonah Crab is definitely one of them.

If you have ever had Bahamian Crab Rice or even been lucky enough to have even been in the home of a local there while making it, you would understand my desire to want it back here at home. The fragrance alone should be bottled and sold, but the taste is so unique and recipes vary from house to house. The traditional Bahamian way is to make this dish with red or black land crab, but I figured the sweet Jonah would be a nice substitute.

Ingredients:
12 - large Jonah Crabs (save the crab fat and liquor in shell)
3 cups of long grain rice
1 yellow onion
3/4 cup of pigeon peas
salt and black pepper
1 scotch bonnet or hot pepper of your choosing
6-8 tablespoons vegetable oil
2-3 small bay leaves or 1 large
1 - sprig of fresh thyme
6 cups of water

Second, let it be noted there is some work involved. I find the best system is a two day process. First I boil or steam up the crabs. Then I let them sit overnight in my "shellfish fridge", yeah... I have one of those. The boiled - then chilled process makes their strong shells a little more brittle and easy to crack open claws and legs the next day. The following day I remove the meat from 6-8 crabs, being sure to save the crab fat and save that with the tasty liquor inside the main shell. I then take another 6 crabs and remove the back shell, crab fat & liquor, then remove the gills and clean the rest of  the body under running faucet, keeping with the legs and claws intact.

At that point take a large knife and split the body section in two - 4 legs and claw on each side. Now to actually cook it.

1. In a rather large pot bring 6-8 tablespoons of vegetable oil to heat, then add the onions and cook until they are almost translucent.
2. Add the crab fat and liquor.
3. Add about 4 teaspoons of salt and black pepper, bay leaves, fresh thyme and the hot pepper of your choosing, and 1 cup of pigeon peas. I could not get a scotch bonnet so settled for a cow horn, probably making it a little more New Englandized.  Let this simmer for about 5-6 minutes until onions look done.
4. Then add the halved crabs to simmer for a few to get them releasing their juices in the mix.
5. Add the tomato sauce and mix to simmer a few.
6. Add the lump crab meat we removed from the shell, the long grain rice and water. Gently fold everything together and let slow simmer to begin cooking the rice.

On medium heat cover the pot and be sure to keep stirring often and do not burn the rice. Easy to do. After maybe 10 minutes the rice should have absorbed all the liquid and be done cooking. Remove from heat, stir well, then let it sit for a few minutes to an hour if you have the time.

This is excellent served hot or room temp with some crusty bread. You can eat the tasty rice and break apart the crab legs and sections to remove the meat still in the shells that has now been infused with all the other flavors of this dish.

For those who like finding a tasty treat from an unlikely source, give this dish a try.

Be well,
Mike