Steamed Crabs with a Side of Potato Salad

Spending summers in Maryland growing up, I developed a love of steamed crabs at an early age. When we were really young my grandfather and dad would open the crabs for us and help us get started, but it wasn't long before I was working my way through crabs on my own from start to finish. As an adult, I continue to work to perfect my technique, trying to remove the shell as carefully as possible, leaving large clumps of the succulent crab meat in tact.

As I mentioned yesterday, every August my family has turned out annual steamed crab feast into a birthday extravaganza. Since this is somewhat of an all day affair, we need to have more than just crabs and three cakes to feast on. Enter the side dishes.

This year my grandmother started things off with her famous (at least in our family) crab soup. Mother and I were responsible for the remainder of the sides, all which ended up being fresh from this delightful farmers market we discovered by my parents' house. This place was like an adult toy store for me! It's located on the farm where everything is grown and the store front is a giant (albeit modern and air conditioned) barn. And, just when I thought I couldn't get any more excited, their prices were actually cheaper than the grocery store! Seriously, this place was amazing. If you're ever in Baltimore, paying a visit to Richardson Farms is not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

One of my finds at the farmers market was a bag of red potatoes, which I used in recreating another of my grandmother's recipes, potato salad. I'm very particular about my potato salad. Among other things, I don't care for mayonnaise and prefer red potatoes with the skins on for a burst of color. I'd made this recipe once before this summer, for my family's belated 4th of July cookout and it was a huge success that I hoped to recreate this time around.

Grandmom's Potato Salad

[This is one of those shameful times when I failed to actually photograph the featured recipe, so I'm relying on a stock photo from our 4th of July cookout where this recipe was made for the first time. It's pictured above in the bottom right corner :)]

Ingredients

• 3lbs red potatoes (washed and chopped into pieces with skins on)
• 6 hard boiled eggs (peeled and diced)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup sweet pickle relish
• 1/2 tsp celery seed
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 cup of mayonase (I used the low fat olive oil version)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Fill pot with water and chopped potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until desired level of tenderness. Drain and allow to cool
2. At the same time, bring a smaller pot of water and 6 eggs to a boil. Allow to boil uncover for 10 minutes, then cover and remove from heat for an additional 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water and allow to cool in the refrigerator
3. Once potatoes have cooled, combine with onion and celery
4. In a smaller bowl, mix remaining ingredients (sans eggs) with a whisk
5. Pour mixture over potatoes, onions, and celery. Mix until potatoes are evenly covered
6. Once eggs have cooled, peel and chop, then fold into the potato salad
7. Chill for approximately an hour (I allowed mine to cool overnight) and serve

Happy Final Days of Summer!

Sister, her posse, and I

The family 

The parents

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