Crab recipe #3 found Steve Williams and Terry Hartil outdoors on a rainy winter’s night where they cooked up a Dungeness Crab Feast. Williams began by placing corn on the cob—each ear is wrapped in foil—atop the barbecue grill. (He used a Weber-style grill with white-hot charcoal for heat.) “You may not want to do this on a rainy night, but certainly in the summertime. Everyone I know loves a fresh ear of barbecued corn,” he said. Williams also grilled an assortment of vegetables as a side dish for the Crab Feast that included sliced yellow squash, green zucchini, sliced peppers, asparagus spears, and red onions. Williams loves to grill oysters as a fine complement to the crab. He placed whole oysters in the shell atop the grill and closed the lid until the oysters started to pop open (about 10 minutes) and he then dabbed a small amount of butter and cooked bacon inside each oyster.
Meanwhile, Hartil placed cooked crab sections atop the Weber grill: “You’re not trying to cook it again—it’s already been cooked. All you want to do is warm it back up and you can add smoky flavor to it with wood chips. After 2 to 3 minutes it comes out warm and delicious.”
Hartil is co-owner of Bell Buoy Seafood in Seaside and said that a Dungeness Crab Feast is a long Oregon custom: “People just love this crab! It’s a coastal tradition to do this in the winter too. You can’t believe the number of people who come in and say, ‘When I was a little kid, my dad and grandpa brought me into the store and they bought dozens of crabs. We put them out on a table for a traditional crab feed every year.’”
Soon it was assembly time on a table jammed with the varied dishes—plus, Oregon wines and brews. I asked Steve Williams what he enjoyed the most: cooking the crab with new recipes or eating the crab once the recipe is complete. “Boy, that’s a tough one,” he said with a chuckle. “Let’s call it a toss-up, cuz I love everything out here—that’s a tough choice.” The crowd that turned out for this special crab cooking segment was in heaven!
Guest diner Kerry Harsin said he’d never tried barbecued crab: “Never—and it is different. You do get a little smoky flavor and I like that—it’s really good.” Guest diner Shannon Dotson loved the salmon wraps and planned to make them at home. “This is amazing,” said Dotson. “And so easy to make!” She admitted she wasn’t a big crab eater, but that’s going to change: “It’s great—I’ve never blended crab with salmon but this is delicious.”
“Dungeness crab meals can be real social events,” said Fick. “Really a nice way of bringing people together—everyone at the table picking at their food and socializing.” And the best part is that the recipes are so easy, anyone can try and that’s something to consider while Dungeness crab is in season.
It was a perfect way to round out our crabbing adventure and bring the day’s activity full circle: from the estuary to the dining table. Interestingly, Fick added that 80 percent of the crab is caught in the first month of the season—it’s also the time when prices for the seafood are at their lowest. Plus, even if you don’t sport fish for crab, the annual commercial crabbing season provides fresh Oregon Dungeness in your local grocery. As we enjoyed a very filling seafood dinner, I asked Fick what he liked most about the adventure that’s just off his front doorstep: “Oh, it’s simple to do and everyone can be involved in it. It’s easy to catch a dozen crabs per person with lots of action for kids. And—you never really know until you pull the pot up what you got and that is fun!”
3A Clatsop Spit (north end of Fort Stevens State Park)
Where: 100 Peter Iredale Road, Hammond, OR 97121
Web: oregonstateparks.org
Phone: 503-861-3170 x21; 800-551-6949
3B South Beach State Park
Where: 5044 Oregon Coast Highway, South Beach, OR 97366
Web: oregonstateparks.org
Phone: 800-551-6949; 541-867-7451
3C Yaquina Bay/South Beach Marina
Where: SE Marine Science Drive and US Highway 101, Newport, OR 97365
Web: portofnewport.com/recreational-marina
Phone: 541-867-3321
Watch the Episode: traveloregon.com/WinterCrab
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ODFW Crab Class
When you try something new, it pays to go with the pros! Not so long ago, more than thirty newcomers—mostly parents and their kids—discovered how to catch Oregon’s premier crustacean: Dungeness crab. The gathering of parents and their kids attended one of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) Crab Classes, a hands-on seminar from the agency’s menu of adventures called Outdoor Skills (dfw.state.or.us/education/outdoor_skills). Instructors, biologists, and volunteers teach and assist students in the varied Outdoor Skills courses.
Crabbing is a popular recreation that requires some skill and knowledge, so the agency developed the daylong course to encourage participation. ODFW spokesperson and instructor Mark Newell said that the students get all the gear and assistance that they might need for a day of fun and excitement at any number of the seminars that are held in various coastal towns including Gold Beach, Bandon, Port Orford, Charleston, and Yaquina Bay at Newport. “We want people to care about the environment and the only way to get them to do that is to get them out enjoying it. That’s what Crab Class does for many students,” said Newell.
Mike Hoge and his son, Jerrad Hoge, came all the way from Silverton to pick up pointers on the crabbing recreation. “I did it a little bit as a kid,” noted Mike. “But I didn’t really have any instruction, so I thought some good lessons would help and I’m glad we came today.” The students kicked off the affair at the South Beach State Park Activity Center, just south of Newport. Instructor Brandon Ford presented the basics of crab biology and explained the trapping techniques and the rules and regulations of the sport.
The session was followed by a short drive to Yaquina Bay Marina where the hands-on action began. The first order of business was learning how to place the bait inside the crab trap or rings. The bait of choice for the day’s adventure: chicken! Jennifer Erickson said that she didn’t mind the tradeoff of chicken for crab. In fact, she and her husband, Steve Erickson, traveled from Portland for the chance to learn something new about a seafood they really enjoy eating for dinner. “It’s really fun to go out with experts,” she noted. “To be coached and helped along the way before doing it on our own just seemed to make a lot of sense to us. Plus, crab is so tasty—that’s a bonus.”
Once the students were comfortable with the gear, it was time to toss the traps from atop Yaquina Bay Pier that juts hundreds of yards into the bay. The pier is open to fishing and crabbing year-round. Students learned how to measure a crab to make certain it’s legal (only twelve male Dungeness crabs are allowed and they must be 5¾ inches across the back)